Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I couldn't get my head around this book so I'm not convinced that my review should count for much at all! I can definitely imagine the customer/person who would enjoy this book and I think its probably a very valuable 'thinking' book....I will revisit over the coming years but I wasn't able to get into it this time around. Sorry!

I was immediately drawn into this book. The idea of philosophers grappling and struggling with the human existence reframed them in my eyes, and brought the far away, academic ideas of them closer to me, enabling me to engage with their ideas on a much more human level.

This book is really navigable, presenting itself almost like a dictionary. Each section is bitesized and digestible. It’s like a handy companion full of nuggets of wisdom, that teaches you about some of the ways in which those who have gone before us have understood and then approached our living existence.

I wouldn’t choose to read this like a novel. I would use it exactly how it advertises itself; as a manual. It is a book to reach into and absorb something specific - it would be very much at home on a coffee table (in the best kind of way).

One of the areas in which it lacks is depth. The scope of ideas, feelings, emotions and experience it covers is vast and complex. Some particular issues feel avoided in some ways. They are mentioned, but not much is really said. I felt this with the section on anxiety, and so too, the section on suicide. These are huge topics - you could write thousands of pages on them, which of course can’t be done in a bitesize book like this. But in some ways, I would have preferred these larger topics to be left untouched, rather than grazed.

What this book does provide, is a brilliant bouncing board. It will spark your interest in some areas, and not in others. Then you can focus on what you are interested in, and undertake a more in depth exploration of these ideas, and the philosophers who tackled them. For this reason, I’m grateful this book exists.