I have been listening to the Griefcast podcast from day one and have been excited about the release of this book ever since it was announced. I was certain that I wouldn't be disappointed and I certainly wasn't. There is something so refreshing and true in a book that has so clearly been written with the true purpose of helping others. Nothing is brought up out of turn for egoistic flattery or to create moments of gravitas. Every pain and experience expressed here is done so for the purpose of helping the reader to understand and empathise with the pain of others or if they are living with grief, to recognise their own behaviours and experience.Based on my description above you may conclude that this is a self-help book about grief and it is in all the ways that this is a positive description. But it is a story and a journey, not a sermon. Having listened to the podcast for years I am aware of the bones of Cariad's grief journey and have been able to take wisdoms from it already. But the completeness of the story here without feeling disproportionally personal and the room it is given to breathe in this format is particularly effective and means that non-listeners to the podcast can very much start by picking up this book as a way to better understand their own or others' grief.I love how this book is so firmly in the real world in terms of scenarios you will encounter when living with grief. But Cariad also manages to be so human in tender moments that I found it verging on spiritual. If you give this book your time it can give you invaluable insights into living with grief and understanding the importance of not facing your pain alone. But you have to be ready to listen and due to the nature of how tough and taboo these topics are, I am sure that a lot of people are not yet ready to read this book. I hope that one day they will be.