🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 / 5 (bonus)

I am going to group this review with two other books that I think should be read as companion pieces: Untamed by Glennon Doyle and Man Enough by Justin Baldoni

Glennon Doyle is an amazing speaker and writer, and she manages to always speak truth in such a way that it pierces your soul with knowing. Untamed is for every woman who wants to be the truest and most beautiful version of herself, and for every man willing to support her in that journey. This book explores everything from motherhood and addiction to love and betrayal. And through it all, Glennon is always encouraging us to be our own goddamn cheetahs.

Where Glennon explores the many challenges and expectations put on women by the patriarchy, by society, and by ourselves, in Man Enough, Justin Baldoni explores how those same dictators can hurt men just as they hurt women. He gives us an extremely vulnerable look into his own path of self discovery and how un-learning the many toxic expectations and behaviors thrust upon men by the same patriarchy and society that keep women down, has actually freed him as well. He invites men in to start the journey of analyzing how these expectations of masculinity can poison and how we can start to re-think them in order to heal.

The third part of this group for me is For the Love of Men by Liz Plank. Liz brilliantly dives into the complex layers of masculinity and actually manages to live up to the title as she forges a path from toxic to mindful. This is a MUST READ for both men and women looking to understand the crazy ways that gender roles impact our everyday lives. It is an amazing companion piece to and bridge between the first two books as Liz delves into the history and development of so many different societal expectations and norms, and gives us the tools to start thinking about how to change them. ( )