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Book review: Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind by Kristin Neff

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Review also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/26/b...

This self-development audiobook, also available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle on Amazon, is narrated by the author herself. It explores the intertwined personal baggage of her life, ranging from an extramarital affair to her son’s autistic diagnosis and how she and her partner cope with its reality, among other topics. However, the reality of Neff’s writing, for an accomplished professor and leading expert in this field, fell short of expectations. Her tone is more suitable for a group of frightened children than for an adult target audience.

The key principles Neff focuses on in the book are the three components of self-compassion
• Self-kindness
• Shared humanity
• Mindfulness

By sharing examples from her life or general ones picked from a hat, Neff explains how each component is relevant to the self-compassion process, essentially telling readers not to resort to a self-pity party every time they get hurt. However, her mellow tone and use of ‘Poor Darling’ to address her inner self are aggravating at times, as if she is dumbing down her message, which is an insult to herself and, frankly, to the reader as well.

Neff goes on to explain that self-compassion is equivalent to being gentle and understanding with oneself, rather than being harshly critical and judgmental, and to self-forgive. From pages 195 to 199, she talks about her marital affair and how she left her first husband for another man, but that man did not leave his wife and eventually died of cancer; she realizes the pain it caused everyone, but in the end, she forgave herself for her indiscretion and moved on. She uses other examples of self-forgiveness with her son and her reaction to his diagnosis, such as his non-verbal tantrums and how she deals with them. It all ends with a version of “Poor Darling, take a moment, inner monologue, self-forgiveness.” Rinse and repeat. It’s as if it’s her mantra on suffering.

This is a moment of suffering.
Suffering is part of life.
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I give myself the compassion I need.

Neff says we must recognize our common humanity and shares an example on page 9 of a homeless man who offers to wash your car window for $1.00 as a way to connect readers to the experience of someone else’s life rather than isolating them in their suffering. However, this basic, most common act of compassion felt like a cheap shot.

She also provides meditation exercises to help readers find their inner peace and serenity. However, these mindfulness attempts fell flat because they did not dive past the surface to the core of what meditation or mindfulness is, but remained superficial. Neff also discusses the importance of balanced awareness and how all three components of equality are necessary to achieve true self-compassion.

Throughout the book, Neff’s examples didn’t always quite hit home, leaving a vague feeling of frustration that the theme was being lost in translation. Without her personal story intertwined, this book could have easily been cut in half, and the core message more succinct, with an inner voice that doesn’t sound like it’s speaking to a five-year-old, which would help it carry more weight. Sadly, as it stands, this is a 2-star listen or read.




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Book review: Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/25/b...

The audiobook, also available in paperback, hardcover, or Kindle versions on Amazon, is narrated by the author herself. However, the editor should’ve mentioned to her how inconsistent of a narrator she is by shooting herself in the foot when she admits not knowing whether what she had previously written in books about her life is true:

“Not sure if she wrote it and then lived her life to be that, or if it was her actual life.”

Doesn’t really inspire trustworthiness. Yet, no one can say Doyle wasn’t honest.

Although this book is coined as a memoir, it’s geared more towards preaching self-help, power to feminism, and rah-rah. Doyle’s story as a strong woman: recovered alcoholic, bulimic, humanitarian, activist, wife, mother of three, former Christian, and now lesbian, is like a metronome ticking between love and hate, which leaves readers with negative and positive reactions at the same time. Unfortunately, negativity has defeated the power of positive thoughts.

The start of Doyle’s journey and her cheetah metaphor and cages provoked a great visual, and it had promise, especially when she broached the girls vs. boys. How society doesn’t seem to realize that boys are also in cages, but as the story unfolded, it took on a self-righteous attitude. The look at me, I’m better than you vibe is one way to annoy readers, and it got borderline narcissistic. The harsh tone and, at times, unflattering anecdotes about her loved ones made her sound selfish, a stark reminder of Kanye West’s song “Selfish” featuring John Legend.

Doyle’s themes of honoring yourself, bursting societal boundaries, and fighting inequality aren’t new ones; they’re appealing and honorable, to be sure. The problem is that they lack authenticity. The quotes Doyle used from years prior are too perfect, like the conversations have been reframed, polished, and edited for the narrative she wanted to share with the readers. This creates a disconnect, which makes this a 2.5-star listen or read.



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Book review: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/24/b...

The audiobook, also available in paperback, hardcover, or Kindle versions on Amazon or your local library, is narrated by the author herself, adding to the audiobook’s personal aspect. Based on Cassie Phillips Let Them and Let Me poems, Robbins turned the book into a “theory” and mass-marketed it. Every serious reader must consider whether Robbins is guilty of plagiarism or if it falls under the spectrum of recycled work. After all, in the publishing industry, nothing new under the sun gets published, right? Authors put their twist on classic tropes, spin their magic, and poof, a book emerges.

Robbins’s Let Them Theory is a classic self-help tool that reminds readers to stop letting others control them. The best quote to sum this up is the following one:

“You’ve wasted so many years being so consumed with other people, their feelings, their thoughts, and what they’re doing. So let this book be your wake-up call; you are in charge.”

The message that Robbins kept spouting in each chapter was the call to “Let Them,” which she repeated insistently, often reducing the message to redundancy. Her intentional way of making it sink into readers’ brains is like the cognitive mantras on positive thinking. The “Let Me” part is on the message’s flip side. Basically, empowering the reader to take action, for example, let your family have crazy political beliefs, let cashiers be slow at the check-out counter, let the dog walker leave poop on the trail, etc. Instead of allowing these situations to dwell and fester, move on or take charge, live, and let live. It’s an age-old message said in different words. Let’s face it: Elsa even sang about it in Frozen. Save yourself 20$ bucks. Listen to the song on repeat a few times and take what you will from it.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the fact that we’ll never stop encountering situations we don’t like and can’t control. Robbins’s advice is simple: Let them happen. Life isn’t fair, but Let Me decide how to adapt to the situation. However, the whole manuscript could have used some editing to tighten and shorten the overall piece, making it more concise.

Robbins’s easygoing nature, frankness, and genuine way of sharing her life experiences and how she applied the “Let Them Theory” to fix her failures and strive to change her life’s outlook were relatable. Without them, her message could have easily been a podcast episode or published as an article. Questionable plagiarism and redundancy aside, Robbins’s personal touches turned this into a palatable 3.5-star listen or read.



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Book Review: The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing

The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing by Mary-Frances O'Connor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/23/b...

The author narrates the audiobook, available on Amazon. It’s not easy to listen to, as grief is a raw emotion. How O’Connor peels back the layers, exposing every aspect of the grieving process and how it impacts every organ and system in our body, can be a trigger if you are navigating through grief yourself. Therefore, read or listen at your own pace.

O’Connor puts into words the neuroscience behind grief explaining how the body responds to it by sharing a multitude of medical information on the body by detailing the impacts it will have on our immune system, liver, lungs, brain, and our hearts providing the reader with an understanding of what they may be experiencing, feeling, but are unable to put into words themselves as they grieve which can be give them a sense of reassurance in the “I am not alone” this is normal, others also go through this and survive. She shares her personal experience of loss and the physical and mental symptoms she suffered, which is both genuine and relatable.

This book resembles Van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score. Both offer a great wealth of information, and while they are not easy to read since the topics aren’t light and breezy, they are worth the read or listen. O’Connor is thorough and knowledgeable, and her openness makes her easy to relate to, which makes this book a 3.5-star one.



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Book review: The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Review also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/20/b...

Yeong-Gwang’s debut novel is bursting with magical realism, a thought-provoking, feel-good storyline, a light touch of fantasy, and a cast of fun characters, including a magical, size-changing spirit guide cat named Issha, who behaves more like a puppy. Honestly, the cat was the most heartfelt, genuine character. The simplistic writing, perhaps attributed to a poor translation issue, is suitable for a middle school audience.

Set in North Korea, Yeong-Gwang introduces us to Serin, a school girl, age undetermined, who reads about a magical place, The Rainfall Market, where one can purchase a glass orb containing the life they wish for, run by human-like people called the Dokkaebi. This term is something else lost in translation since their description doesn’t fit the Korean lore: Dokkaebi are nature deities or spirits, Korean goblins, possessing extraordinary powers and abilities that allow them to interact with and play tricks on humans, and are always depicted as fearsome and awe-inspiring, not human-like people.

Serin’s favorite radio program has a segment called Stories from the Listeners, where one listener’s letter about their hardships earns them a ticket to The Rainfall Market. She writes the show her letter about how her father died when she was young, her sister ran away, and she is friendless, with zero prospects for her future. When they choose her letter, she embarks on an unimaginable adventure to the Rainfall Market, where pursuing the dream life she wants proves to be more dangerous than she could’ve imagined, since someone there is no longer playing by the rules.

Yeong-Gwang took too long to get the action going; the climax occurred near the end, and the denouement felt like cliff jumping and landing face-first in a basin of frigid water. The entire book is a caveat emptor theme, and then it makes a three-sixty turn without warning, and evil lurks in every corner, enough to give any reader whiplash. As for character development, it was lackluster. Why is Serin’s mother so clueless? What happened to the sister? So much potential is left unanswered.

The redeemable aspects of this book were Serin’s youthful self-discovery mid-peril and the adorable kitty companion, which made it a charming 2.5-star read.



