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A review by siobhanward
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Reese's Book Club Pick Reese's Book Club Pick 68/70
I'll be entirely honest - I started off thinking this was going to be an awful read. I don't read a lot of advice columns (any to be honest), so I'm not sure the usual style. I really wasn't sure how to feel when Strayed went on a tangent about her work as a youth advocate while responding to someone who had suffered a stillbirth - I get giving context, but it felt like hijacking the response to talk about herself. It also felt at times like things were just over simplified - do this one small thing and everything will be fixed.
However, the book got so much stronger at the end. The response about the future being uncertain and her mother buying a dress for a grandchild she never met struck me. The story about Brandon and the angry boys had me weeping. Strayed's advice to herself in her twenties was raw and real. I just wish every answer in the book had been as great as those ones, because Strayed has great advice and great style - it's just not always consistent.
I'll be entirely honest - I started off thinking this was going to be an awful read. I don't read a lot of advice columns (any to be honest), so I'm not sure the usual style. I really wasn't sure how to feel when Strayed went on a tangent about her work as a youth advocate while responding to someone who had suffered a stillbirth - I get giving context, but it felt like hijacking the response to talk about herself. It also felt at times like things were just over simplified - do this one small thing and everything will be fixed.
However, the book got so much stronger at the end. The response about the future being uncertain and her mother buying a dress for a grandchild she never met struck me. The story about Brandon and the angry boys had me weeping. Strayed's advice to herself in her twenties was raw and real. I just wish every answer in the book had been as great as those ones, because Strayed has great advice and great style - it's just not always consistent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Toxic friendship, Addiction, and Alcohol