I'd heard about this book from an author interview on Fox News. I must admit it piqued my interest from the start. I knew going into it that the content requires the reader to have an open mind and a certain degree of humility. It was all the buzz among liberal women's rights activists. My personal opinion is 75% of this book Ms Venker was rock on in her assessment of Alpha women understanding how to live with and love, especially beta men in marriage. I too am an Alpha female and a lot of the book she was "preaching to the choir" for me as I luckily figured this out before my marriage itself failed. Had I not figured it out, I'm sure I'd be a statistic too. There's a few spots in the book that tended to bore me and I skimmed through those. Some points were a bit off-putting and definitely old fashioned for this era, which I can see why some readers wanted to chuck it out the window. I do, however, find it refreshingly candid and more women need to read this book than not. For sure. I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this enlightening book.

This book begins with the disclaimer that this is difficult and you need to fully buy in for it to work. This is my pet hate in a self-help book - it lets the author say that if it didn't work, it's just because you weren't trying hard enough! Obviously you have to make an effort but the disclaimer just gets my back up.

There is good advice in here, but it's hard to recommend as it's surrounded by a lot of 'gender war' stuff.

I don’t usually read many self-help books, but at times it’s quite interesting. You can always get some things out of them. I believe the important thing is to always exercise your critical thinking and not take every single thing at face value. Take what you feel applies to you and leave the rest. They offer one truth, not a universal truth, just “a” viewpoint.

When I discovered this book in the NetGalley catalogue, I felt intrigued and as I’ve always considered myself relatively “alpha” (because of my entrepreneurial spirit and need for independence), I thought I might learn a thing or two about improving relationships dynamics. However, granted that the book is filled with valid points and interesting tips, there were some things that didn’t quite sit well with me. I believed it lacked a bit of perspective when it comes to “temperaments” (I’m referring to extrovert people vs. introvert ones). The Alpha women described in the book often come across as loud, somewhat bossy personalities, which is what led me to try the Alpha/beta test the author mentioned was available online. And apparently I’m a “purple” (low Alpha/mid-beta), basically an emotional person (a spot-on result). It made sense that I didn’t necessarily recognize myself in this self-help book. So, now that this matter was clearly established, I can say that I might not have been the main target audience.

But, again, it is always enlightening to learn about others’ experiences and this guide fulfills its mission. I recommend it because it’s important to form your own opinions based on a wide range of facts. Read it, pick what you deem necessary and leave what felt at odds with your own life. I think that, in the end, it is the purpose of a “self-help” book.

As an Alpha female separated from her husband this book made me sit up and think. There's a lot of it that didn't chime with me, but is that because I'm digging my heels in, refusing to change? Time will tell. Well written.