Grace for the Good Girl Book Review

I stumbled upon this book when Emily Freeman came to my local Barnes and Noble. She was there advertising her new coloring book, Simply Tuesday, and my mom wanted to go as she had read her blog.

Before her book signing, I bought her book Grace for the Good Girl on account that it looked like it applied a lot to my life. I quickly dived in, the book a joy to read. Normally a huge fiction and fantasy reader, I was surprised to find myself picking it up instead of the library book I was in the middle of.

Through the entire book, I felt as though Emily Freeman was speaking directly to me. I believe that many teenage girls can identify with being a 'Good Girl', as described in the book. Emily shares her 'Good Girl' story and how she came to discover how to let go of the 'Good Girl' mask she was hiding behind. The book is geared slightly more toward adult women, but I still found it very helpful. Emily does have a version of the book that she wrote specifically for teen girls, and if it's anything like the original, I'm sure it would be wonderfully helpful. Here is the book description for Grace for the Good Girl from Emily Freeman's Blog:

You’re strong. You’re responsible. You’re good. But as day fades to dusk, you begin to feel the familiar fog of anxiety, the weight and pressure of holding it together and of longing left unmet. Good girls sometimes feel that the Christian life means doing hard work with a sweet disposition. We tend to focus only on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. But what would happen if we let grace pour out boundless acceptance into our worn-out hearts and undo us? If we dared to talk about the ways we hide, our longing to be known, and the fear in the knowing? In Grace for the Good Girl, Emily Freeman invites you to release your tight hold on that familiar, try-hard life and lean your weight heavy into the love of Jesus. With an open hand, a whimsical style, and a heart bent brave toward adventure, Emily encourages you to move from your own impossible expectations toward the God who has graciously, miraculously, and lovingly found you.

Any teen christian struggling with feeling like they are always trying to be perfect and always falling short, Grace for the Good Girl is perfect for them. Masks I didn't even know I was wearing became known to me. As Ann Voskamp said about Emily's book: 

“When you read certain writers, you know it’s a calling, because on every page, it’s there: the echo of God’s voice. Emily Freeman’s one of those rare writers: profoundly biblical, lyrical, transparent–memorable. Her emancipating words on these pages offer the needed keys to all the good girls longing to take wing–and soar home to his heart.”

—Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of One Thousand Gifts

Please check out Emily Freeman's blog here.