The book is a great collection of poems and short essays to read when you need a little more encouragement in your life. It's certainly one I'll be returning to when I need a pick me up, and I've already bought two copies to gift!

This was so inspirational! It was full of encouraging words, uplifting words. True words that really make you think. Words to help you forgive yourself for the past and forgive others. To find a way to let it go and let people in. It is words meant for you, to help you change and be even better. I listened to this on audiobook. The author reads it herself in a tone that is very easy to listen to.

Reading this, I would think this was aimed at age 10-13 year old girls, young enough to still be impressed by these words. Simple thoughts, simple advice that to someone young and struggling would sound profound. I don’t know anything about the author, but I suspect she has a following of people who like to post feel-good messages around their rooms, their home, their office.

My thoughts on giving this to a young woman or young man on the verge of or just entering their teen years is that these might be good message for them to hear from someone other than their parents, and probably appreciated by a decent percentage. Whether or not I would buy this for someone in that age group would depend on how mature they were, or that they thought they were.

Cleo Wade’s purpose in this is fairly clear. Her goal is to have the reader feel worthy, loved, needed through phrases and snippets of poetically phrased language sharing such thoughts abound.

tl;dr Review:

The poetry and life affirmations that all of us need right now as we all struggle to believe in ourselves and in our world.

Full Review:

Have you ever had that friend that just always knows the right thing to say? Sometimes you don’t even have to say a word, and they will just get it?

That’s how I feel about Cleo Wade in her book Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life.

If you’ve followed her on Instagram (which, if you don’t, wtf is wrong with you), you’ll know that she posts bits of wisdom alongside her own brand of poetry.

This book (which was so good that even though I got the digital version as a galley reader, I bought the hard copy version so I could have it) is the sort that you can pretty much open to any page and find wisdom in its pages.

I’m not usually a big fan of poetry. Don’t hate me! It’s just never been my thing. I much prefer a long novel or an invigorating non-fiction book over a tome of poetic musings. Yet, Ms. Wade in her brilliance has changed my mind, at least in this instance. Her work speaks to me in a way that I never got from other poetry writers. Maybe it’s because she’s relatable or because she’s living through the same messy and crazy world that we all are. Whatever it is, her work definitely found a new home on my bookshelf.

In this tome, Ms. Wade shares her thoughts and offers up what she’s learned navigating life in hopes of making your burden a bit easier to bear. With the combination of poetry, written text, and her doodles, this book should be required reading for every millennial struggling to feel centered in the midst of a world gone mad.

I highly, highly recommend picking up this book and give it 5 out of 5 thumbs up.

This book is inspirational, and some little poems, and phrases did make me smile, though I will be honest and say it didn't really catch my attention. I feel like this would be something to give to somebody coming of age, or somebody who is going through a hard spot.
Even though this book didn't really click for me, I really want to stress how important books like this are.
I mean, I have a post-it note on my white board that says "Be Positive" so I'm right there with her. I need positivity, and affirmations in my life.
Overall an alright book but a really important topic.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A good mix of poetry and inspiration, but for some reason I was expecting it to be illustrated and it was not. I also had a mixed response to the author's annotations. The underlined portions were helpful. The arrows and extra punctuation I found distracting, like "was there a reason this part was emphasized? Did I misinterpret something important?"
That said, I'll still be including this in my poetry wrap-up for poetry month at the library as it has a broad appeal.

This is an ARC review of Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life is a self-help, inspirational, poetry book. It was a mix of poetry and prose; for me, I like the poetry better than the prose. Her writing is very pretty. I did find it repetitive once in a while but I was never bored when reading it. I enjoyed the mix of different fonts and the layout. I highlighted and bookmarked many lines and pages, like 'Our dreams are our destiny's was of communicating with us.' This is just one of many beautiful lines in this book.

I found many parts of this book moving and a strong message about self-care, and loving yourself, following your dreams. This book has a simple but meaningful messages, it's not overly complex there's such an easy to it. There is also a personalized feel with it between the poet and the reader.

Heart Talk is meaningful, filled with such pretty writing!

Cleo Wade has been heralded as the "Oprah for the millenial generation". This social media maven puts forth a platform of self love and being a positive influence for others. Heart Talk contains life- affirming poems, personalized annotations by the author along with positive self-speak. While I find that this book would certainly be well received by younger generations, as someone who has read a lot of personal growth books it seems as if I have heard this all before:
* self-love ~ Iyanla Vanzant
* accepting failure as part of success ~ John Maxwell
* being a positive muse and the universe will reward you with positive things ~ Rhonda Byrne
Although it may seem redundant, books like Heart Talk do serve a greater purpose. You never know which book "speaks" to someone in need. My favorite part of the book was Wade's original poetry. While looking up Ms. Wade I came across this Ted Talk that you might enjoy.
https://ted.com/talks/cleo_wade_want_to_change_the_world_start_by_being_brave_enough_to_care?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread

Heart talk emphasises that self care is self love and it is important in our lives. The messages in this book are to the point but repetitive at times. I liked the uplifting messages and think that others might find them inspiring.

