Official Review: Let Yourself Be by CJ Lacsican

[Cecilia_L]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Let Yourself Be" by CJ Lacsican.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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"A greater part of this book is a look back at my past. The past--no matter how painful it was--is a part of my life. It also contains my jar of happiness, my jar of learnings, my jar of optimisms, and my jar of becoming who I am today."

CJ Lacsican hopes to inspire readers to think about, reflect on, and take responsibility for their experiences in her self-help book, Let Yourself Be: A Past You Must Embrace. Lacsican transparently shares her journey from her darkest childhood memory to contentment and happiness. She reveals both the blessings and the challenges she faces as a Filipino woman working primarily with men. From the start, Lacsican is upfront that she doesn't have all the answers. Instead, she challenges readers to contemplate questions, such as "Why are we here?" and "Have you ever felt stuck, worn out, or disillusioned with the path you are on?"

The 144-page book is professionally edited and traverses themes of confidence, doubt, fear, loss, grief, rebellion, courage, forgiveness, personal growth, and acceptance. Lacsican's writing style is introspective, conversational, and occasionally humorous; one can imagine chatting with her in a cafe, pondering life's questions. In the second chapter, Lacsican reveals a tragic childhood experience that speaks volumes about her ability to love, forgive, move forward, and find purpose. Since she doesn't disclose the experience in the synopsis and stops just before sharing it in the Amazon sample, I am intentionally refraining from sharing more details.

Although currently based in Budapest, Lacsican's customer care work for a financial service company has taken her to various countries in Asia and Europe. Her love of travel and passion for photography were evident, and I especially enjoyed her gorgeous photographs from exotic places, such as Greece, France, Malaysia, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Spain, Morocco, and many others. I also found one of the travel practices that she shared quite interesting. Lacsican frequents bus tours for retirees "to visit lots of places and have enough time to take photos." Despite being at least 20 years younger than most of the seniors, she appreciates their slower pace, the questions they ask, and the food they bring on the bus. Lacsican never goes hungry, and a few have played matchmaker for her as well.

Lacsican's beautiful photography further enhances the book's professional presentation. There isn't anything I dislike about it, although I will note that it contains several instances of borderline profanity. I am pleased to rate Let Yourself Be 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend the book to fans of self-help and those who enjoy travel photography.

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Let Yourself Be
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[ErikaA2001]

In "Let Yourself Be" by CJ Lacsican I love how no matter how painful her past was she still continues to move forward. She amused me because if her thoughtful word her intention was to inspire her readers to show that no matter what mind of state they are in she hopes her story shows them responsibility and so much more. She wants them to continue and be their own self no matter what situation.

[Ngozi Onyibor]

This sounds like a good story that reminds one to take life slowly and just live. I hope I get a chance to read it. Thanks for sharing.

[That Reviewer]

I'm an advocate of letting yourself be all that you can be. The temptation to be like other people or become what we aren't wired to become rises as we walk through life. It's important we look inward and let out the best version of us there is at all times. I'm so adding this book to my shelf.

[Stephanie Elizabeth]

I'm an advocate of letting yourself be all that you can be. The temptation to be like other people or become what we aren't wired to become rises as we walk through life. It's important we look inward and let out the best version of us there is at all times. I'm so adding this book to my shelf.

I completely agree! Well said. I have been an introvert my whole life, but I always put so much pressure on myself to be more outgoing. Once I fully embraced that I would never be the "life of the party" I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

This sounds like such an inspirational book. Thanks for another great review, Cecilia!

[That Reviewer]

I'm an advocate of letting yourself be all that you can be. The temptation to be like other people or become what we aren't wired to become rises as we walk through life. It's important we look inward and let out the best version of us there is at all times. I'm so adding this book to my shelf.

I completely agree! Well said. I have been an introvert my whole life, but I always put so much pressure on myself to be more outgoing. Once I fully embraced that I would never be the "life of the party" I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

This sounds like such an inspirational book. Thanks for another great review, Cecilia!

I'm very logical and like to work with facts and not sentiments. It doesn't say well with a couple folks around me. But I can't try to become sentimental and lose the one thing that makes me unique.

Cecilia writes tasty reviews. I've read a couple of them and she crushes it time and again. Maybe I could get a few tips on how she does it.

[Cecilia_L]

In "Let Yourself Be" by CJ Lacsican I love how no matter how painful her past was she still continues to move forward. She amused me because if her thoughtful word her intention was to inspire her readers to show that no matter what mind of state they are in she hopes her story shows them responsibility and so much more. She wants them to continue and be their own self no matter what situation.

Thank you, Erika.

[Cecilia_L]

This sounds like a good story that reminds one to take life slowly and just live. I hope I get a chance to read it. Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome. I appreciate your comment, Michelle.

[Cecilia_L]

I'm an advocate of letting yourself be all that you can be. The temptation to be like other people or become what we aren't wired to become rises as we walk through life. It's important we look inward and let out the best version of us there is at all times. I'm so adding this book to my shelf.

I completely agree! Well said. I have been an introvert my whole life, but I always put so much pressure on myself to be more outgoing. Once I fully embraced that I would never be the "life of the party" I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

This sounds like such an inspirational book. Thanks for another great review, Cecilia!

I can relate to both of your comments. I am totally an introvert. It's hard enough accepting yourself without worrying about the expectations of others! Thanks for sharing!

[Cecilia_L]

I'm an advocate of letting yourself be all that you can be. The temptation to be like other people or become what we aren't wired to become rises as we walk through life. It's important we look inward and let out the best version of us there is at all times. I'm so adding this book to my shelf.

I completely agree! Well said. I have been an introvert my whole life, but I always put so much pressure on myself to be more outgoing. Once I fully embraced that I would never be the "life of the party" I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

This sounds like such an inspirational book. Thanks for another great review, Cecilia!

I'm very logical and like to work with facts and not sentiments. It doesn't say well with a couple folks around me. But I can't try to become sentimental and lose the one thing that makes me unique.

Cecilia writes tasty reviews. I've read a couple of them and she crushes it time and again. Maybe I could get a few tips on how she does it.

Thanks for your kind words about my reviews. I am a voracious reader and read/write daily. Regarding reviews, I proofread multiple times and one of the best ways I catch mistakes is by reading my review aloud before posting it. I know reviewers have mixed emotions about Grammarly, but I find it helpful to edit reviews.

[Passion2021]

"Let Yourself Be" is a spiritual type book which promotes the lesson of exploring one's past and learn from childhood. The writer's perception about childhood and heydays looks real about the facts and she didn't put them in mysterious ways. Her experiences of childhood provide the ways of moving ahead with the attributes of loving, caring and forgiving. Moreover her book presentation is awe with lots of care about its contexts and feature.

[Jeremie Mondejar]

I think I will love this book because pictures are included. Thank you.

[Cecilia_L]

I think I will love this book because pictures are included. Thank you.

You're welcome. Thanks for your comment.

[Verna Coy]

This sounds like an entertaining book with some wonderful advice on life lessons. Thanks for the detailed review!

[mary-annef]

What a beautiful review! I love the idea of her writing feeling like a chat over coffee. I have added it to my bookshelf and look forward to her photos and the setups by the old folks bus tourists:-)