This was so hard to get through. It really felt like my soul was being steadily pulled out of my body the further and further I went. If you want to experience your anger morphing in real time to feeling drawn and quartered instead, this is the one.

I enjoy reading memoirs and thought the premise of this one sounded interesting. Unfortunately the execution and writing didn’t work for me and I decided to DNF at 25%. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free book to review.

This is a book that is incredibly hard to listen to. I've done quite a bit of reading into the IBLP/Christian fundamentalism but it's always or often been a high level view of those organizations. Since this is a memoir, it's a much more personal view of how these forms of religion allowed Tia's husband to abuse her and how Tia often felt like she couldn't stop it.

I did have to take breaks from the book here and there just because of how explicit and devastating it is, but I do think it's worth the read

The audio is read by the author - I have to commend her for being able to narrate her experience in often a very factual manner.

This is an eye opening memoir in the vein of Uneducated and the Sound of Gravel. I live in Jacksonville, FL which is where this book begins.so I was surprised at such a conservative faction here.. The author does a nice job narrating.

A beautifully written memoir about Tia’s life growing up and her desire to be a good Christian woman seen by the church and in marriage. She was a people pleaser and did just about anything in order to keep peace in her home. Her husband, a man with no backbone, was easily persuaded by the Christian Fundamentalism and fell into the role of an abuser of a husband seeking his wife to be submissive. Tia always believing that she had two Tia’s, the one of good wife and mother and the other as artist, writer, hiker, creator, had a struggle balancing the two. I was so impressed with Tia’s ability to narrate her own story. I thought she did it beautifully. Tia’s belief of knowledge is power is so incredibly accurate. The writing was excellent, and I was engaged through the entire story. As a 10 plus hour audiobook, I listened to it in 2 days. If you like memoirs, you should read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an arc to reviewers.

This is a very interesting and well-written memoir. I have my fair share of religious trauma from growing up queer and Catholic in a rural area which is what drew me to the book. I find it so interesting to read about people who have similar experiences with religion and childhood to me but choose to stay religious or spiritual in some way because it is the opposite of my story. It's so beautiful to read about someone healing their relationship with something that has done them so much harm and turning it into a positive thing in their life.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs, religious themes, and survival stories. Really beautiful!!

This book was so hard to read, but I really loved it and think it’s so important, especially for anyone who has or is trying to break out of religious fundamentalism.

Hearing the author’s story from her own mouth made it that much more emotional.

This book was so incredibly eye opening. As someone who grew up in a fundamental Baptist home, I could definitely relate to some of the things she experienced. While my experience was definitely not as extreme, I could recognize a lot of the same emotions in myself. It is absolutely mind boggling to me how a lot of things done in these extreme churches are deemed normal and don’t raise any concerns until you’re outside of it. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the #gifted ARC and thank you Macmillan Audio for the #gifted ALC of A Well-Trained Wife! #MacAudio2024 #AWellTrainedWife #TiaLevings

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐀 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞: 𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐲
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐓𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: 𝐓𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

This book was an absolutely moving memoir. At times extremely difficult to listen to, I am in awe at the strength and tenacity of the author, Tia Levings for not only leaving an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, but then telling her story. If you enjoy memoirs, I highly recommend this one.

“𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦.”

🎧I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author. I loved the personal touch of hearing the author tell her own story. You could hear the raw emotion in her voice and I feel as thought it made it all that much more impactful for the listener. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough.

I thought A Well-Trained Wife was a fascinating, honest, and disturbing memoir written by a girl (then woman) raised into (and then living in) a patriarchal Christian system. I think Levings did well at establishing the distance from her earlier self that it took to remember what she believed and went through and still have perspective about the experiences. The experiences, themselves, were horribly disturbing and I (as a reader) sometimes had a hard time understanding how she could have kept subjecting herself to the system. However, the writing helped me to connect with how this happened in a way I wouldn't have thought possible. I'm sometimes hit or miss on authors narrating their own memoirs, but this one was a "hit" for me. The pacing was good and the added emotion she could bring to the text worked well.

