Cover Image: Untangle Your Emotions

Untangle Your Emotions

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Member Reviews

This is the first book I have read by Jennie Allen, although a couple of her other books are in my TBR pile, and now that I have read this one I am looking forward to reading the others even more. I am working through depression and anxiety in my own life, and how that plays into my emotions and thought processes, and having grown up in the church I am also trying to unlearn some of the habits I picked up there. This book speaks with empathy into those issues, and gives biblical and concrete processes to help out with this work. I enjoyed the personal stories that were shared, as they took the lessons from a simply academic aspect, and allowed me to see some of the practical aspects of what I was learning. I hope I can put what I read in this book to good use. I did have one problem with how she shared that her GP will ask patients to make some lifestyle changes before prescribing antidepressants. Although I understand the rationale, as someone who is currently working through a bit of a downward turn in my depression journey, I don't have the mental or even in some cases physical ability to make the lifestyle changes without the help of the medication. This may be what Jennie meant, but the way it was worded it gave me a little bit of concern that someone might read it and think that if they haven't started exercising, eating better and reaching out to God more they shouldn't be trying antidepressants yet. In my life antidepressants aren't a last resort, they are a resource that has allowed me to make better use of all the other resources available to me.

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I really love Jennie Allen - however if you have done therapy and have an understanding of emotions then you can probably skip this book. This is more for people who haven’t already but in the work in therapy

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Another great Jennie Allen book that makes you confront your issues and get to work resolving them so you can be a healthier human! This is one I will definitely read again!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions in this review are my own.

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I'd like to start my review by saying that I think Allen's heart for this topic is so important. The American church has been known to belittle or even vilify emotions in a non-biblical extent. I'm rating this book 3 stars because I don't think there was anything inherently wrong in it. (Although I didn't love the use of the word "joy" as a starting point for all positive emotions but... semantics.)

Unfortunately I found this book promising lots and delivering little. I kept waiting for new revelations from the content, but it all felt very basic. There was also little scripture to be found for the points that were made. While I agreed with a lot of what she said, I can not think of a new concept I learned or new perspective I was shown.

There were multiple times in this book that Jennie mentions wishing she should have a cup of coffee with the reader to hear their story in relation to the topic at hand. With this, I think she illustrates the problem I had with this book, that it is too broad and surface-level to invite much conversation or deep thought. Overall, I think it would have made a much better podcast subject or long-form essay.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. However in full disclosure I decided to wait until the audiobook was available to listen.

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I loved this book! Jennie is vulnerable about her and her families journey with their emotions. She is relatable in her vulnerability. She also provides practical ways to untangle our emotions, and encourages us to not avoid our emotions but to connect first with God through them and then others.

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Do you know what you're feeling right now?

Last night, when you said something stupid you didn't mean because you got angry or confused

... or today when you went into another meeting with that "hostile" person or topic and didn't know how to respond?

HELP!

Allen offers insights for identifying and using your emotional life for good rather than harm. She encourages the reader to use the power of emotions to understand, assist, and boost you personally and professionally.

Highly recommended. Check out all the podcasts she's done (interviews with influencers) to get a sense of what you're missing if this is still on the shelf. It's been an instant bestseller. When you read it, you'll know why.

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This book felt like talking to a friend, and I loved that. This was my “bathtub book”, and every night, as I soaked in my bubbles, it felt like a friend was telling me, “of course trying to figure out how you’re feeling is hard. But let’s just look at it this way at first: are you feeling good or bad?” (Very paraphrased)

I think going into this one, you need to know what to expect. It is NOT a deep theological book and it doesn’t go super deep into emotions and feelings and the “why’s” behind them. It’s a short book, chock full of friendly encouragement and wisdom.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble knowing their feelings and/or condemning feelings. There are light ties to God and faith.

Favorite quotes:
“It turns out you can’t feel feelings while you’re preoccupied with fixing them.”

“Your feelings aren’t trying to control you - they are trying to tell you something.”

“Controlling our emotions is not the goal. Healing them and expressing them in a healthy way is.”

“Feelings show up in our minds. Feelings show up in our bodies. Feelings show up in our actions.”

“We think God us waiting for us to pull ourselves together, but actually He is waiting for us to come to Him and fall apart.”

“We can’t be present with God and others when we’re refusing to be present with ourselves.”

Overall, an encouraging, easy read 💗

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As with every other elder millennial it seems, I'm learning how to feel my feelings and this book was really helpful. Jennie Allen lays out how to process emotions and feelings without either succumbing to every whim or shoving down every feeling and refusing to acknowledge them.
Perfect reading for those of us trying to better ourselves.

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I needed this book. I feel so wrapped up in everything going on around me and it helped me channel my emotions. Jennie is an incredible author that knows how to reach each person's heart in an unassuming way. If you are trying sort out your feelings and balance your plate, this is the book for you!

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I really loved this book!
I struggle from Anxiety and I had always felt like I was lacking in faith. Jennie expressed that anxiety is not about a lack of faith and that was so reassuring to hear.
I also liked how she touched on mental health issues. I have struggled with depression for most of my life and people suffering with these issues need more support !

