The first word that comes to mind when reading A Fine Mess is chameleon. Depending on your mood, this book could be seen as trivial happy horse you-know-what or,if you are in a good mood, poignant and heartwarming. The good news is Duke acknowledges that in the title by calling A Fine Mess "little" and "odd." Okay, so it is a lot odd at times.
Depending on your mood, you could see the colorful illustrations and photography as evocative and capable of inspiring heartfelt emotion. On another day you could be annoyed by the self-help journaling pages; declaring A Fine Mess as helpful as the pseudo-psychological quizzes you find in the pages of Cosmopolitan magazine. How Happy Are You? Take This Test To Find Out!
Depending on your mood, you could question what making fun of a sculpture has to do with breast cancer. You could question why Duke doesn't bemoan the loss of hair or appetite or secure body image. On another day you could applaud her ability to make connections to before cancer and after cancer and her courageous ability to make sense of the randomness of the disease.
Depending on your mood, A Fine Mess could be a humorous gift to give a struggling friend or your worst enemy.
Either way, one thing is for certain. It will take you all of ten minutes to read. Whether you go back and read it again is entirely dependent on your mood. ( )

Disclosure: An electronic copy of this book in PDF format was provided in exchange for review by publishers BHC Press, via Library Thing.

“A Fine Mess”, by Canadian writer Kim Duke, is a slim (88 pages with lots of white space) volume reminding readers that crappy stuff happens in the world and eventually it will be over. There are a couple of workbook-like spaces to list what’s bugging you, many pretty pictures, lots of affirmations and assurances that you’re not alone, and the revolutionary advice that it might be helpful to "talk with someone" about your feelings.

The advice Duke dispenses for dealing with the “fine messes” life hands us isn’t bad – it’s just extremely superficial. This book is essentially a collection of Hallmark “Encouragement” cards. Whether you are comforted by the aphorisms or are tempted to throw the book down and jump up and down on it probably depends on the nature of your personal “fine mess” and where you are in the process of dealing with it. ( )

Quite a nice gem, this book distills the pain and joy of dealing with disasters into a humorous tidbits of information for consumption!

Reading this book at the time when we're not only experiencing a devastating pandemic, but we're dealing with personal tragedies on top of it, makes this book more poignant. The book acknowledges how we can put our own tragedies into perspective while we can accept support gracefully!

It's important to not expect everyone to share our point of view but to find help, love and joy when and where possible. Importantly, when we can help others, we get more meaning out of our experience and grow out of it, a transformed, and a kinder, more evolved person. ( )