Once again Jen Hatmaker as done it.

She comes to readers with open arms and shows us all that we are all going to deal with struggles and hard things and she did it and now she shows us some of the behind the scenes. She doesn't sugar coat her emotional roller coaster and she shares the pieces that really helped her and how her people showed up for her. But this isn't done in a chapter my chapter run down. She delves deeper and gives us the background of how she got to where she is. Some of the foundations we are all built on are crumbling and there is evidence why that might be. That nudge, that feeling, intuition. Let yourself be trusted by you! I cannot say enough good about this book and I have been through the different writings over the years She doesn't hide her growth She's proud to admit where she is still learning and we all can too. Grab a copy and just wake up!

Jen Hatmaker is an excellent communicator. Her writing is smart, fun, sarcastic, and honest. And that, in spite of the difficult subject matter. I have read several of her books and I think this might be my favorite. I read it in 2 days, which is a rare accomplishment for me.

Everyone should be as fortunate as to experience friendship as loyal, thoughtful and loving as those who comprise Jen’s circle of friends. Her people showed up for her in every way during her unexpected divorce. We need each other. Her family surrounded her on a daily basis, making she she was not alone until she was ready for it. Other times her friends’ husbands showed up outside, just to be available should Jen need them when she was talking through difficult things with her ex. People met her for lunches out, refinished her porch, offered vacation rentals free of charge so she could take time away to rejuvenate, etc. This is a tribute to the kind of friend she must be.

Through her difficult experiences, Jen has chosen the high road. She doesn’t blame her husband for anything where she may have some responsibility in the matter, but she also doesn’t excuse him either. She walks that fine line very well and with integrity. She expressly shares that the woman he married was not the one who took part in the infidelities: magnanimous. She has done some very hard work on herself with the help of therapists. Good on her for putting in all the effort to face things in her heart, allowing growth. May we all rise up to the circumstances should we face anything so catastrophic in our own lives.

I understand the need to take time away from church. It isn’t always the most welcoming place to heal. I feel sorrow for how other Christians have treated her. It sucks when Christians essentially crucify other Christians so to speak. I myself have taken time away from church in a season or two of my life, but I am thankful I found a church where I can be real in the midst of struggles. A place where I can admit my need for God on a regular basis, it’s not weird to ask for prayer support, go forward to the altar in response to a message, or to offer prayer on someone else’s behalf even if you aren’t in a great place yourself. I hope she is able to find such a church.

Jen is a live life to the fullest girl for sure. I am not aligned with some of her opinions or theology, but that doesn’t mean I throw out a great book. I wasn’t too hip on some of the practices suggested by her “woo woo” friends as she calls them. The practices sounded a bit new age-y to me. Mixing any other spirituality practices outside of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are nothing I would mess with. Still, I would highly recommend Awake.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved learning more about Jen Hatmaker in her new memoir, Awake. I started following her not long after she and her husband split up, so getting more background info on her, especially her relationship to religion, was really insightful. I found myself highlighting a lot throughout the book! Highly recommend.

Emotional, thought-provoking and relatable are the three words that I used to describe this book to a friend. I devoured it in a day. I follow Jen Hatmaker on Instagram and couldn't wait to get my hands on this memoir, and it didn't disappoint!

Although I read a few of Jen Haymaker's viral parenting blog posts years ago, when my kids were young, I wasn't familiar with her work or life until one of her posts randomly crossed my Instagram dash several months into the pandemic. The events in this book, which primarily covers her divorce and its aftermath, primarily take place before and during the pandemic. The short chapters read like long Instagram or blog posts, which I think is effective for her style of writing, but occasionally felt like they lacked depth.

On Instagram, I think Hatmaker shines most when writing about her kids, her family, and her new relationship. Understandably, this book that delves into the aftermath of her divorce is focused on her own experience rather than her kids' experience. This was the right choice to protect their privacy, but I found myself missing the heart and humor with which she writes about her people. I do think many readers will find Hatmaker's experiences relatable, especially those who have gone through divorce or come to similar later-in-life revelations about their religion's teachings.

I've read a few of Jen Hatmaker's books before, and though this one has a different tone, I really enjoyed it.

