Review:

Finally, a witty, down-to-earth and well-written book about one woman's lifelong struggle with her self-esteem and body image! I have read so many self-help/diet/women's nonfiction guides pertaining to weight loss and body happiness that I have learned to take little stock in the genre. There are so many doctors/trainers pushing "the best" diet, exercise plan, weight loss surgery, etc, that it is easy to lose hope when one of those millions of plans fails. For most of us who struggle with our bodies, one small failure can cause a total loss of hope and motivation, which is why Teasi Cannon's book is so refreshing. My Big Bottom Blessing is all about acceptance, inner beauty, and the realization that we are all made in God's image. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down! Teasi's inner and outer struggles with her body image mirror my own, and her writing style makes it easy to relate. She balances humor, heartbreak, wisdom, encouragement, honesty and compassion to create an authentic and enjoyable chronicle of her life experiences, from her feelings about family gatherings, to the horrors of her past, and her acceptance of her future. It is a very personal story, but one that has forever changed the way I feel about my own body. Knowing how to accept one's image is a much better source of motivation than a book about dieting, exercise or liposuction. There is also a section at the end of each chapter that allows the reader to reflect, take notes, read related scripture, and evaluate what they have learned about themselves. These sections inspired me; as a Christian woman I have always been told that humans were made in God's image, but I had never really thought about what that meant. In a world that emphasizes a skewed vision of outer beauty, (perfect skin, perfect hair, model thinness, etc.), this is a lesson that everyone needs to be taught. Everyone is perfect and beautiful in their own way - it shouldn't be rated or judged - body image is at the discretion of the individual. This book is recommended for Christian women of all ages, and to those who want to find out more about themselves instead of pursuing another emotionally empty diet plan.

Rating: Clean Getaway (5/5)

*** I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. ( )

This book by Teasi Cannon is more than a book about overcoming self image issues, its about truly becoming a daughter of The King.

I absolutely love the way that this book is written. Not preachy, not impersonal, like your typical self help book. It was like sitting down and talking with a friend most of the time ( you know, those friends who give it to ya straight). I think this was a great way to write it because a lot of people can relate and be engaged. If this book was more preachy, then I think that I would have skimmed right through this book without skipping a beat, but the writing style pulled me in instead.

I also love how real this book is. In the book the author talks about hearing the voices of "trainer" and other internal voices. I think that we've all had those thoughts or "voices" at some time or another. Its something that we all deal with, but we hardly ever talk about.
I think that the authors transperancy with her life, and her willingness to talk about different womens issues, and issues with people in general, really made this book for me. There are a lot of truths to be found in this book, for sure.
I also loved how she didnt just talk about her life, etc. She backed everything she was saying with scripture, so you could actually see that the Bible lines up with what she's saying.

The only thing that slightly annoyed me with this book, was the little workbook like pages at the end of chapters. Honestly, I thought that you made the connections to your own life as she was telling the stories just fine without the workbook pages. It seemed like that was trying a bit too hard. But that is literally my only qualm with this book.

It was great! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about truly becoming a daughter of God, or someone who has self esteem or body image issues, but I would also recommend it to just about any christian woman out there. There are a lot of truths to be found in this book, whether you are having self esteem issues or not.