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glowberry12's review
5.0
For the last month or so, I've been doing a lot of self-reflection. This book has been one of the ways in which I've attempted to look at things differently. I don't want to go through my entire testimony of self-discovery and discovering my own self-worth (I'm still working on it, to be honest), but I feel like I've come a long way and a lot of how my thinking and perspectives have changed has to do with this book. It's made me realize that I'm not alone in my struggles with beauty, or being good enough, or struggling with the fact that I had no "real" testimony. The entire point of this book was to help young women discover their "insatiable quest." What is it that they keep striving for but will never be happy with the outcome? In my case, it's perfectionism--feeling let down when I don't do something perfectly the first time around, feeling sad when I don't feel perfect. It's become something that has eaten up my mind. Letting go of your insatiable quest is difficult and letting God take over is even more so. But to be truly happy with yourself, God needs to have a say.
I really enjoyed Tiffany's voice in this book. She feels like an older sister who won't judge you because of things that have happened in your life because she's gone through some of the same things and only has your best interests at heart. She's real and openly admits that she has struggled with the concept of beauty (as most young women have). It's always, "am I pretty enough?" or "I think I'd be more lovable if I was prettier." It's always the comparison game to someone prettier and "more fit" than you. I'll admit that sometimes I struggle with this, but Tiffany is right there saying that she understands and was able to overcome those doubts with God's love.
And then the testimony thing...I've struggled with this for so long. I've had to provide a testimony for different religious organizations and people have asked me what my testimony is and I've always found myself staring at a blank page or struggling for words because if I've been a Christian my whole life, how can I have a testimony? It was so funny because as I was reading the section about testimonies, Tiffany said the exact same thing that popped into my mind while trying to get some words out. "Should I just go out, do drugs, and sleep with multiple people to give me a way to come back to God? This is how a testimony is supposed to be, right?" But she shut that down! Some of the most amazing words I have ever read came from this book because it opened my eyes to a power I didn't know I had. Even though my testimony is "boring" like I always tell people it is, Tiffany said, "God spoke to my heart...and showed me that I had the opportunity to testify of God's faithfulness, because I'd walked with Him my whole life. Whatever your story, whether you've made a ton of mistakes of whether you've walked with Him your whole life--either way, He wants to use the things you've experienced to bring life to others." And honestly, this meant so much to me. My testimony may not be grand and filled with mistakes that brought me closer to God, but because of my faith in him, I could testify for his love.
And in a lot of ways, I think this book had brought me closer to understanding God's love for me. And it makes me feel...I don't know...light, I guess.
Honestly, it's more like 4.5 stars because I think some of what was said felt "too good" to really make any difference. Tiffany made things sound like God is the only one able to satisfy us, when really there are many things that can make us happy and satisfy us--maybe that's God's will?
"As long as I was living for myself, what other people thought of me would continue to matter more than anything else. I would never be free from my quest for beauty. But when I started living like my heavenly mission was the most important thing...that's when freedom would come. Because freedom doesn't come when Jesus is just part of our lives. It comes when He is our life."
I really enjoyed Tiffany's voice in this book. She feels like an older sister who won't judge you because of things that have happened in your life because she's gone through some of the same things and only has your best interests at heart. She's real and openly admits that she has struggled with the concept of beauty (as most young women have). It's always, "am I pretty enough?" or "I think I'd be more lovable if I was prettier." It's always the comparison game to someone prettier and "more fit" than you. I'll admit that sometimes I struggle with this, but Tiffany is right there saying that she understands and was able to overcome those doubts with God's love.
And then the testimony thing...I've struggled with this for so long. I've had to provide a testimony for different religious organizations and people have asked me what my testimony is and I've always found myself staring at a blank page or struggling for words because if I've been a Christian my whole life, how can I have a testimony? It was so funny because as I was reading the section about testimonies, Tiffany said the exact same thing that popped into my mind while trying to get some words out. "Should I just go out, do drugs, and sleep with multiple people to give me a way to come back to God? This is how a testimony is supposed to be, right?" But she shut that down! Some of the most amazing words I have ever read came from this book because it opened my eyes to a power I didn't know I had. Even though my testimony is "boring" like I always tell people it is, Tiffany said, "God spoke to my heart...and showed me that I had the opportunity to testify of God's faithfulness, because I'd walked with Him my whole life. Whatever your story, whether you've made a ton of mistakes of whether you've walked with Him your whole life--either way, He wants to use the things you've experienced to bring life to others." And honestly, this meant so much to me. My testimony may not be grand and filled with mistakes that brought me closer to God, but because of my faith in him, I could testify for his love.
And in a lot of ways, I think this book had brought me closer to understanding God's love for me. And it makes me feel...I don't know...light, I guess.