I'll be honest--I went in to it hoping for more juicy details about her divorce. I'm ashamed of that now, after reading in this how her family was so negatively effected and hurt by the publicity surrounding the divorce, especially her children.

While she does give vague explanations about what led to the divorce, this book is primarily about her process of recovering AFTER the divorce. It's told in alternating chapters: a timeline of after her husband left, and flashbacks to events in her life going back to childhood that have some bearing on her marriage. I grew up with a similar background in a southern Baptist church, so I very much related to her experiences, and share the same struggle to reconcile the loving people I've known in church, with the public persona that evangelical Christians have displayed over the past several years.

The book is written in first person present tense, which took a while to get used to, but that I ended up enjoying, along with the chapter formats. I also really loved hearing about her many friends and how they ministered to her and her family in the aftermath of the divorce. It inspired me to find new ways to show love to people when they are going through difficult times.

My favorite parts of the book are when Jen shares about her therapist, and the process and methods of her healing. I like books about counseling and therapy, and I love how she shared what her counselor was telling her, along with Jen's inner struggles, and eventually the many paths that led to her healing, some unconventional.

The first book of Jen's I read was a how-to book on Bible study. Because her platform has always been as a Christian writer, it struck me in this book that she rarely mentions her relationship with God. She shares her struggles with going to church (she hasn't been back in 5 years), and how her friends prayed for her and over her house, but she only hazily discusses in one chapter her feelings about Jesus. This saddened me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

I have read Jen Hatmaker for YEARS- her books, her social media thoughts, and have loved her insight on parenting and cooking and faith… but this book was such a different perspective, and one I truly appreciated. Let’s start with the style of writing- While I tend to not like the general style of one-off chapters, of mixing it up and not having a consistent flow or story- Jen does it in a way that DOES feel fluid, jumping back in time to childhood and lessons she learned thru adulthood and how those lessons have now manifested… brilliant. When it comes to the overall memoir and stories- Jen’s storytelling is wonderful. She keeps it short, but somehow detailed. And the lessons are heavy, but impactful, as a recovering evangelical - she addresses tough topics for the church (as a large organization) and has come through them with an insight and power that is necessary to move on.

I just cannot even describe how beautiful this book is. Her ability to chronicle her current troubles, her past, how she worked through it all, her joy, her loves, is just stunning. I could not put it down. I laughed, teared up, underlined and want to reread it all over again. I love her point of how she will never leave herself and thus is safe.

A beautifully honest and heartfelt memoir. Jen Hatmaker shares her journey through one of the hardest seasons of her life with raw vulnerability and grace. She invites us into her transformation with tender wisdom, honoring her own story while respecting the privacy of others. Awake moved me to tears and reminded me of the strength it takes to heal. A powerful and hopeful read!

I have followed Jen for a long time. While I no longer align with her theologically, I have always enjoyed her novels and social media posts. She is quick-witted, hilarious, thoughtful, sarcastic, and engaging in her writing. When she announced Awake, she mentioned that it was going to be different from her other novels. I was instantly curious about what she meant by that. However, within the pages, I found the same Jen that she has always been.

I appreciate her willingness to be vulnerable about her story and to name what 2020 and the years after looked like for her and her family. It will make you laugh and cry as you devour the pages. As a memoir, she does a good job pulling the universal experiences out of her specific situation. While I disagree with some of her applications of those experiences, I appreciate her perspective and the sharing of her story.

In her signature style, Jen Hatmaker shares her emotions emphatically and with a sense of humor. Over the years she’s written several books and blogged about her family and its challenges in a changing world and broadened world view. She’s reevaluated her faith and her reliance on evangelicalism, and now in her new memoir, she’s ready to talk about her experiences of a sudden ugly break from a long marriage.

There is a lot of anger, therapy, concern of friends and family, construction projects, and an understandable collapse emotionally and physically as Hatmaker figures out her life as a single parent. Particularly admirable is her avoidance of talking about how her children felt/feel/coped with this family rupture. And she’s more than willing to admit her own part. There is no villain here, just fallible people who a longer worked together.

