This book had such amazing tools that have truly helped my improve my life. I feel more aware and present. I love the way Tsabary presents her thoughts in a loving and non-judgmental way. She makes me want to take stock of my life and implement changes for the better. Definitely recommend this book to anyone who is striving to be a better person.

This insightful book for women accurately identifies how we continue to internalize societal expectations to our own detriment. As advanced and enlightened as we’d like to think we are, it’s clear there is still a lot more work to be done. Dr. Shefali Tsabary’s A Radical Awakening is a journey of self-reflection that uncovers patterns of behavior we have adopted to serve everyone but ourselves and how those patterns contribute to an overall sense of unhappiness and anxiety. There is no question that women today are overworked, overextended, and at a breaking point, but the key to breaking free of this cycle is to recognize it for what it is and break free of both spoken and unspoken expectations we adopt as our own.

This is not a book to be taken lightly. Come prepared with a pen, journal, and tissues for the points that are going to get ugly. Personal awakenings are rarely sunshine and rainbows, but coming out on the other side with a new sense of assurance is worth the pain. This tome is packed full of valuable observations, so it’s not a quick read. In addition, you’ll want to savor and reflect upon each revelation as you work your way through.

Dr. Shefali begins by explaining how we’ve been “asleep in the matrix” of societal expectations for so long that we fail to question our approaches to life and who they actually serve. The meat of the book dissects the lies we’ve been fed by society and how we’ve blindly adopted certain personas that only benefit others. It identifies how ego continues to feed these lies and affirms the belief that we’re actually serving others (martyrdom), when in fact, we’re desperately trying to derive our own sense of self-worth from our actions. Finally, the last section details specific areas we can begin to make lasting change to begin embracing our power.

The truths Dr. Shefali is able to uncover are critical for any woman on a path to enlightenment and self-discovery. As a rule, women place a high degree of internal happiness in the hands of others, for no other reason than it’s the way we’ve been socialized from birth. I highly recommend A Radical Awakening to anyone ready to make lasting change. There are so many highlights in my copy, it’s clear there’s a wealth of insight, but I’ll leave you with this quote.

”As more of us step into our own inner royalty, we will pave the way for others to do so. It starts with one woman. As lonely as she may feel, it takes only one to start the revolution.”

I requested the book on accident (I guess, I'm not entirely sure how it ended up in my requested, TBH). I read the first few chapters, but it is definitely geared towards a female audience (which is evident from the title and description, definitely my fault).

Overall seems like a well written book, relying on a combination of EFT and CBT (I think). A bit pop-psych-y for me, but probably very helpful for someone needing a read like this.

I’ve never been a self help reader. However, this book was very good and I will definitely think about it long after reading it. Thank you for the chance to read this book.

This book was received as an ARC from HarperOne in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really needed this book right now. You know you are reading a good book if its about a topic not only are you passionate about but are feeling the exact opposite as the book is entitled to be. I heard about this book through some patrons and when we were weeding and updating our self-help collection and when this book became available, I had to jump at the chance. I learned a lot from Shefali Tsabary and he techniques in finding your inner power and realizing the gifts you already have are within you and all you have to do is know how to use them to your advantage. I know we have a lot of community members anticipating the release of this book and I can't wait to share about it with them.

We will consider adding this title to our Self Help collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.