The hip gal's 21st century relationship guide to love and relationships, from bestselling author, Melissa Ambrosini. Open Wide, from Melissa Ambrosini, the bestselling author of Mastering Your Mean Girl, is a radically real, upfront and no BS guide for women on finding and cultivating mind-blowing, heart-expanding, deep authentic love, real relationships and soulful sex - and when we talk about sex, this book isn't about the best positions, it's about how to show up as your best self, about how to be truly confident in the skin and body you're in, how to be vulnerable with your partner (or future partners), plus so much more.
It's a book that gives women the real tools they can implement into their life immediately for real results, to help them navigate their relationships, learn more about themselves on a deep and intimate level, and learn how to step into their full feminine essence.
'Melissa is passionate about breaking free of that which holds us back. My experience is that we all crave personal freedom and Melissa is leading a generation to be open wide to what that means for them personally. Melissa your passion is beautiful and I'm so grateful you share yourself with us all.' Carrie Anne Moss, Actor, Creator of Annapurna Living, Mother
'Melissa is committed to making the world a better place, one relationship at a time.' Marie Forleo, award-winning host of MarieTV and author of Everything Is Figureoutable
'This book is incredibly insightful. Melissa gives the most down to earth, fun relationship guide for REAL, modern women.' Madeleine Shaw, author of Get the Glow
'Melissa is someone who will help change your life. In Open Wide she shares her hard-won wisdom and insights so you can rock all your relationships to new levels of intimacy and fulfillment. A must-read.' Rachael Finch, author of Happy Healthy Strong
Whilst Melissa herself seems like a thoughtful, compassionate, lovely and down right gorgeous human, this book wasn't for me.
Sections of the book come across too 'wishy-washy' and at times feels like you're not reading 'Open Wide' at all, rather chapters from her previous book, 'Master Your Mean Girl' (which I haven't read but assume to be true as she references it a lot).
I think this book will benefit those in the 18-24 age bracket mostly, as it certainly allows the reader to understand and identify that their sexual wants and needs are important. It also touches on some great building blocks for the younger generation to implement in their lives when it comes to boundaries with family and friends.
Whilst not for me, I'm certain this book will succeed amongst her avid and loyal followers!
Drink each time you encounter " Open Wide", "Soulful Sex" and "mind blowing" ! Yes, yes I got the point and the idea of this book already! No need to repeat the same 3 words over and over again, it's getting annoying.
Overall I enjoyed this book , it was OK, can't say it was mind blowing . I personally don't struggle with the problems mentioned in the book, but there are encouraging sections about self esteem that were pretty good and can be helpful for some. The reason why I'm rating it 2 stars is because Melissa keeps repeating herself, over and over again the same 3-4 ideas for many ,many pages - which is a big no-no for me!
I listened to the audiobook version narrated by the author and was blown away by how inspiring this women is. My niece read 'How to Master your mean girl' which she quoted was an inspiration to her as well. I gained so much out of this book and I'll refer back to it and read it again and again. A lot of the relationship advice is super helpful and her own stories were very interesting. No matter our age we can all absorb something out of this book if we really want to. It was such a pleasure to listen to. Thank you Melissa!
I absolutely loved this book. Nothing has spoken to me more on learning to nurture myself, live completely within my Truth, cherish my relationships and help them to thrive, and be completely consumed with self love. The book is split into three main sections, which essentially examine yourself, your relationships (romantic and otherwise), and sex. There is plenty of questioning activities throughout the book, which ask you to reflect on what you have just read, and act as great prompts. The first chapter alone is an amazing read regarding being a woman, and self love. Romantic and non-romantic relationships (e.g. friends and family) are both examined, and many of the points raised can be applied to either. A large portion of the book leads toward the final part (soulful sex), however much about this is about yourself, so it is no less of an amazing read without a significant other in your life. This book made me feel amazing about myself, and I highly recommend it as a fantastic, positive read.
