Untamed by Glennon DoyleUntamed by Glennon Doyle is a memoir that shows us how we must be willing to let go of who we think we are in order to unleash the women we are meant to be.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. She strived to be the best wife and the best mother. She tackled her addictions, wrote a couple of best-sellers and started an organization that helps millions of women around the world. She should’ve been the happiest in her entire life. But she wasn’t. She was weary, overwhelmed, and felt stuck. She knew something wasn’t right when one question kept popping up over and over: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this?

Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. It was like an awakening, for these words did not come from on high, they came from within. This was her own voice, the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to abandon the world’s expectation of her and embrace knowing her true self. Now she takes us on her journey of realization. She had to be willing to burn down what she was taught to want and rise from the ashes knowing the truth about who she is and who she was meant to be with. Only then would she truly be free and start living and loving as she was intended.

Embracing The Knowing

This is not only a love story it is a testimony to who we are as women. Doyle takes us on her journey to reveal the source of her addictions that started to plague her early in life. What she reveals is the horrible truth that women, from an early age, are conditioned to the world’s expectations. We are told to be sweet, kind, and most of all silent to our own desires. Above all else, we must appear happy even if we are not.

For years, Doyle listened to the outside voices telling her to be smart, beautiful, and happy. Until one day at a speaking engagement, she had a light bulb moment. A beautiful, platinum blonde light bulb walked into the room, and a different voice – the correct voice — told her this was the woman she was meant to be with. She knew right then that there was more to living than the expectations of others. This voice inside her, what she refers to as The Knowing, told her to go against those societal norms and embrace her true self and love this woman. She has shared this story, this philosophy with all of us. She tells us to listen to that voice that has been quiet for too long. It is this voice that will lead us to becoming good mothers and good partners. For when we know and love ourselves, we can truly take on any challenge the world may throw our way.

The Pros

So, I’m just totally going to go there. This has one of my all-time favorite “first time” stories. Doyle doesn’t provide a lot of physical detail, yet she does a great job of amplifying the emotions created by their first embrace of each other. She describes both of them as physically shaking, and I could feel that in the depths of my soul. It was the nerves of expectation combined with the relief of finally being in the room with the person you know you’re supposed to be with. And it was the joy of touching that person, really touching them, for the first time. All of these feelings culminated in a capacity of love she never thought existed until that moment. I’m not ashamed to admit it, that story lodged in my heart and stayed there for days.

The Cons

This is not a con. It is a clarification for readers. This is Glennon and Abby’s story. It is also a story about Glennon and how she came to love herself. ALSO, it’s an awesome story that gives women the tools to know who they are and how to be their best selves. Because of all of this great content, it’s not a chronological, beat-by-beat story of Glennon and Abby starting their lives together. It’s anecdotal and non-linear. Each story is paired with insight into who we are as women, how we tend to trap ourselves, and how we need to break out of those cages. So, you are getting a great love story, and you’re also getting great bonus material that may help you become better in life and love as a woman.

annas favourite booksThe Conclusion

This book has a fierce vulnerability that every woman should appreciate. Doyle takes us on her journey of discovering herself, embracing all that entails, and coming out on the other side profound, brave, and enlightened about the person she was meant to be. She shows us that we must be willing to embrace all the feelings we feel to help us become better mothers, better daughters, sisters, and wives, but most of all better fighters. I urge you to read this book, unleash your inner cheetah, and find out what it truly means to be untamed.

Excerpt from Untamed by Glennon Doyle

“I have something important to tell you. I’ve fallen in love. I’m wildly in love. Her name is Abby.”

My therapist’s mouth falls open, just enough for me to notice it. She says nothing for an eternal moment. Then she breathes very deeply and says, “Okay.”

She pauses, starts again. “Glennon, you know that whatever this is – it’s not real. These feelings are not real. Whatever future you’re imagining here: That’s not real, either. This is nothing but a dangerous distraction. It won’t end well. It has to stop.”

I start to say, “You don’t understand. This is different.” But then I think about all the people who have sat in this chair and insisted: This is different.

If she won’t let me have Abby, I need to make my case, at least, for never again having my husband.

“I cannot sleep with him again,” I say. “You know how hard I’ve tried. Sometimes I think I’ve forgiven. But then he climbs on top of me, and I hate him again. It’s been years and I don’t want to be difficult, so I close my eyes and try to float away until it’s over. But then I accidentally land back inside my body, and what I land in is white-hot fiery rage. It’s like: I try to go dead inside but there is always a little life left in me, and that life makes sex unbearable. I can’t be alive during sex, but I can’t get dead enough, either, so there’s no solution. I just – I don’t want to do it anymore.”

I am furious that tears come, but they do. I am begging now. Mercy, please.

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Bits and Bobs

ISBN number: 978-1984801258
Publisher: The Dial Press
Glennon Doyle Online

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Forward by Abby Wambach