A Unicorn in a World of Donkeys: A Guide to Life for All the Exceptional, Excellent Misfits Out There

by Mia Michaels

An empowerment manifesto for creatives, misfits, innovators, and disruptors from the star of So You Think You Can Dance and creator of Broadway's Finding Neverland

A Unicorn in a World of Donkeys offers a playbook for living a creative and authentic life. Using her own story as a launching spot, and creative quizzes, charts, and lists to engage the reader in an interactive journey, Mia Michaels explores the experience of the unicorn in a world of donkeys, a world where fitting in, pleasing others, following rules, and maintaining norms-no matter how messed up those norms are-is the only acceptable path. She acknowledges the struggles of the unicorn life-loneliness, ridicule, being misunderstood and undervalued-and goes on encourage readers to reframe the unicorn life the way she has, as essential to a life of brilliance.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited about this book until finding out that Unicorns are best. Yes it’s in the title and the cover of the book. However maybe feeling like I’m a blend of both- which is not good from the authors point of view. I was excited that yes I’m a misfit unicorn until some of the characteristics were either not true for me or I disliked. There are some good example stories. It’s a quick easy read. I will take what I want and need for me. Not as empowering as I anticipated.

[Grace Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite my deep abiding love for unicorns this book wasn't for me. I felt like the author was slightly biased against extroverts. Additionally, the unicorn/donkey metaphor felt a little overdone and kind of fell apart. This last part is totally personal preference and might not bother anyone else, but it made the book less enjoyable for me and I just couldn't get into it. Basically, donkeys are super stubborn and having them be the normal crowd-followers in the metaphor seemed off. Also, I love donkeys as much as unicorns and in a perfect world would have a donkacorn so I felt kind of bad that donkeys were getting slammed.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mleh. Didn’t especially hate it, just didn’t feel like there was anything new or different enough to catch my interest.

[Nisha B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Would love to meet her one day. Felt like she was talking to me directly and expressing thoughts I’ve had myself. 😀

[CharityJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for a young person or one who really likes unicorns. There are a couple of nuggets, but not substantive enough for people who already have a good bit of life behind them.

[Kaitlynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick book to read through, and I thought it was kind of interesting. Love the cover too.

[Caity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this ARC for free

A lot of self help books relate the same information so the trick to a good one is creating an unique and engaging way to convey this and practical advice to help accomplish this. This book does so very well, the unicorn to donkey comparison really works and the author has an engaging and consistent voice. I appreciated the thought provoking quizzes and exercises to help readers reach their creative goals. The book not only has a great message about embracing and enhancing your creativity but also in self acceptance and body positivity. The one area where the book falls a bit short is for driven creative people with goals in non artist areas. While the book does acknowledge at a few points that not all creative unicorns are artists or may be artists in their spare time while working in other fields the author provides little advice for this situation, few examples of it, and at times links non-art fields with donkey traits. This does fit with the authors background and experiences but can be potentially off putting. That said I definitely still recommend this book to people looking to boost their creativity and embrace their best self.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a performing artist just getting started, this is undoubtedly a must-read. Mia Michaels was of interest to me because I've been a fan of the dance competition TV show, So You Think You Can Dance that is now in it's 15th year on Fox TV. Being the only program I will stoop to watch Fox for, I must say, it's been a pleasure watching young dancers compete, grow, and perform beyond the TV experience. Mia Michaels was a regular choreographer with the show until she disappeared from view a couple years ago. I believe she was back in 2017 with a contribution of her choreography.
Michaels is a dance teacher and I found her book 'teachy'. Still, I enjoyed her energy, determination, willingness to be herself against the odds, and her honesty. Any young dancer would benefit from reading it.
As a visual artist, I identified with parts but I make a distinction between performing arts and presentation of visual arts. She has some good advice but I much prefer scientific qualitatively proven research about the creative arts which I find more relevant and inspiring. Michaels may be a unicorn but she lacks the scientific data to back up her 'teaching'.

[Esperanza · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read for any creative person. A unicorn can be defined as anyone who has ever felt different than others, like the odd duck, the odd girl out, the misfit in the group, the wallflower, not like the other boys on the team, not like the other girls in the class, someone who longs to blend in with the crowd yet perpetually stands out, anyone that has felt alone, ostracized, marginalized, isolated, an anomaly, invisible, one of a kind. If you have ever felt this way, this book is for you. 5 stars.

[Shawntel (read_with_shawntel) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free. I was very excited to read it, as I am always inspired by Mia Michaels work. This book has a few really great bits to take ahold of and process, but I also had a hard time with aspects of it. I still appreciate the attempt made by MM.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. I even bought it for a friend!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Mia Michaels- she is a hoot- so I really enjoyed her anecdotes and the autobiographical sections. The self-help stuff, checklists, quizzes etc, I just skimmed over.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review to come, but I really loved some bits, and skimmed over others.

[Farah Al Fardh · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book for all those creative minds who feel out of place
you are not alone in that
will make you better understand yourself

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's no secret that Mia Michaels is a genius. I even wrote about her on my GRE back in 2009 when the writing section prompt was something to do with creativity. To this day, Celine Dion's "A New Day" that Mia choreographed is one of my favorite shows of all time, and I watch the DVD like 6 times per year, at least. I was so excited when I heard she was writing a book.

