How I read this: Free ebook copy received through NetGalley

Lauren Ruotolo is a person who deserves tremendous respect - with her challenges, she really did achieve a lot, and her point of view is incredibly positive and strong. She is really very inspiring and seems to be an amazing person.

Despite the fact that most of us haven't suffered such challenges as Lauren has, however, her outlook might not be for everyone. Lauren seems to be an extremely tough person, raised to be such by incredibly supportive parents and hard challenges who made her that way early on, as formative experiences. Those of us who may not have had strong allies as we were forming our personalities, may find it much harder to keep a stiff upper lip as Lauren does through all sorts of hardship, or the will to keep going.

This is why I don't think most of the stuff Lauren lives by is something I can live by myself, unfortunately. I believe a part of that is also because she's American, and the life and work ethic and also what's normal about it in the States is very different from how we think of it in Europe, particularly the Scandinavian work and life balance that's being more and more recognized. While I agree that Lauren has achieved great and truly amazing things, I don't know if that life is for everyone, and I also don't know if every and any kind of personality can just as simply adopt the Polyanna attitude that "nothing will break you", because we are all very different, and we deal with things differently (for example, a lot of the stuff works out for Lauren the way it does is because she's extroverted - it's very different for introverts, and I don't believe there's anything wrong with being an introvert - we should all be who we are). More than that, Lauren was blessed with knowing exactly what she wanted out of life and how she wanted it - and it seems that most of us are not, and that's the primary reason many of us don't do anything 'grand' - and there's nothing wrong with that either. Plain, simple lives have plenty of value too - I don't believe everyone should be some sort of superstar or guru of their industry. That's not how it works. I also don't believe we should all be high achievers. That's the difference between the US and European view. We value quality of life much more than some career achievements. Your life isn't the sum of your jobs.

Lauren also goes on about how important it is to be, and to aim to be unforgettable - but as an introvert, I'm not sure I agree. I don't want to stand out - I can think of nothing worse than always being the center of attention (although my work often calls for me to be that). That's one thing extroverts never understand about introverts, and they mistake quietness and 'preferring to stay behind the scenes' for 'is afraid and is unhappy'. Being unforgettable and the star of the show isn't everyone's ambition, and it's alright if it isn't. Stars need an audience to be stars. Let people be the audience. It doesn't make you inherently 'less valuable' if you'd prefer the stay in the audience.

Despite that, Lauren does give some compassionate, smart advice about how to care less about people who are essentially making your life harder (I especially applaud all she said about dating and your love life! So many things every woman should know, regardless of how she looks or how popular she is, I feel like we all fall for so many of the same things in dating.) There are certainly things you can learn from her experience, and like I said, I have nothing but respect for this amazing person. Her passion for life is quite unbelievable, and very inspiring. I am happy to have read her life story - to be able to see a person make a brilliant life for herself, despite the obstacles, is always really wholesome.

One of my favorite things Lauren teaches about rejection, is this: "Just because someone cannot see the obvious talents you possess doesn't mean they're not there." That is certainly a thing to keep in mind, and I'll leave this review with that vibe.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

More of my reviews can be found on: https://avalinahsbooks.space