ryan_isreading's Reviews (195)

Truly eye opening. I wish anyone in the health profession- mental or physical, to read and absorb this message. This is setting me on a path to healing and I’ll be reading it again and again.

This book is special and intimate. It’s funny at points, but more overwhelming it is sweet and unique and dreamy. I’ve always loved Jenny Slate but now I really would love to be a creature in her garden of friends.

The trigger warning I would put on this book is diet culture and fat shaming. I skipped two early chapters early for that topic reason and then the topic still ran throughout. I love Mindy’s works and I know she’s been actively working to see herself and beauty standards differently.

That being said, I liked her lists and observations and she’s such a hopeful person. It’s funny just reading this now when so much more has happened for her and her goals have clearly changed.

As my sister said when recommending this book to me- anyone who is in love or would like to be some day should read this book. It’s a brutal honest look at what love looks like long term and what can go so predictably wrong in relationships. Despite the heartbreak I felt while reading it, it is not a harsh or judgmental tone. I also did not end the book with the sense of heartbreak, but rather hope that it is possible to recognize and reduce toxic behavior and that love does not HAVE to be doomed. We have it within ourselves to be better and go the distance with a partner. Highly recommend you and your partner both read.

I had a tough time getting through the first third of the book, but that’s typical for me. My brain is bored by world building even though I know it’s important. I especially loved the twist in the story, so that made me pick up the second book in the series. There wasn’t as much spice, at least in this book, as people make it seem.

I really loved this book and thought it deepened the world so well. I think SJM does such a good job laying breadcrumbs and foreshadowing without being obvious. I appreciate when I can’t see plot twists or character development coming. Once again, the ending made me immediately pick up the next in the series.