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dsinocruz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
3.0
In the interest of personal growth I decided to give this book a chance because I've seen rave reviews of Brene Brown's work and figured this would be as good a place to start as any.
The main concept of this book is that in order to live your best life (what Brown calls living 'wholeheartedly') you have to be willing to be vulnerable. You have to risk getting hurt in order to truly gain anything. The enemy of vulnerability is shame. Everyone has shame, but too much shame impedes your ability to form healthy relationships.
This book is mostly a cause and effect guide to shame. There are some things you can do to combat it, but it isn't really like a workbook kind of thing. It's focused more on the exploration on the concept of shame. Brown has spent a lot of career as a researcher and it shows. However, this isn't much by way of 'proof' i.e. statistics or specific references to sources. I didn't mind it as such because I know most self-help books are written in this fashion, but if you're expecting something from a more clinical perspective this is not it.
I liked a majority of the book. I think Brown had a lot of great advice about how to put yourself out there more. And I was willing to hear her out because she really understood the reasons *why* we hide. So it didn't feel like some nonsense talk by someone who doesn't get it trying to act like they do. I also listened to the audiobook and Brene Brown, unlike some other authors, actually sounds pretty good.
That being said it did get more and more repetitive as time went on. You get the point pretty quickly, and most of the book is Brown's personal anecdotes that further emphasize her theses. I enjoyed her stories, but if you don't like that sort of thing you won't like this book. I already kind of knew a lot of the information, however, Brown tied it together in a way that I liked so I was willing to go along with it. But, if you don't like Brown's storytelling and you've read up on this kind of material before then there's really nothing for you here.
Also your place in life heavily impacts how you may perceive this book. Again, I liked it but it does focus on lot on being established in a career and/or being a parent. It says it's for anyone, but it's honestly not. It's geared more towards late 20s and on. I'm early 20s and half of the book was sort of me just nodding along agreeing in theory without being able to relate on a personal level. The last chapter was totally skippable as it focused ONLY on parents.
I don't think I want to read the rest of Brown's work on the basis of this one, but I wouldn't be totally opposed either as long as they don't stick to the same format entirely.
The main concept of this book is that in order to live your best life (what Brown calls living 'wholeheartedly') you have to be willing to be vulnerable. You have to risk getting hurt in order to truly gain anything. The enemy of vulnerability is shame. Everyone has shame, but too much shame impedes your ability to form healthy relationships.
This book is mostly a cause and effect guide to shame. There are some things you can do to combat it, but it isn't really like a workbook kind of thing. It's focused more on the exploration on the concept of shame. Brown has spent a lot of career as a researcher and it shows. However, this isn't much by way of 'proof' i.e. statistics or specific references to sources. I didn't mind it as such because I know most self-help books are written in this fashion, but if you're expecting something from a more clinical perspective this is not it.
I liked a majority of the book. I think Brown had a lot of great advice about how to put yourself out there more. And I was willing to hear her out because she really understood the reasons *why* we hide. So it didn't feel like some nonsense talk by someone who doesn't get it trying to act like they do. I also listened to the audiobook and Brene Brown, unlike some other authors, actually sounds pretty good.
That being said it did get more and more repetitive as time went on. You get the point pretty quickly, and most of the book is Brown's personal anecdotes that further emphasize her theses. I enjoyed her stories, but if you don't like that sort of thing you won't like this book. I already kind of knew a lot of the information, however, Brown tied it together in a way that I liked so I was willing to go along with it. But, if you don't like Brown's storytelling and you've read up on this kind of material before then there's really nothing for you here.
Also your place in life heavily impacts how you may perceive this book. Again, I liked it but it does focus on lot on being established in a career and/or being a parent. It says it's for anyone, but it's honestly not. It's geared more towards late 20s and on. I'm early 20s and half of the book was sort of me just nodding along agreeing in theory without being able to relate on a personal level. The last chapter was totally skippable as it focused ONLY on parents.
I don't think I want to read the rest of Brown's work on the basis of this one, but I wouldn't be totally opposed either as long as they don't stick to the same format entirely.
chlo_bo's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
khawlah's review against another edition
5.0
absolutely loved this book, lost track of which page i was on and the time while i was reading it. very heartwarming and informative. completely changed my outlook on shame and vulnerability
cdjdhj's review against another edition
3.0
I have learned a lot from Brene Brown's Ted Talks and books over the years. I feel like I am a better parent teacher and person because of the things I have learned about shame, vulnerability and wholeheartedness from Brown. I probably read this book too soon after finishing Brene Brown's later book, Rising Strong. I liked Rising Strong MUCH better. This book seemed more like a bunch of lists with the word "vulnerability" being every 5th word in the book. Seriously, there are some good things in the book, and I did some away some gems of thought, but I did not find this book nearly as interesting or "whole-hearted" as the later book Rising Strong.
cedi's review against another edition
inspiring
5.0
ABSOLUTELY LOVE. ESSENTIAL. This author is one of my favorites, she crafts these books that fill your soul. I don't even know what else to say, just go read this book immediately!!
bender_917's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0