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Grace For The Good Girl: Letting Go Of The Try-Hard Life (2011)

by Emily P. Freeman(Favorite Author)

4.13 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0800719840 (ISBN13: 9780800719845)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Fleming H. Revell Company

review 1: There are so many quotes in this book that resonated with me that I couldn't possibly put them all in the review. The initial part of my problem is, "My idea of who I should be is at war with who I am. I want to be perfect in every situation. I just do... I must have worth...I perform to prove my worth to you, to God, and to myself. I perform because I don't know how NOT to."My expectations of myself are impossible. Her guidance is that "You are NOT this way. This may be how you cope, but you are not this way."Let go of what you think people's expectations are of you. Grace is free. You cannot earn it or work to get more if it. Whether you succeed or fail - you get grace all the same.
review 2: This book started out promising, and ultimately ended up disappoint... moreing. It came so close to breaking out of the mold of traditional "Christian living" books, only to hop right back in and settle for the status quo. The author's personal stories and confessions of her own fear and the "masks" she wears rang true. I was highlighting a decent amount in the beginning, as she initially did a good job of sharing her own experience in a way that genuinely connected with her readers - her willingness to share about her own imperfections struck a true note. It was easy to identify with her stories.I found myself getting bogged down, though, when the tone of the book shifted into a preachier tone, because it felt less sincere and less meaningul. It took on the feel of another book just giving advice or telling readers what to do. A book like this, which could so easily connect with so many readers on a personal level, only gets dragged down by the information-heavy exposition. Also, the author's word choices began to gradually push me away - I realized I was getting increasingly irritated at her use of the term "believers" and had to stop and ask myself why. Aside from realizing I despise that word (would "Christians" be so difficult?), it also seemed to contradict the entire message of the book. It places the emphasis solely on the person in question to be responsible for the action that connects them to God (they are doing the BELIEVING, rather than accepting the grace the author talks about) and it also brings to mind the idea of a person who is "in" because they are doing the right thing - believing - or because they are believing the right thing. Especially for a book like this, the word seemed inappropriate.I ended up skimming the second half of the book for this reason. It just couldn't hold my attention. I would love to read about the author's personal experience and how she is learning to let go of her need to always be the "good girl," but this book instead seemed to settle for TELLING how to break out of that persona rather than showing what that would truly be like. less

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