Book Review | Atlas Of The Heart by Brené Brown

A massive massive thank you to Penguin Random House South Africa for a copy of this incredible book! Please excuse me as I gush about this book! ☺️

Published: November 2021
Pages: 336
Pace: n/a
Genre: Self-help

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Just as a caveat, this book is not something that reads like a novel. It’s not something you necessarily read from start to finish. I would describe it more as a reference guide. It works well as a coffee table book or something that can be used as a tool for gaining understanding or information.

In Atlas Of The Heart, Brené Brown explores and unpacks 87 emotions and experiences that make up the human experience. This includes everything from love to jealousy to loneliness to anger. It’s the full spectrum – anything you may have felt or gone through. The physical book is absolutely beautiful. It’s a hardcover with beautiful glossy pages, bright and clear images, large and colourful quotes and just all-around amazing.

Something you need to know about me is that I love learning about how our minds and hearts work as human beings. I love learning what makes us tick and what destroys our connections with others or causes us to have a negative experience of this life. I am just so fascinated by all of it. I am so so grateful that I have found Brené Brown’s work as she has just got such a unique take on all of these things and manages to put it in such a way that it is easily understood.

I felt like Atlas Of The Heart was like a balm to a cracked soul in a way. It’s so incredible to find an explanation and language for something you may be feeling but you aren’t sure if you are just crazy or dramatic or different. I literally felt affirmed and relieved to read some of the stuff in this book that I have not really seen written about anywhere else.

I was absolutely engrossed in the content of this book. It’s so interesting, it’s so easy to read and I was absolutely engrossed in the content of this book. It’s so interesting, it’s so easy to read and understand and yet it’s so impactful and helpful for everyday living. There is so much in these pages that can be taken and applied to my life – and that’s my intention for sure. And because the chapters are so well marked out, it’s the kind of book that can easily be referenced back to when going through a certain kind of challenge and needing some tools for dealing with a particular area.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning more about how to create deep and meaningful connections with others, as well as just getting knowledge and insight into the various facets of the human experience. Brené (and many other researchers) have done the hard work of distilling many of these thoughts down to what we find in the pages of this book and the benefit to the readers is huge.

A solid 5 stars! Absolutely love it!

Until next time 😊
Chevonn

Book Review | The Dare by Lesley Kara

I just want to say massive thanks to Penguin Random House South Africa for the review copy of this book. The blurb sounded super interesting and I was so grateful to receive a copy!

Published: February 2021
Pages: 288
Pace: Medium
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Ok, this book was a fun read because it was slightly different in its presentation of the facts to build the story. What I mean is that we get to know the characters but we are only slowly shown more pieces to the puzzle that explains what happened and why things are the way they are now.

Lizzie and Alice are thirteen years old and they are best friends. Lizzie has epilepsy and it’s a big part of her life. Many things are triggers for her epilepsy but her and Alice have an amazing friendship. Alice doesn’t treat her any differently. One thing we know is that neither Alice’s family nor Lizzie’s family are happy with their friendship. So one day the girls are out and about together where they always go for walks, but they are having a relatively big fight. Lizzie is upset about the way Alice behaved at the school dance. This triggers a seizure in Lizzie. When she comes to, she sees that Alice is dead but she has no idea what happened. The worst part is that Alice’s family fully believe Lizzie did something to Alice but Lizzie cannot remember anything.

Fast forward to twelve years later where Lizzie has lived through all the trauma after losing her best friend and is finally on meds that have helped her keep her epilepsy in check. She’s engaged to be married to a handsome doctor which makes her parents very happy since he can take good care of her. But then someone from her past crash lands back in her life and she is forced to relive all the trauma from after Alice died. She is forced to face what happened back then and what’s happening right now head-on. And it’s a lot to process and come to terms with.

I found Alice to be an awesome character. She was aware of her flaws and how much her epilepsy ruled her life and the way she perceived things with Alice. She was self-aware but was also able to suss out a lot of what was going on around her, despite the impressive deceptions going on around her.

The revelations that keep coming out get more and more shocking until eventually you just find yourself wondering how this whole mess is going to be resolved. Luckily it all worked out in the end. Maybe not in the way the reader hopes, but the ending definitely makes sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was really well written. I loved how you got more information the longer you read so that you had to try and piece the story together. The characters were well written! It was a fantastic thriller read! I would recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of thrillers and mysteries.

Until next time! 😊
Chevonn