Honestly, it's more like 4.5 stars because I think some of what was said felt "too good" to really make any difference. Tiffany made things sound like God is the only one able to satisfy us, when really there are many things that can make us happy and satisfy us--maybe that's God's will?
"As long as I was living for myself, what other people thought of me would continue to matter more than anything else. I would never be free from my quest for beauty. But when I started living like my heavenly mission was the most important thing...that's when freedom would come. Because freedom doesn't come when Jesus is just part of our lives. It comes when He is our life."
booksforchristiangirls's review
4.0
About this book:
“At 17 years of age, Tiffany was willing to pay any price to be "good enough." Her attempts only led to hating herself, drowning in disordered eating, and deciding she was not the kind of girl that guys fall in love with. Join Tiffany for twelve "coffee dates" as she spills her heart onto these pages, sharing the steps that helped lead her to freedom.”
Series: No.
Spiritual Content- Prayers; Over 60 Scriptures are referenced, mentioned and/or quoted; All about God, our relationship with Him, confidence & trusting; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of talks about God; Mentions of prayers; Mentions of Bible reading, Bible classes & singing; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Church, Sunday School & sermons; Mentions of Christian homes; A couple mentions of missionaries; Christian authors & singers are mentioned and/or quoted;
*Note: A mention of a Buddha statue.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, an ‘idiot’, ‘jeez’, an ‘oh my word’, and two ‘stupid’s; A mention of drugs;
*Note: A few mentions of brand names (Abercrombie & Victoria’s Secret); Mentions of Starbucks.
Sexual Content- a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; All about The Insatiable Quest for Beauty; four forms of ‘sexy’ and six forms of ‘hot’; Many, many, many mentions of eating disorders, losing weight & binge eating (the author talks about her past struggles with disordered eating); Many, many, many, mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, dating, exes, breakups, & all that drama; Many mentions of boys & being boy-crazy (and mentions of the author’s other book which is all about “boys, singleness, sex, and dating”); Mentions of kissing & kisses; Mentions of flirting & winks; Mentions of guys checking girls out; Mentions of the woman in the Bible (Ezekiel 16) who “gave her body to pretty much every guy man she met, sleeping with so many guys she probably lost count a long time ago.”; A mention of David from the Bible knocking up some chick; A mention of girls rescued from sex trafficking; A mention of human trafficking; A mention of pornography;
*Note: Mentions of girls’ figures catching the attention of guys; A few mentions of outfits that show more leg & a hint of cleavage; A mention of super short-shorts & a guy leering at her; A mention of a pair of jeans that felt like they made her butt look bigger, hips wider, and legs thinner; A mention of some guys only noticing girls’ chests or butts when looking at them; A mention of a booty call; A mention that the author wishes her butt was a bit bigger (but that she “will resign to the flat butt life. Or wear padded underwear.”); A mention of marching a butt someplace; A mention of a baby falling on its butt; A mention of a period; A mention of a used tampon.
{Non-fiction}
198 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star (and a half)
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Four Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars
{Add 1-3 stars for girls dealing with self-worth, disordered eating, and/or beauty.}
To be honest, I was afraid that this would be a type teen girl inward beauty book. You know, the books published by moms basically saying: Don’t sleep around, God loves you, focus on inward beauty when you don’t feel beautiful. I can honestly say I have read so many non-fictions for teen girls about those topics, that I can usually list the bullet points for each chapter before starting them. {Don't get me wrong, that's all great and good, but it gets tiring after the fifth book.} Now, “The Insatiable Quest for Beauty” was completely different. And let me just say, when I read this part, I literally set the book down and just started clapping.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized that both the Christian and secular parts of our world place a huge emphasis on beauty. In our culture, we’re told that we have to be beautiful outwardly to be confident. In Christian circles, we’re told to take confidence either in our inward beauty or in believing God says we are beautiful.
I started to realize that in all of those situations, we are still focusing on beauty. We are still acting like we have to feel beautiful in order to feel good about ourselves. But now I’ve come to realize: That’s just not true.”
Can I just--?!*praise hands emoji* Just, yes! Yes, yes, yes! I truly enjoyed Miss Tiffany Dawn’s {it’s so weird for me to put a Miss in front of Tiffany, since that’s my sister’s name. She’s Tiffany Sharee, not Dawn though. ;) } voice & quirky personality. (Being a spy for God & His mission? I’m all in!) By reading all these coffee dates with Miss Tiffany, I couldn’t help but feel connected to her by the end. All the bonus stuff on her website for the end of each chapter was really neat. The prayer for the woman reading her book at the very end of “The Insatiable Quest for Beauty” was so sweet and very touching (and a wonderful surprise. I always feel special when an author thanks the reader for reading in the acknowledgments, but a super touching prayer over the reader? Now that takes the cake.) And when the author says she went to China on a mission trip at age 15, well, that just sealed her spot on my women-I-look-up-to list. ;)
Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-insatiable-quest-for-beauty-by.html
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
“At 17 years of age, Tiffany was willing to pay any price to be "good enough." Her attempts only led to hating herself, drowning in disordered eating, and deciding she was not the kind of girl that guys fall in love with. Join Tiffany for twelve "coffee dates" as she spills her heart onto these pages, sharing the steps that helped lead her to freedom.”
