Pop-psych for singles, plus a sales pitch.
Shared interests, not dating apps, are the key to finding love and friendship—and there’s an app for that, too.
Aljazeeri’s growing conviction that online socializing and “swipe culture” are contributing to a global epidemic of loneliness inspired him to search for a better way. This book, and a website and app called TerriTie, are the results of that search. The text opens with an overview of interpersonal relationships that emphasizes starting from within—in the author’s view, “The journey of finding compatible friends and partners begins with a deep understanding of oneself.” The 11 relationship styles the author discusses (which form the acronym “PICCK A SPICE”) include Playful, Intellectual, Creative, Culinary, Kind, Adventurous, Spiritual, Physical, Inspirational, Caring, and Empathetic. The style descriptions begin with “Moments You’ll Recognize,” vignettes about a hypothetical couple or pair of friends. The author then defines the style, summarizing anthropological, psychological, and biological research to discuss that style’s positive and problematic aspects. The chapters also include suggested activities (board game nights for Intellectual Connections couples; getting involved in community art projects for Creative Expression pairs), venue options, quotations, and questions for reflection. The last portion of the book describes the TerriTie app, with special promotional offers for readers and early adopters, and reviews the drawbacks and dangers of existing dating apps and websites based on a “swipe” system. Aljazeeri’s criticisms of these platforms include privacy concerns, the prevalence of ghosting, catfishing, and other scams, decision fatigue, bias, and a high rate of user dissatisfaction. His soon-to-launch app concept, “Pick a Place, then a Face,” focuses on connecting users in-person, based on shared interests rather than personal characteristics; the author asserts that shared experiences are “more likely to lead to lasting and fulfilling relationships.” The book concludes with a test that enables readers to identify their dominant relationship styles and asks questions about previous experiences with dating apps. (The styles test can also be taken online, but registration is required to see one’s results.) The text also includes a 42-page bibliography listing more than 600 references.
The parallel structure of the 11 relationship chapters means that a great deal of information that pertains to the formation of relationship bonds is repeated—for example, the neurotransmitter dopamine is referred to as a “feel-good hormone” in both the Playful Teasing and Creative Expression chapters. Even within the sections, the writing is often unnecessarily repetitive: “Dopamine, central to the brain’s reward system, plays a crucial role in creativity and pleasure. Dopamine is released during enjoyable activities… the release of dopamine provides a sense of pleasure and fulfillment.” The book contains a wealth of information, referencing everything from the work of psychologists such as John Gottman and Martin Seligman to prehistoric cave paintings and the Epic of Gilgamesh. However, the discussion sometimes reads as superficial and speculative, relying on phrases like “evidence suggests” and “may have.” The relationship-styles portion of the book is more theoretical than practical, while the abrupt change to a first-person, blatantly promotional writing style for the final sections is jarring.
Pop-psych for singles, plus a sales pitch.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781067000226
Page Count: 382
Publisher: The National Library of New Zealand
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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