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rebeccasarine's review against another edition
5.0
This is written in a lovely poetic style. It is Emily and her mom's story. It is deeply honest and open. It is a story of figuring out how to make the joys and the sorrows of life work together. It is healing. I found myself in this story. If you are or know someone that struggles with eating disorder or body image, issues those are in here. If you are or know someone that struggles with receiving love, that is here. I learned a lot about relationship and love. It is about how God used all things together for her good. I look forward to reading a couple of her other books.
sarah_reading_party's review against another edition
hard to get into, so i stopped reading when it was due back at the library and haven't requested it again. i feel bad when this happens, especially with memoirs but you can't read everything!
lizanne95's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this was extremely difficult for me as it was very hard for me to get into it. Non-Fiction at the best of times is hard for me to read, but a Memoir or Autobiography is even harder. But I did finish it and am glad that I did.
This book showed me that even through the hard times when we feel alone that there is always someone there for us, God. He is always with us, even when we seem to think that everyone around us has seemingly forgotten that we exist.
I would recommend this book to be read by everyone at one point or another. Though I will probably never read it again it inspired me to seek God through all the trying times of my life as well as the happy times.
“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from BakerBooks, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.
This book showed me that even through the hard times when we feel alone that there is always someone there for us, God. He is always with us, even when we seem to think that everyone around us has seemingly forgotten that we exist.
I would recommend this book to be read by everyone at one point or another. Though I will probably never read it again it inspired me to seek God through all the trying times of my life as well as the happy times.
“Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from BakerBooks, a division of Baker Publishing Group”.
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
Given how many of my reading interests this hits, I had really high hopes here. Wierenga grew up as a preacher's kid, living briefly in Congo and Nigeria but spending the bulk of her childhood in her native Canada. As a preteen, she developed anorexia; when she was old enough to leave home she moved just about as far away as she could get, living briefly in Lebanon and South Korea.
The book overview presents it as something of a story of wandering—of travel and trying to figure out what felt like home and some wrestling with faith. But...that's not really what we have here? Although Wierenga certainly did some travel, we get very little by way of sense of place on her travels. It's just...not what the book is about. Rather, it's much more about the past of her life that came after going home to help care for her mother, who had brain cancer.
There's a lot of really, really difficult stuff here. Wierenga's mother wasn't entirely happy in her role as a preacher's wife—a role she neither chose nor expected—but her faith was one of the things that carried her through her illness. But brain cancer is not a pretty illness, and for Wierenga's mother (who was, I think, only fifty or so when she was diagnosed?) it largely robbed her of her faculties. Meanwhile, Wierenga continued to struggle with food and with the possibility that, because of her childhood anorexia, she might not be able to have children.
The prose style doesn't work super well for me—too many very short paragraphs. It feels a little as though she's going for a poetic, lyrical feel, but it ended up being both a bit too much for me and not quite enough. Overall, I think it just...felt as though I saw her struggling, but almost never for the reasons set out in the description. Not entirely sure what she was searching for, or how. Not sure what I was searching for in this book, but I didn't really find it.
The book overview presents it as something of a story of wandering—of travel and trying to figure out what felt like home and some wrestling with faith. But...that's not really what we have here? Although Wierenga certainly did some travel, we get very little by way of sense of place on her travels. It's just...not what the book is about. Rather, it's much more about the past of her life that came after going home to help care for her mother, who had brain cancer.
There's a lot of really, really difficult stuff here. Wierenga's mother wasn't entirely happy in her role as a preacher's wife—a role she neither chose nor expected—but her faith was one of the things that carried her through her illness. But brain cancer is not a pretty illness, and for Wierenga's mother (who was, I think, only fifty or so when she was diagnosed?) it largely robbed her of her faculties. Meanwhile, Wierenga continued to struggle with food and with the possibility that, because of her childhood anorexia, she might not be able to have children.
The prose style doesn't work super well for me—too many very short paragraphs. It feels a little as though she's going for a poetic, lyrical feel, but it ended up being both a bit too much for me and not quite enough. Overall, I think it just...felt as though I saw her struggling, but almost never for the reasons set out in the description. Not entirely sure what she was searching for, or how. Not sure what I was searching for in this book, but I didn't really find it.
sarahs_readingparty's review against another edition
hard to get into, so i stopped reading when it was due back at the library and haven't requested it again. i feel bad when this happens, especially with memoirs but you can't read everything!
samslifeinbooks's review against another edition
2.0
"Broken down by organized religion, a childhood battle with anorexia, and her parents' rigidity, she set out to find God somewhere else--anywhere else. Her travels took her across Canada, Central America, the United States, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia."
Well... kind of, but not really...
I read Atlas Girl after finishing another 'coming of age'/'young woman in the big wide world' book called 'Green Girl'. These books could not have been more different. Green Girl is a postmodern examination of lost young women. The Green Girl did disgust me somewhat - as she slept with men she didn't like and had no respect for herself. Atlas Girl on the other hand is a good read for Christians, as it is quite tame and ultimately advocates a traditional lifestyle. I guess I need something in the middle of the two.