I wpuld like to thank Atria books via netgalley for providing me a free copy for review in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

2.5 Stars
3.5 Stars for Middle Grades / YA

Reading this, I would think this was aimed at age 10-13 year old girls, young enough (perhaps) to still be impressed by these words. Simple thoughts, simple advice that to someone young and struggling would sound profound.

I don’t know anything about the author, but I suspect she has a following of people who like to post feel-good messages around their rooms, their home, their office. And, honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good to be reminded of thoughts that speak to our heart and soul.

My thoughts on giving this to a young woman or young man on the verge of or just entering their teen years is that these might be good message for them to hear from someone other than their parents, and probably appreciated by a decent percentage. Whether or not I would buy this for someone in that age group would depend on how mature they were, or that they thought they were.

Cleo Wade’s purpose in this is fairly clear. Her goal is to have the reader feel worthy, loved, needed through phrases and snippets of poetically phrased language sharing such thoughts abound.

”The only way we can make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments.”

In her dedication, Wade says: ”This is dedicated to every human being who looks different, feels different, and thinks differently. I see you. I feel you. I am you. Stay different. Our world needs the difference we will make.”

She’s right. Everyone needs to feel heard, to feel loved, to know that each and every one of us is unique, and that is part of what makes each and every one of us special. It certainly doesn’t hurt to hear it from another source, but in this case it fell a bit too much on the catch-phrase side for me. For me. Not you, at least not necessarily.


Pub Date: 06 Mar 2018


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books

It’s difficult to review something in the self-help or poetry category, because they’re usually written 1) extremely intimately and 2) are probably helpful to many people, even if I don’t agree with them.

I usually feel like, with these, if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all (and it’s so rare I follow that rule). But I legitimately liked Heart Talk. It’s one of the rare, direct advice-giving novels that are NICE to read. It helps that I really admire Cleo the person, the artist from Instagram @cleowade, who actually loves and tolerates other people. Exhibit A, Heart Talk is dedicated to every human who looks, feels, and thinks differently. She tells us to stay different ❤

(Which means just because you see something on Pinterest, or from a person hating on your OTP, or even if something’s a trendy belief, it doesn’t mean you are wrong for feeling differently. We have to think for ourselves (something I’m focusing on in 2018.) GRACIAS CLEO.)

IN SHORT, she is a good person.

I love her emphasis on the fact that self-care=self-love. For me, it’s about accepting who you are, which is taking care of yourself.
Her poetry is warm. It’s like putting your hands over the toaster when it’s been toasting awhile.
Her advice on repetitive thoughts, how we can’t let them affect our reality.
Her emphasis on respect in relationships ❤ Which is the key to closeness.
How the book transitions between paragraphs of wisdom, poetry, and art.
DO NOT IGNORE YOUR INTUITION. SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK CLEO.
Validation from the outside world is a pile of ridiculous. You should focus on the intuitive goodness that you are.
We have to leave room for other people’s realities. We are not supposed to all agree on everything. I love how she says tolerance is how we keep each other safe. ❤
Even though there are some good life tips, I feel like I’ve read them all before. From 1000 other people. A large portion of the book feels like Pinterest advice. For example, living in the moment & gratitude.
At one point, she mentioned that you can’t be there for others if you’re not there for yourself. It wasn’t a major mention, but it exists somewhere. I ignore this overly-popular advice because some people are bad at taking care of themselves. There are tons of possible reasons. That doesn’t mean they aren’t amazing and there for other people. I don’t like morals that devalue someone’s ability to love beautifully; and telling someone they can’t take care of others in the state that they’re in does that. YOU CAN LOVE OTHERS EVEN IF YOU DON’T LOVE YOURSELF. Sometimes in loving others, you come closer to having self-acceptance/inherent self-worth. Just an idea. It’s like the idea of romantic detachment…it’s not the only way to love someone. Sorry pop psychology. Cleo says herself at one point that we all have different realities. 😉 JUST BE YOURSELF OR WHO YOU WANT TO BE. Which I’m sure is the essence of what she was trying to say.
Just so, she says you are your first love. One, I think that’s not always true and that’s fine. Two, it’s OK to love someone more than yourself, to have a number one person who isn’t you. Maybe it’s your child, or your brother, or your spouse. If you feel that way, I think you should accept your authentic feelings and be loyal to how you feel.
NOTICE, all my negative feedback is based on not agreeing with Cleo at some points. Other people might agree with these & the book is perfect for them.
Overall, Heart Talk is a sweet little book, one I think should be given a try 🙂 It only took about an hour to read, so you may as well.