As many other reviewers of this book have said, this is a must-read for anyone with a body. Whether you have a loving relationship with your body or a combative one, this book will give you a solid understanding and steps on how to work towards radical self-love. Sonya Renee Taylor clearly and beautifully defines this concept, and provides concise means of doing the work. She has a lovely way with words and it is no surprise that others have wanted to tattoo these words onto their own bodies. There is a companion workbook coming out in a month, and for those who really want to practice radical self-love, I'm willing to bet it will be fantastic.

This book is life changing. As a black woman that has struggled with body image since childhood I found this book freeing and refreshing. I often wondered what my life would have been had I recognized earlier in life that I am good enough. Even with that realization I still struggled with accepting what I viewed as flaws in my appearance. This book not only helped me to identify the source of the discontent, it also put me on a new unapologetic journey of self acceptance. Thank you Sonya Renee Taylor.

#netgalley #thebodyisnotanapology

I was so fortunate to once be a member of TBINAA’s leadership circle—I did a brief internship with the great Sonya Renee Taylor in 2014 for The Body is Not An Apology here on Instagram! (#badpicturemonday). Of course back then, I didn’t know what I was running up against in my brain, and I fizzled out from something I really felt passionate about instead of seeing it through. • Nevertheless, my admiration for Sonya stands strong, and I was honored to read and advanced copy of the 2nd edition of this book from NetGalley and the publisher• I cannot recommend this highly enough. With tons of space for you to really reflect and do the work it takes to practice radical self-love, this is a must-read for 2021 no matter who you are. #thatllpreach #radicalselflove #tbinaa #badpicturemonday #thebodyisnotanapology

First, let me just say wow! I have never heard of Sonya Renee Taylor before reading her book, but if I were to have come across her, I probably would have judged her movement as the extension of the vapid body positive moment (just my opinion).

But no, Sonya is so much more and radical self love is much more as well. Through this incredible book I learned how systemic the treatment of "non-default bodies," is. It pieced together a lot of information I knew and opened it up to a larger context, and introduced me to new ideas and questions to ask myself.

On a personal note, I learned that I have a long way to go to achieving self-love, radical or not.

I recommend this book to all people and all bodies. I think we all can stand to learn how we got here, where "here" is, and how to reshape what it means to love ourselves and others.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I wanted to adore it, and I did love most of it, but I did find my mind drifting off in some parts and I think it was due to the large amount of academic writing, in amongst the other writing. I think reading it on a screen did not help either. I would prefer to read it in print.

That being said, I definitely had many lightbulb moments, as I refelected over my 45 year relationship with my body. I've been far from kind, and it feels so ingrained in me. Although I think the last 10 years privately I have changed a lot, I still have a LONG way to go. I loved the way this book points out the miriad of ways the media and the diet/beauty industry work to keep people constantly feeling they are not good enough and they need to buy more and do more. Whilst reading this book I became hyper aware of every ad on social media, in print and on tv. It's relentless.

I also liked how it was not only about people's body in relation to size, but included skin colour, gender, sexual orientation and the miriad of ways people's bodys are shamed and made to feel not good enough. If only the whole world would enbrace the "radical self love" concept.

It's a great starting point and I'm really looking forward to the follow up 'workbook' as I think the hands on element will reinforce the message of this book and help me to put more things into actual practice.

Big thanks to @netgalley and @bkpub for providing a digital review copy.

Everyone should read this book! I found myself shouting "yes!" multiple times while I was reading, and I highlighted so many passages in every chapter. Sonya Renee Taylor explores the intersections between self-love and social justice, and explains why we cannot pursue social justice without first examining our relationship with our own bodies.

What I loved most was that Taylor discusses radical-self love as an abstract concept while also providing step-by-step advice about how to apply the concepts she outlines.

I will be recommending this book for years to come!

Book 5 of 2021: The Body is not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love by Sonya Renee Taylor

Who is this for: Anyone who is reckoning with self worth and body image issues.

Reader’s Digest Version: Sonya Renee Taylor, renowned poet, activist, author, leader and overall badass, has written a beautiful book that helps us to understand how radical self love is the antidote to social injustice and low self worth.