Atlas Girl markets itself as travel memoir, with a title that in my opinion is a bit misleading. It is not so much a travel memoir, moreso a book about the main character's battle with anorexia and her mother's illness. If these things interest you then you will find it an engaging read.
However the travel chapters are short and filled with stereotypes. FYI, most people in Australia (especially Sydney - which is where Emily went) will not greet you with "G'day", unless you are involved in some overpriced tourist experience. The whole Australian chapter bothered me a lot. For some inexplicable reason Emily just decides to spend the thousands of dollars required to go to Australia, then just seems completely underwhelmed. Where is the passion in your writing? The travel writing is such that it could be read from an email: 'Today we did this, the next day we did that, last night they played their music too loud'.
There are some typical sugary sentences about Indigenous Australians and their music and stories.
How about touching on the rampant inequality, ill health and drug abuse that plagues Aboriginal people? How about acknowledging that these people are forced to share their sacred stories with the invaders of their land and tourists who look at them much like zoo exhibitions and MAYBE throw them a few dollars? But then we might forget about your #richwhitegirlproblems.
The way this book is described made me think that Emily would be travelling on her own continuously with some genuine discoveries being made. The description implies some sort of rebellion. It is very misleading. Emily is a straight laced Christian girl, who despite her missionary work remains quite sheltered by the end of the book. She travels with her husband and various other escorts, always being 'chaperoned'. I didn't really see any rebellion in this book - depression and anxiety YES, but no real deviation from the 'good Christian girl'.
Well... kind of, but not really...
I read Atlas Girl after finishing another 'coming of age'/'young woman in the big wide world' book called 'Green Girl'. These books could not have been more different. Green Girl is a postmodern examination of lost young women. The Green Girl did disgust me somewhat - as she slept with men she didn't like and had no respect for herself. Atlas Girl on the other hand is a good read for Christians, as it is quite tame and ultimately advocates a traditional lifestyle. I guess I need something in the middle of the two.
Atlas Girl markets itself as travel memoir, with a title that in my opinion is a bit misleading. It is not so much a travel memoir, moreso a book about the main character's battle with anorexia and her mother's illness. If these things interest you then you will find it an engaging read.
However the travel chapters are short and filled with stereotypes. FYI, most people in Australia (especially Sydney - which is where Emily went) will not greet you with "G'day", unless you are involved in some overpriced tourist experience. The whole Australian chapter bothered me a lot. For some inexplicable reason Emily just decides to spend the thousands of dollars required to go to Australia, then just seems completely underwhelmed. Where is the passion in your writing? The travel writing is such that it could be read from an email: 'Today we did this, the next day we did that, last night they played their music too loud'.
There are some typical sugary sentences about Indigenous Australians and their music and stories.
How about touching on the rampant inequality, ill health and drug abuse that plagues Aboriginal people? How about acknowledging that these people are forced to share their sacred stories with the invaders of their land and tourists who look at them much like zoo exhibitions and MAYBE throw them a few dollars? But then we might forget about your #richwhitegirlproblems.
The way this book is described made me think that Emily would be travelling on her own continuously with some genuine discoveries being made. The description implies some sort of rebellion. It is very misleading. Emily is a straight laced Christian girl, who despite her missionary work remains quite sheltered by the end of the book. She travels with her husband and various other escorts, always being 'chaperoned'. I didn't really see any rebellion in this book - depression and anxiety YES, but no real deviation from the 'good Christian girl'.
jessieweaver's review against another edition
5.0
It might be weird to say this about a memoir, but I absolutely devoured this book by blogger Emily T. Wierenga. Emily shares about growing up, meeting her husband, marrying, her mother's sickness, traveling, and battling anorexia - all in nonlinear format. Which might sound confusing, but it worked perfectly, Emily's poetic words flowing between timelines.
When you are an overthinker (which I am), faith can sometimes be difficult. I think it is for Emily, and it can be for me. But coming through it with the Spirit feels so good. I felt like she understood me and was willing to admit that faith isn't easy. Something she said about letting God take care of her has really stuck with me. Truly loved this book and look forward to reading the sequel, Making It Home.
When you are an overthinker (which I am), faith can sometimes be difficult. I think it is for Emily, and it can be for me. But coming through it with the Spirit feels so good. I felt like she understood me and was willing to admit that faith isn't easy. Something she said about letting God take care of her has really stuck with me. Truly loved this book and look forward to reading the sequel, Making It Home.
rlangemann's review against another edition
3.0
The writing style and jumping around through various parts of her life took adjusting to, but I liked this.
kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Emily's story broke my heart in so many ways. But what makes it special is that she always, always links everything back to God. It is the story of a life spent learning that the deepest hurts can turn into the greatest joy, if we only wait and trust. There is always a reason to hope.
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