The idea of this book is fantastic and overall its a good book.

The cover is beautiful, the writing is well done and the premise is fantastic. The overall massage of this book is clearly positive and nothing to say against it.

But the book itself focuses a bit too much on quotes that feel like they are the main story itself instead of the stories that are thrown in between those quotes.

That sadly doesn't work too well for me personally. I enjoy it more if a psychology book focuses on the topic itself instead of throwing quotes at me that i could look up myself with a simple search for quotes on a specific topic (in this case love, compassion and kindness).

Overall its a good book but also doesn't really do anything new or give new ideas but rather is a reminder to be kind to everyone -yourself included!

As a nurse working in a busy underserved hospital, I interact with patients from all walks of life and at times that proves to be challenging in more than one way. Most nurses are kind and compassionate and that is the reason they choose to go into the profession in the first place. However, burnout is widely present and sometimes we lose sight of our compassion. I am always on the lookout for books that can help me reignite the spirit of caring and this book is just the right one to do so. I loved it and I know I will be rereading chapters from it for years to come.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of the book for my review!

Great insight. Not your average self-help/personal development book. Well-written and offers long-lasting nuggets of wisdom.

This is an interesting premise for a book, but I don't think I bought everything the author as saying. i don't want to give away too much but I will say that it may be an interesting read for some, but I didn't love it. Kindness is absolutely essential but not at the cost of being taken for granted or for naivety. This book from NetGalley gave me a good insight but I don't think I'll recommend the book to others.

A very refreshing read! I will definitely be recommending this book to others. Thank you to the author for this most illuminating text.

What a great reminder to always try to be kinder than necessary to yourself and those around you. And that just because your kind it doesn't mean that you're weak or mean giving in.

Really great. So inspiring and motivational. I finished this very quickly because I liked it so much. I have already recommended it to a few people.

This book is a great introduction to how to practice mindfulness and compassion in the everyday world. The author brings together plenty of research on the subject and offers the reader tips on how to bring more kindness into the world. Obviously, we are living in a time when kindness and compassion is on the wane. We all need more kindness in our lives.

Author Tara Cousineau breaks up the chapters into different practices. She shows us how we can fall under a SPEL (self-protective empathy lethargy) where we are so caught up in our own lives and trying to cope with our stress that we become almost blind to what is going on with others. She also shows us how to counteract that with kindness practices. Certainly, the stress of everyday life can lead us to be unkind to each other more often than we’d like. We are all under loads and loads of stress and we often tend to take it out on one another. But, “Kindness is love in action,” the author states. She has done her own research on this and also relies on scientific studies to get the point across to the reader. The author is a PhD of psychology and really knows what she’s talking about.

There are plenty of practical exercises in this book to help the reader learn to be more kind to themselves as well as to others. If you bring these tools into your life, you can improve the overall happiness of those around you as you yourself also improve. It is very much like Buddhist practices in that way. You learn to incorporate the skills into everyday life. The anecdotes help with that since they show real-life situations where they can be applied.

There are self-examination sort of questions in the book that allow the reader to assess where he/she is on the kindness scale. They help us assess how we interact with others and where we could make changes that would benefit us all.

The book is written in an easy, flowing style. Each section is introduced with an anecdote that applies to that particular skill or practice. The author then explains each one in detail. Then, each chapter has exercises and practices for you to try out yourself.

It’s a very thorough book and gives the reader plenty of tips and tools to use in the kindness journey. I found it to be a helpful book and one that will be useful as a reference in the future. If you find yourself in a particular situation, you can consult the book’s applicable parts for help in getting unstuck. Or, as the author puts it, get out from under the SPEL.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys self-help books or anyone looking to make the world around them a better place. We can all use more kindness!

In THE KINDNESS CURE, psychologist Tara Cousineau draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how simple practices of kindness—for ourselves, for others, and for our world—can dissolve our feelings of fear and indifference, and open us up to a life of profound happiness.

Personally, I fear those who NEED a book like this won't be willing to read it, and those who are willing to read it, will find that they are already using some of the advice within THE KINDNESS CURE. I did enjoy much of the ways to spread enjoy through simple acts of kindness, as well as the reminders of the importance of being kind to one's self. I'm already implementing many of the self-care kindness things recommended in the book.

This book is warm, funny, and so helpful, with tons of practical suggestions and effective tools. Sharp, insightful, and right to the point, how live from a strong heart.

I truly believe that in the end it is kindness that will heal the world. Unfortunately, we seem to be light years from reaching the overall compassion necessary. The world is more divided politically than ever before and too many of our "leaders " are only exacerbating the hatred and divisions.
This book is so important because we need to foster tolerance and compassion to heal the world. We all know that hate breeds hate and violence breeds violence. Compassion needs to be studied, taught and encouraged. Thank you , Tara Cousineau, for bringing light and focus to this subject.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book did not download so I was unable to review it. .

3.5 Stars, I was strongly tossing up between a 3 or 4 stars so will have to split the difference.

Pros: The book cover, I love the colours and design. The writing in the book was well written. The premise of the book was interesting enough to download a copy. I really wanted to love this book aas the message is so positive and I think the world needs more reminders to remain constantly kind instead of becoming jaded and cynical.

Cons: I lost interest fairly quickly when famous quotes about love and compassion where constantly thrown in felt overly cliched. It felt more like a mash up of famous quotes with some stories thrown in rather than a well researched psychology book I thought I was delving into.

