Untamed: Reese's Book Club

Evidently Glennon Doyle engenders strong feelings in people. This is the only book of hers that I have read, and it really spoke to me. No, I don’t have that much in common with her life and family, but her very human struggles are easily relatable. I adore her description of her first meeting her wife and wish we could all have such a life altering experience. I wish we were all brave enough to follow our inner Knowing.

thenextgoodbook.com
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
328 pages

What’s it about?
"Untamed" is the third memoir from Glennon Doyle- all recounting different phases of her life. I have only read the last two memoirs but they seem to follow this trajectory.
1. Struggling young Christian mother overcoming addictions and relying on herself and her faith to create a strong family unit.
2. Struggling wife and mother learning to trust herself as she tries to put her marriage back together.
3. Strong, confident woman who is now in control of her own life and narrative after divorcing and having found true love with another woman.

What did it make me think about?
Can I like and dislike a book at the same time? What happened to Glennon's sense of humor? Her ability to look at life seriously- and not take herself too seriously.... ​

Should I read it?
Glennon Doyle's main message is that women need to be empowered. I enjoyed "Love Warrior" and found Glennon's journey and her message of empowering women to be inspirational. Her candid feelings about her family and her faith journey were really interesting in the last book. I am sure many women will also find "Untamed" inspirational. I found many parts of "Untamed" thought provoking, and for that I am glad I read it. None of Glennon's life choices offended me in any way. I am really happy that Glennon and her family have found such life balance. However, I often found Glennon to be SO sure of herself and her choices that I was put off. The older I get the more I find my truths are not applicable to everyone. The book was choppy to me- better in some parts that others. So this wasn't my favorite book- but I am still waiting for the next incarnation of Glennon, as she keeps me thinking!

Quote-
​"I look hard at my faith, may friendships, my work, my sexuality, my entire life and asked: How much of this was my idea? Do I truly want any of this, or is this what I was conditioned to want? Which of my beliefs are of my own creation and which were programmed into me? How much of who I've become is inherent and how much was just inherited? How much of the way I look and speak and behave is just how other people have trained me to look and speak and behave? How many of the things I've spent my life chasing are just dirty pink bunnies? Who was I before I became who the world told me to be?"

If you liked this try-
Everything Happens for a Reason and other Lies I have Loved by Kate Bower
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott
​And Now We Have Everything by Meaghan O'Connell
​

Piece of crap

I read Untamed as part of a women’s group book club at work—my first introduction to Glennon Doyle. I really wanted to love it. The premise had potential: an honest exploration of motherhood, love, faith, and personal awakening. Unfortunately, the reading experience left me feeling more disconnected than inspired. The book is written in short chapters, each like its own bite-sized life lesson. That structure could have worked, but it ended up feeling disjointed for me. One moment, we’re deep in her romantic relationship with her wife; the next, it’s about parenting, spirituality, and activism. I wish it had more organization—grouping related themes together, or even a foreword to give readers some grounding, would have helped tremendously. Doyle’s conversational tone has resonated with many, but it didn’t land for me. At times, it felt overly polished, like moments were crafted for emotional effect rather than drawn from real life. A few passages made me think, “A kid would never say that,” or “Okay… but did that actually happen?” It pulled me out of the narrative instead of pulling me in. I’ll be honest—I was bored. I waited for the moment that would hit me in the gut or spark some clarity, but it never came. I’m surprised this was a #1 New York Times bestseller and a Reece’s Book Club pick—though clearly, it connected with many readers in ways it didn’t with me. That said, I don’t regret reading it. I can appreciate the intention behind the book, and I know it’s meant a lot to others, especially those in transitional seasons of life. Untamed just wasn’t the roar I was hoping for.

don’t know how to describe it, but this is a book for a straight white woman.
also not a fan of the insistent use of the pronoun “she” when generally talking about people. i understand what she was trying to do there, but reading the book as a non-binary person, it felt kinda exclusionary. “they/them” is literally right there for you to use.