Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who's Been There by Tara Schuster

 

DNF @ 30%

Okay, so I've been struggling with this book for a while. I originally bought it because I loved the title and I struggle with getting myself nice things because deep down, I kind of feel like I don't deserve them. And I actually agree with a lot of the things the author says, like how when you have depression and anxiety but you also come from a background of privilege, you might actually feel a lot of guilt over being so depressed and anxious because you don't feel like you "deserve" to. This book also emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and self-care, which I also think are really important.

I think this book fails, though, because in trying to relate, the author came off as pretty unrelatable to me. I can't afford theater tickets and I'm not on any first-name bases with celebrities. She does come off as very privileged and while I love that she was up front with that, I couldn't really relate to her life, and the pop psychology/girl, I got you vibe of this book kind of made this feel like a secular version of GIRL, WASH YOUR FACE, which I really can't stand.

For some people this might be a good book but I didn't really like it. It's a self-help book, with memoir elements, and if that's your jam you'll probably like this. Personally, she lost me when she started talking about how much she loved journaling and the merits of positive psychology. I have a very toxic relationship with journaling and no longer do that, and I don't really like positive psychology because I feel like it's been co-opted in the social media sphere by people who practice toxic positivity.

2 out of 5 stars