Customer Reviews

Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman

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This book is more for younger girls who are in middle school or high school, especially girls who find it difficult and confusing to avoid listening to the world's perspective of their beauty, their relationship with God and their interactions with guys. Or it would be a very helpful book to read in a discipleship or mentorship with such a young woman (or a group of them).

Though the prose is often flowery and verbose (pleasant to some and not others), Leslie gracefully and powerfully presents the importance of knowing God before you're ready to think about dating. She often uses her own experiences too much and too repeatedly instead of cutting to the chase, but they are usually helpful. It's nice to have a young, real author who's gone through the struggles herself, rather than an old, angelic writer harping on the younger generation.

All in all, this is an extremely helpful book to start up discussion and provide ideas for building one's intimicy with Christ above all and through all.

In "Authentic Beauty," Leslie Ludy does a magnificent job at convincing young women that they are beautiful just the way God made them. She stresses the importance of falling in love with our "true Prince" (Jesus) before being able to fall in love with another man. Ludy assumes a very approachable style as she writes, and even tells her readers that she wants to speak to them as though they are best friends talking in a coffee shop. Ludy uses allusion, anecdotes, and listing to make her purpose of teaching women to love themselves clear and appealing to the reader. The basis of the book is a woman's relationship with God and how that affects her life; therefore, allusions to the Bible and Christ are sprinkled generously throughout the book. Every one of the 4 parts of the book begins with a Scripture quote such as: "My beloved is mine and I am his; he delights in the lilies(111)." These quotes help to tie the theme of the book together: to be lily white (pure for God). Ludy also tells many stories from her personal life such as when she was in elementary school and boys would tease her and her friends because they hadn't "developed" yet. These brief anecdotes help the reader to relate to the author and believe that the author is someone the reader can trust for advice, like a friend. Finally, Ludy uses lists to make it easier for the reader to look at and understand the information being presented. She lists questions young women should ask themselves about how they relate to the opposite sex in order to see if the young women themselves are "set apart" for their future husbands. She also lists the assumptions girls live under such as "[t]o have a successful future, a young woman must carefully follow society's pattern for success," and why they are examples of unhealthy thinking(85). These lists help young women to evaluate what is truly important in life and apply those concepts in real life situations. I greatly enjoyed this book and believe it is absolutely not a one-time kind of read. This book helped me to realize my own self-worth and that the "perfect guy" will come around when God, he, and I are ready.

This book is a must-read for any christian young woman. Leslie Ludy shines above most christian authors for young women as she shares her own story and how she has grown in her personal relationship with Jesus. I love this book more than any other "chritian living" book because you don't feel like you're being preached to, but instead that you're sitting down and having a heart to heart with a best friend. But be prepared to really study this book if you purchase it! There is a wealth of knowledge to be gained, it has been a totally awesome inspiration in my life.
Also, if you purchase this book, buy a spiral or make a place in your journal for notes and things....you will have the urge to write about what you've learned!

As a fan of the Ludy's, I was really interested to read "Authentic Beauty". I had really mixed feelings about it though.

I liked the concept of the book: pursuing a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and discovering the beauty of being a woman. However, I felt like half the book was a reiteration of her and her husband's book, "When Dreams Come True". This seemed to be a "filler" because the rest of book is so REPETITIVE.

Every other word in the book is "Prince", "Beautiful Prince", "Your Prince, Jesus Christ", etc. The whole book reads like this, literally. I was actually sick of it by chapter 3, but finished the book to see if it would get better and if she used a thesaurus. It does not and it's clear that she didn't.

Her message is very genuine, but the repetitiveness totally overshadows it. This would be a good book for a pre-teen who has not read yet delved into the religious self-help genre, but college-age women and older might be turned off by Mrs. Ludy's unfortunate childishness.

Unfortunately this book is bubble-gum-pop-princess to the Nth degree. Could have been better. Highly recommend "When God Writes Your Love Story" over this one.