My Take: First of all, in February I will be featuring reads solely from people of color. We need to do all we can to amplify their voices and lend our voices to the anti-racist movement. This book really hit home for me. I have always carried a sense of shame about taking up too much space. I’m too emotional. Too weird. Too big. My whole life I have been conditioned to think that the less space I occupy both physically and otherwise, the better. In turn, not only has this caused me to question my self worth, but it has also caused me to be judgmental of others. It’s no wonder that we have a systemic, rampant issue with pushing anyone who defies these societal norms, namely people of color, to the margins of society.Instead of questioning why manufacturers do not make bigger seats for airplanes, we pin the blame on the individual. Why is this person so “fat.” We point blame at the person and not the system. This book goes beyond self-acceptance. It is not enough to just accept who you are. You need radical self love. You should not feel half hearted about it. When we can begin to love our bodies, we can better love each other. Radical self love is what lights the fire for further eliminating the marginalization of black bodies, “fat” bodies, and any body that doesn’t fit the “socially acceptable” prototype. I cannot stress enough the importance of this book. Read it!
Rating: 5/5

This book takes an empathetic approach and gives bite size approaches and allows you to have kindness and patience with yourself when dealing with life. This is so necessary for everyone to read in life. Highly recommend. Especially loved the reflection to true life to humanize my feelings and relate. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Sonya Renee Taylor is quick to anticipate the reader's doubts and questions as she details her journey and tools on radical self-love. She offers some startling statistics, relevant anecdotes, and a fantastic list of additional resources from racial, disability, and queer justice advocates. With an extreme self-awareness, she doesn't overpromise this book as an end all and be all on these topics. She challenges the reader to examine within and use this as a stepping stone to unlocking one's potential in not only practicing self-love, but dismantling the oppressive systems that every body is subjected to. This is a great supplementary read to pick up after finishing Roxane Gay's Hunger.

Thank you NetGalley and Berrett-Koehler Publishers for the advanced copy!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this copy; for me this fits right into the realm of things I’m interested in. That being said; it was quite a task to read. It read like a textbook and for some I’m sure that’s a turn off; but the subject is wildly important so do your best to push through it. Imagine it being radical to love your body? Imagine knowing you are deemed as less than because of your weight, your skin, your gender, your sexual orientation; all topics discussed in this book, with prompts and questions throughout the book you’re able to take notes, evaluate your own internalized phobias and grow as the wonderful human you are.

This book is a refreshing view on how we can each work to achieve self-love, and it isn't solely an individual journey. We have to choose to see others - all bodies - with love and compassion and grace. This thought stretches to body image, body size, race, gender, sexual orientation and more. Sonya Renee Taylor asks thought-provoking questions that provides for self-reflection into our own body beliefs. I enjoyed these questions and through them learned new insights. My eyes are open to the many ways in which we are told by our inner judge, society, media and the news that our bodies, or certain bodies, are wrong. These thoughts and societal norms are not right! No body is wrong. We might be different, but all bodies are beautiful.

The very last section of the book is on the topic of Grace, and I think it needs to be read by everyone. If you could read only one section of this book it should be this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berret-Koehler Publishers for the advanced reader copy of this book. I’m grateful to have read such an eye and inner-world opening book!

Right off the bat I can say this is the first self help book I’ve read that really has helped me. I love that this book isn't simple, wear what you want, get that haircut or don’t listen to the haters. Sonya really goes into it all when it comes to body shaming, mentioning things you wouldn’t even think of when talking about your body.

I think what is great about this book is the mentions of all the types of bodies. POC bodies, trans bodies and even disabled bodies, no one was left out of this book. There were experiences of different people throughout to give the reader a different perspective then what they’re used to. I really liked hearing these stories that weren’t only from Sonya’s POV but from people she met and talked to. The perspective of this book wasn’t only just focused on Sonya’s journey, but instead like a walkthrough of things she did and information that is important to know before you truly start to accept your own body.

Also throughout the book she asks you questions that revolve around the section you’re reading so those were interesting to answer and look over how your life and thought process is. I wrote them all out on a separate word doc and then proceeded to answer (one of the main reasons I took so long to complete this book) but each question she asks I felt was detrimental to really starting your own journey.

I think when it comes to self help books about body positivity, this is the way to go. I think there are useful conversations being opened and certain topics finally having light shed upon them. Personally I haven’t read another book like this so I was happy to finally get to this one. Also this cover is just breathtaking.

This is an important book, with so many information you can learn from, how to start radical self love and stop body shaming and body terrorism to yourself and eventually extending it to other people. There are also resources with organizations where help is needed regardless of contribution. I appreciate the author’s advocating radical self love and looking for ways in which to dismantle fatphobia, ableism and racial inequity. But I find it too heavy words that I’m zoning out on some parts. Despite its 130 pages, there are so many to take in and learn. I’ve earn quite a few and want to practice it myself.


Thank you NetGalley and FSB Associates for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Body Is Not An Apology, Second Edition is out today Feb 9.

I hadn’t read the first edition of this before, so my review will not be addressing any changes or updates made between editions.

A manifesto encouraging self love over self confidence and self esteem, this is a difficult book to read for those of us grappling with some deep self hatred. And she addresses that, acknowledging that’s it difficult to move from a place of hate for your body to love, that starting with neutrality or acceptance is a good step, but we need to all move to a radical self love that defies anybody who tells you your body is worth less because of what they think of you.

One of the things I appreciated the most was the intersectionality of her radical self love. Race, class, ability, weight, all were considered in how they affect how we see ourselves. And the strategies towards the end, things we can do were particularly uplifting. Throughout the book are stepping stones of identifying harmful behaviors in our thoughts and habits, and what we can do as individuals to address them.

The radical reflection is often stuck in the middle of paragraphs, and even actual sentences, occasionally, which was highly distracting, but might just be a formatting error. But thinking of both the reflections and the unapologetic inquiries was deeply unsettling and enlightening. I appreciated the exercises as they forced me to slow down and really think about what I was reading.

Great work on self-love! Pieces seemed a bit redundant but overall a nice quick read to remind me of the power within.

The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Genre: LGBTQIA | OwnVoices | Self-Help
Release Date: February 9, 2021

The Body Is Not an Apology, Second Edition: The Power of Radical Self-Love by Sonya Renee Taylor is a book about body positivity, self-love, social justice, and oppression.

I had wanted to read this when it first released a few years ago and I just never got to it. Part of the reason is that I think I wasn't ready for it and was afraid of how it would make me feel. As someone who struggles with body image & confidence issues, I just wasn't in the right place to handle it.

Fast forward to now, and I regret waiting so long to reading this. I absolutely loved this! I was drawn in from page one and I couldn't put it down until I reached the end. This book had me feeling all the feels and it was so worth it! This was so much more than I expected and I am so grateful to have read this!

I'm so grateful to Sonya Renee Taylor, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Book is empowering. We need more literature like this for women to read, especially young women. This is amazing.

I cried while reading this book and started over again right as I finished it. Remarkable.

This book is a true masterpiece for anyone who has ever struggled with body image. We are taught to hate our bodies, but the bodies are all we have. Sonya Renee Taylor illuminates the cruel irony of how we see and treat ourselves, speaking of many issues I think about every day, and many I have never thought of before.

Thought provoking and inclusive, The Body Is Not An Apology is a brilliant book about self-acceptance, self-love, diversity, gender, race, sexuality and body terrorism - a term entirely new to me. It is truly a must-read for everyone, especially because it's short.

With the beautiful, intimate writing style and the stunning cover, I am compelled to rate this book five shining stars.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berret-Koehler Publishers for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
This is the second edition of this book, and whilst the first edition was definitely on my TBR, I had still not gotten to it. So I can not therefore comment on any differences between the two editions.
I always find books like these hard to review- it’s more about what the reader takes from it and what meaning they find in it, rather than the quality of writing.- although this writing was friendly and easily accessible. And as this is more of a personal philosophy rather than a scientific study- there isn’t lots of study data to back up arguments etc, although statistics are stated and referenced in the notes at the end of the book.
My personal view point coming into this book is that I am a mother to 2 young sons and I desperately do not want to bring up my sons with the negative body image, which I witnessed with my own mother growing up. She was and still is someone who is constantly on a diet, and talking frequently about how ‘fat’ she is. I certainly grew up with the idea that fat was shameful, and thin is desirable. And I recognise that society has nurtured that sentiment.
This book holds some wonderful conversations around every aspect of body image and acceptance. There is a large focus on the racism that often breeds the negative body image. The book encourages each of us to take accountability for when we are promoting negative body image- either through self criticism or criticism of others. It is quite a short book so some areas are only briefly discussed, although I understand an accompanying work book is being released so that may be an opportunity to expand your study a bit more.
I think this is a good introduction to these topics, and highly appropriate to read in Black History Month ( February). I only wish it had been a bit longer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berret-Koehler Publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

When the author began the book with the statement of radicalism, I feared that her narrative would focus on the exclusion of certain groups, but to my great surprise, she addressed the problem of body terrorism without leaving out people who often suffer from discrimination [from activism] (yes, I'm talking about trans exclusionary radical feminists,) and identified the real perpetrators and promoters of body shame: harmful media and capitalism.

That's what I really liked about "The Body Is Not an Apology." This isn't a book that only focuses on self-love and how to change your perspective about body positivism, but also goes beyond that and emphasizes the actual issues that oppress people who don't fit the "default" look that the media has been responsible for giving importance to. It's nice how she doesn't just display the problem but also gives solutions to it, for example limiting our media ingest because advertisers have an erroneous idea of how we, the consumers, look. This causes a lot of racial and gender stereotypes that are harmful to everyone and stops society from progressing.

Even if you feel comfortable with your body, I would recommend you read this book. Radical love is for everyone and self-acceptance is something we all should practice. In the words of Sonya Renee Taylor: "we must build in us what we want to see built in the world."