In the author’s note at the end, Hatmaker thanks her editor for pulling back on her hyperbole. There are times when the effort to make a joke at her own expense feels strained. But all in all, if you’ve followed her writing career over the years, you’re probably curious about Hatmaker’s divorce and how she made new plans for life. She’s inspiring and hopeful and sometimes very loud. I read this in just under a day.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a beautiful account of divorce, grief and loss. With any hero's journey, these life shifts are temporary but feel like they will never release. Jen does a marvelous job of placing us smack dab in the middle of her process and we get to transmute with her. It is a powerful reclaiming of oneself and I was so grateful to read it.

The best book I've read so far this year. I'm not a religious person nor had I really heard of Jen prior to reading this - yet I relate to her immensely. I admire her courage, self reflection, and willingness to be vulnerable. I loved her style of writing - the short chapters were easy to digest and I appreciated that she didn't try to force everything into a neat narrative, but rather just shared things as they came.

This memoir by Jen Hatmaker was riveting. Starting with the end of her 26 year marriage, the author explores what led up to it, including societal expectations. Within the short chapters are vignettes of friends and family members as well as favorite poems. I appreciated that Hatmaker shared the things that helped her heal. While Jen is known for her humor, this memoir also included so much vulnerability as she laid bare her devastation and struggle to deconstruct her life and reconstruct it in a healthier way. Personally, as a wife, mother and woman in her 40's, I found much to relate to. I respect that Hatmaker was able to share her story in a way that others can learn from while not demanding that everyone has the same views.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this read. All opinions are my own.
I really enjoyed this memoir structured as little vignettes of the past, clustered into the headings of The End, The Middle, and The Beginning. It was raw, but not unfiltered. Very carefully curated to share enough detail for followers without betraying trust of her family and close friends who were present for the events. I remember when Ms. Hatmaker disappeared from her social media presence, and the speculation around it. This book shares the inner process she was going through, but also provides deep context through reflections on her upbringing, marriage, parenting, and friendships. Reading about her strong friendships really touched me, and gave insight into how to be supportive but also how to accept support and lean on people.

The author weaves a story of heartbreak with humor that feels authentic and true. It made me envy her rock-solid friendships and aspire to be a more genuine version of myself. I appreciated the honesty about church and religion and spirituality.

This is Jen’s best book yet. I myself have felt the same rage at evangelical Christianity and haven’t been able to put to words the depth of the betrayal of the church. With clarity, wisdom, humor, and absolute LOVE for her reader, Jen tells her story like a big sister, with the most amazing amount of rawness, self-reflection, honesty, and vulnerability I could have wanted. I couldn’t put it down. This book will be a balm for the hearts and souls of so many women who read it. It was for mine.

Read this in 3 days- would have even faster had I not had to feed my kids 🤣 A combo of her wit, sarcasm, wisdom with the dose of reality that we can all relate to no matter what we’ve experienced. Her vulnerability sets the example for us. Jen Hatmaker puts words to the frustrations I feel but have trouble articulating. So many nuggets of wisdom to highlight- but I’m going to go into my week knowing “women are the eighth wonder of the world. Thank you Jen Hatmaker- this was incredible.

All of the stars. All of them.

For years, I have devoured everything that Jen Hatmaker has produced: books, podcasts, Instagram captions- literally, I would read this lady's grocery lists. She just breaks things down in such a relatable, funny way and I absolutely LOVE her.

When news of her divorce hit the socials in 2020, my heart hurt for her, and of course, I was curious what happened. That's neither here nor there, but we did get a little more insight into what happened in this book. The short chapters and the signature Jen Hatmaker style meant that I devoured this book in less than 48 hours,

As her friend Shauna reported in a chapter about halfway through: I'm so relieved you're still you, Jen. With an even more developed sense of self.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 freaking stars, forever.

I’ve loved Jen Hatmaker for years and was so excited about this memoir! It did not disappoint. Jen’s great storytelling describes the worst & best times of her recent divorce from her pastor ex. Also newly divorced, this book hit so close to home. Her stories on self love, healing, therapy sessions, friendships, family are magical. Great read! I already can’t wait for her next memoir!