I received a free e-book copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book is really quite simple: Tara Cousineau believes that what the world needs right now is more kindness. Throughout the pages of The Kindness Cure, she tries to provide tips and ideas on how to be more kind to each other, to the loved ones as well as to strangers-- but also, no less importantly, how to be more kind to oneself. The techniques she describes frequently draw on ideas connected with mindfulness, but, to put it in the simplest terms possible, what Cousineau suggests is that it is better to hit pause, take a deep breath and behave in kind way than to be quick to judge and harsh.

The book is illustrated with cute little drawings. It is organised into chapters that combine into a neat and compelling argument. While I'm not necessarily a person who needs to convinced about the necessity to be kinder to others, it is still a positive experience to read about the importance of being kind. What I particularly enjoyed were the short real life stories about how small (and bigger) acts of kindness can positively influence one's life. As to the overall message of the book, I agree almost 100%.

The book offers a lot of inspiring stories from normal everyday humans dealing with harsh environments and conditions, but still managing to find the strength to be kind and spread kindness.

Despite all this, I had a hard time enjoying the book. While I appreciate the book and agree with everything in it, the stories were lovely and inspiring, but in the end it felt a book a bit too long on this subject. I know I should be kind on it, but I am pretty sure this book can be made shorter and still keep the essence of it.

And I have other complaints like using mindfulness for almost half of the book before actually talking about mindfulness - it felt like borrowing mindfulness techniques and calling them "kindfulness". Also, more than half of the things that I learnt about kindness or highlighted in this book are quotes from other people - and I do not mean the people that shared their stories in this book, but famous people like Dalai Lama. It did feel like a book made in big part from other people's words.

In the end, though, there are some good and inspiring lessons in this book, only you have to dig a lot to get to them.

Book Description
It’s time for a kindness revolution. In The Kindness Cure, psychologist Tara Cousineau draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to show how simple practices of kindness—for ourselves, for others, and for our world—can dissolve our feelings of fear and indifference, and open us up to a life of profound happiness.
My Thoughts
The concept of kindness is certainly one that gets overlooked in today's society. While the internet provides many ways for people to connect, there is also the dark side where anonymity seems to empower trolls, bullies and those who can only engage on a negative level. I always try and treat people the way I want to be treated and The Kindness Cure seemed like it would be thoughtful, interesting reading.
The author states her ideas simply even though the concepts are supported by science, which can in some books make you feel like you are back at university and struggling to pass a test. It was a nice change of pace for me to take the time to immerse myself in a book full of positive thoughts and to think about ways that I can be more kind. There have been so many times in my life when a few simple kind words have turned a challenging day into a much better one and I find it hard to believe that some additional kindness from everyone wouldn't make our world a better place.
Thank you, Tara Cousineau, New Harbinger Publications, Inc., and NetGalley for the digital copy to read and review.

Although I’m not usually drawn to self-help titles, I thought this might be an interesting read, given the times we live in.

Unfortunately, this came across as “campy” and unprofessional, biased and judgmental in nature. Additionally, the writing style itself seemed very simplistic. Did the author feel she needed to “dumb it down” for readers? If that was the case, she missed the mark.


Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kindness is part of our blueprint and yet we live in a society where self-interest and individual achievements are ranked higher than compassion. Written by clinical psychologist – Tara Cousineau, The Kindness Cure shares with us the gift of kindness and reminds us how important love and connectedness are for our well-being. It offers an unique exploration of compassion and its place in the world. We learn how to label our emotions and become better emotionally self-aware in order to stay away from the pitfalls of low empowerment and high empathy.

The book is full of great, easily to explain and adopt concepts like ‘kindfulness‘ and ‘kindsight‘, and their role in befriending kindness and love. Cousineau is not only a skilled psychologist, excellently knowing her subject matter, but she also turns out to be a wonderful writer. She has this kind and nurturing style of writing that grounds you and sends you hope and love through the pages. Her ideas are always evidence-based and backed by science, but expressed in a light and accessible manner, so you won’t feel like you’re reading an academic text. Every chapter is supported by suggested practices or exercises that would help you further develop your kindness skills.

What I liked most about The Kindness Cure is that it doesn’t ramble on kindness and compassion, but gently takes you there. It builds on, while it points out the significance of positive emotions and stress-free outlook as they are the requisite of growing a kind heart and mind.

Whether you’re curious about kindness, wanting to learn more or simply need a dose of positivity, I suggest you read it and give it to a friend. As Cousineau has said, the key to creating a kind world is by loving and connecting.

I have kindly received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and New Harbinger Publications in exchange of a fair review.

I enjoyed this book.
Bringing light to being kind in various ways and giving us readers insight in different ways others have shown kindness to others!!

What a great reminder to always try to be kinder than necessary to yourself and those around you. And that just because your kind it doesn't mean that you're weak or mean giving in.

"Kindness is love in action."
"Kindness is strong, not weak."
"Kindess is blessing someone's life."
"Kindness can be fierce."

4 stars from me!

Thank you for the free ebook. I haven’t read a book on self-improvement or metaphysics in a while. That’s why I got interested in this book and also because we live in the world driven by the money where kindness seems to be disappearing. Yes, we do need compassion, but this read for me was not interesting at all. Some examples given in this book are based on famous writings such as of Dalai Lama or Ralph Waldo Emerson or some good deeds that I’ve watched on CNN’s Heroes. For me this book brings a lot of things I’ve read or seen before, therefore it wasn’t an engaging read. But for those who are not familiar with the examples I mentioned, then the read may turn out to be interesting.