A review by bootman
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley

5.0

I’m not 100% sure what I was expecting from this book, but I’m torn on how much I personally enjoyed it. With that being said, any criticism I have is merely my own subjective taste in books because Amanda Ripley is an incredible writer and storyteller. After having hundreds of thousands of strangers on the internet come after me in 2019, I’ve been really interested in learning about good vs bad conflict and some of the psychology behind it, so that’s mainly why I grabbed this book. Amanda Ripley starts the book by telling the story of the lawyer who basically came up with the concept of divorce mediation through this new way of resolving conflict. It was really interesting learning about that story, why mediation works for conflict resolution, and Ripley does an awesome job explaining how we readers can use some of the strategies for practical application in our daily lives.

While I was absolutely obsessed with the first half of the book, part 2 was where I became less interested. Again, it’s just my personal preference, but the second half was stories that helped solidify what the author discusses in the first half of the book. These were great stories of conflict resolution, perseverance, and hope. They were great, uplifting stories that we can all learn from, but I just personally enjoy more science/research-based books rather than stories.

So, would I recommend this book? 1000% yes. I’m a weirdo who isn’t a huge fan of stories, which is why I stick to non-fiction, but I know that many people really enjoy that type of book. This book has a blend of scientific research as well as stories, so I think the majority of people would benefit a ton from this book and learning about good vs bad conflict.