I liked this book. It's a really simple and easy way to present how the brain works - especially when it comes to anxiety, and it presents some CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) tricks to help with anxiety. CBT is not for everyone, but for some people it works wonders when it comes to anxiety (yours truly included). And I loved how easily this book was representing it.

The illustrations and graphics were great too.

TW for this book: fatphobic language.

Ok, so this is a very short book which feels quite disjointed and unnecessarily hurried at times.
From what I've understood, the author is known for her Tumblr blog, which she used to give advice to teens. I've looked up her blog and it hasn't been used in ages, but apart from that, it looks ok.
Unfortunately, the author hasn't changed her format style a lot from the blog to this book. And I feel that this book would have been more readable and approachable if it had.

Another major let down is the fact that the author has deemed it necessary and acceptable to use fatphobic examples to illustrate her story, both examples could have easily been removed or replaced with another, non-fatphobic, one instead.

As far as the actual advice: it was okay. From all of my own research over the years I can tell you that Gwendoline Smith isn't selling something new, but she is selling an effective technique. The way she describes the brain processes and the eventual tool kit are quite useful. However, her explanation of "thought viruses" (her phrasing) is confusing. I had to read it multiple times, and I couldn't sum them all up right now even if you begged me to.

All in all, I didn't really like this one. There are other and better sources where you, and any teen that you know, can learn about cognitive behavioural techniques and I would suggest you seek those out instead.

One I personally quite enjoyed is The Illustrated Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living by Russ Harris (a recommendation from my university counsellor) and there are many more out there.

Also, it is very important that if you do find yourself in a sad period or you are struggling that you find someone to talk to. Preferably a professional, but just talking to your favourite family member can also help a bunch.

I like books about psychology, so I like this one. The author passes the message that you have to know yourself to get well and know whats is going on with you.
I like the simplicity and kindness of this book.

This is a great book for anybody curious to find out about how your brain works when it is sending you messages of stress and anxiety. What is going on in there when your thoughts are whirling, when you get stuck and can't make decisions and prevents you from living as you want. This book is a handy book for teenagers but it is interesting for anyone who is interested in the brain and how it works.

It is written in a light hearted way which makes it really accessible. Perfect for any school library. Funny cartoons, hand drawn charts and diagrams make it very user friendly too.

If someone in your life is suffering from stress or anxiety, hand them a copy of this book. But read it yourself before you do.

A light, easy read that can help teens and young adults better understand the way their mind works, as well as provide interesting strategies to deal with our anxieties and harmful thoughts. Some of it might seem "obvious" to those who already undergo treatment such as therapy or psychoanalysis, but we do need a reminder more often than not, especially in these times.

There was even room to remind flat-earthers that beliefs are not facts, which is always a plus for me.

And there were also a few things here that bothered me a little and could have been approached differently, although they don't take away the book's merit.
In particular, I wish there was a little more emphasis in denying the correlation between a person's weight and their perceived beauty or value, when discussing how our mind works. I do believe that was only meant to be an example based on what a lot of people feel, but the "I'm fat, therefore I'm ugly and unworthy" logic was never really denied.

"The Book of Knowing: gives you the tools to challenge your negative thinking, especially the type of thinking that leads to full on melt downs. So if you’re someone who struggles with negative thinking on a daily basis, then this is the book for you!.

A light and quick read on how to manage thoughts that ran out of control, and offer prominent advice to keep feelings in check. I particularly loved the section throwing light on mind reading and future prediction. The writing style is warm, and the illustrations are too good. Lately, if you’re feeling anxious or stressed, then this book is worth a go.

The Book Of Knowing by Gwendoline Smith, a clinical psychologist from New Zealand. This book is based on the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It is a therapeutic handbook for, especially young adults in order to have control over their feelings and thoughts.

It focuses on concepts like - ABC model, Computer mind analogy, Cognitive Distortions, etc. I like how the author has given tips in the end for readers from non psychology background to help themselves in form of self therapy.

Since I am from Psychology background, majority of these things are already known by me. I liked how the book has pie charts and various other graphics in order to help understand better. The use of Record sheets in the book was really thoughtful. It's more like a workbook for the reader.

Overall it's a good book for teenagers to start and manage their thoughts and feelings. Wouldn't recommend for adults, as there are better and more advance books out there.
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Thank You to the Publisher and NetGalley for this e-copy in exchange of a honest review.

At first I thought 193 pages was so short but I was wrong and had a huge impact from start to finish.
The way Gwendoline Smith has written about social anxiety makes it easy to understand how society and people influence your thought process. This modern age is so different from a decade ago and how more young people are having trouble distinguishing from rational thinking to irrational thoughts.
I could go on for days about this book but don't want to spoil it.
It is a good read and will give you advice on changing the way you think about yourself that most people need now a days.

The book of knowing has an interesting simplicity when talking about mental processes that could result really difficult in other situations, it contains valuable information about psychology and other sciences in a easy way to read and understand, plus some tips to put in practice the its information.
But speaking as the young I am, I can say that with this book I felt that the author understood youth and even more difficult, how we think, and that is why when you read it you feel a familiar with the situations that the author gives, as examples of the viruses of thought that disturb our minds, or the imaginary situations that make you understand how we can create a catastrophe out of nothing. It has also good graphics that
accompany the text making it even more entertaining.

At the moment I’m dealing with anxiety and this book surely has already come in handy a couple of times. The illustrations give it a lighter feeling and not only a textbook type of book. I really liked the format of the book and the tips given,

Just like the blurb says " a little book for big feelings," and just like that I found it easy to read and understand and what's more interesting is that I've struggled with emotions as a teen and reading through this made it easier to clarify a feeling from a fact, and that's powerful.
I also love the illustrations.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

This is a fairly quick read about learning how to cope with your emotions and maybe even developing skills to control them on your favor. It is aimed at the target reader who has the most trouble dealing with feelings, in my opinion: teenagers and young adults. The writing is very fluid and the chapters are pretty short – which only adds to the intention of making teens read scientific, textbook work without getting bored. The illutrations were also beautiful and added a lot of nuance to the writing.

Usually, I don´t read books about psychology, I don´t like psychology at all, but something about this book calls my attention and I decided to read it, and I don´t regret it.
Gwendoline Smith has a point here if you understand how you think, you get to change how you feel. I notice this a few months ago, but never could put it into words, and here she is doing it.
I´m sure that I will make my friends read it.