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deluciate's review
5.0
A beautiful book. I want my own copy so I can take lots of notes in the margins. I will be sharing things I've learned from this one for a long time.
mirandajfair's review
3.0
It’s fine, I guess. Mostly just one persons perspective on the life situations that made them sad and how they leaned into it.
I’d say that this is more memoir than anything.
I’d say that this is more memoir than anything.
trudyml's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I was expecting a self-help book. What I got was a beautiful memoir interwoven with the history and sociology of emotions. Very informative and very easy to connect with. Would highly recommend
nikkideeley's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Helen Russell which focuses on the concept of learning to embrace sadness to be happier in the long run. This book is a mix of a memoir and a self-help book, I felt the personal element of this book to be extremely moving and I appreciate how raw Russell was throughout. I feel like I learnt a lot from this and I especially liked how all major comments and themes were corroborated with other sources, including giving varying viewpoints on one subject. This book deals with some very difficult themes and does so with honesty and grace, it was very well put together and filled with empathy without judgement. I also appreciated how in the final part there were some ways to help yourself through depression without forcing positivity - I also wanted to highlight how grateful I am that she approached the exercise section with the caveat “if you are able bodied and able to do so” which I feel is often overlooked in this kind of literature, as someone with a chronic health condition, I valued the compassion and thought behind this comment. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and I would place it above a lot of the “don’t worry, be happy” style books out there.
avl_book_girl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
frombethanysbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I'd like to preface this by saying - I don't read anything that remotely resembles a self-help book usually. But this book just called out to me - not yet another book telling me I shouldn't be sad, but one encouraging me to embrace my sadness and learn how to live alongside my emotions rather than hide them.
Written in an easy-to-follow, jargon free style that felt more like a friend giving good advice than a faceless author telling us how to feel.
This book was refreshing, insightful and genuinely helpful - dealing with the real issue of sadness still being a taboo subject no matter how popular sad movies are.
Written in an easy-to-follow, jargon free style that felt more like a friend giving good advice than a faceless author telling us how to feel.
This book was refreshing, insightful and genuinely helpful - dealing with the real issue of sadness still being a taboo subject no matter how popular sad movies are.
cdubiel's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a necessity for today's world. With so many people numbing themselves via social media and other vices - especially after the worldwide trauma of COVID-19 - I have almost wondered if people know how to process sad emotions. Russell dives deep into this topic with an intersectional analysis of grief and sad emotions throughout the world. The author suffered the loss of her sister from SIDS and has carried that weight with her throughout her life. Her father abandoned her and her mother for another family, and after finally finding her own match, she struggled with infertility. In an engaging, journalistic style, she explains how she has coped with the emotions that led her through these tragedies. Russell also interviews experts from many fields and people who have been through tragedies and difficulties different from her own. There's a lot to unpack here, but it's so worth it and it will leave you with a lot to think about.