"Take in the Good" was an easy read and very thought-provoking. I really enjoyed how it was presented, and enjoyed the illustrations immensely.

Hi all!

Today I am going to be reviewing Take in the Good: Skills for Staying Positive and Living Your Best Life by Gina Beigel. I received an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this book from NetGalley. You can read more about what NetGalley is and how it works here. This book was just released on the 7th January. It is a non-fiction, YA book for teenagers, aimed at helping them to stay positive and utilise certain skills for coping with difficult times. As with every review, I am going to be very honest. I cannot spoil this for you because it is a non-fiction. I’m just going to discuss my thoughts and if I feel it’s worth checking out. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

WHAT THIS BOOK DOES RIGHT

This book is very bright, colourful and full of interactive activities (unfortunately with ARC’s, you cannot see these, so all I saw was pink/blue blobs). It requires a journal as there are many writing prompts for the reader to complete. I really enjoy introspective books that require some participation. There is a big emphasis on self-care and taking time for yourself to re-charge from the world around you. I like that it preaches self-love and mindfulness. These are very useful tools for both adolescents and adults alike.

WHAT THIS BOOK DOES WRONG

In my personal opinion, this book does a lot more wrong than right. My biggest issue with it, was that it wasn’t relatable at all to teenagers. In fact, the language was quite cringe-worthy at times. In one section, the author discusses creating a playlist called Happy Jams and Depressing Dives. I thought that was too corny. It also never took depression into account. These activities could work on mentally stable kids, but those suffering with depression or anxiety or a host of other disorders cannot just ‘be happy’ or ‘think positively’, like the book suggests. It doesn’t do enough to encourage help. This is why I felt it was not relatable. Furthermore, the activities themselves were all over the place. There are so many different, confusing acronyms to remember that they all became one big blur to me in the end. I struggled to connect with any of it because the structure was so convoluted. There are symbols that require you to Take Action (journal or do an activity) and ones that ask you to Takeaway (remember for later). This seems like a good way to order everything, but it’s just a massive load of information-dumping. The concepts the author introduces are very technical (for example, neuro-plasticity) and again, not helpful to those with illnesses. Maybe if I could’ve seen the prompts/activities, I would’ve enjoyed the book more, but I still felt it was too chaotic and dismissive for my taste.

OVERALL STAR RATING

I’m sorry to say I gave this 1.5/5 stars. If you want something light, fluffy and cheesy, I would recommend it. Otherwise, I would not use this as a self-help book. I have read plenty of others that are much more relatable and inclusive.

If you are interested, you can order a copy here.

I hope you enjoyed this honest review. I have two more NetGalley reviews coming up in the next couple of weeks. Don’t worry, they are a lot more positive (ironically!). Let me know your thoughts down below. I appreciate all feedback. Thanks for reading!

Peace & Love xoxo

This mindfulness journal is geared towards teens, with the aim of teaching them how to use neuroplasticity (our brains' ability to rewire itself) to learn to focus on the good in life instead of the bad that we are programmed to focus on. It consists of 50 days of activities, mostly writing exercises, to help kids or adults learn to focus on the good, figure out what's not working in their lives, and learn to use mindfulness to improve their lives.

There are apparently colorful illustrations in the book, but in my digital ARC they just look like screaming hot pink and turquoise blobs, making it really hard to tell how visually pleasing the actual book will be. These day-glo bits were incredibly annoying and took up space on just about every page. Since the illustrations can make or break a book (especially a journal), I'd recommend looking inside the finished book to see how well the finished art works.

As for the basic premise of the book, it's a good idea but I'd tread cautiously. Teens (or adults) who are dealing with depression are likely to feel even more alienated by well-meaning adults who give them a workbook that basically says "look on the bright side." While there is good science behind neuroplasticity and focusing on the good, this can be seen as trivializing to kids who are in serious pain and who could rightly argue that their problems stem from more than paying too much attention to the bad stuff. This book could be a good tool for kids who are open to using it, but it is not likely to work well without good all-around support and help in dealing with the real issues that they are struggling with.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

I love how this book is set up! The author, Gina Biegel, walked me through mindfulness training one easy step at a time in order to take the time to appreciate those little moments that make up the day. Not only are the typical moments that I have come across in other books mentioned, but she brings up some that I never thought of such as taking the time to truly be there when enjoying things like hobbies. She also explains how doing this affects our health and happiness.

The book is very easy to understand and is meant to be read from beginning to end so that the practices can be built upon. This is the absolute best book I have come across for mindfulness for beginners and even the more advanced because it will surely add to your practice, as it did with mine. Five stars all the way!