Review of In It Together
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- Latest Review: In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
Review of In It Together
[Following is a volunteer review of "In It Together" by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.]
I’ll be honest—I didn’t expect much from In It Together. The cover gave off strong generic self-help vibes, and I figured it’d be another book full of soft-focus advice, recycled quotes, and gentle reminders to breathe deeply or whatever. I even muttered something under my breath when I saw the subtitle—not proud of it, but yeah, I judged it way too much before opening it.
It didn’t blow me away or change my life. But it sort of slipped under my skin. I’d be doing something random—rinsing out my coffee mug in the hostel sink, half-listening to someone in the common room talking about their backlog of assignments—and a line from the book would float back to me. Like it had planted itself quietly and was just waiting for a moment when I’d be still enough to notice.
The core message is simple: love—not the movie kind, but the everyday kind—is what holds things together. And I know how that sounds. I rolled my eyes at that too, at first. But there was one part where the author talked about how we show up during small, forgettable moments, and it instantly reminded me of this day back home during JEE prep. It was stupidly hot outside, and my little cousin walked in while I was solving a physics problem, asking me to help untangle his kite string. I snapped at him. He left quietly. Later that night, I found the string still knotted and stuffed under the bed. I don’t know why that came back to me while reading this, but it did.
What I appreciated is that the book doesn’t try to sell you a formula. No “10 habits of emotionally awake people” or stuff like that. It just talks gently and lets you sit with your own thoughts. And the author doesn't act like he has got it all figured out either. Well, most of the time. Some parts still felt a bit too smooth, like certain sentences were written to be highlighted on Kindle. I don’t know, maybe that’s just how I read now. With too much awareness.
There was this section with quotes from Einstein, Jung, and even Van Gogh — and at first I was like, okay, here we go — but weirdly, they didn’t feel out of place. It’s not like one of those TED Talks that tries too hard to be deep. More like someone saying, “Here’s what helped me; maybe it’ll help you too.” I even scribbled one of them down on the back of an old to-do list. I think I lost it later that day.
Anyway, one thing that kept bothering me and this isn't really the book’s fault, is how little patience I seem to have these days for sincerity. Like, I’ll read something honest and then instantly look for a flaw in it. Maybe that says more about me than the book. I don’t know where I was going with this sentence, actually.
Still, the book made me notice a few things I normally ignore—like how I tense up when someone talks over me in a group chat, or how weirdly defensive I get when someone says something nice about my work. Small stuff but real.
I'd rate this book a solid 5 out of 5. The book has already gone through a really good professional proofreading and editing, and hence, I didn't notice any errors worth mentioning. Amazing work.
Would I recommend it? Yeah, I would. Not as a fix-your-life manual, but as something to keep near your bed or your desk or wherever you tend to feel a bit disconnected. It won’t tell you how to be better. But it might remind you to be a bit more present with the life you already have.
******
In It Together
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I’ll be honest—I didn’t expect much from In It Together. The cover gave off strong generic self-help vibes, and I figured it’d be another book full of soft-focus advice, recycled quotes, and gentle reminders to breathe deeply or whatever. I even muttered something under my breath when I saw the subtitle—not proud of it, but yeah, I judged it way too much before opening it.
It didn’t blow me away or change my life. But it sort of slipped under my skin. I’d be doing something random—rinsing out my coffee mug in the hostel sink, half-listening to someone in the common room talking about their backlog of assignments—and a line from the book would float back to me. Like it had planted itself quietly and was just waiting for a moment when I’d be still enough to notice.
The core message is simple: love—not the movie kind, but the everyday kind—is what holds things together. And I know how that sounds. I rolled my eyes at that too, at first. But there was one part where the author talked about how we show up during small, forgettable moments, and it instantly reminded me of this day back home during JEE prep. It was stupidly hot outside, and my little cousin walked in while I was solving a physics problem, asking me to help untangle his kite string. I snapped at him. He left quietly. Later that night, I found the string still knotted and stuffed under the bed. I don’t know why that came back to me while reading this, but it did.
What I appreciated is that the book doesn’t try to sell you a formula. No “10 habits of emotionally awake people” or stuff like that. It just talks gently and lets you sit with your own thoughts. And the author doesn't act like he has got it all figured out either. Well, most of the time. Some parts still felt a bit too smooth, like certain sentences were written to be highlighted on Kindle. I don’t know, maybe that’s just how I read now. With too much awareness.
There was this section with quotes from Einstein, Jung, and even Van Gogh — and at first I was like, okay, here we go — but weirdly, they didn’t feel out of place. It’s not like one of those TED Talks that tries too hard to be deep. More like someone saying, “Here’s what helped me; maybe it’ll help you too.” I even scribbled one of them down on the back of an old to-do list. I think I lost it later that day.
Anyway, one thing that kept bothering me and this isn't really the book’s fault, is how little patience I seem to have these days for sincerity. Like, I’ll read something honest and then instantly look for a flaw in it. Maybe that says more about me than the book. I don’t know where I was going with this sentence, actually.
Still, the book made me notice a few things I normally ignore—like how I tense up when someone talks over me in a group chat, or how weirdly defensive I get when someone says something nice about my work. Small stuff but real.
I'd rate this book a solid 5 out of 5. The book has already gone through a really good professional proofreading and editing, and hence, I didn't notice any errors worth mentioning. Amazing work.
Would I recommend it? Yeah, I would. Not as a fix-your-life manual, but as something to keep near your bed or your desk or wherever you tend to feel a bit disconnected. It won’t tell you how to be better. But it might remind you to be a bit more present with the life you already have.
******
In It Together
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: In It Together by Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
