Thank you NetGalley and Greenleaf Audiobooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
As a standard at Read With Lindsey, we do not give full reviews to books with ratings under 3 stars, so this will be short. Muse by Amanda Hanson sports the tag line “The magnetism of women who stop abandoning themselves”. Having been in a dark spot recently, I was immediately drawn to this book both by this tag line and by the publisher’s blurb that discussed “rituals and practices to reclaim our womanhood”. I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but this was definitely not it.
I give Muse 1 out of 5 stars. This audiobook is approximately 8.5 hours long and for the first 3 hours, Dr. Hanson discusses what this book will do for you, leading this to feel more like a speaker at self-help conference that is only interested in signing you up for some program to get your money. It isn’t until you’re nearly halfway through that Hanson delivers her first exercise to help you connect to your womanhood. Additionally, at around the 6-hour mark, Hanson touts the need for natural childbirth…and only natural childbirth. In one sentence, she laments the statistic that the US has the highest maternal-fetal mortality rate, and yet immediately afterwards turns to telling women not to allow medical intervention in childbirth. While I agree that medical intervention should be much less than what we see today, I am a mother who is only here because I received medical intervention during both my pregnancies. To hear her state that most women would feel like I was raped because I did so? Offensive. That medical treatment saved both my life and that of both of my children. I also found it down right abhorrent and irresponsible to make women feel like seeking medical help made them “less than” – this is right up there with making moms who choose formula or anyone who seeks medical treatment for depression feel less than. Additionally, if you’re going to attack a religion by quoting its scripture, it would be best to learn how to pronounce the name Leviticus properly.
I cannot in good faith recommend this book to my readers. I was impressed with Dr Hanson’s therapeutic record and license, and also with the publisher’s blurb stating research would be including along side clinical and holistic practices. However, I call into question Dr Hanson’s qualifications after reading this book. There also was minimal clinical research to support her claims. Please save yourself the time and frustration with this one.
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: The Violet Hour, Victoria Benton Frank
- Current audio book: Born in Death, JD Robb
- Book I’m most looking forward to: I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy
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