A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book shows how to re-wire yourself for more happy chemicals through the exploration of the vicious cycle you might create when your happy chemicals dip and how to build new new neural highways to support new happy habits.
There was some good information, but the presentation was lacking which took away from the finer points. The writing was basic, which was perhaps done on purpose to include a wider audience, but it didn't bode well because of the robust topics covered that require more depth. I found the sentences were short, choppy, and repetitive because she uses the same phrasing over and over.
Meet Your Happy Chemicals reads more like a textbook and I found the charts to be a cumbersome pedagogical feature—are people really going to fill them out? The "Chapters Ahead" sections are filler and redundant whereas the topics themselves could have been expanded upon.
Perhaps this would have made a nice article instead of a book. I also think that Breuning would have benefited greatly with a thorough substantive edit which would have alleviated a lot of what I mention above.
LORETTA GRAZIANO BREUNING, PhD, is also Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay.
As a teacher and mom, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals, and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people manage their inner mammal.
Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Real Simple, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, and on Forbes, NPR, and numerous podcasts.