Stuff That Sucks by Ben Sedley

Rating:

3 Stars

Themes:

Non-Fiction, Teen, Mental Health

Thoughts:

This is written in a great format for teens as often they use the term just stuff instead of talking about their feelings so contextualising it as stuff that sucks and stuff that helps is a good way to get through to them. The book covers a lot of different things that go into wellbeing in a short concise way so as to avoid overloading young brains but still manages to get across the important parts.

Favourite Quote:

"We live in a world that tells us to be an individual and to be independent, yet that doesn't always feel safe."

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

Rating: Stars Themes: Short Story, Cosy Mystery Thoughts: Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I had to read this book, seeing it was available, after reading Pipers Piping and Puppies last year. I did read it as a standalone (it’s not the first time I’ve read a series out of order and likely won’t be the last) I managed to follow along fine although I’m sure I’d have understood the relationship dynamics better had I read it in the correct order. I found the story great and as for the mystery I was guessing myself right the way through until Sam figured it out. Sam is a strong female main character who feels worth investing in so I may have to go search some more of the Heywood Herbalist series out. I enjoyed seeing Sam interact with her friends as they had great chemistry and it felt real, and also really liked Sam’s interactions with Doug as it added another layer of humanity to her and reality to the town. I would love ...

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

Holly by Stephen King

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Horror, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction Thoughts: I had such mixed feelings coming away from this book. I did love Holly as a character in the other books so I loved seeing more of her personality and the way she worked in depth this time, especially since the last bit I read was only the short story (If It Bleeds). I also thought this book had an even worse monster for Holly to stop since they’re human so it shows the extent of suffering humans can inflict on each other. It was so surreal reading all the elements of COVID after having lived through it as this is the first book I’ve read set in that period. However, there were too many references made to smoking to me as it added nothing to the plot and only padded out the pages, especially since Holly was supposed to have given up already so it’s not like we’d notice it missing. There was also no need for the use of derogatory terms since the monsters were already horrible enough without needing them to be ...

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