Let's Bust a Recap : It's Not Supposed To Be This Way

All right, here it is: I did not like this book and I did not find it helpful. I want to start out, right off the bat, by saying that my criticisms of this book are in no way meant to minimize or poke fun at the truly difficult and heartbreaking things that Lysa TerKeurst has experienced in her life. She's had an incredibly hard marriage (which ended in divorce recently) and she's encountered life-threatening health issues, all of which I'm sure were awful and scary to live through. 

Having given you that disclaimer, let's get into it. Lysa TerKeurst is the president of something called Proverbs 31 Ministries, and she's the New York Times best-selling author of a whole passel of Christian non-fiction books geared toward women. Her most well-known book is probably Uninvited, but It's Not Supposed To Be This Way (published in 2018) is the first book of hers I've read. Subtitled "Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered", It's Not Supposed To Be This Way claims to offer advice for readers suffering from disappointment and disillusionment, counseling them to see disappointments as opportunities to encounter God, and advising them of better ways to process unmet expectations. 

So the premise is good, right? Even the title—It's Not Supposed To Be This Way—is right on the nose. God did not create a fallen world; He created a perfect one. We all have to deal with the fallout of a sin-infected world and that means being disappointed and having our expectations crushed. 

But how was the execution? Here's where I take issue. First of all, this is one of those Christian self-helpy kind of books that's all, "Hey sister, I know right where you're at and I'm right there with you and let's get through it together" like we're drinking a cup of coffee at our favorite spot together. And to be totally transparent: that style is just not my cup of tea. I think there's a time and a place for books written in a more conversational tone but dealing with literally the hardest issues in life is not that time or place for me as a reader. There's nothing glaringly wrong with anything that TerKeurst says in this book, but it comes across incredibly clichéd. Like all the rhyme-y platitudes you can possibly think of are tossed around with abandon. But my biggest beef with It's Not Supposed To Be This Way is how laughably out of touch TerKeurst came across to me. If I was coming to this book in the direct aftermath of finding out about spousal infidelity or a devastating cancer diagnosis, I'm pretty sure the last thing I'd want to read about is Lysa overcoming her fear of wearing a two-piece swimsuit or how overwhelming it was for her to paint on a blank canvas. And yet that's what I found myself reading about. The best parts were the direct quotes from Scripture, but—and let me be clear on this—not her applications which were far too "me-focused" to be particularly helpful. 

Ultimately very shallow, not edifying to me personally, and pretty self-absorbed to boot. For those reasons: I'm out. Would not recommend, would not read again and I won't be picking up any more books by Lysa TerKeurst.