Review of Embracing Serenity A Holistic Guide to Emotional Well-being

[Alice Heritage]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Embracing Serenity A Holistic Guide to Emotional Well-being" by Jennifer Grace.]

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1 out of 5 stars

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I was intrigued to read the non-fiction book Embracing Serenity: A Holistic Guide to Emotional Well-being by Jennifer Grace because the blurb seemed to promise tips on integrating tools like massage into work to improve emotional health. Unfortunately, however, this book was so disappointing that I cannot give it more than one out of five stars for reasons I shall explain below.

The first red flag was the absence of a disclaimer at the beginning, that is, a note advising that the book is not meant to give medical advice and that readers must consult a physician before trying any of the techniques referenced. Such disclaimers are critical, in part because physicians do not agree on the effectiveness of alternative health approaches and some believe that mindfulness meditation can make depression worse, for example.

On that front, and second, the information about the effects of the techniques discussed is not backed up by any evidence. There are no references or citations, no hint at any research to underpin the assertion that using "I" statements is an effective way of dealing with anger in relationships, for example. Of course, this makes sense, and the book contains good advice in general. However, this was connected with a third problem.

The following excerpt illustrates it. "Break Tasks into Manageable Steps: Divide larger tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. This approach makes the workload seem less overwhelming." This comes after a similar pair of sentences about prioritization, and that's all the chapter has to say about time management. As can be seen from the above quote, the first sentence under the title merely paraphrases it. What's written is fair enough as far as it goes, but it doesn't go very far. There are no details or examples. To put it another way, passage after passage failed to teach me anything I didn't already know, because everything was dealt with so briefly, never breaking the surface.

In connection with the fact that this book consists of platitudes that don't go anywhere, and fourthly, the content is impersonal. The author shares no personal takes or experience. So the book is extremely generic and lacking in depth or colour. As topics are repeatedly dismissed in a couple of general sentences, this is a quick read, but despite being short, it's repetitive. Sometimes identical or lightly paraphrased passages reappeared within pages of each other. This repetitiveness represented a fifth problem.

It also indicates a lack of careful editing. The writing style was clear and elegant at times, although words like "tapestry" and "delve" were overused. Typos and grammatical errors weren't an issue. However, beyond the repetition of passages, a sixth problem was the incoherent organization of the text. For example, a topic was designated as "E" when no other letters ("A, B, C, D") had come before it. One section randomly bore the Roman numeral "VIII". These structural deficits represent a sixth drawback.

Anyone who would not be irritated by such issues might find this book vaguely useful as a primer on emotional regulation. It contains some legitimate good advice, albeit very minimalist. I don't think it conveys anything that couldn't easily be gleaned on the Internet for free, but it does collect similar information in one place, which might save a reader multiple searches. Unfortunately, the blurb was misleading and I did not find this worth reading, as it taught me nothing but simply rehashed common sense in a bland, soulless way.

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Embracing Serenity A Holistic Guide to Emotional Well-being
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[Gerry Steen]

How disappointing. The title of the book sets the readers up to expect soothing, wholesome advice regarding emotional well-being. Well, you did your job as a reviewer and listed some pointers on how to improve the quality of the book. I hope the author will make use of, and benefit from, your advice.

[Anthony Caleb]

So sad that this book got this rating, I was intrigued to know why it got such rating, the reviewer have done well as a disclaimer is surely important in such a book.

[Alice Heritage]

How disappointing. The title of the book sets the readers up to expect soothing, wholesome advice regarding emotional well-being. Well, you did your job as a reviewer and listed some pointers on how to improve the quality of the book. I hope the author will make use of, and benefit from, your advice.

Yes, we can hope. Thank you for your kind comment!

[Alice Heritage]

So sad that this book got this rating, I was intrigued to know why it got such rating, the reviewer have done well as a disclaimer is surely important in such a book.

A disclaimer would have been a good start and should be included in any book on such topics. Thanks for reading and commenting!

[Jennifer Coxon]

That is very disappointing. It’s never good when you are looking forward to a book to be let down in so many ways. The content is obviously a big issue, but structural errors also really annoy me.

[Alice Heritage]

That is very disappointing. It’s never good when you are looking forward to a book to be let down in so many ways. The content is obviously a big issue, but structural errors also really annoy me.

Indeed, it seemed very low effort in general. Thank you for your kind comment!