This book wasn't my cup of tea. I felt like it has a good base idea and concept, but tried to do too much. So, find out how to say F**k It to all your problems and concerns. Say F**k It to all the 'shoulds' in your life and finally do what you want to do, no matter what other people think. I really like the philosophy behind this book - the idea contained herein is that we need to stop stressing so much over everything ("Am I good enough? Holy enough? Peaceful enough? Loving enough? A good enough spouse, child, parent, employee, person, citizen?") and just say "f--- it" to things that we can't control (and even quite a few things that we can) and learn to relax a little. It's the Total Perspective Vortex of books - you're not important, and you never will be important (not on a universal scale, at any rate), so you might as well live the best life you can and not stress over the details. And while all that philosophy CAN be explained in just those few sentences (or even just in the title!), there's a lot more here to delve into, in terms of HOW to actually live that philosophy and be happy. In the midst of Becca's struggle, Alex has other things vying for her attention. Like the father she's recently lost, her mother and two brothers who feels broken without her father, and a mysterious and distracting boy, who should be the least of her worries with all the death and drama currently surrounding her days, but who somehow keeps inserting himself into the forefront of her mind.

The story is never about fulfilling the list. It's about what that list is to the two girls as individuals and to them as best friends. Let me just say, if it wasn't for reading wth a friend, I don't think I could have finished this book in the next 3 months. Sure it was an ok read, but definitely not something you look forward to after along painful day of school or work. It started well. I like the premise of saying "f**k it" to life. It means that we shouldn't worry, we should do what we want, we shouldn't be afraid to take the big life-changing decisions. The book and I were merrily sailing along at five stars. Great book. And I am afraid the effect on me was another "f**k it" moment. I came across huge screeds of the book which were far too boring and badly written that I was skipping over them. I was saying "f**k it" - my time is too valuable for this. Time flies when you’re on the road. All you do is try to live in the moment and focus on the next thing, and before you know it… years have passed and you have come a long way”.For Sarah, saying no is easy. For the rest of us, it's stress-inducing, blood pressure-raising, teeth-grinding hard. But it doesn't have to be. F**k No! is filled with tips, techniques, and practical strategies that will arm you with not only permission to decline, but plenty of ammunition for doing so. It was fun/funny to read and I did enjoy it. It’s pretty hilarious thinking about him just sitting down telling someone these stories or just typing these down himself. Just there going off on anecdotes/tangents one after the other. Touted as akin to Taoism and other spiritual beliefs, the main premise of the F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way philosophy is letting go. Indeed, there is merit in this idea of letting go and the freedom one uses the phrase. According to Mr. Parkin, "The one thing you'll always do when you really say, 'F*** It' is relax" and "problems can't exist in the face of total relaxation" (p. 88-89). Mr. Parkin wants us to say the phrase to everything we do because it releases us from attaching too much meaning, too much pressure, too many expectations to everything we do. If one sits and thinks about it, and considers all the times where one has flung up his or her hands and declared "f*** it!", Mr. Parkin is indeed on to something. Will this book change your life? Most likely, no. Which is a shame, because I really thought a true renaissance man would be able to communicate just how he does it in a way that will inspire me, but AB is one-of-one, and the moral of this tale is that you have to find your own way. Find your own movement. Nobody else's will do. This year, dare to say F*** It... I did it. I relaxed, let go, told the truth, did what made me happy and accepted everyone... I don't feel like a martyr and I had real fun.' - Suzy Greaves, Red Magazine

Gripping, terrifying and hilarious - John Niven is our Hunter S. Thompson.' ADAM KAY, author of This Is Going to Hurt It was enjoyable enough. There were plenty of stories that I hadn't heard before. AB bares his soul in ways that I wasn't expecting. Most good memoirs should make you feel like you know somebody better, but I feel like I know AB, the unfinished product of a man still battling with himself in a way that you don't see in most autobiographical settings. I know the man better, not just the legend. This book tried to be an overtly funny alternate version of "Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl," but ultimately failed with that because the humor was too forced and the focal points were shallow in presentation. Some of it was funny, but the vast majority of the time - I wasn't laughing, mostly cringing. Positives? I see where the author was attempting to get at, and it was a unique read. Maybe I don't think it was bad enough to be a 1 star rating, maybe a 1.5-2. One of my favorite lines he said in the book was about people making fun of you: “You got to just remember they’ll laugh but it’ll be okay. Sometimes shit’s just funny. “ He also talked about confidence: “To be confident you literally have to know yourself.” Good way of thinking about that.

Like a magical modern mantra, saying F**k It can transform your life. It’s the perfect Western expression of the Eastern spiritual ideas of letting go, giving up and finding real freedom by realising that things don’t matter so much (if at all). Alex was a complicated character, she was still dealing with the loss of her dad and now her best friend had been diagnosed with cancer. She didn’t really know what to do. Alex was also one of those characters who because she was afraid, she wouldn’t allow herself to get close to anyone else. Some readers may find this characteristic in Alex annoying especially when they meet the lovely Leo, who seemed perfect for Alex. But when you get under Alex’s layers that she keeps so she won’t get hurt, you understand why she does this in the first place. At times there is a lot of faffing about and time lost between Alex and Leo, but the realisations that Alex comes to and the character which emerges in the end I think was worth some of the heartbreak. He had a lot of funny things to say about food, as he is a chef and a *self described* large person. My favorite: Set in a near-future America, an America that has borne two terms of a Trump Presidency and is now in the first term of Donald's daughter as president, Frank Brill, a retired small-town newspaper editor, lives in a world where the populist policies Trump is currently so keen to pursue have been a reality for some years and are getting even more extreme - an erosion of abortion rights, less and less gun control, xenophobic immigration policies. The one aspect of Alex that I did like was that she is pretty much a walking encyclopedia of horror movie knowledge. I also have a love of all things spooky and macabre, so props to the author for including the references that she did.