I received this book as an advanced reader's copy for our family-planning/relationships section in our library. I must say I LOVED this advice and facts Melissa has presented in this book. I also like books that have a personal experience attached to the facts so it makes the book more relate-able. If reader's see in a self-help/health related book that the author incorporated a personal experience, then they are more likely to read and relate to this book. A wonderful read for those that are getting involved in a new relationship or deciding when the right time is to move to the next step in the relationship. 5 stars!
VERY repetitive... both ideas and phrases (“mind blowing/“soul crushing”/“besties”). This made it sound very juvenile. I was looking for something new, but the same material is shared by other authors who are more practical (can’t think of a better word). Some of the advice, especially about self-love is super beneficial and I know that I can always use a refresher on that, but I found lots of it to be impractical for someone who works outside of the home, doesn’t have a SO to help around the house, and has other obligations. Other reviewers said that was geared towards women in their early 20s, and I agree.
Very well written, such a great book. Starting reading and I couldn't stop. She's honset and inspiring. Had my highlighter out highlighting alot of great pointers.
When I heard that Melissa Ambrosini was bringing out another book, I was super excited to read it because I really enjoyed Mastering Your Mean Girl (MYMG), which I read about halfway through last year. So I bought it for myself as a Christmas present. To; Me, From: Me!
The topics covered in this book, I personally don't struggle with in my life but I wanted to read it anyway as I like learning about new things....which in hindsight is likely why I didn't enjoy it quite as much as MYMG. Melissa's previous book really resonated with how I was feeling at that time so I felt inspired and connected with the message she was giving.
I feel that this book was a bit too wishy-washy and 'hippy' for me. It covered topics such as learning to love yourself (very reminiscent of MYMG), understanding your menstrual cycle and how to align it with the moon phases (umm...what), how to find your soulmate and how to enjoy sex more.
I did learn about the menstrual cycle and the 'seasons' that it has which I didn't know about before reading this so that's probably the only thing that I actually took away from this book.
The rest of it was basically a repetition of MYMG and learning to love yourself before anyone else can truly love you with a LOT of hippy shit mixed in e.g opening your chakras and using a vibrator to unleash emotions that have been built up inside of your vagina.....no joke.
Maybe if I felt that I had troubles in those areas of my life I might have enjoyed it more.
Some nice self esteem advice however this book was probably a little too “hippy” and repetitive for my tastes. It is probably best suited to single 20 something women (I’m in my 30s, married with children and didn’t find the advice particularly relevant to my life stage).
Thanks kindly to Netgalley, publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
It certainly could be helpful for some, but every sentence feels like Melissa is trying to coin a phrase, which didn’t feel very authentic to me. It really took away from the messaging and drove me bonkers. I also felt it was a bit surface, like more of an intro to what soulful sex is, rather than how to do it.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book wasn't for me. It was one of those books that seems like it is trying to profit off the current New Age spirituality trend. All this advice has been given elsewhere and I didn't find much value in this rendition.
Reading this book is like sitting down with your bestie who gives the greatest advice and always has your back no matter what. Melissa gets deep into a lot of topics people might be uneasy to talk about, like sex and relationships.
At first I wasn’t so sure about it.. but then I realized that Melissa had once again taught me so many new things and made me a better person. So thank you once again!
The premise of Open Wide was really attractive to me as work, career and busyness in life oftentimes made me close up to new/different experiences with the excuse of 'not having time', and as a result I tended to view life too seriously.
The book was full of New Age concepts, ideas, activities/inspo-actions - some of which I would probably never try because they were way off my taste, but some I would (in the spirit of 'opening wide').
So yeah, this was different. But I got a feeling that this was one I'd come back to a few times to get different things at different times in my life.
Melissa Ambrosini is an absolutely radiant, sunbeam of a woman. Reading or listening to her immediately feels like spending time with a soul-sister. I think she offers a lot of refreshing and inspiring perspectives. I would give this book a higher rating if not for a few truly strange pieces of advice she gave. You have to sort through a handful of "out there" stuff as you read this otherwise beautiful number. But I also took away a heap of uplifting, tender, and heartfelt words of wisdom. Melissa clearly has a gorgeous heart and I'm thankful she opened up and shared it with the world. I walked away feeling lighter and inspired, and will certainly refer back to certain quotes when I need a little burst of light in my life.
4.5/5 Dieses Buch ist in einer Hinsicht ganz anders als all die anderen spirituellen Lebenshelfer, die ich im vergangenen Jahr gelesen habe: Es ist inclusive. Es beschränkt sich nicht nur auf die "weiße, westliche, monogame, cis-hetero Frau". Melissa Ambrosini ist zwar so eine, aber sie hat dieses Buch für alle geschrieben. In wie weit ihr das gelungen ist, kann ich natürlich nicht beurteilen, aber ich fand den Ansatz schon einmal erfrischend und super wichtig. Bis auf kleine Details die mich manchmal genervt haben, war es ein fantastisches Buch. Ich denke ich werde es irgendwann nochmal lesen, wenn ich mir eine Print Edition geholt habe.
Happy to finish this book as a beginner of self-discovery and mental wellness.
I find some tips in this book helpful—such as setting boundaries with your work and life, with your friends, partner, etc. Melissa made a lot of references to Master Your Mean Girl (which I had finished earlier this month), so reading that book can be helpful for setting up a positive and confident mindset as well as preparing for this book.
Yet I do think that this book needs to be more in-depth. The advice she gave is mostly still superficial at a spiritual and motivational level. But it is good for me as a beginner. Can't wait to dive deep into other mental wellness books! Any recommendations?
Honestly, I expected more from this book. Mastering your mean girl was good, but I found this book kind of boring. A lot of the things mentioned is pretty self explanatory and also some weird stuff mentioned like de armouring down there and a jade egg.. personally it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I’m sure someone would love it. Although there were some really good points stated, I personally didn’t enjoy it that much.
2.5 rounded up to 3. Parts were decent like remembering to speak nicely to yourself and others were just too far out for me like saying to get your girlfriends to come over during the full moons to have a ceremony together. I don’t like DNFing books so I sped up the audio to 2.5x to get through it.
I think if you are new to the self-help/personal development genre this book might be better. For me personally, I gained nothing from this book because I’ve been exposed to this genre for awhile. This book has a lot of fluff and not enough action or takeaways for me. Her other book “Mastering Your Mean Girl” was much more substantial and empowering IMO.
I’ll be honest. If I had this book when I was in my twenties I would have treasured it. It would be the book that I would carry around and always make reference too.
Alas I’m not in my twenties. So the teachings in this book I’ve already learned.
I need time to unpack my thoughts on this book. I wish I like loved it but I feel that some of the ideas in this book are just not realistic or possible for everyone. I did like some of what Melissa had to say but was left unsatisfied overall.
This book was a nice uplifting read. I did find some parts a bit wishy washy and almost a bit ignorant. Preferred her first book. Agree with a previous review that this books target would be females 24 and under.
Great book from start to finish. I couldn't put it down. Great for both those new to personal growth work and those who have been on the journey. Practical action steps included. Really loved this book and melissas podcast.
There was like one chapter on soulful sex lol but the information all in all is useful for all women and should definitely be learned! Just think the marketing for this could have been worded a bit different
After spending years listening to Melissa's products a friendly loaned me the book! It wasn't anything I had already read or learnt before but was a refreshing reminder and easy read! Great tools in the book to help guide your self to a better version. Recommended
I want you to know that I learned things through this book that I never knew before and I’m pretty well fucking read. So in my book she is a fucking PhD expert.
She has such an authentic voice, which is just a pleasure to read. I didn't get as much out of this book than her first one, but I still enjoyed reading this.