But, I'm not going to lie...I was a little disappointed in this. This was part-memoir, part-self-help/how-to guide, which is fine, but the execution wasn't what I had hoped. Admittedly, and probably going against the message of this book (one of which is not to make comparisons or to copy others), I hold Twyla Tharp's THE CREATIVE HABIT as the standard against which all other books in the genre are measured. This one just didn't do it for me. But, it was still an enjoyable read (albeit a little too humblebraggy at times), and there were a few nuggets of ideas that are worthwhile and I'm going to try to implement.

Overall, though, I couldn't get past some of the things that really irked me. The "unicorn vs. donkey" thing just didn't resonate with me and I found it annoying rather than endearing (probably because I may be more "donkey" than "unicorn" at times); the book felt confused at points, as the first few chapters about bullying I thought seemed to be targeted more toward pre-teens and teenagers than grown ass adults, but then later chapters included checklists for living a good life including "bonking until satisfied" (or something along those lines) and similar themes, which was certainly not written toward a young audience; the overuse of quizzes that reminded me of "Teen Magazine" back in the day — the first two were clever, but then it was just a gimmick; and finally, the super shiny pages made it hard to read in almost every lighting situation in my home (it felt like a textbook at times), especially with the navy blue text.

Worth reading if you're a fan of Mia's work and/or are in the dance industry, but if you're not, then there are much better books in this genre that may have a broader appeal.

[Andrei Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book had many moments when I had to stop and think. Reflect. At the end of some chapters, I couldn't continue reading due to the emotional response and thoughts that were coming up.
Many great quotes.
It is shockingly inspiring and has a few interesting practical teaching exercises.

However, it sometimes feels preachy and like she's talking down to me.
+
"I’m a heavyset middle-aged single straight woman at the pinnacle of success in a field that worships skinny young gay men." - false. Skinny cishet white women + lean strong cishet men.

[Sadie-Jane Huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never seen the word unicorn as many times as in this book rofl..
It wasn't a bad read but I felt the author overcompensate her issues..
I'm a big girl and I did ballet and I'm born in Asia (mixed race) so i have always had issues with size. For e.g.. age 1.. I looked 4 lol..

Didn't really resonate much with me in terms of her issues with size etc but I do agree that acceptance is key. If u accept yourself and love yourself.. who gives a crap about anyone else..

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soooooooooo, this lady really needs to write an autobiography her life is amazing! Love the examples!

I think junior high Stephanie would have loved this book. Stephanie today doesn't remember not loving being a unicorn. 🦄

This book is written in absolutes. I find that a bit off-putting, but I enjoyed the challenge.

I love diamond-studded unicorns v. extreme donkeys. I love that we all live in the middle!

[Lisa]

There were a lot of weird mixed messages in here and it seemed a bit messy, overall. It seemed to be aimed more towards your work life than general feelings.

I didn’t expect much from the book but it wasn’t for me in the end. I didn’t like the way it categorised people and put down people for not being career driven. It just rubbed me wrong.

[TheCloudRunner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think there were some good nuggets of inspiration in this book but overall, nothing said was entirely new. Even still, I'm not upset to have read it and am happy to have met Ms. Michaels at BookCon.

[Chelsea Moffatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was helpful to me at a time when I didn't understand how to fully appreciate who I am as an individual.
It helped me realize that my inner self was exactly who I needed & was meant to be. This helped me shake a lot of shame association I had with my mental illness.

[Sandrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

One star for her incredible work as a choreographer, one star for Lily and one for being a fellow unicorn. Thanks for putting this together though I think we unicorns just need to take the rough road first to getting to know us and be ourselves

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone wants to be a unicorn, and this book can guide you to the rainbow path. But, the choice is yours...

[Megan Houpt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It leaves you feeling inspired to embrace what makes you unique and to not allow that uniqueness to be swallowed up by what is considered main stream.

[Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. A fun, easy read. I just prefer not to categorize others. Donkeys aren’t bad people- Nor are unicorns. Love her energy and passion

[Chrissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute. A good book for people questioning if they don't fit in and why that's ok.

[Becky Macmanus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend for creative types! I love hearing her stories. The advice is just so so but there were some really great take aways and mantras

[Amal Dansh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apart from the cute, colorful cover, a very mundane read.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh - seems kind of unique at first, but at the end of the day, it is kind of a feel-good self-help book. Donkey or Unicorn, a lot of the advice is good in general. Kind of a fun take on it though.

[BiblioBtown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be inspiring. I think its ironic (or at least the biggest pun ever) that she separates the world into unicorns and donkeys because the original term or unicorn was wild ass. Wild donkeys. So the world is separated into Donkeys and Wild Donkeys. I think its funny anyway. It's a very go-get-em type of inspirational book. I had a lot of take-aways from it though. Like the cliché 'get out of your comfort zone' was turned into 'if it makes you scared/excited then you're challenging yourself and that's the best thing you can do' and the tips on dealing with failure and rejection #lifechanging.