First Impression

I have to take a moment here to comment not just on the cover itself (which is clean, impactful, and creative in concept) but to talk about the structure of this book as a whole. The introduction does a wonderful job of providing a broad overview of this book’s function and purpose while including some helpful disclaimers and usage tips. Each of the 51 interviews themselves are equally well organized in an easy-to-follow pattern that makes clear the interviewee’s main points and pieces of advice.

Criticism

Okay, before we get too far into this review I want to start with a huge massively important disclaimer: Never Fight Alone deals with difficult and heavy topics of discussion including (but not limited to) depression, suicide, eating disorders, addiction, sexual assault, and abuse. If any of those topics might be triggering for you in any way, please be aware that this book does involve and discuss such topics.

In terms of criticism, I think my biggest piece of advice for Never Fight Alone would have to pertain to the flow of the novel. The sentence structure was relatively short and choppy throughout the whole of the work and though I fully understand that Solson made this decision somewhat intentionally to shorten the interviews into a more manageable length, from a reader’s standpoint, I would have enjoyed the reading experience a big more if the flow of the writing was smoother.

Appreciation

There are a wide variety of books and resources out there that fall, to some degree, into the category of “self-help.” Unfortunately, some of these books do have a tendency to be quite niche and specific to a certain issue which can make it difficult to find a book with a wide array of advice that is applicable to a great variety of people. I truly appreciated the way that Solson was able to create a resource that covered a wide variety of topics in what could be described as a take-what-you-need structure.

The book itself also contains a good share of inspirational moments and quotable pieces of advice that I couldn’t help but highlight as I came across them in my reading.

The last word

Though the writing could have been smoother, there is a good quantity and variety of motivational messages, quotes, and ideas that can be taken away from Never Fight Alone: 51 Inspiring Interviews to Help Teens Overcome Their Struggles & Improve Their Mental Health.

Advice that just might change your life…