A review by writtenontheflyleaves
Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living by Glennon Doyle

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5


Untamed by Glennon Doyle πŸ†
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πŸ†The concept: "Who were you before the world told you who to be?" This is the question Glennon Doyle finds herself asking when the Christian marriage and family that helped her achieve sobriety is stifling her and she falls in love at first sight with a woman at a conference. She finds that the voice that leads her towards fulfilment doesn't come from outside herself - from "on high" or a spiritual guide - but from deep inside herself, and sets off in pursuit of that voice.

I don't read a huge amount of self help-y books, and this was definitely jumping in at the deep end. The tone throughout was like a mix between Fight Song by Rachel Platten, a TED talk, and a CEO's LinkedIn post about a conversation with their child that ends with the phrase "let that sink in." Sometimes it hit on something profound, sometimes it felt more like she'd capitalised random words and hoped for the best.

The topics she discussed were wide-ranging and she didn't shy away from anything. There was even a chapter about racism, which was a bit of a mixed bag. It started with an irritating anecdote about Trump's election - a friend calling her, distraught, and Doyle doing the smug "woke" white woman thing of "Well maybe now FINALLY everyone will wake up!!!" And while I thought Doyle did well at explaining how she as a philanthropist balances a sense of personal responsibility and acknowledging her own racism with taking action, I wasn't fully convinced by her comparing anti-racism work to sobriety. I'm not sure how far I can get behind anti-racism as a form of self-help for white people, and it's symptomatic of the individualist lens that I felt characterised this book.

Overall, this was enjoyable and at times illuminating, but I'm not sure it totally convinced me!

πŸ† Read it if you think best in metaphors and analogies because my god, does Doyle LOVE them. If you're in a time of real flux right now this would probably be quite reassuring.

🚫 Avoid if you have a low threshold for irritation or if any of what I've said above sets off alarm bells! 
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