This book was interesting, and had a lot of helpful ideas and activities to apply when struggling with grief but also just generally if your Mental Health is suffering.
Like many Self Help books I would recommend the "Take What You Need" approach but it helps that Devine writes in such a compassionate voice that you feel like you are speaking with a friend which reading. She is gentle and reassuring in how she approaches topics.
I would recommend this book to someone who is struggling and needing some help.

Thank you to the publisher Sounds True and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed is a self-help book about grief and loss, and anxiety and fears.

The author talks about how grief affects us, and how to carry with it, and with loss and anxiety. The book gives us more information to learn more about them. It creates more awareness about them.

I also found it very helpful the exercises that were in the book to calm the mind, how it gives you things to do to calm it: meditation, draw something calming,... I found all of them so helpful!

Also, it gives you space to feel good while reading it in a way so calm and quiet. It lets you express yourself by writing or by doing something that expresses how you feel and how you can be calmed, in whatever way (like I've said before: by writing, or drawing,...).

I recommend this book to the people that are used to read self-help books, or books that talk about these topics.

#HowtoCarryWhatCantBeFixed #Netgalley

Beautiful resource for those who are grieving.. Provides good guidance while allowing room for the reader to explore their own thoughts.

How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed: A Journal for Grief by Megan Devine is a beautifully crafted journal for to help cope with the difficult experience of grief that so many of us have experienced over the past few years. Megan Devine has somehow managed to include something for everyone in the contents of this amazing journal. #HowtoCarryWhatCantBeFixed #NetGalley

A number of years ago Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote her seminal and most highly regarded work on the stages of grief. In the years since then thinking has evolved. The stages are still seen as apt descriptions of what many experience but it has become clear that progression through them is not a straight line.

It is now known that grieving is both a universal and intensely personal experience. Being inside this universe arouses a multitude of emotions and feelings. They may be overwhelming, sad, comforting or anything else at all that a person finds. This book has been written to help readers when they spend time in this difficult spot. There are many exercises and observations within this journal. It is packed with knowledge and activities.

I found this book to be wise and helpful I wish that no-one would ever need it but, since that cannot be, think of this as a resource for you or someone you know.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This is a pretty great workbook for anyone grieving the loss of someone.

There are exercises and prompts to help you engage, focus and evaluate how you're feeling and where you are. While not all the exercises were for me (I don't care much for drawing), there are other types of exercises like journaling (more my speed) or making a collage, some just filling in blanks.

As far as the grief process, this book is extremely validating, which is SO important. I love how it focuses on noticing, analyzing and validating your feelings and where ever you may be in your grief. There are even great tips on how to interact with others (helpful and not so helpful others), and how to ask for help when you're a bit lost, or are stubbornly trying to take everything on yourself.

In all, it's a very short and fairly comprehensive guide to working through loss. I would definitely recommend this, and appreciate the opportunity to read for an honest review from Sounds True Publishing on NetGalley.

I'm so glad a journal like this one is coming out soon. And it will exist!

It's not just a journal in which we have to write or put up a list regarding a topic but it's a guide, a go-to sanctuary where we can find things being described and informed about the journey of the grieving process. Yes, it's a process we have to go through. It's something we cannot fix at once. And this book provides enough detailed insights on the topic.

I do feel we all need something like this to heal when we go through the process. It's difficult. It's not something anything and anyone can help.

The journal is well-researched, sensible and quite detailed.

I really appreciate the contents, how they match and the helpful exercises it provides.

I love how it is giving enough space after each chapter introduction and description.

The artwork is quite soothing and calming.

The writing, the art and the exercises deal with different emotions and thought processes that we might undergo through these tough times.

One of the best journals I have come across so far.

Thank you, authors and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

This was a very interesting and useful book. I took my time reading this one because I’m currently going through a phase of grieving and wanted to let the information really sink in. I liked the exercises, but there were a few that I couldn’t access due to the ebook that I received. The images were also good, but again there were some that I couldn’t access. I could relate to some of the topics in this book.

How to Carry What Can’t be Fixed is an invaluable tool for anyone experiencing grief. Experiencing grief is so different for everyone and the tools that are needed will vary based on that person’s personality and where they are at with their grief.
I found the information helpful and appreciate the author’s thoughtful approach. I think this is a great companion to Devine’s book. The information is well thought out. I would say this type of book favors someone who enjoys journaling and being creative with drawing etc. Drawing isn’t of interest to me, so I skipped over those exercises and still found value in the journaling and information.

This will be a great book for some folks and I recommend using something like Amazon's "look inside" feature to see if you're one of them. Those who enjoy drawing and journaling will probably find it enormously helpful. I was really hoping to find it personally hopeful but it didn't do much for me personally.

I am grieving a big list of people -- many good friends and my grandmother in the past few years and most recently both of my husband's parents, not to mention the long-ago loss of both of my parents, my aunt's murder, a dozen miscarriages and what feels sometimes like an endless stream of deaths that I carry. My husband is still really struggling with the loss of his parents last fall and I am so tired of the weight of grief.

