The cover is lovely. [Complete Guide to Self-Care by Kiki Ely]

The Complete Guide to Self-Care features 100 accessible activities that help you reconnect with your body, mind, spirit, and surroundings, and leave you feeling refreshed and ready to face the world again.

The Complete Guide to Self-Care is a book for people who need to relax, chill out, or recenter. You'll learn how to achieve this by: Setting an effective and fruitful sleep schedule; Creating exercise routines and not feeling bad about falling off the bike; Saying no to things you don’t want to do (and things that maybe you do but don’t have space for); Reading, writing, art, music, and all forms of expression that water our soul; Setting aside time that is only for you, no one else, no exceptions; Watering yourself and giving yourself proper nutrients. In the tumults of our hectic world and your busy life, if you’re working toward being emotionally available and hungry for stability, a happier and healthier you is within your grasp.

Unfortunately I didn't find this book engaging. And I'd probably attribute a large part of that lack of engagement to the layout. Visually, the text of this book wasn't appealing. The spacing felt off. The color schemes were pleasant and relaxing, yes, but the formatting of individual pages didn't feel appropriate. And unfortunately, the visuals of a book, how the information appears to the reader, is also a large part of the reading experience.

Kiki Ely's Complete Guide to Self-Care invites the reader to skim through portions as they need or want to, picking from sections or creating individualized routines with information from chapters as needed. I appreciated that approach as offered by the author, it makes sense as self-care is an individual practice. But I think what I expected from this read was more a general reference of possible self-care practices, and less specific recipes or steps to take for specific activities. While I felt there were some good tidbits that I definitely took away, all in all I didn't connect with the book. I can see this being useful and engaging to others so I could recommended it to that specific audience. It's 3 stars from me.

Complete Guide to Self-Care is set for publication June 02, 2020.