When kindness is shared, it grows…
Rating: 2/5
Trigger Warnings: None
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…So this book can’t really have spoilers…or triggers. It’s more of a lifestyle book than anything else, which means this is a bit of a difficult review to write.
Jaime Thurston, the author of Kindness, and an all round philanthropist set up 52 Lives in November 2013. 52 Lives is an organisation that aims to do small acts of kindness for a nominated person each week. For more on this, check out the 52 Lives website - I would definitely advise having a look at it and maybe getting involved because the world can always do with a little more kindness!
On the plus side, this book is beautiful. I received it as a gift after first reading The Little Book of Hygge and The Little Book of Lykke (technically I’ve read the first, and am currently reading the second - a review of both will definitely be posted shortly!). Kindness definitely fits in with them: it is a beautiful book which attempts to inspire a positive way of living. The illustrations are wonderful and have a calming element, and the coloured pages result in a a faint rainbow effect when the book is closed.
My problem with this book is that it’s more a list of bullet points than a whole book. Thurston lays out 52 ways to be kind, obviously reflecting the 52 Lives set up of one project a week for every week of the year. This is cute, but the points are often repetitive (e.g. ‘Switch Off and Connect’ and ‘Be Present’) or just bit ‘every day’ (e.g. ‘Smile’. I realise the point is to bring kindness into your everyday life, but I don’t think I need a book to tell me to do some of these things. Furthermore, I don’t need a hundred and something page book when there are roughly two sentences per point. It’s just a bit disappointing.
When I loved the aesthetic of the book more than the content I just don’t think I can give Kindness a better review. The sentiment is in the right place, but it’s nothing new. Whilst I wanted it to inspire me to be kinder, none of the suggestions were anything I couldn’t have come up with myself. It’s an alright read, and the fact I received it as a present means someone does know me very well - it should be right up my street. I just…didn’t love it.
All this being said, do check out the website, and try and instill a little kindness into your everyday life…you just don’t need this book to do it.
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