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The Easy Way to Quit Caffeine: Live a healthier, happier life
In a fast-paced world, many people turn to caffeine to stay energised. Over 80 per cent of adults in the UK use caffeine every day, but when does this habit become a reliance? Caffeine is a bitter addictive drug which attacks the central nervous system and makes you jittery. Fooling you into thinking you are more alert, caffeine will often disrupt your sleep and actually increase overall fatigue. Quite simply, it's bad for you with no real benefits. In this concise pocket book, Allen Carr addresses the difficulties that coffee-drinkers and fizzy drink consumers face in trying to quit caffeine. By explaining what caffeine does to your body, and providing simple step-by-step instructions to free you from your addiction, Carr shows you how to lead a happier, healthier and more chilled life.
99 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2016
About the author
Allen Carr
354 books237 followersAllen Carr was an author of books about quitting smoking and other psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after 33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoker.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 1, 2020
Well, now that’s out of my life… (this is not sarcasm, it really is that easy, but you’ve gotta read the whole book, in order. No cheating and just skimming the quotes).
Quotes:
For me, alarm bells start ringing when people justify something by minimizing the negatives.
All we are doing is consuming caffeine to feel like a non-caffeine addict – to feel how we felt before we had our first-ever shot of the drug.
There was a famous experiment in which spiders were given various drugs. The object was to observe the varying types of web these spiders would weave on their respective drugs. Interestingly, the craziest, most disorganized web of all was not, as you might expect, that of the spider on LSD or cannabis, but that of the spider on caffeine.
The caffeine trap is a bit like someone who hasn’t got a broken leg buying a crutch that is riddled with woodworm.
Remember how the addiction works: the first shot creates an empty, insecure feeling and subsequent shots seem to take that feeling away.
If there’s no benefit to taking caffeine frequently then there’s no point in taking it occasionally either. Attempts to cut down usually fail and our intake usually returns to its previous level or even higher.
As long as you understand that you’re not giving anything up, withdrawal from caffeine is barely noticeable.
The only reason you take caffeine is to try to get rid of the withdrawal – i.e. to feel like someone who doesn’t take it, since they never experience withdrawal – and to feel like you felt the whole of your life before you got addicted to it. The only thing stopping you from feeling that way for the rest of your life is the next shot.
The coffee has only ever been “sneaking a ride” on the back of [the] lovely components that make up [a special or enjoyable] moment.
Your brain mistakes caffeine as providing relief from caffeine withdrawal rather than being the cause of it. This back-to-front thinking allows the brainwashing to take root – i.e. the illusion that caffeine provides us with a genuine pleasure or crutch – and grow in our mind. This creates a feeling of deprivation when we try to cut down or quit.
Because you have got rid of the belief that caffeine provided you with any sort of benefit or crutch, you’re free the moment you finish your final shot.
You have the choice of either reminding yourself that you are free from the whole nightmare, or starting to mope for caffeine. These are wonderful moments to remind yourself how lucky you are to be free.
Get it clear in your mind, whenever you see anyone using caffeine, on any occasion, they’re not doing it because they choose to, or want to, or because it gives them pleasure, or any kind of benefit, but because they’ve fallen for an ingenious, subtle confidence trick. Remember that you are not being deprived – they are. They’re being deprived of their health, their money, their energy, their courage, their freedom.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2019
caffeine=poison
Allan Carr is a hero to mankind. I read easyway to stop smoking almost 10 years ago. I couldnt believe that reading it would allow me to stop smoking but to this day I have never had another cigarette. whats more astonishing was I actually still on the tail end of severe drug addiction and I stopped smoking even while continuing using the other substances,the book was that...potent. Who stops smoking whilegetting drunk and high? how is it possible? I cant tell you I just read the book determined to do something to help myself and thats how it worked out as unbelievable as it sounds.thankfully Ive been sober and nicotine free for many years,
however Ive had a strange affliction gnawing at me, one I couldn’t identify for a while. why am i feeling these things? i asked one day then realized my caffeine intake over the last several months had increased to 1000-1200 mg a day. everything I read in this book rang true for me, after all these years i am grateful Alan Carr expanded his work because caffeine has become the exact same for me as nicotine was then. Ive been drinking 4-5 energy drinks a day(they dont give me energy) . This is exactly what I needed , Im ready to be free from another elitist corporate lie. Thank you folks for what you do.
Allan Carr is a hero to mankind. I read easyway to stop smoking almost 10 years ago. I couldnt believe that reading it would allow me to stop smoking but to this day I have never had another cigarette. whats more astonishing was I actually still on the tail end of severe drug addiction and I stopped smoking even while continuing using the other substances,the book was that...potent. Who stops smoking whilegetting drunk and high? how is it possible? I cant tell you I just read the book determined to do something to help myself and thats how it worked out as unbelievable as it sounds.thankfully Ive been sober and nicotine free for many years,
however Ive had a strange affliction gnawing at me, one I couldn’t identify for a while. why am i feeling these things? i asked one day then realized my caffeine intake over the last several months had increased to 1000-1200 mg a day. everything I read in this book rang true for me, after all these years i am grateful Alan Carr expanded his work because caffeine has become the exact same for me as nicotine was then. Ive been drinking 4-5 energy drinks a day(they dont give me energy) . This is exactly what I needed , Im ready to be free from another elitist corporate lie. Thank you folks for what you do.
May 26, 2019
Clear, concise and logical way to quit
This book is clear, concise and uses clear logic to convince caffeine users to quit (and to do so happily). As a psychologist, I recognize that this book basically uses the time-honored tools of cognitive behavioral therapy—helping people to question their erroneous beliefs and free themselves from the power of those beliefs. It’s a great way to kick any habit that is genuinely bad for you (such as consuming caffeine).
This book is clear, concise and uses clear logic to convince caffeine users to quit (and to do so happily). As a psychologist, I recognize that this book basically uses the time-honored tools of cognitive behavioral therapy—helping people to question their erroneous beliefs and free themselves from the power of those beliefs. It’s a great way to kick any habit that is genuinely bad for you (such as consuming caffeine).
May 17, 2022
Caffeine, the world's most popular and socially accepted psychoactive drug, is my biggest addiction. I have been drinking coffee every single day (often tea as well in the same day) since I was 14 or so. I'm glad that my parents didn't allow me to drink caffeine earlier that age.
I think it all started as an innocent occasional drink, trying to stay awak for the early morning tuition classes. Then after high school, before I knew it, I was already drinking at least three cups of coffee a day.
Now I often unapologetically say "I can't start my day or my brain doesn't function properly until I've had my morning cup of coffee." And of course, another one in the afternoon, then another in the evening. I'm like, you might be familiar with it, "Don't talk to me until I have my morning cup of Joe."
It has changed from drinking it because I like it to drinking it because I can't function without it. You might be familiar with the feeling of uneasiness, or that unsettling feeling, the mental fog before you've had your coffee.
I was once able to quit smoking but I've never succeeded in quitting coffee.
I've never liked being addicted to anything, to be dependent on something for my mind to be able to function at the normal baseline of non-addicted people.
Allen Carr's Easyway method isn't like any other method for quitting any substance. It doesn't deal with willpower because as we all know, Willpower Doesn't Work.
Instead, it deals with our beliefs around that substance.
We all feel it, that the word "Quitting" makes us feel like we're depriving ourselves of something special, something pleasurable, something valuable like we're losing our crutches which we dearly depend on.
We deceive ourselves saying, "I like the taste and smell. It gives me energy. It's sociable. It's a source of antioxidants. It's a habit." And so on and on.
Or we protest to ourselves like, "But nothing can beat sitting in your garden on a summer's morning with the sun shining and pouring a freshly made cup of aromatic coffee while reading a book."
Allen Carr's Easyway method busts those myths one by one. Some of the things the author says sounds like exaggerated or sometimes even feels like sarcastic and it was really funny. It often made me laughed out loud.
In those occasions, keeping an open mind, and trying to grasp what the author's trying to point towards, is key.
As I've already learned from other areas of my life, you will never change yourself about something, be it a habit or anything, unless you have a new mindset about it. When you have a new mindset, you don't need willpower.
This book isn't about enduring the cravings with willpower. We know, from repeated failures, that it simply doesn't work. This book is about not even having a craving anymore.
In the final chapters, it gives you instructions for quitting. But you can't skip to those final chapters because the earlier chapters place the foundation for changing your mindset, your beliefs that you tell yourself why you consume coffee every day.
As the author says from the beginning of the book, "Keep an open mind. Follow the instructions. Do not quit or cut down until you have finished the book."
I think it all started as an innocent occasional drink, trying to stay awak for the early morning tuition classes. Then after high school, before I knew it, I was already drinking at least three cups of coffee a day.
Now I often unapologetically say "I can't start my day or my brain doesn't function properly until I've had my morning cup of coffee." And of course, another one in the afternoon, then another in the evening. I'm like, you might be familiar with it, "Don't talk to me until I have my morning cup of Joe."
It has changed from drinking it because I like it to drinking it because I can't function without it. You might be familiar with the feeling of uneasiness, or that unsettling feeling, the mental fog before you've had your coffee.
I was once able to quit smoking but I've never succeeded in quitting coffee.
I've never liked being addicted to anything, to be dependent on something for my mind to be able to function at the normal baseline of non-addicted people.
Allen Carr's Easyway method isn't like any other method for quitting any substance. It doesn't deal with willpower because as we all know, Willpower Doesn't Work.
Instead, it deals with our beliefs around that substance.
We all feel it, that the word "Quitting" makes us feel like we're depriving ourselves of something special, something pleasurable, something valuable like we're losing our crutches which we dearly depend on.
We deceive ourselves saying, "I like the taste and smell. It gives me energy. It's sociable. It's a source of antioxidants. It's a habit." And so on and on.
Or we protest to ourselves like, "But nothing can beat sitting in your garden on a summer's morning with the sun shining and pouring a freshly made cup of aromatic coffee while reading a book."
Allen Carr's Easyway method busts those myths one by one. Some of the things the author says sounds like exaggerated or sometimes even feels like sarcastic and it was really funny. It often made me laughed out loud.
In those occasions, keeping an open mind, and trying to grasp what the author's trying to point towards, is key.
As I've already learned from other areas of my life, you will never change yourself about something, be it a habit or anything, unless you have a new mindset about it. When you have a new mindset, you don't need willpower.
This book isn't about enduring the cravings with willpower. We know, from repeated failures, that it simply doesn't work. This book is about not even having a craving anymore.
In the final chapters, it gives you instructions for quitting. But you can't skip to those final chapters because the earlier chapters place the foundation for changing your mindset, your beliefs that you tell yourself why you consume coffee every day.
As the author says from the beginning of the book, "Keep an open mind. Follow the instructions. Do not quit or cut down until you have finished the book."
August 2, 2018
Useful Model for Quitting Caffeine
Carr’s approach makes good sense and uses common sense to help you quit caffeine. Important however is the caveat that you must be ready to quit or this approach may not work.
I would suggest also reading Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske for much more detail on the impact of caffeine on your health. Nevertheless, this book’s approach once you understand the need to get off this dangerous substance is useful and makes sense.
Some points about addiction were very well put. I thought his point about the “weaning” method made a lot of sense. When you adopt that mind set, you are giving the substance (caffeine) more importance than it deserves and giving your will to choose less importance than it deserves.
In effect, you are fooling yourself into making the breaking of the addiction more difficult than it need be.
All taken into account, a good book to read on the topic and a fairly quick read as well. Worth the purchase.
Carr’s approach makes good sense and uses common sense to help you quit caffeine. Important however is the caveat that you must be ready to quit or this approach may not work.
I would suggest also reading Caffeine Blues by Stephen Cherniske for much more detail on the impact of caffeine on your health. Nevertheless, this book’s approach once you understand the need to get off this dangerous substance is useful and makes sense.
Some points about addiction were very well put. I thought his point about the “weaning” method made a lot of sense. When you adopt that mind set, you are giving the substance (caffeine) more importance than it deserves and giving your will to choose less importance than it deserves.
In effect, you are fooling yourself into making the breaking of the addiction more difficult than it need be.
All taken into account, a good book to read on the topic and a fairly quick read as well. Worth the purchase.
July 20, 2019
Short book, nothing impressive, but is effective. I followed it and quit caffeine after 17 years of daily consumption/addiction. 2 weeks have passed and still haven’t consumed any caffeine and I feel more calm and with more energy in the morning.
I like the fact that author emphasizes the point that we don’t need caffeine and that it is all in our head. If we are aware of that, it is much easier to quit.
Good read for anyone who wants to quit caffeine.
I like the fact that author emphasizes the point that we don’t need caffeine and that it is all in our head. If we are aware of that, it is much easier to quit.
Good read for anyone who wants to quit caffeine.
March 11, 2024
Most unhelpful thing ever✨
April 8, 2024
This book will make you quit without you doing anything.
What authors explain brilliantly and in plain language is the nature of all addictions.
First, there is a first dose due to cultural programming.
That first dose gives an energy boost or rather its release.
It will be the only boost we’ll get. The rest will be just trying to get back to the state we had before we started consuming the drug.
As soon as caffeine is consumed, the body starts adjusting to counterbalance the effects of poison. It’s called tolerance and it explains why over time we drink more because the same dose doesn’t give the same effect anymore.
It also causes withdrawal or compensatory effect opposite to the effect created by drug. In caffeine’s case it is feeling tired and sleepy. That’s why caffeine drinkers feel tired most of the time - in response to a “high” the body creates a state of low to compensate.
To learn more about this fascinating mechanism I’d recommend the book ‘Never Enough’ by Judith Grisel and the chapter on b process as she calls it.
Now because withdrawal is unpleasant we want and take another dose. It seems to make the tiredness go away and we feel better than before. We are hooked.
But what we don’t realize is that the mind mistakes caffeine as providing the CURE for withdrawal and tiredness rather than being the CAUSE of it.
Now if we are tired we mentally crave a coffee and get a sense of deprivation if don’t get a dose we think we need.
The lifelong chain has started.
That’s why it’s so difficult to quit by willpower method.
And that’s what this book is great at doing - uncovering the mechanism of addiction to help the mind understand it and change its perception of caffeine.
By the time you are done reading it, you don’t want caffeine. As simple as that.
But as with all addictions it’s not getting hooked again that really matters.
As Mark Twain said: “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a hundred times. What’s difficult is to not start again”
This book makes it easy to quit.
Not to start and remind ourselves that caffeine is an addictive drug and many corporations profit from us consuming it is up to us.
What authors explain brilliantly and in plain language is the nature of all addictions.
First, there is a first dose due to cultural programming.
That first dose gives an energy boost or rather its release.
It will be the only boost we’ll get. The rest will be just trying to get back to the state we had before we started consuming the drug.
As soon as caffeine is consumed, the body starts adjusting to counterbalance the effects of poison. It’s called tolerance and it explains why over time we drink more because the same dose doesn’t give the same effect anymore.
It also causes withdrawal or compensatory effect opposite to the effect created by drug. In caffeine’s case it is feeling tired and sleepy. That’s why caffeine drinkers feel tired most of the time - in response to a “high” the body creates a state of low to compensate.
To learn more about this fascinating mechanism I’d recommend the book ‘Never Enough’ by Judith Grisel and the chapter on b process as she calls it.
Now because withdrawal is unpleasant we want and take another dose. It seems to make the tiredness go away and we feel better than before. We are hooked.
But what we don’t realize is that the mind mistakes caffeine as providing the CURE for withdrawal and tiredness rather than being the CAUSE of it.
Now if we are tired we mentally crave a coffee and get a sense of deprivation if don’t get a dose we think we need.
The lifelong chain has started.
That’s why it’s so difficult to quit by willpower method.
And that’s what this book is great at doing - uncovering the mechanism of addiction to help the mind understand it and change its perception of caffeine.
By the time you are done reading it, you don’t want caffeine. As simple as that.
But as with all addictions it’s not getting hooked again that really matters.
As Mark Twain said: “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a hundred times. What’s difficult is to not start again”
This book makes it easy to quit.
Not to start and remind ourselves that caffeine is an addictive drug and many corporations profit from us consuming it is up to us.
December 4, 2021
4 звезди вместо 5 - защото нямаше аудиокнига!? Може ли да имаш аудиокнига на всички други изиуей книги, но не и на тази.
Мога да кажа, че горе-долу съм я прочел.
Същия метод, който се използва за спиране на цигарите алън кар е пренаписал за кафето (а анонимни интернетъри са написали и за порното - което е далеч по-полезно).
Едно от основните неща, които ми останаха от тези книги е когато ти се появи чу��свто на празнина когато си в близост до цигари е да не си мислиш, че ти се пуши, или стоветно пие кафе, ами да се замислиш дали не си гладен. Практически всичките пъти съм бил гладен.
Кафе и кофеин почти изобщо не пия.
Евентуално се е налагало, ако не съм спал, след нощна или на някой купон, ама все съм съжалявал, та за в бъдеще може би няма да пия изобщо.
Забелязах, че крайниците ми са по-топли и се потят по-малко откакто не пия кафе. Също така забеляах, че като пия кафе сутрин съм излишно надрогирано щастрлив, а вечер абстинентно нещастен и нервозен.
Кафето Е НАРКОТИК.
Това, че е слабопристрастяващ и че всички го пият няма никакво значение.
За сладки напитки предпочитам чай, (сега като се замисля, май в турския чай има кофеин, и като бях в Истанбул пих доста от него), зелена фанта и изненадващо минерална вода горна баня - е изключително сладка.. Даже толкова сладка, че не можеш да се напиеш с нея, все ти се пие още...
След като спра порното с изиуей метода (easypeasy way) отново - този път не просто за проба дали работи, но така както цигарите и кафето - за винаги, бих му излушал книгата и за захарта.
Реално след порното, и захарта, не знам дали ми остават някакви други адикции за спиране. Мжое би сексуалната адикция, ама там ще се обърна сигурно към "божията помощ" :D
Мога да кажа, че горе-долу съм я прочел.
Същия метод, който се използва за спиране на цигарите алън кар е пренаписал за кафето (а анонимни интернетъри са написали и за порното - което е далеч по-полезно).
Едно от основните неща, които ми останаха от тези книги е когато ти се появи чу��свто на празнина когато си в близост до цигари е да не си мислиш, че ти се пуши, или стоветно пие кафе, ами да се замислиш дали не си гладен. Практически всичките пъти съм бил гладен.
Кафе и кофеин почти изобщо не пия.
Евентуално се е налагало, ако не съм спал, след нощна или на някой купон, ама все съм съжалявал, та за в бъдеще може би няма да пия изобщо.
Забелязах, че крайниците ми са по-топли и се потят по-малко откакто не пия кафе. Също така забеляах, че като пия кафе сутрин съм излишно надрогирано щастрлив, а вечер абстинентно нещастен и нервозен.
Кафето Е НАРКОТИК.
Това, че е слабопристрастяващ и че всички го пият няма никакво значение.
За сладки напитки предпочитам чай, (сега като се замисля, май в турския чай има кофеин, и като бях в Истанбул пих доста от него), зелена фанта и изненадващо минерална вода горна баня - е изключително сладка.. Даже толкова сладка, че не можеш да се напиеш с нея, все ти се пие още...
След като спра порното с изиуей метода (easypeasy way) отново - този път не просто за проба дали работи, но така както цигарите и кафето - за винаги, бих му излушал книгата и за захарта.
Реално след порното, и захарта, не знам дали ми остават някакви други адикции за спиране. Мжое би сексуалната адикция, ама там ще се обърна сигурно към "божията помощ" :D
January 25, 2024
This book is brilliant. It's repetitive, but it's easy to see why. It works. It's brilliant. I've gone extended period of times without caffeinated coffee, but never thought to completely quit coffee until now.
It's brilliant.
I finished my last drop of coffee I have at home this morning and will be taking my final "shot" on Saturday at a local coffeehouse. I can't fucking wait. Next up is chocolate and then decaffeinated coffee.
I've already been on the verge of quitting prior to reading this book, but now I—oddly, perhaps—have the know how and desire and reasons to quit for good without taking another single sip of caffeinated coffee again after my final "shot" on Saturday.
Bloody brilliant.
It's brilliant.
I finished my last drop of coffee I have at home this morning and will be taking my final "shot" on Saturday at a local coffeehouse. I can't fucking wait. Next up is chocolate and then decaffeinated coffee.
I've already been on the verge of quitting prior to reading this book, but now I—oddly, perhaps—have the know how and desire and reasons to quit for good without taking another single sip of caffeinated coffee again after my final "shot" on Saturday.
Bloody brilliant.
February 18, 2023
Það áhugaverða við þessa bók er að hún er EKKI MJÖG vel skrifuð, og hún nýtist við ráð sem.. ef ég myndi útskýra þau hér myndu þau virka mjög kjánaleg. En einhverneginn SVÍNVIRKAR hún!
Ég hlustaði á hljóðbókina og myndi alveg mæla með sem úrræði fyrir fólk með koffín vandamál. Það eru 18 dagar síðan ég kláraði bókina og 18 dagar síðan ég fékk mér seinast orkudrykk. Þar á undan hafði ég fengið mér 4-5 Nocco daglega síðan ég reyndi síðast að hætta.
Ég hlustaði á hljóðbókina og myndi alveg mæla með sem úrræði fyrir fólk með koffín vandamál. Það eru 18 dagar síðan ég kláraði bókina og 18 dagar síðan ég fékk mér seinast orkudrykk. Þar á undan hafði ég fengið mér 4-5 Nocco daglega síðan ég reyndi síðast að hætta.
March 19, 2018
15 Steps to Freedom from a Foul Taste
With 15 steps...actions and thoughts you can be free from something that shouldn't be in your body or part of your daily habits.
The author has laid out his addiction code breaking in an easy way....just like his program.
With 15 steps...actions and thoughts you can be free from something that shouldn't be in your body or part of your daily habits.
The author has laid out his addiction code breaking in an easy way....just like his program.
January 1, 2022
Nice easy reading book
Nice easy reading book. There are not many links to studies or researches but a lot of philosophy, psychology and advices. Definitely recommend it to all who ever failed to get off caffeine addiction.
Nice easy reading book. There are not many links to studies or researches but a lot of philosophy, psychology and advices. Definitely recommend it to all who ever failed to get off caffeine addiction.
May 29, 2022
The same method used to stop smoking
It's just like easy way to quit smoking. You can substitute the word nicotine in that book with the word caffeine and you get this book. It works.
It's just like easy way to quit smoking. You can substitute the word nicotine in that book with the word caffeine and you get this book. It works.
May 21, 2023
I love Easyway
This is the fourth Easyway title I have used in my life. It makes quitting anything simple as you like. All you have to do is to follow the instructions. Most important instruction in my opinion is to keep an open mind. Good luck.
This is the fourth Easyway title I have used in my life. It makes quitting anything simple as you like. All you have to do is to follow the instructions. Most important instruction in my opinion is to keep an open mind. Good luck.
October 5, 2021
Brilliant
Love this book. The “easy way” is a total mindset shift. Just a week in to quitting, and Can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
Love this book. The “easy way” is a total mindset shift. Just a week in to quitting, and Can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
October 18, 2022
I'd already quit caffeine by the time I read this, but it's always good to reaffirm your "why"s.
Solid arguments and mindset-adjusting in this series. Good stuff.
Solid arguments and mindset-adjusting in this series. Good stuff.
March 12, 2023
Good book. No more stupid energy drinks.
February 8, 2024
If you were ever interested in quitting coffee, this book is an exceptional read. I'm free from the coffee addiction!
March 6, 2024
Mind over matter. Make caffeine evil and a poison.
April 13, 2024
A very quick read with short concise chapters. This is very motivating when you might feel on the fence about finishing the book and finally quitting.
Carr essentially brain washes you with the negaitve aspects of caffeine consumption, lightly touching on the science but mostly focusing on how you should feel about these aspects. Based on the fact I have now quit caffeine, 5 stars would clockwork orange myself again.
Carr essentially brain washes you with the negaitve aspects of caffeine consumption, lightly touching on the science but mostly focusing on how you should feel about these aspects. Based on the fact I have now quit caffeine, 5 stars would clockwork orange myself again.
December 18, 2022
Very easy read (read roughly 95% within a few hours). Just had my last shot of caffeine, and I'm looking forward to moving on with my life. What I like most about this book is that the author focuses on changing your perception of both caffeine and your relationship with it. If you want to stop drinking caffeine, I highly recommend this.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews