Navigating early adulthood is a universal struggle. And yet, there are not many resources or help available for those in this phase of life! As a registered and practicing psychotherapist, who has gone through her own fair share of early adulthood struggles, Satya Doyle Byock hopes to change this. She refers to this volatile and terrifying period between childhood and adulthood as "quarterlife". While the "mid-life crisis" is so normalized that it's become an almost social norm, society, especially older adults, are quick to ignore and brush away the "quarterlife crisis". This book explores the "quarterlife" - those ages roughly between 16 and 35 - from a psychoanalytical and socially conscious point of view informed by real world stories of adolescents in crisis. It is SUCH an important work that I hope opens the door to many more books, research and resources on this topic.

Perhaps it is because I started therapy at a young age (15), that many of the issues faced by the quarterlifers in this book and the work done during their therapeutic practice did not resonate with me as deeply. I have explored and overcome many of these issues during my own therapy journey. Nevertheless, I still found this book to be very insightful and I even found myself engaging in some of the exercises that were given to the characters! I particularly liked how the author included a chapter at the end on "how to find your therapist (and what to expect". This is invaluable advice that I feel so many quarterlifers will benefit from (though it does come from a very American therapy practice landscape).

I am definitely going to recommend this book to every "quarterlifer" I know. Especially those in their 20 somethings and those who are yet to start their own healing journey (which is something we ALL need)!! You can avoid the "mid-life crisis" by healing and building nurturing habits in your "quarterlife" :)