HUGEOrange Publication Review
Plus One Plus None, by Emica Mao
Plus One Plus None is filled with good advice with wit and humor to boot. There is nothing better than finding a book that offers helpful practical advice and is fun to read in narrated story form.
Author Emica Mao talks about her life with a focus on her introvert personality through a character named Zita. If you’re an introvert, you will instantly connect with her upstream swim through life and growing older. If you’re not an introvert, there will be insights and ah ha moments when you recognize how introverts you know must feel. Extroverts feel there’s something wrong with women who do not crave the spotlight, the married life, and kids underfoot. Many make it the focus of their friendship (or if family, relationship) to change anyone who can’t yet understand why these things are essential. Well, they’re not, really, are they?
One thing I learned about making decisions is sometimes deep within us, we have a secret answer already even before we seek advice (though we would probably never admit this).
This is a must read for single women and a recommended read for everyone else. From dating tips to relatable and funny stories, Plus One Plus None will offer a juicy gem of something to remember on every page.
It’s empowering and motivates you to embrace the single life for all it has to offer. After reading this book you will be happily content in your own cozy cocoon.
Maybe as the number of people who remain unmarried increases generation after generation, more people would realize that being single is as mainstream as being married.
Entertaining from front to back there isn’t a dull moment. Zita is a fun character to follow, blunt and no holds barred. The story, like it says from the start, is about breaking the linear path we all feel we are on as we grow up. School, job, kids and happily ever after. She writes about her attempts to find Mr. Right and get on the path she’s ‘supposed’ to be on. Many women get on that path knowing that’s not what they really want. Zita will not be one of them, she is true to herself and frank about what she wants and it’s not diapers and commitment. She’s happy with herself, her life, and her future. Anyone wondering how to get off the hamster wheel of expectations will find resolve and motivation with this wonderful book.
You are fully accountable for your life. How your life has turned out so far and how it is turning out to be, that is on you. There is nothing or no one else to blame. In as much as there are a lot of external factors in your life, the primary driver of your life is no one else but you.
I found myself relating in some way, either directly or indirectly through a friend, to all of Zita’s ups and downs. I think the main thing I got out of it was comradery. I didn’t feel alone in being single or that I’ve made the wrong choice anymore. You have to be brave to make the right choice sometimes and this lady is as brave as they come. Introverts do not like to share information about themselves, but she shows the good and the bad, the ups and downs, successes and failures. She’s a success in my book!