Chani Nicholas has created a liberatory and inclusive introduction to astrology that is deeply meaningful, heartfelt, and empowering. This book offers space for self forgiveness, acceptance, and love while simultaneously providing challenging insights and questions. This book reminds us all that the answers don’t have to come from outside of the Self, even as guidance and support might abound outside of our inner world.

I loved Chani's book and cannot stop thinking about how well-written and justice oriented her book is. I did not think I would be so touched and reflective when learning about basics. I think that astrology can feel out of touch and out of grasp for beginners but Chani uses great examples of two great women to highlight how charts can reveal so much for a person. I learned so much while reading this book and feel incredibly prepared to read my chart and read this book over and over as I learn more.

A nice way to frame some self-reflection and to ask questions about what you believe about yourself and why. There is probably some amount of confirmation bias at work here but we should pull back and ask ourselves why we want to believe certain things that we are told about ourselves (and why we don't want to believe other things that we are told about ourselves). My disappointment with this book is that it only really focuses on sun, moon, and ascendant. I had hoped to do some more learning about astrology and don't feel like I learned as much as I was hoping. I will go on to look at trines, sextiles, squares, etc more now but I will have to find more books about that as well as more detail about houses. A good bridge between basic understanding and wanting to know more.

I recommend this book for beginners and slightly more seasoned astrology nerds. The book focuses on the big three but the breakdown of the houses as well as the relationships of the planets (sextiles, squares, trines, etc) go well beyond the basic Astrology apps in a way that was easy to understand as well as evoke a deeper meaning of my chart. Definitely going to be using this book in the future for all my friends and anyone who wants a chart breakdown (must be my Libra rising!)

Chani wrote an amazing beginner’s guide to astrology, that really helped me gain further insight into myself in a way that was both comforting and insightful. I took lots of notes and loved it!

I've been a secret and mostly embarassed follower of astrology for a lot of years. I was subject to so many people sneeringly confronting me with, "You know its not real, riiiight?" Chani Nicholas is insightful and compassionate in describing her love of astrology and its appeal, and it just so happens that I agree with her standpoint: Astrology isn't necessarily a foreteller so much as it is a way to give one's self a loving, grace filled, explorational examination. Faith and certitude matter less than the will to understand. Anyway, I dug the book.

As an avid astrology dabbler since middle-school, this book would have helped young KCF feel a path forward with more confidence. Chani's premise is if we can understand some key themes from our natal chart it can help us work with astrology to be our most radically accepting selves, ushering in ease and purpose as some guardrails for this thing called life. It's the astrology book that helped me better understand aspects. I wish she had a part two exploring the rest of the planet placements and what that could mean for us, and yes I'm an iOS user and I've got the app which has also been a gift. Chani is a teacher who breaks down these concepts for anyone willing to learn. I felt very seen as I read each section that explores your sun sign, your moon sign, and your rising sign. Get this book if you want a deeper dive into your own chart and into astrology as a radical feminist self-awareness tool.

My bias: I'm very skeptical of Astrology, I don't have much of a spiritual side, and I never got into horoscopes

That said, I actually really enjoyed this book! The affirmations and self-reflection questions are objectively great and helpful.

The audiobook, read by Nicholas, is very calming