Tiny Beautiful Things is an accumulation of all the words of wisdom that Cheryl Strayed wrote for a column under the name Sugar. This column became quite famous and people from everywhere started writing to her about all kinds of problems that they faced. Sugar, contrary of her name was known for not sugar coating her answers while responding to the letters. From marriage to sex and to difficult friendships and infidelity, abuse and neglect; Sugar addressed them all with equal sincerity. There’s nothing wrong with the book but it does tend to get a tad bit repetitive.

Mind you, I hadn’t read anything by Cheryl before I picked up this book and so I was mildly surprised by her unapologetic way of addressing the questions head on without having to be sweet about it. Through her writings, it’s clear that Cheryl is generally a good listener because it’s impossible to take up the task of giving advice to thousands of people otherwise. I had to skip a few because they seemed to be overlapping with the others but I did draw the pattern of how Sugar usually answered these things. She was honest about her own life, about the good and the ugly and then went on to advice that they were not alone in facing such problems. Although she was raw in her approach, she was also considerate and thoughtful.

Tiny Beautiful Things can be intense because of the weight the questions carry but it does make one feel less alone in dealing with this difficult life.