A wonderful read Kim Duke shares with us her diagnosis of cancer.and the strength spirit and humor that gets her through difficult situations.A life guide for all of us to keep going not let life bring us down.#netgalley#Afinemess

"A Fine Mess" aims to inspire and elicit smiles. But something about the layout, random clipart-type graphics and varying fonts (that came with my advanced reader version) just distracted me from the message.

Overall, I zipped through to the end without feeling as motivated as I'd hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kim Duke for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.

This is not the type of book I usually go for.Was ok for me,did give good advice
about looking on the bright side when things get bad, sometimes easier said than done.
The author sure had a bit of a mess as she describes it. I liked that it suggested to help
others because that does help take you mind of your own troubles a bit.

I didn't know what to expect with this one, but was pleasantly surprised. The author's message of sometimes having to go through a mess to find something is evident throughout this book. Her writing is hilarious and had me laughing out loud several times. I only wish this book was longer!

This bills itself as "an odd little book" and it delivers on those things. It feels like a conversation with a friend who is trying to give you a pep talk, but can't help retelling her own story. The phrase "a fine mess" gets repeated ad nauseum, but the message is clear--acknowledge what is traumatic to you and have some compassion for yourself. As I write this in month number 6? 7? of our coronavirus nightmare, the message didn't really connect with me, but as with all self-help books, I sincerely hope that it does help some others out there.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

I'm not totally sure what I was expecting with this one, but it didn't do it for me overall. It's a quick read, but I just didn't get much out of it, sadly. I know it's the title phrase, but "fine mess" was overused, which quickly became annoying.

Duke's book is a reminder that even when experiencing great distress, loss, hardship or grief all is not lost. She invites the reader to see every mishap as an opportunity to grow, and to learn to appreciated the little joys in life. The writer draws on a lot of different references, from her own experience as a cancer survivor to Martha Stewart and the Japanese philosophy of 'wabi-sabi'. In her scattered (and sometimes a bit simplistic) manner, she discusses the importance of persistence, perspective & gratitude even at one's darkest times.

Due to its length & structure, it was difficult to place this book under a specific genre.

A Fine Mess by Kim Duke is a breath of fresh air.

Anything can be a fine mess. A car breaking down is a fine mess. Losing a job is a fine mess. Finding yourself homeless is a fine mess. Even cancer is a fine mess.

And along comes Kim Duke to tell us that any fine mess we find ourselves in, one way or another that fine mess is part of the journey. A bump in the road. There is no comparisons. A fine mess is a fine mess. We all get into them and fly, walk, and/or crawl out of them. She is uplifting, encouraging. She shines a beacon of light and hope to those experiencing fine messes everywhere.

The cover alone is what hooked me. Who in their right mind can scroll past a book cover of a women with cake? smeared all over her face. I wanted to participate in the food fight. What fun to have during a fine mess.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Kim Duke for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A mini-book, means a mini review! A Fine Mess by Kim Dukes was a quick read - it only took my about 45 minutes to get through the entire thing.

Essentially a collection of essays, Dukes writes about finding your way out of “your fine mess.” In her case, that fine mess is breast cancer. The first few collections were a bit choppy, but the second half I found funny, insightful, and poignant. I know many of us are still trying to cope and grieve over the atrocities the year 2020 has brought us, and I found this book to be incredibly relevant to the current state of the world. I will say I thought the pictures were a bit odd and a random jumble. I’m not sure if the ebook wasn’t properly formatted, but there were a lot of text flow oddities and bizarre spacing.

Overall though this was a nice pick-me up and I leave you with two of my favorite quotes.

“And just as people will leave your life (bye-bye!), others will become much closer to you-because they stepped into the fire with you when others stepped out.”

“Remember - even shit has a job.”

3.5🌟





Kim Duke brings snappy wit and humor to the situations, like cancer in her case, we may face in life in A Fine Mess. She points out wittily that there is always some lesson to learn from any setback in life and that realizing this we "carve out" our lives. Pragmatic and down to earth. The graphics are delightful.

Its a Short book. I finished in 1 sitting. Book explains how every individual will enter a fine mess at one point of other. Everyone's mess is different and everyone will have that at one point of time.
This book explain the different scenarios and how we need to own up and come out of that. Its in no particular order. its a Club of several scenes. it contains several pictures and certain pointers on how to overcome those scenarios.
In my Personal opinion Author has overused the word Fine mess, several times in each scenario. I didn't find this humorous while reading. No order, depth and background for any scenes. May be it would have been good if some one narrates the same instances but as a book it lagged severely.

I loved this, such an easy read. Loved the pictures and how the book flowed. Learnt a lot from it as you may feel like your life is a mess but actually it really is not. This has left me with a lot of positive thoughts on how to deal with issues.

It’s like talking to a friend who doesn’t know your story but gives you advice. I don’t think it’s for me at all. I get it life is rough and the author has been through literal hell. It doesn’t mean this book is for people in hell right now.

A Fine Mess by Kim Duke is not at all what I had expected to read when I picked up this book, but in the very best possible way. It is so much more. When life feels like it is falling apart around us, it is common, and human, to assume that we alone are suffering while everyone around us is continuing to live their best life. But Ms Duke reminds us, with large doses of humour and compassion, that finding yourself in a 'fine mess' from time to time is all a part of the experience that is being human. This is a book about perspective, and the message is hugely relatable. We will all find ourselves struggling with life's hurdles, from not getting the dream job, to coping with a painful illness, to enduring the unbearable grief of losing a loved one, but it is often a positive mindset that will determine our success in coming out on the other side.

Many thanks to NetGalley and BHC Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.