Be Your Own Best Friend by Chessie King

A friendly, supportive and witty chat with someone who seems like they have been your friend for life.

Be Your Own Best Friend: The Glorious Truths of Being Female is a totally inspirational, kick some butt kind of book. It is the book you wish people had told you about during your awkward teenage years. Although I have really enjoyed reading the book as a whole, it is presented really clearly so that you can find a section specifically for the trouble you are having. Sometimes, you just need to be reminded that all the awkward spotty, hormonal mishaps you have as a teenager, happen to everyone in some degree. Chessie shares with us some highly personal stories that make you cringe, laugh, cry and get incredibly angry! Especially the way she has been treated on Social Media.

The book is split into different sections:

1. Inside Us - The hormonal, emotional parts of life. She identifies different emotions that she 'meets' regularly each month and invites them to her imaginary dinner party to get to know them and see how they interact with each other. I found this bit really funny, because some of the emotions she spoke about I totally related too especially Aggy Aggie!

2. Our Bodies - The more physical elements that make up our life. She talks about mistakes she has made in the past (including shaving her entire body head to toe, even after her Mum said it was a waste of time!) and her own experiences of partially losing her hearing.

3. Our Solar System Support - Our friends and family. The people we come into contact with who we need in our life to guide us and help us. And how we can better support them too!

4. Our Outer Orbit - Potentially the hardest part of the book to digest and admit. This is about social media, our habits and how much using it (and believing it) effects our life.

Although there are lots of books about health, mental well-being and 'growing up' - whenever that is supposed to happen I don't know. I found this one to be the most useful and enjoyable I have ever read. The advice wasn't difficult to follow, everything seemed achievable and Chessie as a tour guide through modern life is just wonderful.

Life is hard, sometimes. Hormones are harder, sometimes. The moral from this book is that we just have to tune in and listen.

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