This book was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. If you have the means I would 100% always recommend reading and experiencing this in its physical form purely for the artistry, the care, the devotion that has evidently gone into every adorned page. I enjoyed my time reading it for that alone. 

The content itself was similarly infused with love, and I enjoyed reading it because of the sense of hope and joy that settled in me. I think for myself personally the concepts weren’t new, more an affirming of what I have already read and/or believed. For that reason perhaps it did feel longer than it needed to be. In that sense, I would argue that this is a book primarily for those who are new to feminism and introspection and haven’t witnessed or been privy to much self-love dialogue. Regardless of this it was a pleasure to read from Florence’s perspective. The way she writes and expresses her opinions is very vivid and she has an extremely authentic voice (appropriately so given the messages in this book). I enjoyed the idea of the park bench as an invitation to pause, as well as the concepts of not only separating yourself from the (named) voice in your head but talking to yourself and using affirmations in a tone that sounds like you and is familiar. 

Most of all I think it is the passion that radiates in and throughout this book that will stick with me. Whether topics in this book are new or not, it is the enthusiasm with which they are presented that allow them to truly strike home and fill me up. It is that so called deliciousness that makes me grateful to have picked this up in the first place. Joy is contagious.

This book came to me at a time where I was trying to dig myself out of another one of my depressive slumps and much of it was stuff I already knew from therapy or from friends or simply from past experiences of digging myself out of the hole. However, it still offered advice and new perspectives on things I hadn't considered before that I intend to incorporate into my life from here on out. 

More importantly, however, even though I already knew much of the truths within this book, I honestly needed someone to slap me in the face with them for me to actually register these words and truly look at myself and ask: am I actually doing anything with this knowledge? Am I being my most authentic self? Am I indulging in the silliness and beauty this world has to offer and am I expressing the same in turn? 

This book was a wonderful read. The writing was engaging and entertaining, and the messages held within are ones many women ought to hear. Let us all be our most gentle, authentic, compassionate selves. To ourselves and to each other. 

Expected to love this but it feels like a lesser Glenon Doyle. Repetitive and doesn't hit the same with her insights, feels more like a rant than a guiding light.

Deliciously Inspiring and potentially a 5-star read...

Until I'd had my fill. 

Women Living Deliciously had me in a delectable headlock for the first two-thirds. This book could be a 5-star for someone who really needs it, and it honestly taught me a lot. 

On the other hand, with non-fiction, especially self-help, there's always a circle-jerk element that borrows quotes from other self-help books and authors, and this book is no different. #

While I loved listening to the audiobook version of this (narrated by Florence Given herself) it really inspired me for the first few hours. She had me by both ears. 

After reading, I now say how I'm feeling in the moment, I'm definitely more courageous in the face of potential confrontation and I'm direct in my approach, or at least catching myself in my old habits of shrinking myself for other's convenience, and making the conscious choice to go against it. You can say I'm a womanspreader now. 

In reality, the further I got into the book, I didn't need a 30-something-minute chapter on why being cringe is great - but I can appreciate that someone else may need this. In fact, this book already taught me I was halfway to living deliciously myself, which felt great, but didn't make for entertaining or thought-provoking listening. 

If this book caught me at a worse time, it would have been 5 stars

Now I'm living pretty tastily, if not deliciously, it's got a 3.5 from me, which I guess is a good thing?