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bequavious's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
5.0
Very practical strategies to improve social skills and better connect with other people.
ladyrainicorn9's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
adtheriault's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.75
Has some interesting concepts, but generally boils down to find where your strong suits are for where and when to engage with people and most importantly, just have a genuine interest in other people.
misshalcyon's review against another edition
fast-paced
0.25
This book is like taking an introductory psychology course but leaving out the parts where the professor says "...but we don't know if that's actually accurate" and replacing it with 100% assurance and belief.
I had to put down the book once "love languages" came up. For anyone not in the know, the concept of love languages was created by a crazy pastor who insists that, for example, if your husband hits you it's just because his love language is "physical touch" and you, as a woman, aren't performing enough "acts of service" for him. Coincidentally, "acts of service" is how (he says) lots of women show love... which is good and "natural...." The whole concept of love languages was just made up by him and isn't based in any actual kind of science.
So when this book based a substantial chunk of its argument off the love languages malarky, the curtain on the rest of the book fell down for me too. The writer insists that you can guess what people want/need via figuring out their love language, and gives you handy diagrams and figures to do so. Except the foundation-- the entire idea of that-- is just bullshit, so what is this? Bullshit x2?
Hell, if I researched basic psychology (both the pop-psychology and the legitimate psychology) and then created a paradigm of "how to be successful at people" based off those concepts, I'm sure I'd be able to write a book too.
I started reading this book expecting innovative tips and tricks, but instead I was met with the equivalent of someone basing their understanding of human nature off of the Stanford Prison Experiment. (Also not science.)
Do not recommend.
I had to put down the book once "love languages" came up. For anyone not in the know, the concept of love languages was created by a crazy pastor who insists that, for example, if your husband hits you it's just because his love language is "physical touch" and you, as a woman, aren't performing enough "acts of service" for him. Coincidentally, "acts of service" is how (he says) lots of women show love... which is good and "natural...." The whole concept of love languages was just made up by him and isn't based in any actual kind of science.
So when this book based a substantial chunk of its argument off the love languages malarky, the curtain on the rest of the book fell down for me too. The writer insists that you can guess what people want/need via figuring out their love language, and gives you handy diagrams and figures to do so. Except the foundation-- the entire idea of that-- is just bullshit, so what is this? Bullshit x2?
Hell, if I researched basic psychology (both the pop-psychology and the legitimate psychology) and then created a paradigm of "how to be successful at people" based off those concepts, I'm sure I'd be able to write a book too.
I started reading this book expecting innovative tips and tricks, but instead I was met with the equivalent of someone basing their understanding of human nature off of the Stanford Prison Experiment. (Also not science.)
Do not recommend.
annuloeb's review against another edition
5.0
The best book about people I have read! Vanessa van Edwards combines a lot of research about human behavior from many sources. A lot of these I have read about before, some topics have entire books dedicated to them (such as the Five Love Languages). The author boils all of it down into relatable bite size chapters that you can immediately test out on yourself and people around you.
This books is an excellent resource for understanding people and developing better relationships.
Personally I plan to turn right back to page one and start taking notes and testing out all the theories and exercises.
This books is an excellent resource for understanding people and developing better relationships.
Personally I plan to turn right back to page one and start taking notes and testing out all the theories and exercises.
cheymathews's review against another edition
4.0
What can I say, I’m a sucker for personality tests!
Longer review: I greatly enjoyed this book especially since it had me thinking about in-person interactions, which let’s be honest, I haven’t had many of those recently. The second section was the most useful for me but there is something interesting in each section.
I love the structure — how to impress people in the first five minutes, first five hours and first five days. I also loved all of the diagnostics and tests within. It made this an introspective read as well.
Longer review: I greatly enjoyed this book especially since it had me thinking about in-person interactions, which let’s be honest, I haven’t had many of those recently. The second section was the most useful for me but there is something interesting in each section.
I love the structure — how to impress people in the first five minutes, first five hours and first five days. I also loved all of the diagnostics and tests within. It made this an introspective read as well.