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The Adulting Manual
You know those things you're supposed to know how to do as an adult, but you really don't know? Ever been in that situation where you're looking for the adult in the room, and then you realise YOU are the adult? Yeah, that. There's adulting, then there's adulting for the messy mind. Sometimes you just need extra maps and a GPS. This manual is for adults that sometimes need a little extra help. From top small talk tips to use next time you're at the hairdressers to advice on how to ask for help, this interactive journal offers a safe place for people to explore their mental health and express themselves. Written by Milly Smith, a mental health and body acceptance advocate and public speaker. Milly uses her Instagram account @millykeepsgoing to send positive messages to her 170,000 strong following. Milly's wise words are accompanied by the whimsical and quirky illustrations of Katie Abey. Katie's motivational and pun-filled illustrations have a huge appeal to adults.
- GenresNonfictionSelf Help
128 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2020
110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 13, 2020
An absolutely delightful little self help/inspirational book, filled with beautiful words and illustrations. It made me laugh, smile, think hard and focus on me. We all need a bit of this book in our lives!
September 30, 2020
This is such a brilliant book for all adults out there, especially if, like me, you’ve sometimes felt like you don’t know what you’re doing in adult life! ‘The Adulting Manual’ is, as the name suggests, a manual to help guide you on how to be an adult, because we don’t just grow up out of our teens and know what we should be doing. The book is about A5ish in size and is filled with thick and colourful pages which not only contain text but lots of images and places for you to jot things down or colour things in too.
The book is separated into chapters such as body image, mental health, how to do stuff, social media, sex, and mindfulness. Every chapter is different but all focus on making you feel positive about yourself and learning how to cope and do things with some easy steps. I really like the way this book looks. Every page is colourful and filled with fun images and a fun to read bits of text. There are no large paragraphs of writing, each bit of text gets straight to the point, and each page makes space for you to add little notes, doodles or some colouring-in to help you in your journey of adult life.
You don’t have to read this book in order, you can dip in and out of each section as you want, but what you do get is something positive on every page and I love the way the author makes you feel good about yourself, no matter how good you feel at accomplishing things in life. In chapters like mental health or body image there are tips on how to feel good about yourself, what to think of as achievements and you’re even made to feel good for just doing the normal every day things in life like getting ready in the morning. While in chapters like social media, how to do stuff and sex you get some helpful advice on things like online bullying, money struggles and the importance of consent.
This book is fun to read but also great to be able to come back to again and again and I love the way I’ve managed to feel better about myself and my own achievements just by reading this and filling in some of the pages. Nobody suddenly knows how to be an adult and do adult things the moment they become eighteen but this book does a lot in helping you to feel like you’re achieving something and just feeling good about yourself (I think I’ve said that three times now 😀 ).
There are some swear words used in the book, a few uses of the f and s swear words, with even a page dedicated to colouring in some swear words! There is also a chapter about sex which covers questions about sex as well as masturbation, which might make some readers unconfortable although these topics are covered in a positive way. It also goes into detail about what consent is and what to do in case of rape, although there is no need to read any chapters that you don’t want to. That’s what I love about this book, the ease which you can dip in and out of it as and when you need to.
The illustrations and fun images used throughout the book really make it so fun to read. In almost all the pages is an illustration of the author too which makes everything she says more fun to read. Apart from some great opportunities to doodle and colour in (there’s a double page of colouring-in which I’m currently working on!), there are some fun stickers at the back of this book too, as well as some cards that can be used when you need them. The pages are very thick and matt so colouring in is not a problem with this book and I think felt pens would work, although I have only tried pencils which do work well on the pages.
he fun style of all the images and the way everything looks just makes me want to smile after reading and working through this manual. I feel so much better about myself and where I am in life after working thorugh this book and it’ll be good to dip back into this in future as and when I need to. There’s no secret to being an adult, and many of us can often feel so lost when it comes to doing things in life, but this book really does help you feel better about yourself, and I would recommend it for anyone who feels like they need a bit of a boost in their life. It’s also got a beautiful copper foil shiny cover on the front, which just looks so pretty!
-Thanks to HotKeyBooks/StudioPress for a free copy for review.
The book is separated into chapters such as body image, mental health, how to do stuff, social media, sex, and mindfulness. Every chapter is different but all focus on making you feel positive about yourself and learning how to cope and do things with some easy steps. I really like the way this book looks. Every page is colourful and filled with fun images and a fun to read bits of text. There are no large paragraphs of writing, each bit of text gets straight to the point, and each page makes space for you to add little notes, doodles or some colouring-in to help you in your journey of adult life.
You don’t have to read this book in order, you can dip in and out of each section as you want, but what you do get is something positive on every page and I love the way the author makes you feel good about yourself, no matter how good you feel at accomplishing things in life. In chapters like mental health or body image there are tips on how to feel good about yourself, what to think of as achievements and you’re even made to feel good for just doing the normal every day things in life like getting ready in the morning. While in chapters like social media, how to do stuff and sex you get some helpful advice on things like online bullying, money struggles and the importance of consent.
