UNITED NATIONS PEACE ON PURPOSE PROGRAM AND FOUNDER OF THE LAB OF MEDITATION

You will find your heart softening, breaking, opening. You will find a version of yourself between these pages, tender, fierce, once-forgotten. You may even find yourself forgiving. Or forgiven. Vanessa has written something brave. Utterly human. May this book remind us that our stories are sacred. Yours, too, is sacred.

AWARD-WINNING MUSIC ARTIST AND FILMMAKER

In these terrifying days when the world often feels split open by war, fear, and grief, ‘Human: Expansive Edition’ arrives like a gentle reminder of what still lives within us: empathy, presence, and the longing to be seen. She writes with the rare ability to see in between the lines and love what lives there. This isn’t just a book. It’s an act of resistance — tender, fierce, and human. This book doesn’t ask for perfection, it invites presence. And in that presence, I found hope.

CANADA’S FIRST FEMALE DECATHLETE AND CO-FOUNDER OF SEVEN SUMMIT SNACKS

Beautifully written, deeply moving. An exploration of healing, truth, and empathy. It draws you into a space of personal reflection and quiet observation — a world where compassion rises above indifference. While the original version wrestled with the world’s darkness, this one accepts it — and chooses to move forward with intention.

FORMER CEO OF PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM

This book invites us into a return to presence, a return to sacred ordinariness —  stillness becoming a gift we treasure. In stillness is where human beings connect and can see one another. If you're reading this book, you’re being invited into something sacred. Not a self- improvement project, but a reorientation of your being. Let yourself be disrupted.  Welcome to the journey.

CO-FOUNDER OF THE SYRIAN CANADIAN FOUNDATION, AUTHOR, AND LITERARY TRANSLATOR

Through poetically understated storytelling and poignant reflections, Ferlaino shows us that even in the face of trauma, abandonment, and scarcity, it is possible to gift ourselves with grace, presence, and love. Ferlaino makes a compelling case that healing is an act of bravery—a letting go of the power others hold over us and a radical return to our own selves.

CEO OF THE NON-PROFIT PLUG

Vanessa Ferlaino is a phenomenal, powerful, and evocative writer.  Right from the first page to the very end, Ferlaino’s use of imagery will carry you into spaces you, perhaps, have never known before. Her insights will both thrill and chill you, sometimes simultaneously. She creates a sense of place, both literal and figurative, that puts you right there, where that place may be. Join her on her journey. It's life-changing. The journey belongs to all of us.

IMPACT INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL

There are the books that you read and forget about immediately. And then there are those like Vanessa's that you read in one breath and keep in your mind a while longer. This book is truthful and authentic. A true window into our soul, our complexities as humans, our traumas and how we deal with them. There are the books that you read and forget, and then there is this book that you won't let go of because it so human.

HOST/PRODUCER OF GREAT LAKES ODYSSEY RADIO HOUR AND FOUNDER OF THE BORDERLINE MEDIA

The mysterious process of healing finds Vanessa in her own personal labyrinth. In revisiting human five years on, Vanessa uncovers a dark period in her life that shines on her truth journey. In sharing, she compels the reader to ponder their own path, a very cool feat.

NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPION AND INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER

A raw and brave introspection. A hand extended an invitation to climb from the depths of trauma and grief into intentional, loving, and compassionate living.