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A Grumpy Billionaire’s Fake Engagement by Vivia Oliver

A Grumpy Billionaire's Fake Engagement by Vivian Oliver

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


The review is also available on my site:https://roxannacross.com/2025/01/31/b...

NetGalley provided this ARC for an honest review.

If you are looking to unplug for an hour or two and don’t mind the apparent potholes in the storyline that will have you wondering if you just picked up book six of a series instead of a standalone, then this billionaire, runaway bride, fake engagement, jilted groom, what that’s not enough, single dad, second chance, surprise heiress, found family and more tropes that could possibility fit into a story, this one might be for you.

Mia thought she had her life all figured out until Ethan Sinclair burst open the church doors before she could say “I do” and walked her out of her wedding, stopping her from making the worst mistake of her life. In the same breath, he makes her deal: to be his fake fiancé. And everything goes downhill from there.

Oliver’s execution is disjointed. There is no flow to the writing. The jarring time jumps leave readers struggling to piece the story together. The backstory, which seems to impact the present decisions, is sorely lacking. Why all the glitzy parties? Sure, it makes for glamorous settings, but without context or substance, what’s the point? Readers are not invested since we have no knowledge of why Ethan needs a fiancé for his business; besides him saying he does, no details are given. Oliver’s writing is tell, tell, and more tell; where is the show to draw us in? The entirety of the book felt underdeveloped and rushed, resulting in a chaotic ride.

This book’s most lovable and authentic character is Lily, Ethan’s daughter. The single dad dynamics is on point. He worries about how his fake relationship with Mia will impact her and its consequences when they have to end the charade, which is the only genuine emotion Oliver brings to light, salvaging some of this reading experience. All in all, this was a disappointing 1-star read.





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Book review: Yours Truly Part of our World #2 by Abby Jimenez

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/01/31/b...

Yours Truly by Jimenez is a perfect fit for fans of tropes, including, but not limited to, office romance, rivals-to-lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, and miscommunication; however, the addressed topics of anxiety, depression, divorce, cheating, sibling with kidney failure doesn’t make for a light, easy, breezy read.

Briana Ortiz is hanging on by a thread; her life is in shambles. Her divorce is about to be finalized, and her brother can tick the time he has left to find a kidney donor, and the promotion she wants has been put on hold because of the new man doctor who just walked into her ER and is registering way up there on her “pain in my ass” scale, it only takes a letter to tip her world topsy-turvy where trust will need to be earned and fears conquered. Jacob Maddox’s life is structured to manage his clinical anxiety; his new job at Royaume Northwestern Hospital is a necessity to avoid being around his ex-girlfriend, now engaged to his brother. His family worries about his mental health because of this new development, and Jacob panics and tells them he’s OK and has moved on and settled with a new girlfriend. He’s in a pickle now, with his anxiety buzzing within at an all-time high, when a Dr. crashes into him in the hallway, breaking his phone, and he calls her on it. To apologize, he sends Briana a letter, turning his linear world upside down and right side up.

Jimenez’s idea of the letter exchange was sweet and well-executed. However, the inner monologues of Briana and Jacob dragged on and were repetitive, so much so readers might quickly skim paragraphs or entire pages to avoid beating the dead horse to death again and again. Tighter editing could have cut some of these out to lessen the paranoia. Briana’s trust issues, Jacob’s anxiety, the miscommunication, the fake dating, and the circling each other with suppressed desire just fed the mistrust and the angst. They made the book feel more like a YA read when the subject matters of the organ donation for her brother, dialysis, depression, the impact of her divorce, and her childhood pull the reader into serious scenes. Yet, the next minute is another self-doubt moment: “Oh no, he doesn’t like me because I’m not her,” or “Oh, she doesn’t think it’s real,” and on and on the same cyclone, which made the lack of honest, open communication sorely missed.

The biggest disappointment is Jimenez's slow-burning tension between the two to combust in one brief sex scene, so if you’re a reader looking for a spicy read, this isn’t it. The scene is so abrupt, almost like it was plugged in there as an afterthought, and the ending was another revelation that got wrapped up quickly, nearly giving the reader whiplash from the rush of it all. For a promising read, this one fell short and sits at 2.5 stars.




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Book review: Wildest Dreams by Meridith Claire

Wildest Dreams by Meridith Claire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/01/28/b...

NetGalley provided this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

American-born Filipina Mackenzie Almazan and golden Jewish boy Samson Madden have been joined at the hip since she was eight and he ten. Even after the devastating death of her uncle Deano, the man who raised her, it should be the happiest time in Mac’s life as she is planning her wedding to Sam, the center of her heart. Sam’s trajectory in the corporate world moves fast; he doesn’t realize he’s fallen into the “White Man Privilege” rabbit hole until one look exchanged between him and Mac shatters the oneness they once shared. Admittedly, the emotions felt stiff in this situation, being the catalyst that propelled each character on the path of self-discovery, it sorely lacked the gut-punch factor.

