May Be You Should Talk To Someone – Book Review

I came across this book multiple times but every time I put it away thinking it was a depressing book given the tissue papers on the book cover. But this time, I took some time to examine the contents of the book and I knew I would love it. Another reminder on ‘Don’t judge the book by its cover’. Thanks to Amazon prime, I was excited about the same day delivery as I couldn’t wait to start reading. Given how fat the book was, it took me a week to complete it and this one week has been life changing.

Ever since I read Tiny beautiful things, I wanted to read another book which can make me feel the same way. Then, this book happened to me after 5 years and I felt alive with emotions. 

One of the reasons why I absolutely loved this book is because I have been planning to make a career transition and it gave me a clear picture on what it means to me. This book is a case study of the lives of the author, John, Charlotte, Rita and Julie. Lori presented various psychological concepts in layman terms with the help of case studies. It felt as if I was revising all my concepts of psychology for an exam.

When I came to the part where Lori said, therapists also should talk to other therapists sometimes. She also mentioned how it takes time to find the right one for you. I felt that to be so true and wanted to give it a try and scheduled one. After talking to the therapist in the first session, I realised that it has been so long that I spoke to someone from my heart about all the emotions I repressed in a long while. Even though the first sessions are only getting to know sessions, my therapist was a young girl who listened to me in a non judgemental way. I realised that it was the first time I felt heard in a therapy session. After explaining my story, voicing it out helped me open up to a lot of areas of my own life I have been ignoring. I suddenly felt that I was progressing after feeling stuck in a plateau for a long time.

As I went through the book, I felt a deep sense of compassion towards my parents. It shifted the way I saw them and understood them. I can’t thank Lori enough for writing such a profound book.

The characters in the book are people who we see in our own lives – the friend like John who hides his love through criticism, the friend like Charlotte who chooses a guy who is unreliable, the friend like Rita who regrets the past and considers the future to be doomed. It feels good to see how each of these people have changed over the course, it provides a hope for change in our own friends who are struggling with similar issues.

The book is not only full of hope but also entwined with subtle humour. There were a lot of times when my husband had no clue why I was laughing so hard and came running from another room.

Overall, I consider it as a go to book to go for self soothing.  Whatever be the occasion, it has something to offer. A huge shout out to Lori for writing such an intimate story of each of our lives.