I enjoyed this, it's an extension of Sale's hit podcast.

It's a good read and the way the book is formatted is really helpful for re reading and using the advice.

I already knew of Anna Sale through her podcast 'Death, Sex and Money', so I was aware she was an intelligent and articulate communicator. But, I didn't know how well this would adapt to written form. Well, I'm pleased to say that it worked really well and Anna Sale has created a well written, informative and, in the best possible sense, a challenging read - how and why to have difficult conversations.

Although I would say the book is clearly inspired by the podcast, it isn't a rehash of podcast episodes. The podcast is occasionally referred to, but the book is so much more than that. The book covered five topics - death, sex, money, family and identity. In Anna Sale's usual style, she gently explores hard things through reflections on her own life and through other people's stories, as well as other research. She makes a compelling case for why having those hard conversations can make life easier to navigate, whether individually or with others by our side.

I thought this was a really good book that gave me much to reflect on. Recommended.

I haven't listened to the podcast by the author of this book but I definitely don't think that caused any detriment when reading the book. It's divided into chapters such as death, sex and money and it approaches the way we deal with these issues in romantic and platonic relationships. I thought it was a really interesting perspective and have definitely taken anyway some interesting advice from it.

I know the clue is in the title - but I found this book quite hard to read.
I wanted to come away feeling inspired, and having learnt more about these difficult topics - however I was left feeling slightly flat.

I didn't particularly like Anna Sales writing style - I have never listened to her podcast, but I feel that because podcasting and the audio format is what she is used to, maybe I would have preferred and got a lot more out of the audio version of this book.

I didn't get any great insight into the topics, and found it very slow paced and dull at times. The summaries at the end of each chapter were more interesting and intriguing to me than the chapters themselves. I liked the way Sale summed everything up more than the ploddy writing of the chapters.

I know Anna Sale through her podcast and this book is an extension of it in all the best ways. As I was reading the book her voice was the one I was hearing in my head. I like the formatting of the book and the quotes used to help separate sections. This book made me think and feel all the things.