On Youtube I regularly get drawn into watching the excellent School of LIfe short videos. So much wisdom to consider, challenge and unpick. It's great that this book on the subject that impacts everyone of us, our parents, is being published as it is really helpful to have all the School of Life opinions collated in one place, to be thought about, revisited and considered over and over again. I loved this book, there were no rambling " case studies" or imagined ideal conversations or endless commentary by the author on their own life that clog up and obscure most self help type books. This book has no filler. It contains many hard to hear truths. It is definitely in the mode of "They f**k you up your mum and dad..." An early paragraph states "Every character defect in a parent inevitably imposes a toll on a child." Wow, that hit me hard, how could I have the hubris to have ever become a parent? Like Pandora's box being opened there is hope and advice given in the closing chapters. Although" there is no such thing as an unneurotic parent" we can hold our hands up, apologize and help our child figure things out by revisiting our own "original trauma" perhaps with the help of a therapist. This was really good. I highly rate it and wish I'd read clear, succinct stuff like this when I was younger.

This was very different from my usual genre of books; however, when I saw it on NetGalley, it stood out to me. I’m glad I requested it.
There are lots of important points in this book that I believe can help people and teach them how to do better and not just be stuck in a never ending cycle.

Thanks to NetGalley & School of Life for this ARC.

A provocative, direct, and helpful overview of the work critical to processing childhood challenges related to less-than-good enough parenting.

This wasn’t the book for me. It was too psychoanalytic in nature and i felt it didn’t hit the right tone with me. There were some useful reflection points though that I did note down.

This is one of the best books about our childhood, being a child and also one of the best additions to The School of Life publications.
The book offers insights about different types of parents and childhoods. Its perspective is positive and solution-driven and guides you with clever questions, tips and exercises. It is comprehensive and functions like a self-therapy book. It is also a book for parents, carers, educators and therapists. Its ideas can be read by all ages of adults.
I will definitely read this a few times, consult it, refer to it, quote it, recommend it, use it and think about it.

I related to the content of this book more than I expected. Our parents play such an important role in our lives and its interesting how the book explains the different dynamics.of a parent.

I absolutely love the theme of this book, because I have had many similar thoughts and revelations and I believe many others will as well and relate to the content of this book. Our parents play such an important role in our lives for better and for worse and I think this book does an excellent job explaining that dynamic. I look forward to sharing much more in-depth thoughts and a full review very soon.