For so long, I’ve desperately searched for a book about escapin survival mode. But I’m gonna be honest, what first attracted me to this book was the cover. It reminded me of Fiercehearted by Holley Gerth or Freedom! by Jennifer Renee Watson. Splashes of color and feathers seem to be popular at the moment.
I think the cover accurately portrayed the contents of the book: bright with hope and life, but a little messy with raw honesty. However, cover aside, since we’re not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover, one line in Breathe Again’s blurb made me click “request” on Netgalley with a whole lot of speed.
“Escape the suffocating mire of survival mode.” Yes. Sign me up. I needed that. So many days and nights, I’ve prayed, ready to start living again — but unsure how. As I’ve been physically healing, I wanted to know how to be free from the survival mode that served me for so long and kept me alive in my darkest moments. I know that to live again, I need to realize it’s okay to take deep breaths and stop living in fear and even have fun every once in a while.
But no matter how I tried, I couldn’t seem to figure out how. I needed something practical from someone who had wrestled with God through escaping survival mode.
The good news: Niki Hardy totally knows what that’s like. Having walked through the loss of loved ones and her own fight to eventually overcome cancer, she got it. She knew what it was like to face death and then try to put life back together.
She writes with such raw honesty about a really tough subject. And I admit, I cried on more than one occasion, usually when she was sharing the painful stories of Thrivers she knows or knew. She doesn’t apologize or sugar-coat the ugliness of suffering. Yet she writes with compassion, understanding, grace, and hope.
Many writers struggle to balance the messy truth of this fallen world with the sacred truth of God, but I appreciated how it wasn’t just doom and gloom or just sunshine and rainbows. This is a book that I think will encourage and challenge many a chronically ill warrior. (I say chronically ill because that’s who this blog is targeted to, but she doesn’t write to a specific suffering demographic.)
The bad news:
Learning to thrive after simply trying to survive isn’t a 7-step formula. The author didn’t present any life-shattering idea I hadn’t heard before, like a part of me was secretly hoping for. But she reminded me through sharing her own personal stories and the lessons she learned of what I should be doing to keep going.
It’s not magical or mystical, it mostly requires simply walking in disciplined obedience to God and accepting His grace.
Overall, while I’m still chewing over some minute theological details, I think this book would be a huge encouragement to every chronically ill warrior to fight to truly live despite being so sick. But also know that you don’t have to be perfect or stronger than you are.
Speaking of not having to be stronger than you are — chapter seven was my favorite of the whole book. It’s a topic I’m so passionate about but struggle with a whole lot.
This book is also very practical. It gives you a lot of simple real-life tasks you can do in addition to the “think about this more” questions at the end of chapters. It also even provides accountability to do them in ways that hare hard to explain.
Okay, one last thought that didn’t fit smoothly somewhere else in this review: I really enjoyed the subtle humor. And the similies were great. I even read one out loud to my family so we could all laugh together. I was also very proud of how quickly I finished the book. I totally forgot about the deadline after recieving a free review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts, so I ended up having to read it in a matter of days — normal for my ficiton reading, but nont my nonficiton reading. However, it was easy to read — maybe not emotionally, but I was able to stay focused easily. 🙂
Have you read Breathe Again? Does it sound like something you might like? Have you read any good books lately?
Breathe Again Blurb as Seen on Amazon:
No one gets to skip the tough stuff and when life threatens to drown us we’re left gasping for air, merely surviving a life we never ordered. Niki Hardy has been there, screaming, “God, is this it? Where’s the abundant life you promised? Are you even listening?”
Life might not be fair, but through loss, grief, and cancer, Niki discovered life doesn’t have to be pain-free to be full. With sensitivity and without Christianese or stock answers she invites women to replace the lies they believe about themselves and God with sound biblical teaching and his unwavering promises. Through 7 practical steps, with hands-on questions, actions, and prayers, she equips readers to grasp the full life Jesus came to give them, right where they are.
No matter how broken a life might seem, the abundant life Jesus promised is available–now and always. Let Niki show you the way.
This sounds like just the book for me! Will definitely check it out.