Reviews

Ask Polly's Guide to Your Next Crisis by Heather Havrilesky

geekwayne's review against another edition

4.0

'Ask Polly's Guide to Your Next Crisis' by Heather Havrilesky is a collection of questions and brutally honest answers for a modern age.

The questions mainly focus on love, but there are also question about continuing writing and one even question continuing living. Polly answers frankly and in very frank language. She's the kind of voice you wish your best friend had (or perhaps does, if you're so lucky). The answers are not always what the questioner wants, but the advice feels solid and heartfelt, or even gut-felt, if that's a thing.

The situations we get ourselves in to can be complicated by tunnel vision and our own skewed view of what is happening. It's good to know there is someone willing to be frank, especially in some of the more dire cases in this book.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Vintage, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

amcloughlin's review against another edition

4.0

You know a book speaks to you when you send excerpts via weirdly-lit photos and weirdly-cropped screenshots to the people who matter most to you. This is one of the very best.

introspectiv's review

inspiring reflective

4.25

This book was jam-packed with advice. It was written for people in the middle class, by a person in the middle class. Either way, I'm thankful that at least she did not sound condescending in any way. She might swear a lot, but it's not meant to bring the reader down, or anyone else down. Whoever doesn't follow her advice. 

Some segments made me cry since I was forced to suddenly process some shit that really hurt me last year. Other segments gave me great advice for something I haven't or will never go through. Either way, it was a good idea to go through all of 'em, not just the segments I was interested in based on the title. After all, I was unexpectedly thrown off by some segments. Didn't think it would apply to me.

Here are some of my main takeaways, which I relate to my personal life: 
1) Things are NOT black and white! I tell this to myself a lot of times, but it's great to have someone else slap it to my face. I'm not completely in the wrong on what happened, regardless of what she thinks. She can't be completely right. I got hurt. There's no objective truth. She's become a symbol of something I need to process. And I need to continue accepting that I'll never get the closure I need in some situations. 
2) Be like an active volcano, one who pours out lava calmly, instead of bottling it all up until it violently explodes. You need to feel your feelings day by day, bit by bit. Don't wait until you're too overwhelmed, before you let others know how you feel. 
3) It's all in the little things. The work itself will equate to happiness. Love and success are mere side effects. Stop looking in the future all the damn time. Stop thinking that it's the external rewards that will make you happy. Enjoy the present. Do whatever the hell you wanna do. 

atc4m's review

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.75

wastelanderone's review against another edition

5.0

Heather Havrilesky has a way of seeing truth. She may wind and swoop her way to revealing it, but she is magical and her words will guide you.

If you are a fan of Ask Polly already, there is nothing here that you haven't already read.

But it is all still beautiful, glorious, and real.

Thanks to Netgalley for the read.

akhcreates's review

5.0

Real advice for real people

I've read a few self-help type books recently, and Heather Havrilesky's is my favorite so far. It feels real and tangible and actionable.