Authentic Beauty was a disappointing read for me. I thought Leslie Ludy had some wonderful things to say and it is clear that she loves the Lord. However, the book was extremely repetative. I kept expecting her to dive into some really intense issues, but in the end it was all very surface. I'm a college student and i lead a small group of college girls. I got this book thinking it would really challenge us. However, it didn't. This book would best serve younger girls, probably middle school age, who are still learning what it means to follow Christ.

I loved this book. This book challenged me to not live like everyone else, but to live a life set apart for my Prince, Jesus. Leslie is candid about what she's been through and how she got through it. She also gives you great teaching on how to live the set apart life. This book changed me. How? By helping me grow closer to my Prince, Jesus and fall in love with him all over again.

To any woman out there who longs to be a beautiful, white, princess and is longing for your Knight in Shining Amour...this book is for you. Everytime I struggle with life I think of what this book says or I read it again. Leslie Ludy is vivid, funny, and totally honest. It will touch you and change you, and you'll never want to look back!

I would like to get my one complaint about this book out of the way, and that complain is Leslie Ludy's overuse of the phrase "Lily-white"; Other than that there is nothing wrong with this book. In fact I would say that as usual the Ludy wrote a timely and much needed portrait of what Godly purity is. Non-Christian women see no need for purity, and even Christian women begin to shake their heads after a while because no one ever explained why God requires us to be pure.

As I said before Ludy does use the phrase "Lily-white" a lot, and probably could've been a little more creative in that respect, and felt that in trying to reitterate her point she was making me feel like a third-grader. At the same time, because many women(especially young women) are not accustom to what purity means, she uses that phrase to make her point of what purity means.

Ludy uses a lot of personal testimonies about how she lived a not so pure life growing up. She explains that even though she grew up in the church, she was just always taught not to "go all the way". Now, I know that growing up I was told the same thing by my parents, and they never told me what true puroty was. Leslie uses her personal experience and other woman's experiences to explain what true purity is. It is purity in your mind and heart, it is about being wholly blameless before the Lord. She explains that it is not something we can achieve on our own, and involves a lot of one on one time with Jesus Christ who purifies us as we draw closer to him.

I felt the most important message in this book for Christian women to get is that we will never be fulfilled by a man. It is only we we come to our savior just as we are and seek fulfillment in him, then we will feel whole and satisfied. A husband is nice, but the only thing a husband is for, is to help draw us into the presence of the Lord, not to fulfill and meet all of our needs (although they can meet many of them).
Marriage will not solve all your problems, in fact it will create many new ones that you never knew existed. This is why Paul states that it is "better" to be singlke than married; although that as he said, is his opinion, and not necassarily God's view. It is up to God whether or not you get married, but if you are married or unmarried no matter your age, this is a great book to read to discover the true meaning of purity. :D

God Bless ~Amy

I could get lost in Eric and Leslie's writing. I have often spent many nights staying awake reading their books over and over. Authentic beauty was no different. This book is a must read for ever girl, young and old. It shows God's heart for a women. Every girl longs to hear that they are someone's beloved and every girl wants to feel beautiful. In our generation we often turn to mankind to me that need, but that is only a need that God can feel. Mankind's version of beauty can fade, but God is unconditional. His love for us never wavers. I had the amazing opportunity to meet with Leslie a few years back when I was a senior in High School at Summit ministries in Colorado, and I was able to here her and Eric speak on Courtship and dating and lets just say that after reading their books you will never look at Love the same. It makes me want to hold out and be patient for God to bring the one person he created for me to be with. Our world is so fixed on instant gratification, but true love is worth waiting for, it is worth fighting for!

I read this book when it first came out and I was completely blown away by the message! It is a powerful book on becoming a girl that is beautiful in the ways that truly matter! Not the way this world sees it. It shows how true beauty dosn't come from the outside, but what is in your heart, a heart dedicated 100% to God and his will for your life! It might be hard to accept some of the issues she address, but in the end it is a beautiful way of life that makes complete sense! Totally surrenderd to God and His will for your life!