Evans draws parallels to her own life and finds ways to relate to the mystics. Her personal stories are compelling and drew me in and I enjoyed her openness and honesty. And I love stories that open my eyes to the women in history who have been minimized or forgotten. The book encouraged me to look to the past for inspiration and to open my eyes to a larger picture of what faith can look like.

Shannon K. Evans details the lives and teachings of 6 female mystics in their spiritual journeys, declaring that there is space to discover all aspects of life and womanhood in Christian spirituality. I don't come from a Catholic background, so these stories, women, and teachings were new to me. They gave voice to aspects of faith I knew to be true but didn't have the words for, as well as new truths that I will continue to ponder. Overall, this book gave me the confidence that there can be a place for me to truly be who I was created to be.

Is there a Christian spirituality that embraces the entire reality of womanhood? Yes! There is a spirituality that meets us in every part of our lives.
In this book, the author investigates the lives and writings of six mystics—Teresa of Ávila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux. Through research and introspection, the author reveals ways the faith of these mystics is big enough to hold the female experiences of sex and desire, the yearning for bodily autonomy, the challenges of motherhood and identity, the beauty of Mother Earth, and life with male authority.
These women are self-determining, stubborn, and unapologetically themselves. They ask questions in their time that we - I - ask today. They also fought for women’s experiences to be heard, understood, respected, and recognized as holy. We can learn from them! After all, “a mystic is really just someone who has experienced a glimpse of the eternal and has chosen to pursue more.” In fact, we all can become mystics.
This book is one I would read again. It contains wisdom that helps me be a better person with more love, compassion and care for myself and others.
The “Questions for Prayer and Reflection” at the end of each chapter invite readers dive deeper into the book’s topics and content. They are thoughtful and ideal for individual or group contemplation.
One thing I didn't like are all the references and quotes to dozens of other writers. Some are the mystics she discusses, and that's expected and appropriate. But I prefer to hear her or their own words, not quotes from other authors.
The suggested reading list is hepful for further investigation and introspection.

Thought provoking and inspirational
Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now, a proper review will follow
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you NetGalley and Convergent Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who is not and will never be Christian but still holds her relationship with the Divine as very fundamentally important, I loved the messaging this book contained. One does not need to be Christian to read about women who devoted themselves to something larger and greater, who threw off the yoke of patriarchy in myriad ways to benefit humankind. The lessons are still applicable, such balancing your inner contemplative life with your outer good works.

Is it a perfect book? Not at all. Some of the women are explored a little too shallowly, so without a foundational understanding of them ahead of time I wasn’t able to understand as much as I probably was intended to by the author. The chapters are also a bit disjointed and missed a really strong thread of connection to really tie together the book’s purpose or aim. Even still, it was a good enjoyable read that got me thinking and I was glad to have experienced.

"The Mystics Would Like A Word" by Shannon K. Evans

The main reason I picked this book up was because I saw there were a few chapters on Margery Kempe. This book seemed as good as any place to start reading about Margery.

I didn't know what to expect when I started "The Mystics Would Like a Word" but I am so glad to have read it! I'm not Catholic, but the author didn't grow up Catholic either, and she appropriately explained context and background information when needed for the uninformed Protestant like me. This book helped me see the beauty of the Catholic tradition and piqued my interest in medieval church history.

In the book, Shannon examines six remarkable women mystics, summarizing their lives, showing how she has been challenged and inspired by these women, and then asking the readers to consider for themselves how these women might inspire us today. This book made me uncomfortable at times-- in a good way! I had to reconsider some preconceived notions about Catholicism. I was introduced to new ideas about spirituality and faith.

There were so many things I appreciated about this book. First, the author's writing style is very relatable and engaging. She has a great writing voice and I found myself smiling and laughing many times. I really appreciated a section of the book about nature, environmental justice, and climate change. I also loved how Shannon showed how these women advocated for themselves in difficult circumstances, confident in their callings, mission, and purpose.

The most uncomfortable part for me was being introduced to the concept of the divine feminine. It's a new concept to me, one that I have no exposure to. And yet, I am interested to learn more. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in exploring their spirituality, particularly those who are interested in learning from women who have gone before us, facing similar challenges as the modern read, albeit in a widely different context.

Thank you Convergent Books for this digital copy to read and review.

It is hard for me to imagine what book could topple The Mystics Would Like a Word as my top faith read of the year. I am fascinated by the mystics and requested this on NetGalley as soon as I heard about it. I was not disappointed. I can’t wait to order a hard copy and re-read it, preferably in community. I was so fascinated by all the women that I didn’t take the time to think through any of the reflection questions and I look forward to doing that on my re-read.

I am a life-long Protestant with very little familiarity with the saints, so those who criticize this book for possible liberties Evans took would know more than I do. For me, I found the insights through women who lived centuries ago so valuable. For me, the bits of her faith story that Evans sprinkled throughout the text only added to its usefulness.

I wish Catherine of Siena had not been last in the book because her story is so grim, and I wish that there had been some kind of afterword or concluding chapter. But neither of those things keeps this from being a five star read for me.

TW: anorexia

Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Having studied female medieval mystics as an undergraduate, I was excited to pick this up and read about how the author connected those writings to the world of today. I hate to say it, but I was disappointed. I enjoyed the author’s humor and writing style for the most part. She was quick to admit she was no expert and remained humble about that throughout. There were a couple of chapters I really appreciated, particularly those connecting Hildegard of Bingen with creativity and art. The chapters on sexuality, mental illness, horror, and the divine feminine were all very interesting, but I didn’t always see the full connection between the Mystic’s writings and the author’s. Having some familiarity with the six women described in this book, I felt there were some leaps and license taken, but I admit I’m also not an expert. The main issue I had with this book was that in an attempt at humor (I think) there were several moments when quotation marks and italics were used in a way that came off bitter and sarcastic toward evangelical Christians or anyone with a different theological viewpoint from the author. The tone came off exclusionary and worked against the book’s purpose to make women feel more included in the Christian Tradition. I can overlook this and still get some knowledge and application from this book; it wasn’t a bad read for me, just not stellar. But I can see other audiences dismissing or discarding this book completely, hence my overall disappointment. This was a "not for me" book, but I can see it being right for certain audiences.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this title!

This is most certainly one of my favorite books I have read all year. I have really been diving into to reading about mystics this year (I actually had just finished The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism when I picked this one up) and this was a great deeper dive on some of my favorite women. I think this book is going to meet a lot of people right where they are at when it comes to some of the questions we have today, and bring comfort to know that women have been asking these questions for thousands of years. I hope to pick up a personal copy when this book is published in September!

I will hold my review until closer to publication per the publisher's request, but this book is amazing. I will be ordering a hard copy for myself and several friends.

Excellent book. The author chronicles the lives of six female saints, while weaving in her own stories of faith, despair, and recovery. Her story of self-harm/cutting in the run-up to her discussion of Margaret of Kempe was particularly powerful and quite well written. I learned a lot about these saints while coming to a better understanding of the challenges of contemporary women (particularly those younger than I).

Beautifully written, well researched, highly recommended. This would be a great resource for an adult Christian formation series or for personal Lenten reading or study.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Hooray for Christian feminism! Hooray for learning more about important Christian women in history! However, this book wasn't quite what I expected. For a book of this title, I would have liked to see more from the Christian mystics themselves. I liked hearing about the author's personal life/spiritual journey and some of the application points were helpful, but I think less than half of each chapter was about the historical mystics. Still, what was there was interesting and encouraging, and I get that we know little about historical female mystics, and that there are already other books about them.

My other hang-up with this book is that what interests me in mysticism is wanting a personal encounter with God, like the kind described in the Bible, but without going against the Bible's teachings. In my opinion, this book has some unbiblical content. One specific example would be referring to God as "They" or the divine mother (though Evans tries to make a case for this); another example is urging people to trust themselves rather than the Holy Spirit (even though Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" and Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord [not yourself] with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path"). Now granted, some of the sayings of the mystics were pretty "out there," too, but I felt that the author made some big reaches even beyond what the mystics said. I could be wrong. I would just encourage other readers to "test everything and hold fast to what is good" and true (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Also... was not expecting to read the f-word in a religious book, especially in reference to Mary the mother of Jesus...

Even though I took some things in the book with a grain of salt, I still got good nuggets of spiritual nourishment. Evans made a lot of good points, even if she didn't convince me on everything. Maybe I'm just not the target audience for this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free eARC! I post this review with my honest opinions.

Having read multiple sources about all of these women, I was still surprised and delighted by what I learned. If anyone thinks that the female Catholic saints are subservient, docile and passive, they are in for a surprise and a treat. Shannon’s writing lets you relax and let your hair down (and bra probably off and maybe burning) while talking REAL about the situation of women in the world, in the church and how these women handled it throughout their lives.

I really enjoyed learning more about these women and the ways they expand our vision of how we can encounter and experience God.

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)