I have follow Dave's Instagram account and absolutely love every single post. It's so nice to have them all in a single place, plus a few new ones. This will make a great gift for like-minded friends.

I loved Disappointing Affirmations. I follow the Instagram page and it’s always nice to be able to see a collection of “posts” in a compilation. I recognized some of the affirmations from his Insta, but I feel a lot of it was new material. The photographs seemed to match the affirmations in mood, but I found myself wondering where some of the beautiful photos were taken and this information was not included. I am not sure if this will be an issue in a hard copy of the book, but I struggles with the big affirmations being written across two pages. Overall, I enjoyed the content, but if I recommended it I’d likely recommend a hard copy version.

I loved this so much that I immediately went online to see how to preorder the book and looked to see if there were other mediums -- great news, there are postcards too!
Positive affirmations are great but it's wonderful to see something real and know that I'm not alone.
Thanks SO MUCH to NetGalley for letting me read this

If I could give this book ten stars, I totally would. My daughter and I read these in one sitting and laughed so much that we were crying. I then read them all again. I follow this account on instagram, too, and I cannot recommend it enough. I normally don't enjoy humor that puts others down but this is written in such a way that it is clear it's humor and not personal. I just love it and will read it again and again any time i need a good, honest laugh.


with gratitude to netgalley and Chronicle Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

What a darn joy. I follow this account on instagram so I for sure needed this when it came up. Maybe it shows how mentally ill I am that I related to every affirmation. I made a sign in my house based off of one. Love it. Healed me.

Anyone who has followed Dave Tarnowski's instagram posts knows what good medicine "Disappointing Affirmations" are for a culture steeped in toxic positivity. They are fabulous! Perfect for when you need encouragement or a laugh. Great to share with co-workers and friends. Highly recommended! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A hilarious look at non postive affirmations on gorgeous postive landscapes. I giggled at a lot of them. I know it’s not for everyone but I personally found it hilarious!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"Negative" feelings need affirming too."

Disappointing Affirmations by Dave Tarnowski offers a scathingly funny new twist on how we approach our feelings. Too often, negative feelings are admonished and seen as selfish, shameful, and even "problematic." In recent years, the phenomenon of being positive about everything, even in light of needing to be aware of something harmful or outright sad or destructive, has become prevalent online and in every day life. We see marketing about always forcing a smile and being bubbly, cheery, and happy. We see people online talking about toxic positivity.

In response, we have seen an increase in the exact opposite-- examples that immediately come to mind is the InspiroBot phenomenon, where negative feelings are challenged with often hilarious and overexaggerated quotes poking fun at depression, sadness, and loneliness. As well, the Sorrowscopes twitter does the same, with equally funny bites of ironic negativity.

Disappointing Affirmations challenges the belief that we have to always be "happy" in order to move forward and succeed in a sarcastic, hilarious way in which the core theme is that these negative emotions and feelings deserve to be acknowledged in their own right. That, in fact, there is power in saying "I feel bad" and having someone else affirm that by saying "hey, me too." There is power within the solidarity of having someone there who shares in your struggles.

In fact, Disappointing Affirmations offers us the ability and space to voice these emotions, give them weight, pull them out of your chest and lay them bare in front of yourself, and then move forward without having to carry that weight on your shoulders. As Dave Tarnowski says in his forward, "nothing takes the power away from a fear like looking at it straight on."

Most importantly, Dave Tarnowski's Disappointing Affirmations are not a message saying never do anything, or that you can't climb out of the darkness, but instead he says: "don't be afraid to try new things, like maybe getting your shit together."

Thank you Dave Tarnowski and Chronicle Books for this advance copy!

This is absolutely hilarious. I wish I could print these out on card-stock and thumbtack them to my cubicle. Some of my coworkers need to see them too.

I follow the Disappointing Affirmations instagram and have for quite some time now. It's one of the few accounts that aren't a family or friend that I have set up to notify me of new posts. I was so excited to see this book offered up on netgalley for full review! Something about the mix of snark, sad thoughts and gorgeous pictures make my day. I'm not one to usually enjoy cheesy quotes that placate a bad day so these just work for me. They honestly usually give me pause and cause some self reflection on bad days. Am I the problem? Most definitely but hey, so is Dave so at least I'm not alone! I'm pretty sure this book will be featured prominently on my coffee table upon publishing.

Disappointing Affirmations by Dave Tarnowski is absolutely hilarious. I have followed Disappointing Affirmations on Instagram for a while. This book takes the best of that work and adds even more laughs. I also did not know that the author took the photos himself. They are lovely.

Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of the Disappointing Affirmations Instagram account, so I was beyond thrilled to get the chance to read an ARC of this book. It was everything I hoped it would be: equal parts heart and tongue-in-cheek. This book makes me feel SO seen, and once it’s available for purchase, I’ll be buying physical copies for myself and a few friends, too. This is a book I know I’ll come back to often and page through when I need it—and these days, I feel like I need it a LOT.