Michelle Colston

Received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I honestly didn't know what to think when I started reading this one and then again when I finished it. First I thought wait, I thought this was fiction when looking at her website and her facebook page after finishing the book. I feel like the author maybe put some of her own experiences in the book which works for me! I loved the contrast between the beginning and the end. I honestly didn't want to keep reading at first because a) it was painful to read the shallowness the main character displayed and b) I was wondering where the funny was. I'm glad I stuck the book out and it was good reinforcement that we all have the power to make changes if we stop comparing ourselves to others, take it slow and meet ourselves where we are at. Looking forward to seeing what else the author has up her sleeve.… (meer)

I finished this book a couple hours ago and I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this. I know I wasn't expecting blurbs about finding myself on every other page. I certainly wasn't expecting 90% of the book to be written like a journal. I wasn't expecting frequent typos. I was expecting, from the summary and the reviews, that it would be funny, but I don't think I laughed more than once or twice.

"What can Holly teach you," asks the summary. Well...

Holly can teach me to stop acting like I deserve the world just because I occasionally have to do things I don't want to do. Holly is a wife and mother of three. She doesn't seem to really like her husband anymore (he's away for work a lot) and often seems to detest her children. She has a lot of responsibilities, sure. She channels her frustrations into spending copious amounts of money on designer clothes she'll never wear and drinking more alcohol than it's healthy to consume. Apparently Holly is so wrapped up in self pity that she doesn't realize she could take some of that money and use it for, oh, I don't know, A BABYSITTER SO SHE CAN GET SOME TIME TO HERSELF?! Instead, she literally thinks about murdering her son when he asks her to make him a sandwich. Yes, this is a thing that actually happens, and Holly sees nothing wrong with it. This book is supposed to be funny. IT IS NOT.

Holly can teach me what it really looks like when I complain about stupid things or blame my moods on my period. Holly is constantly menstruating, and constantly describing what stage of her cycle she's in. She is extra mean to her husband during this time of the month (he finds it funny, not disturbing) and uses it as an excuse for doing (or not doing) whatever she wants. I hope I don't use my period as an excuse for being a terrible person half as much as Holly does. It was incredibly tiring to read about her shirking responsibilities and snapping at everyone just because she has cramps.

Holly can teach me to be a happier person. I never want to be seen the way I saw Holly. She was a miserable person who only got a smidgen more tolerable toward the end. I think one of the biggest reasons I didn't like this book was that I didn't like Holly. It's awfully hard to muster up the energy to read about a character you can't stand. Now, granted, Holly does a complete 180 over the course of the book, but it comes across as very staged. She has convenient epiphanies related to each chapter of her workbook that allow her to move on to the land of better people. But even at the end, is she really as enlightened as she thinks she is?

Thanks, Holly, for giving me a wake-up call about how I'm perceived, though I doubt this was the intention of this supposedly funny book.

On the bright side, this book made me want to take up journaling again. It's something I used to do pretty frequently, and although I would cringe at past entries, it was very therapeutic to get all my emotions out in a private way. It made me want to start working out with more frequency (I actually did 20 minutes of cardio immediately after putting the book down, so there's a plus). And it made me want to set aside some time each week just for myself so I can unwind and be a happier person.

I'm just really glad to be done with this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy.… (meer)

My favorite chick lit books tend to have one thing in common - offbeat, obviously imperfect yet relatable heroine - and Holly, the main character of The Undiscovered Goddess definitely fits the bill. Annoyed by the fact that a Cosmo quiz she did, labeled her as shallow and superficial, Holly , a woman on a mission, picks up a self help book Discover your inner goddess and decides to turn her life around. Now the only things standing in the way of her "self-improvement" are her tendency to quit each project as soon as she starts it, as well as the fact that the silly book keeps asking her to give up all the guilty pleasures (mainly booze and junk food) that make her daily life bearable. Holly, a suburban mom of three, married to a workaholic she loves leads a fairly ordinary life, the kind that on the surface does not give her much reason for unhappiness. Yet she frequently feels like something is missing. A feeling many women nowadays can relate to at least on occasion.

Naturally Holly's road to self actualization is paved with humor and laugh out loud moments. Her interactions with her family, her sister, her friends, as well as Holly's inner monologues as she ventures out of her well established comfort zone into the world of colon cleanses, yoga and meditation, all make for such a fun, entertaining read. Not only did I enjoy Holly's adventures immensely but I truly enjoyed reading the book within the book. Discover your inner goddess was an interesting read in itself and I found myself wanting to participate as I was reading it.

This book is a perfect vacation or a beach companion but will also be enjoyed by all fans of quality chick lit. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Michelle Colston… (meer)