Chaoxiang Zhou, or Hunter, is a guy who seems to come out of nowhere, yet he is precisely what Mac needs. Hunter is terminally ill, and with the last few weeks of his life, he wants to help someone create their wildest dreams list and see if he can make them come true. The two of them and his assistant, Ollie, embark on a whirlwind journey where Mac learns about herself, crosses items off her dream list, and helps Hunter complete his. The friendships Mac knits with Hunter, Ollie, and Parker are steadfast, and the hardships of being with a loved one in their final days, those emotions rang true and hit the emotional chords.

Sam’s journey is a bit disjointed. Claire wrote the book in a dual POV; however, Mackenzie is the prominent voice. Still, readers get to know Sam, understand him, and see all the wrong turns he took while climbing that corporate ladder, and the idiom hard pill to swallow comes to mind. Still good on him for taking the time, with his mother’s and best friend’s help, to evaluate his changes and realize they weren’t necessarily for the better and what truly matters going forward.

Claire’s writing can go from active to passive, bordering on info dumps. It’s the show vs. tell conundrum. Maybe showing readers all the beautiful things Claire wanted would have turned this book into an eight-hundred-page monster. Who knows? However, the tight-knit friendships, the sense of community, and the values and honoring of loved ones passed through music, art, jewelry, and other little things are what mattered and what readers retained the most. The ending is original, gut-wrenching, and hopeful, all rolled into one. This book is a definite 3-star read.



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Book review: The Librarian and the Janitor Dirty Jobs Book 1 by Victoria Silk

The Librarian and the Janitor by Victoria Silk




The review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/01/22/b...
This short piece of 40 pages is a quick, erotic read without any character development; therefore, as a reader, if you are looking for such, this novella is not for you. However, this might do the trick if you are looking for a smutty fix.

The characters introduced by Silk are barely plausible. Sara is a librarian shelving books after hours, and she gets all hot and bothered reading the erotica she’s supposed to be shelving; instead, she hikes up her skirt and takes matters into her own hands to release the building tension her naughty reading caused. But she forgot all about the night janitor.

Luke never thought that running the most lucrative cleaning business in town with his brother would land him here, at the local library, watching a sex goddess of a librarian getting herself off in the erotica section. He takes advantage of the situation and takes control. This character gives off creepy stalker vibes, and Sara is oblivious to it because of the “good ministrations” he gives her.

Silk’s novella was like two stick figures going at it like rabbits on steroids, making it impossible for readers to root for their relationship. It feels like Silk missed her mark in fleshing this one out. The writing itself is in the first person and gets hard to follow at times, and Sara’s naiveté about sexual safety is mindboggling and borderline dangerous. The implausibility of the situations, lack of character development, and the hard-to-follow writing made this a .5-star read.




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Wrong Text, Right Love

Wrong Text, Right Love by Claudia Y. Burgoa

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/01/21/b...

This rom-com, which has an enemies-to-lovers trope, an overly perky female character, and a grumpy borderline recluse male lead, should appeal to Roxie Noir and Lila Monroe fans.

Persephone, Persy, is an influencer talking about sex on her podcast, giving dating tips, explaining how sex toys work is her job, but her own love life is in shambles, and when a book deal goes a bit awry, she must find a way to put herself back “on the market” to salvage it and start posting about her own dating life on her social media. One night, she drunks texts her ex, who got her into this mess, but she inadvertently texts the wrong number and starts up a texting relationship with a stranger. She’s also dealing with a neighbor from hell; he’s a grump and keeps interrupting her podcasts. She should find him annoying, yet all she feels is this intense attraction for him.

Ford, Lang, Chad, Chadwick, yes, I know pick one already. This guy has so many personalities it’s hard to piece him together. He’s the next-door neighbor from hell, hiding from the world. This guy doesn’t believe in love, relationships, or anything more substantial than good sex between consenting partners. He’s the opposite of what Persy is looking for. Still knowing this, he’s drawn to her and wants to protect her. Burgoa made it clear to readers from the first encounter with Ford what his views on love and relationships were, and readers don’t see much change in his attitude throughout the book; the character stands his ground like an unmovable tree. Perhaps this is how Burgoa wanted it, but the lack of character growth made him seem stale and stuck.

Since the book is mainly written in email and text exchanges between Persy and her family members, her agent, and, of course, the back and forth between Persy and Chad, Persy and Lang, and Persy and Ford, it doesn’t leave much room to expand the back story Burgoa interweaved, and since so much of it reflects with the main plot, it made parts of the story superficial and hard to connect with. The ending was rushed, and everything snowballed downhill at thunder speed, leaving readers with an implausible feeling. Ending the book in such a mood, the unexplored loopholes and lack of character growth make this a 2.5-star read.



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