Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton

Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, September 2016

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

Pages: Hardcover, 272 pages

Rating: 4/5 pages

Summary (from goodreads.com):

Just when Glennon Doyle Melton was beginning to feel she had it all figured out—three happy children, a doting spouse, and a writing career so successful that her first book catapulted to the top of the New York Times bestseller list—her husband revealed his infidelity and she was forced to realize that nothing was as it seemed. A recovering alcoholic and bulimic, Glennon found that rock bottom was a familiar place. In the midst of crisis, she knew to hold on to what she discovered in recovery: that her deepest pain has always held within it an invitation to a richer life.

Love Warrior is the story of one marriage, but it is also the story of the healing that is possible for any of us when we refuse to settle for good enough and begin to face pain and love head-on. This astonishing memoir reveals how our ideals of masculinity and femininity can make it impossible for a man and a woman to truly know one another - and it captures the beauty that unfolds when one couple commits to unlearning everything they’ve been taught so that they can finally, after thirteen years of marriage, fall in love.

Review:

Before I begin, I have to tell you that I don't read the book synopsis of any book before diving in. I like the surprise element so before I began Love Warrior, all I knew was that it was a memoir (non-fiction) and because that is my least favourite genre, I was not anticipating enjoying it... not only that, but I may have even harboured thoughts about skipping it entirely and if it wasn't the Paper & Glam Book Club book for February, I would have likely done that. However, by the second or third page of the book, I was HOOKED and it turned out to be an amazing story of a woman who went through so much before she was able to love herself.

While most of what Glennon goes through from her adolescence through to her adulthood are things that I have never personally dealt with (bulimia, alcoholism, drug abuse, infidelity), I have suffered many similar things to different degrees so I felt very vulnerable reading her story and relating to so much of it. I loved how candid she was while telling her story and that there really was no hiding from her issues. She laid everything out on the table and basically said, "Take me as I am" because that was, indeed, who she was.

Again, because I don't read the synopsis before diving in, I didn't realize that there was a spiritual aspect to this book and I was so grateful as I read about Glennon's love for God. I was moved to (near) tears as she realized just how much God loved her and that no matter what she does in her life, she will always be loved... she will find her eternal home with unending love. It was so heartwarming.

Overall, if you have, or even if you haven't, felt the pressure that society puts on us to be perfect but realized that perfection is unattainable so felt like you were failing at life, this is a book that you must read. I feel that so many people would benefit from Glennon's story about becoming a Love Warrior. You don't have to be religious or spiritual to enjoy this story... you just have to love yourself or have a deep desire to learn to love yourself!