Frankly, I hated this book.

To be a bit fair, I thought this book was going to actually be about the relationship of genetics to who we are, but actually it is about OUR relationship to the facts of DNA.

To me, “what is” is a far more interesting topic than “how you FEEL about what is.” I should have read the back before buying, and realized this was a psychology book, not necessarily a science book.

This book could still be interesting, but the author chose to waste roughly half the book talking about gene tests for disease and heritage and such, just to say “but none of that matters really because they are inaccurate and probably always will be.” I agree with this, but I didn’t appreciate the tedious detail on something that doesn’t matter.

The author knows that epigenetics (the influence of environment and experience on genes) is really what matters (it’s in the title, DNA is NOT destiny), but like an unsure journalist he chose to give both sides of the non-debate equal attention, which was very frustrating.

It was not a very small book and the font was fairly small on top of that, and if it weren’t for this review I definitely wouldn’t have finished it. It was unbelievably repetitive and I’m very surprised Norton allowed this to be published without being edited in half.

I really don’t know who would benefit from this book. People who DO believe DNA is destiny (racists, eugenicists) would probably do well to understand all of this, but I doubt any racists would have the patience to get through this incredibly boring and repetitive book.

The book seemed to just drag on and on, and I really just wanted it to end.

Definitely do not recommend.