Series: No.
Spiritual Content- Prayers; Over 60 Scriptures are referenced, mentioned and/or quoted; All about God, our relationship with Him, confidence & trusting; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Mentions of talks about God; Mentions of prayers; Mentions of Bible reading, Bible classes & singing; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Church, Sunday School & sermons; Mentions of Christian homes; A couple mentions of missionaries; Christian authors & singers are mentioned and/or quoted;
*Note: A mention of a Buddha statue.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, an ‘idiot’, ‘jeez’, an ‘oh my word’, and two ‘stupid’s; A mention of drugs;
*Note: A few mentions of brand names (Abercrombie & Victoria’s Secret); Mentions of Starbucks.
Sexual Content- a barely-above-not-detailed kiss; All about The Insatiable Quest for Beauty; four forms of ‘sexy’ and six forms of ‘hot’; Many, many, many mentions of eating disorders, losing weight & binge eating (the author talks about her past struggles with disordered eating); Many, many, many, mentions of boyfriends, girlfriends, dating, exes, breakups, & all that drama; Many mentions of boys & being boy-crazy (and mentions of the author’s other book which is all about “boys, singleness, sex, and dating”); Mentions of kissing & kisses; Mentions of flirting & winks; Mentions of guys checking girls out; Mentions of the woman in the Bible (Ezekiel 16) who “gave her body to pretty much every guy man she met, sleeping with so many guys she probably lost count a long time ago.”; A mention of David from the Bible knocking up some chick; A mention of girls rescued from sex trafficking; A mention of human trafficking; A mention of pornography;
*Note: Mentions of girls’ figures catching the attention of guys; A few mentions of outfits that show more leg & a hint of cleavage; A mention of super short-shorts & a guy leering at her; A mention of a pair of jeans that felt like they made her butt look bigger, hips wider, and legs thinner; A mention of some guys only noticing girls’ chests or butts when looking at them; A mention of a booty call; A mention that the author wishes her butt was a bit bigger (but that she “will resign to the flat butt life. Or wear padded underwear.”); A mention of marching a butt someplace; A mention of a baby falling on its butt; A mention of a period; A mention of a used tampon.
{Non-fiction}
198 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- One Star (and a half)
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Four Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars
{Add 1-3 stars for girls dealing with self-worth, disordered eating, and/or beauty.}
To be honest, I was afraid that this would be a type teen girl inward beauty book. You know, the books published by moms basically saying: Don’t sleep around, God loves you, focus on inward beauty when you don’t feel beautiful. I can honestly say I have read so many non-fictions for teen girls about those topics, that I can usually list the bullet points for each chapter before starting them. {Don't get me wrong, that's all great and good, but it gets tiring after the fifth book.} Now, “The Insatiable Quest for Beauty” was completely different. And let me just say, when I read this part, I literally set the book down and just started clapping.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized that both the Christian and secular parts of our world place a huge emphasis on beauty. In our culture, we’re told that we have to be beautiful outwardly to be confident. In Christian circles, we’re told to take confidence either in our inward beauty or in believing God says we are beautiful.
I started to realize that in all of those situations, we are still focusing on beauty. We are still acting like we have to feel beautiful in order to feel good about ourselves. But now I’ve come to realize: That’s just not true.”
Can I just--?!*praise hands emoji* Just, yes! Yes, yes, yes! I truly enjoyed Miss Tiffany Dawn’s {it’s so weird for me to put a Miss in front of Tiffany, since that’s my sister’s name. She’s Tiffany Sharee, not Dawn though. ;) } voice & quirky personality. (Being a spy for God & His mission? I’m all in!) By reading all these coffee dates with Miss Tiffany, I couldn’t help but feel connected to her by the end. All the bonus stuff on her website for the end of each chapter was really neat. The prayer for the woman reading her book at the very end of “The Insatiable Quest for Beauty” was so sweet and very touching (and a wonderful surprise. I always feel special when an author thanks the reader for reading in the acknowledgments, but a super touching prayer over the reader? Now that takes the cake.) And when the author says she went to China on a mission trip at age 15, well, that just sealed her spot on my women-I-look-up-to list. ;)
Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-insatiable-quest-for-beauty-by.html
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
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