This was very helpful for me personally to read .
Thank you to Waterbrook & Multnomar and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

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Annnd you officially lost me when you said people who don't go to the doctor because they don't have insurance should just... go. How tone deaf and what does that have to do with feelings??

Yes, I do consider myself a Christian, but no I did not realize this would be a faith based book. It overall was a bore and didn't provide any new information. It was particularly boring because the same information was just restated... a lot. This short of a book and reading it on Kindle, it should not have taken me a month to read it is all I'm sayin.

This arc was provided to me via NetGalley, thanks haha sorry I didn't like it at all.

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I really appreciated the author's heart and intentions in writing this book and there were a few helpful takeaways but as a whole I felt like it didn't have a whole lot of substance and could have been condensed to an essay. The message is it is ok, healthy and spiritually edifying to recognize, feel and then deal with the myriad of emotions that arise on a daily basis instead of ignoring or running away from them.
I can see this book helpful for one who needs someone to lovingly and gently encourage them in their dealing with emotions and in getting help from a physician or counselor but not for one who needs alot of practical help and understanding.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read it in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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Untangle Your Emotions is the follow up book to Get Out of Your Head. Both books focus on equipping readers with skills to foster a spiritual and healthy mental state. With a rudimentary approach, Untangle Your Emotions tackles how not to ignore our feelings, rather notice them, name them, and allow them to navigate us closer to God.

Jennie Allen weaves personal stories and experiences with practical advice while reestablishing truths about the purpose of emotions (to be felt and not pushed down), God’s perspective on emotions (He gave them to us, not to shame us) and how to process our emotions (God uses our emotions to draw us closer to Himself and others). Jennie gently reminds us all, feelings are made to be felt and are not something to fix, because when taken to God, He can use them to help us see where we need His healing. “We think God is waiting for us to pull ourselves together, but actually He is waiting for us to come to Him and fall apart (Allen, 2024).”

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I love this new book by Jennie Allen. She is a new author for me and I am going back to read her earlier books. I like how this book examines why you may feel the way you do, how you can work through those emotions, and just that it’s ok to have the emotions in the first place. She shared experiences about her husbands depression and her feelings about her daughter getting married. There are scriptures as well to correlate with what she is saying and with what you may be feeling. Nice easy reading and self help book women will love.

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This was a helpful and practical book. I think to truly make progress in untangling your emotions as the author (and title) states, you would want a workbook or journal as well as time and space to really walk through and process. As I was reading, I found myself naturally incorporating some of the things suggested throughout my day. It's a book I will refer back to.

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Wowowow this book was actually so much better than I imagined it was going to be. It took me a little bit to get into in at the beginning, but once I was into it, I was IN! I love Jennie Allen as an author, and this one did not disappoint! She address the importance of emotions, in a biblical manner, and how it affects the other areas of your life including your relationships. The representation of mental health in here was phenomenal! Fully recommend!

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I appreciate how to the point and how approachable the writing of Jennie Allen's books are! After enjoying Get Out of Your Head, I also looked forward to reading this book. I was even more intrigued by Jennie explaining in the beginning that this book would serve as a companion book to GOOYH -- the balance of navigating thoughts and emotions.

I thought this book did a great job at the 101 level of breaking down emotions, the importance of them, and the basics of what to do with them. I thought the chapters were straightforward and clear, especially with the many examples given. This would have been such a helpful book for me to read in high school to help guide me through the overwhelming emotions I felt. Many people could gain basic principles from this book to integrate into their day-to-day. I'd recommend it to others to be read alongside GOOYH!

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Jennie Allen has catfished me AGAIN. The title and cover should mention that this is a Christian book. I have no interest in reading religious books, and picked up Find Your People when I was struggling to make friends. Little did I know I was picking up an indoctrinating, cat-fishing book meant to trick people like me into accidentally renting a book from the library that's completely misrepresenting itself.

Anyway—I would have liked a book like this, if it was actually about emotions and not washed in religious propaganda.

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This book was incredible, It was my first Jennie Allen book despite having a few of her others sitting on my shelf currently... Anyways! I actually have just recently started going to counselling again to work through some personal emotions and this book was shockingly on course with everything I was dealing with. I felt like she was speaking directly to me as I was reading through this. I would recommend this book to anyone from any background. She does discuss a lot due to her background in Christianity, which I really enjoyed but know is not everyone's cup of tea.

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This book has really opened my eyes and has given me a different perspective regarding our emotions.
I was always taught that certain feelings like anger, fear, or sadness are bad and have always viewed or referred to these as negative emotions. But after picking up this book and reading, I realized that this is not true.
Jennie helps to uncover these common myths that many of us are taught and I like how she outlines and walks readers through each of the steps of noticing, naming, feeling, sharing, and then choosing how to respond to our feelings in a way that honors God.
I am so grateful for this book because it has shown me some areas that I get to work on if I want to become emotionally healthy.
Jennie is a gifted author, speaker, and teacher and her books have been a blessing to me.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

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