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mscastl 's review for:
A Year of Biblical Womanhood
by Rachel Held Evans
This book was hard to get through. Half of the text is that magazine article/blogger style of writing that’s good for a snack or light lunch but gets agonizingly annoying for a four course meal. All of my complaints are in these sections of the book. First of all, I don’t believe a lot of it. Did she really get all her friends to start saying “woman of valor!”? Did she really throw an etiquette book across her own house seven times while reading it? Did she really curl up on the floor and cry in 45 minute episodes almost every month of her project? If she actually did that, I’d characterize her as a mentally unbalanced toddler.
Then there are the awful little inserts from her husband. He’s not given much personality in the books, so his “voice” isn’t really effective and he doesn’t give me any critical insights, just constantly reiterating that biblical womanhood makes him uncomfortable. And since she already has a credibility problem with me, I can’t help but suspect she wrote the husband sections too. (Is she even married? Is her name even Rachel??)
Where the book shines is her analysis of the bible stories surrounding women. It’s less than half the text—maybe 35-40% of each chapter but they’re the only sections worth reading. And honestly I shouldn’t give four stars to a book I mathematically mostly hated, but I’m a generous, tranquil, God-fearing woman so what the hell.
Then there are the awful little inserts from her husband. He’s not given much personality in the books, so his “voice” isn’t really effective and he doesn’t give me any critical insights, just constantly reiterating that biblical womanhood makes him uncomfortable. And since she already has a credibility problem with me, I can’t help but suspect she wrote the husband sections too. (Is she even married? Is her name even Rachel??)
Where the book shines is her analysis of the bible stories surrounding women. It’s less than half the text—maybe 35-40% of each chapter but they’re the only sections worth reading. And honestly I shouldn’t give four stars to a book I mathematically mostly hated, but I’m a generous, tranquil, God-fearing woman so what the hell.