Tia Levings' devastatingly raw memoir chronicles her journey to end the church-sanctioned abuse inflicted upon her by her husband for years. Levings' story evokes a whirlwind of emotions: sadness, anger, frustration, confusion, shame, hopelessness, fear, devastation, and heartache. While I have felt many of these emotions throughout my life, I couldn’t fathom carrying the weight of all of them, every second of every day, for years.

The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual exhaustion must have been overwhelming. Yet, the author persisted, fighting to ensure her children were safe and protected. This tenacity brings about a profound sense of relief, joy, and hope that Tia continues to experience.

Touching, moving, real, raw, and occasionally difficult to read, this is a solid four-star memoir. I highly recommend it to anyone who has experienced an abusive relationship, struggled with their faith, or had to start over.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tia Levings, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and listen to this memoir ahead of its release date in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was so good! Like many, I have fallen down the rabbit hole of fascination/horror of trad wives. It was stunning and heartbreaking to read a first-hand account from someone that lived and escaped that life.

This audiobook absolutely blew me away. Tia Levings holds nothing back in her memoir detailing her life as a wife and mother in an extreme Christian fundamentalist community. I am a big fan of memoirs narrated by the authors themselves, and Levings does a magnificent job of it. I strongly recommend the audiobook!

A Well-Trained Wife provides a raw insight into how it feels to be in an abusive relationship and how difficult it is to leave, especially when religion is involved. I felt like my heart was repeatedly broken listening to this story, as there were many pieces of it that I could relate to. Levings’ story of escape is nothing short of miraculous, and I was inspired by her love for her children and the lengths she was willing to go in order to save them from the same fate.

A good portion of this audiobook was difficult for me to listen to, and I actually needed to skip parts involving animal cruelty. I strongly caution readers to take the content warnings into consideration before reading! This is a memoir that I highly recommend and will be thinking about for quite some time.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the gifted ALC!

So many feelings swept over me while listening to Tia Levings share her story. I wish we'd gone to school together (granted, you are just enough older than me that we probably wouldn't've been able to hang out, but, still). We could've been friends. I had the "bad girl" friend, too. (Although we grew apart, I will forever thank her for being one of the few to embrace me wholly during a very dark period of my adolescence.) I wasn't popular, not good looking, poor. I understand how you wound up on the path that led to the blue house.

Most will focus on your exposé of Christian fundamentalism. Your story slots nicely next to The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church, and is more along the lines of what I expected Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear to be. This is a timely and vital message, and should not be overlooked.

I have never been part of fundie culture. (Pretty much the exact opposite, I like to joke that I would probably be stoned on sight if I even considered visiting a fundamentalist congregation.) There are so many ways that different parts of society attempts to subjugate others. You don't have to grow up in a fundamentalist, or even a Christian home to be told to "behave" in order to please a parent or other authority figure. While I think it is important to socialize children, some children are more sensitive to this type of teaching than others. We are told to act certain ways so that other people will like us, because that's the most important thing: being liked by others.

Who were the witches burned at the stake? They were societal outsiders. You don't want to be one of them, do you? From social media destroying the souls of today's youth to the rise of substance abuse in adult women who otherwise look like they've got it all together (See Highlight Real: Finding Honesty & Recovery Beyond the Filtered Life), there are so many hurting people today. Your story of growing empowerment and healing are inspirational. Some of the therapies that you discussed trying were completely new to me. Having been a victim of the troubled teen industry, I am understandably wary of the psycho-industrial complex. It would appear that you were able to discover good souls who could truly be of assistance to you. That was one of my favorite parts of your story. I wish you'd been able to discuss those details further. I know that's not the part that most readers are coming for, but it's one thing to learn how to get hurt, another to figure out how to get better.

I want every hurt or hurting person to read A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy. I want you to see yourself in Tia Levings's story, whether because you've been a member of a fundamentalist religion, part of an abusive relationship, or marginalized by society in any way. I want you to hear how, phoenix-like, Tia Levings arose and healed. Hear the hope. Know that can be you, too.

I would like to thank Macmillan Audio for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advance listening copy of this powerful and moving memoir by Tia Levings experience of Christian patriarchy. This novel was organized into chronological order and divided into milestone sections (i.e., young life labeled as grooming, section 2 becoming a wife). My heart broke for Tia and the other women and children experiencing a lifestyle of manipulation, abuse and gaslighting as a result of "extreme religion". I would recommend this novel to everyone.

I've been on a religious-trauma reading kick lately and this was an amazing addition to my library! I love when authors narrate their own memoirs, and this audiobook was no exception. Tia delivers a heartfelt, harrowing account of her journey from questioning her faith to leaving it in attempt to protect her family. Great conversation about not only the church system but the patriarchy in general. Highly recommend checking out the audiobook for this one!

It's hard to review someone's personal experiences and life story, but Tia Levings's account is nothing short of riveting. I would love to know more background on how Tia felt so obligated (for lack of better word) to the church, while her sister's experience seems to have been very different. (She did touch on this briefly, in how various people process experiences so differently, but it's fascinating to me.)

So, let me start by saying that if you have NOT read this,
you may want to 🛑 STOP HERE 🛑,
as I’m sure this will be considered a HUGE SPOILER…

My heart was breaking 💔 for a good part of this book.
My biggest question is…why didn’t she leave?
Why didn’t she just walk out?? Why not tell ANY and EVERYONE what was going on???? WHAT WAS SHE THINKING??
This was a very difficult book to read/listen to…

But, as you read, you realize that this is how she was ‘trained’ (brainwashed)…
But why??

Her core family was NOT like this.
She did not grow up like this.
Her church did not teach this…

But, she thought she was doing the right thing in the eyes of the church…
And she believed her husband loved her in his own way…
And…how could the church be wrong?
And how can they be teaching young girls this stuff at school?

And my heart truly breaks for the author…who actually lived through this hellish ordeal. Who raised her kids with love and understanding and patience…even though she was not shown any in her basically loveless marriage…

And the fact that she DID try to reach out to a higher power at one point…and was immediately shot down. 😢

Very scary when you realize that people in the world may actually be experiencing this RIGHT NOW… and need help…and are afraid to reach out to anyone due to fear…

Tia Levings reveals her deepest, darkest fears and secrets…as well as her heartbreak in this very sad story of life, love, God, fear and family… and the teachings of a Christian Church unlike anything I’ve ever been taught in my MANY years of Catholic School and a Jesuit College…and years and years of weekly churchgoing…

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me.

#AWellTrainedWife by #TiaLevings and narrated by the author.

**** This is due to be released in about a week on 8/6/24. ****

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Tia Levings is a truly gifted writer. Her book, A Well-Trained Wife, is a graphic account of the horrific abuse she endured as a young wife and mother.

When Tia was a child, her parents moved from Michigan to Florida. At her mother's suggestion, they joined a local mega church to help them acclimate and make friends. While a mainstream Christian church, it had very strict rules for its members. Those rules meant that Tia was very sheltered and ill-equipped to face monsters in the dating world. These churches, unfortunately, seem to be havens for very disturbed men. These men view women as property.

She meet a seemingly nice young man with the unfortunate Nickname of "Psycho Eyes". She ignored that red flag and began to date the young man. Even when, on one of their dates, he choked her and left her alone on a beach, she married him.

The abuse began immediately after their marriage. It grew worse as time went on, until it spiraled out of control. Tia took her children and ran for her life.

I did have to skip small parts of the book that dealt with sickening animal abuse. I also took away one star, because the author has tarred all powerful Christian men with the same brush.

In my opinion, this is an amazingly important book. I would highly recommend this title to all women, beginning with those young women just beginning to date or look for life partners.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital audio copy of this book from Net Galley.

#TiaLevings#AWell-TrainedWife#NetGalley

A moving memoir about a woman who was recruited into a fundamentalist cult-like movement as a young wife and the abuse she suffers in her marriage the courage and bravery it took for her to escape and save her children from growing up in that world. Narrated by the author herself, this was a great look into what life in these types of marriages can be like and how hard it can be for people to get out. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: domestic abuse