Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I pre-ordered this and paid full price, based on rave reviews from magazines & TV. I expected a sexy, empowering group of stories. I'm sorely disappointed, and struggling to finish the book. Ms. Taddeo is a great writer, and these women deserve to be heard. But PLEASE tell me that the kind of subservient-to-men, self-hating, self-disrespecting, pick-me-no-matter-what thinking that precludes these sorts of experiences are not the norm anymore! If so, we grown women apparently need a swift kick in the behind to wake up and stop giving everyone else power over our lives and loves. There is so much wisdom available to us via modern technology, that we no longer have to live sequestered with whatever familial, religious, cultural or societal boxes have been drawn around us. We have the awesome ability to choose how we engage with what badly behaving lovers do, even those who claim to love us. We can choose to love ourselves better than anyone else does, thereby leading by example and showing people what we won't tolerate, and what we deserve. And this is how we'll teach children to treat themselves and others with true love and respect. They need to see us leading by example. This book is not sexy at all. It's sad. Anyone experiencing anything like these stories needs compassion and help recovering.