Review: You're Not that Great by Elan Gale

You're Not that Great

by Elan Gale

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 192

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  I am addicted to positivity. I am addicted to positivity. I am addicted to positivity.

I care more about feeling great than being great.
I am NOT THAT GREAT. 

The self-help industry tells you that if you're positive, if you put your best foot forward and if you just believe in yourself that you will find happiness. Let's be real, you can read all the inspirational quotes you want. You can spend your days giving yourself affirmations in your heart-shaped mirror and trying to learn to love yourself. You can say your mantra over and over again while sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat in a Whole Foods parking lot. But the truth is, you're not a badass and you still don't have the life you want. That's where You're Not That Great (but neither is anyone else) comes in. This book teaches you how to harness all the negativity in the world and use it to improve your life, taking everyday feelings like self-loathing, regret and shame and making them work for you. Positive thinking is for assholes. Negative thinking is for winners.

Kritters Thoughts:  Right off the bat, I have to say that I would almost define this book as the anti self help, self help book.  From the first page the reader is taken down to size and through the book taught how to bring themselves back up and what that means when a person can do that for themselves.

It was an interesting read and as a person who doesn't read a ton of self help, it was out of my wheelhouse but intriguing.  I liked seeing self help not always sunshine and rainbows and also that you make yourself great and you have to do it yourself and you can't rely on anyone else to do anything to move you forward.  

I would recommend this book to someone who has read all the self help and wouldn't mind something a little different.  This shouldn't be read by anyone who is "faint of heart" because it could definitely be a kicker!


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Grand Central Publishing  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.