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Kelly Williams Brown: Easy Crafts for the Insane (Hardcover, 2021, G.P. Putnam's Sons) 2 stars

Review of 'Easy Crafts for the Insane' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

There are some funny bits in here and the writer has a nice turn of phrase but really, there is barely a book here. The writer has a string of terrible luck, and also a string of unfortunate relationship disasters that appear grounded in a certain naive enthusiasm and emotional excess; she gets very sad when Trump is elected, which is relatable but not accompanied by any surprising insights; she ultimately gets very depressed, is briefly hospitalized, and recovers with the help of a therapist. There are crafts accompanying every chapter.

I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be but it just didn't deliver a book-shaped experience to me. It's a bunch of vignettes from a 2-year period and a bunch of craft instructions (on which I won't pass judgment: maybe they're amazing if you're crafty). It felt like the writer was determined to Get Something Out of a Bad Time, and I guess she did.