Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders

31 reviews

cavernism's review

reflective medium-paced

1.5

I read this expecting something totally different based on the book jacket description. I can't blame the author for writing more of a memoir, but I can blame the editor and publicist for marketing it as a self-help book when it really isn't. I was frustrated the with the lack of depth as to why it's hard to resist buying things and the cultural and environmental implications of this. I guess it's unfair for me to rate a book low based on what I wished the book was versus what it was trying to do, but I found it frustratingly surface-level on the issue of having lots of things in general, while also being unhelpful for the general person wanting to simplify their lives beyond very intuitive, basic things. Also, if it's going to be an effective memoir, the author should have a compelling story to tell. I got so bored hearing about her travel itineraries and disjointed details about her family, friends, and addictive habits. To paraphrase The Office, this book could on a list of memoirs titled 'People I Don't Care About.' That sounds really harsh - I think even the most "typical" lives can be made fascinating by a good writer. The writing is simply not compelling enough to make it a good memoir, nor is it insightful or informative enough to make it a good self-help book.

I also was not expecting the blithe fatphobia the author directs at herself (casually throwing in phrases like how much she weighed and how unattractive that made her at her lower points) or the pretty detailed descriptions of alcoholism. Overall, this book didn't have the content I was looking for, and even the resources section was laughably bare-bones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Fatphobia

asexualslut's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5

Really informative and I loved some of her points, my favorite being “Your values should not be your aspirations”. 

Some of the writing was repetitive to me but I’m glad i took the time to read it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

amelie09's review against another edition

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

arnold_shelby's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

3.0

I was reading this partially because it was available from the library and partially because I'm embarking on my own no-spend year and thought this might offer suggestions and advice. I felt that Cait did offer some very reasonable suggestions, but she also came across kind of condescendingly? Maybe that's because some of what she wrote was challenging to read as it reflected aptly to my situation, but other things (like her relationship with food) were treated unnecessarily callous and laced with diet culture and eating disordered behavior.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction

thequeenofsheba3's review

hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

vgartner's review

hopeful reflective slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

sarahmae531's review

hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, and it inspired me to do something similar in the future. 
I did enjoy that at the end, she gave specific dollar amounts of what she saved, spent, and lived on over the year of her ban, because it did help me to realize that with my current income and type of job, it may not be the best time to take this challenge on 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Moderate: Eating disorder and Mental illness

balvarez's review

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Alcohol

marnold's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

cceeee's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder and Fatphobia