I can't imagine my husband doing any of the pages of this book but I do enjoy journaling and art, and I had hoped that something in it might help me feel a little lighter in using the title's metaphor. There were a few pages that resonated with me like one of little boxes where you write the quotes that give you the most comfort but a lot of it just didn't speak to me. There are little cards you can cut out to tell loved ones how you're feeling or what you need, or places to write about who your grief mentor is or what your grief mentor would be like if you had one, etc. There's lots of information about grief and it would be helpful if I didn't already know so much about it, but knowing and changing anything are different things.

Ultimately, I know I've been looking for some sort of magic that doesn't exist. It hurts forever. Sometimes it hurts less (I recommend looking up the ball in the box analogy if you don't know it already, it's comforting for me and my husband). I don't know that journaling and drawing helps that but I hope it does help many people. For me personally, it wasn't the panacea that I was hoping for, but I think it could be extremely helpful for others, especially young people who are newer to grief and who find drawing and journaling helpful.

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

I had to take my time with this book… Not because it was long or difficult to read on its own, but because I’ve been going through a prolonged period of grief myself and it was… difficult to take in a lot of the things being said.

However, I think “How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed: A Journal for Grief” is helpful, especially if you can get it in physical format/printed, as it has several things you can literally take from it and add to a journal, to a pinboard or just to keep as reminders.

Grief is always a difficult thing to talk and to navigate. There is no right or wrong way to do it. While we’re grieving, as I currently am, we feel particularly vulnerable, and some people in society may seek to invalidate or diminish the importance/significance of our grief. Obviously, we don’t need anyone’s validation to grieve and to feel the way we do, but when we’re vulnerable, the smallest comment can make us feel even worse, and I appreciated that this book made me feel somewhat ‘validated’ in my emotions and my grief and that no one has the right to tell me how to feel, act or how ‘quickly’ I need to process my grief.

There is no ‘solution’ for grief, no time limit, no path to go through it, because we all feel and experience loss uniquely. No 2 people grieve in the same way, and it’s very hurtful that some really do want us to ‘snap out’ of our emotions and pain according to their views and what they believe to be appropriate timing.

I found it helpful and I think anyone who has suffered a loss, no matter if it’s a human or animal loss, will benefit from a lot of what is in this journal.


Thank you kindly to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for my opinion and honest review.

#HowtoCarryWhatCantBeFixed #NetGalley

These were some very powerful words but I'm lucky to say that I can't relate to them. Still, this can be a very helpful guide.

It's hard to give a proper review having received this book via NetGalley just before losing a very close friend of mine. I've lost two people in the last three years and to say it's hard to manage that loss is putting it mildly. I'm thankful for when this book came into my life and will definitely continue using it as a guide while trying to heal.

This is such a good book/journal for people who are grieving, but especially for grief that’s new. I wish I had had this when I lost my grandfather. A lot of what she said was helpful!

I am moved by the words Megan Devine has inscribed in this book. Since it stems out of her personal experience, as a reader I feel the same raw emotions coursing through me. Even though it is specifically written for individuals who are grieving, I believe her words are universal to us all.

Sure, the illustration/drawing parts are something I would struggle with, I am not much of a drawer but other exercises are helpful. It helps you stay grounded and work through your feelings. Not everything is mandatory when it comes to working with this book which is a good thing.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Devine has written an amazing book. This workbook allows you to pace yourself as you work through grief and loss. I found that this book was written in such a way as it was open to allow a person to process any kind of loss that they had. I was able to use some of the exercises from this book for simple losses, like processing an upcoming move and complex long term grief. As a therapist, I'll use some of the exercises in this journal with clients, and in my own personal journey. I'll recommend this book for absolutely everyone, weather your grief is fresh or something that you've been dealing with for a long time. This book covers all the stages of grief and allows a person to open the chapter of the stages of grief in this book. Pick it up for yourself.

I wish this guide was there when I lost my grandma. It's still very relevant, but I just feel less inclined to "draw" or "write down" my feelings. I guess this is very helpful for people who are grieving, because it gives you guidance and that's what I needed back then.

This journal is absolutely so so good. Throughout reading it, I constantly thought: "Oh, I really want to gift this book to x and y". Devine handles grief so well and gives a clear and supporting explanation on what you can do to cope with grief. You have to live with grief, not overcome it.
This book has such a powerful message and I'll be sure to buy it for myself and some friends who have had to face with grief once it publishes!

An absolutely brilliant resource for grieving people. Megan Devine is a global expert in the area, and understands deep loss personally. Her partner drowned in a river tragedy in 2009, and his death propelled her to explore and create grief support that heals.

Her newest book is a journal meant to walk alongside the reader during the grief process. It’s filled with helpful prompts for writing out your feelings, self-care strategies, daily tips, and so much more. No platitudes, no checklists or timetables to “put loss behind you.” Just the real real. Most highly recommended!

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 18 May 2021
#HowtoCarryWhatCantBeFixed #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Sounds True, and NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

A great book on facing grief and understanding it. This illustrated book features many exercises that help you open up to grief and learn how to deal with it. I found this to be an excellent manual and all the exercises to be really helpful.

*Thanks Netgalley and Sounds True for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*