This book is fun to read but also great to be able to come back to again and again and I love the way I’ve managed to feel better about myself and my own achievements just by reading this and filling in some of the pages. Nobody suddenly knows how to be an adult and do adult things the moment they become eighteen but this book does a lot in helping you to feel like you’re achieving something and just feeling good about yourself (I think I’ve said that three times now 😀 ).
There are some swear words used in the book, a few uses of the f and s swear words, with even a page dedicated to colouring in some swear words! There is also a chapter about sex which covers questions about sex as well as masturbation, which might make some readers unconfortable although these topics are covered in a positive way. It also goes into detail about what consent is and what to do in case of rape, although there is no need to read any chapters that you don’t want to. That’s what I love about this book, the ease which you can dip in and out of it as and when you need to.
The illustrations and fun images used throughout the book really make it so fun to read. In almost all the pages is an illustration of the author too which makes everything she says more fun to read. Apart from some great opportunities to doodle and colour in (there’s a double page of colouring-in which I’m currently working on!), there are some fun stickers at the back of this book too, as well as some cards that can be used when you need them. The pages are very thick and matt so colouring in is not a problem with this book and I think felt pens would work, although I have only tried pencils which do work well on the pages.
he fun style of all the images and the way everything looks just makes me want to smile after reading and working through this manual. I feel so much better about myself and where I am in life after working thorugh this book and it’ll be good to dip back into this in future as and when I need to. There’s no secret to being an adult, and many of us can often feel so lost when it comes to doing things in life, but this book really does help you feel better about yourself, and I would recommend it for anyone who feels like they need a bit of a boost in their life. It’s also got a beautiful copper foil shiny cover on the front, which just looks so pretty!
-Thanks to HotKeyBooks/StudioPress for a free copy for review.
December 25, 2021
This caught my eye at the library with its catchy title and cover because, who has adulting figured out? Not me, that's for sure.
The Adulting Manual is a practical and interactive guide filled with fun activities. As mine was a library copy, I didn't fill out the blank spaces but I think it might be useful to those who do.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the book I had been expecting. While it covers several important issues such as body image, social media, mental health and sexual consent, I was hoping for something lengthier with its topics discussed in greater detail.
Still, it's filled with good advice and reminders that we can all do with from time to time. I also enjoyed the lively illustrations. Overall, it's more of a fun read than one I would turn to for actual help.
The Adulting Manual is a practical and interactive guide filled with fun activities. As mine was a library copy, I didn't fill out the blank spaces but I think it might be useful to those who do.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the book I had been expecting. While it covers several important issues such as body image, social media, mental health and sexual consent, I was hoping for something lengthier with its topics discussed in greater detail.
Still, it's filled with good advice and reminders that we can all do with from time to time. I also enjoyed the lively illustrations. Overall, it's more of a fun read than one I would turn to for actual help.
October 21, 2020
A must-read for everyone!
May 12, 2024
Enjoyed this positive open minded caring book . A nice little self help exercise book with pages to write colour and express your feelings .
September 12, 2025
"so was hitler, babe"
January 26, 2021
First of all, I love the gold foil on the cover. It is shiny and very nicely illustrated. The journal itself is very colourful, fun and informative. There are many various topics discussed in this journal, such as body image, mental health, mindfulness and many more. It has many many fun tasks in every section, to help the reader explore themselves, helps to deal with mental health struggles or stress in general. 🙂 This journal has a very fun balance between adulthood and childishness. The topics are serious and grown-up oriented, but the illustrations and colours remind of something from my teenage years. 🙂 At the end, this journal has a couple of pages of fun stickers and a couple of postcards as well, that made me extremely happy. 🙂
So, to conclude, I love this journal! It is very well designed, it helped me to relax and to explore myself and my view about me and my mental health. I am from the generation where no one discusses their mental health, so this journal helped me to see things differently. I strongly recommend this journal to anyone who has low self-esteem or needs a fun emotional outlet. It has boosted my mood, and I hope it will help someone else as well.
So, to conclude, I love this journal! It is very well designed, it helped me to relax and to explore myself and my view about me and my mental health. I am from the generation where no one discusses their mental health, so this journal helped me to see things differently. I strongly recommend this journal to anyone who has low self-esteem or needs a fun emotional outlet. It has boosted my mood, and I hope it will help someone else as well.
July 21, 2021
I always love Katie Abey’s art and affirmations and attitude, so when I saw that she’d collaborated on this book I figured it must be up my street, and I was very right. The design is absolutely gorgeous, full of colour and cuteness and things to make you smile. And the advice and tools are top notch as well; it was really prompting me to reflect and work on some of the areas I’m not doing so well in. Obviously a book like this is never going to suit everyone, but I loved that there was some consideration of diversity and individuality, and it never made the assumption that everyone is in the same boat. The interactivity (AND STICKERS!) is brilliant and really encourages you to play and get hands on with it, which just cements the learning even more. Absolutely fab, I want to buy a copy for everyone!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews