Review: Not a Blue Print (It’s the shoe prints that matter) by Nina Norstrom

☆ 3 stars☆

 

What it’s about:

Allowing us to learn lessons, let go of toxicity, and gain insight, relationships can play a powerful role in our lives. They are formed with people, alcohol, animals, battlefields, diseases, drugs, environments, and even our emotions. Whether toxic or nontoxic, relationships are an integral component of daily living. Author Nina Norstrom lost her child to a disease, but that wasn’t the only toxic relationship she endured. In this book, she explores the effects that her relationships with grief, pain, trauma, and forgiveness have had on her life. This tale exposes a mother’s struggle to escape her world of toxicity, her journey out of the clutches of diseased relationships, and the shoe prints the experiences have left on her family’s history. This story in its raw form projects a remarkable voice to the heroic fight, courage, and bravery gained when striking back to wipe out toxic relationships. Its message reveals that life brings many challenges and that each challenge provides lessons to be learned. This book is not intended to be a blueprint for dealing with diseased relationships. It’s about the shoe prints: those symbols of life’s journey that are left by our experiences. “Not a Blueprint: It’s the Shoe Prints that Matter” is an insightful and inspiring personal story of one family’s journey through toxic relationships.

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Jennie’s Thoughts:

Author Nina Norstrom lost her child to a disease, but that wasn’t the only toxic relationship she endured. In this book, she explores the effects that her relationships with grief, pain, trauma, and forgiveness have had on her life. Norstrom writes candidly and conversationally, sharing her story in an earnest and folksy style. It made a very painful life easier to read. Those who struggle with toxic relationships, the loss of a child, or difficulties dealing with grief will find a kindred soul and a supportive voice for the journey.

 

This book often felt intrusive to read as the pain was so raw. It must have been very cathartic for Norstrom to write this. I think the summaries at the end of each chapter deserved more space, particularly if this book is meant to be self-help. As it is now, it read more like a memoir. Read this if you would like to feel less alone in your pain and struggle.

About the author: Nina is a graduate of Concordia University and holds a Magna Cum Laude status. She began her writing career in 1992.

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