Publishers Weekly
01/13/2020
Motivational speaker Doyle (Love Warrior) writes of divorcing her husband, finding love with Olympic soccer player Abby Wambach, and coming out to family and fans in this inspirational memoir. Doyle's previous book concerned her attempt to heal her strained relationship with her husband, Craig, after she learned he cheated on her, and here she picks up the narrative a few years later, as she starts fresh with the attitude that it’s better to disappoint other people than to disappoint oneself. She talks about meeting Abby, while still married to Craig, at a book conference and instantly falling for her (“I put my hand on her arm. Electrical currents”), dissolving her marriage and raising her three kids in a blended family with Abby and Craig, and pulling back from her Christian faith. “I will not stay, not ever again—in a room or conversation or relationship or institution that requires me to abandon myself,” Doyle declares. The book is filled with hopeful messages and encourages women to reject the status quo and follow their intuition. “It’s a lifelong battle for a woman to stay whole and free in a world hell bent on caging her,” she writes. This testament to female empowerment and self-love, with an endearing coming-out story at the center, will delight readers. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Some books shake you by the shoulder while others steal your heart. In Untamed, Glennon does both at the exact same time.”—Brené Brown
“This memoir is so packed with incredible insight about what it means to be a woman today, what it means to be ‘good,’ and what women will do in order to be loved. I swear I highlighted something in EVERY chapter.”—Reese Witherspoon
“Doyle might just be the patron saint of female empowerment. . . . Here she inspires other women to listen to their intuition and break free of what cages them. . . . Her memoir has a message as clear as a ‘go’ signal: Find and honor your truest self.”—People (Book of the Week)
“Reading Glennon Doyle’s memoir, Untamed, is diving into an adventure of what we can become. We collectively grow stronger as we are more willing to ask hard questions.”—Ms.
“Filled with hopeful messages . . . encourag[ing] women to reject the status quo and follow their intuition . . . This testament to female empowerment and self-love, with an endearing coming-out story at the center, will delight readers.”—Publishers Weekly
“She is a terrific storyteller. . . . Whether discussing her children or the world outside, challenging conformity, confronting misogyny, or standing up to religious bigotry, her goal as a memoirist (and as a person) is to defy expectations and to help others break out of their cultural cages so that everyone can find their own version of humanity. A bracing jolt of honesty from someone who knows what she wants to say and isn’t afraid to say it.”—Booklist (starred review)
“An emotional gut punch . . . an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency. Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.”—Kirkus Reviews
Library Journal - Audio
07/01/2020
Activist, feminist, and inspirational speaker Doyle explores her journey from self-loathing through her search for perfection and then to finding and listening to her untamed inner truth. She points out that society has very strict rules and beliefs about behaviors based on gender, religion, and origin, and that our parents, our friends, and the media tame us by telling us how we should act, who we should be regardless of what is wild, natural, and free. As a floundering young adult struggling with anorexia, alcoholism, and self-destructive behaviors, Doyle discovered that she was pregnant. She decided to get married, settle down, and straighten out her life. After years of throwing herself into childcare and church, she found that she was unable to forgive her husband for having an affair. After counseling, promises, and a tour promoting a book about overcoming adversity, Doyle unexpectedly found herself attracted to a kind, exciting woman. Now her former husband, her new wife, and Doyle raise their kids in an unconventional but fulfilling manner. In this memoir, Doyle shares entertaining glimpses into episodes of her life that released her from being the nice girl who followed the codes, did everything for her kids, and lived within the world's preconceived notions. She extols the evil of gender roles both boys and girls are expected to fit into and elucidates her hands-off approach to allowing her children to be themselves—even in moments when she may not like them. Often humorous and even self-deprecating, the author writes and reads as if she is giving a series of only partially sequential speeches on a variety of topics. As concepts overlap, listeners will hear numerous repetitions of phrases and reiterations of the author's positions, but the overall effect is as if she is just conversing with them. VERDICT Doyle narrates as well, providing an engaging performance that may inspire listeners to wonder who they really are, how they have been tamed, and what they can do to break away from what feels wrong.—Lisa Youngblood, Harker Heights P.L., TX
MARCH 2020 - AudioFile
Glennon Doyle’s voice is strong, honest, and brave as she opens her heart to listeners. The bestselling author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist describes realizing that society had “tamed” her by forcing her into proscribed ways of being in the world and recounts how she finally broke free. Hearing her passionate words, listeners will begin looking into themselves to discover ways they are forced to conform. Doyle’s voice is clear as she tells of her journey to sobriety, her anxiety and depression, and her headlong leap into activism to turn anger into action. Listeners will revel in her palpable joy as she tells of the life-changing moment when she met her wife, Abby Wambach, and learned to trust her own inner voice. Powerful and vivid storytelling. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-12-22
More life reflections from the bestselling author on themes of societal captivity and the catharsis of personal freedom.
In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) begins with a life-changing event. "Four years ago," she writes, "married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman." That woman, Abby Wambach, would become her wife. Emblematically arranged into three sections—"Caged," "Keys," "Freedom"—the narrative offers, among other elements, vignettes about the soulful author's girlhood, when she was bulimic and felt like a zoo animal, a "caged girl made for wide-open skies." She followed the path that seemed right and appropriate based on her Catholic upbringing and adolescent conditioning. After a downward spiral into "drinking, drugging, and purging," Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she'd been suppressing. Still, there was trouble: Straining an already troubled marriage was her husband's infidelity, which eventually led to life-altering choices and the discovery of a love she'd never experienced before. Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she's admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of "cream cheese parenting," which is about "giving your children the best of everything." The author's fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Some stories merely skim the surface of larger issues, but Doyle revisits them in later sections and digs deeper, using friends and familial references to personify their impact on her life, both past and present. Shorter pieces, some only a page in length, manage to effectively translate an emotional gut punch, as when Doyle's therapist called her blooming extramarital lesbian love a "dangerous distraction." Ultimately, the narrative is an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency.
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.