4.07

1

Apr 14, 2018

UPSETTING & DOWNRIGHT WRONG ‼‼‼ How can a (so called Christian ) steal & write about a grieving moms private words, in a Private Grief Meeting...that they signed a a privacy affidavit to enter into. Also using their REAL names. Not Acceptable Natalie Brenner ...... Shameful UPSETTING & DOWNRIGHT WRONG ‼️‼️‼️ How can a (so called Christian ) steal & write about a grieving moms private words, in a Private Grief Meeting...that they signed a a privacy affidavit to enter into. Also using their REAL names. Not Acceptable Natalie Brenner ...... Shameful ???? ...more

1

Apr 10, 2018

Should a grieving mother have to revisit the trauma-filled experience of losing her baby girl in a book? I did. Author and blogger, Natalie Brenner, published my grief in her book, This Undeserved Life, without my knowledge. Natalie Brenner attended an infant loss support group meeting. Then she wrote about that meeting in her book. She used exact names and quoted from that meeting. The safety that I thought I had in my support group was shattered when someone recognized me and my dead baby girl Should a grieving mother have to revisit the trauma-filled experience of losing her baby girl in a book? I did. Author and blogger, Natalie Brenner, published my grief in her book, This Undeserved Life, without my knowledge. Natalie Brenner attended an infant loss support group meeting. Then she wrote about that meeting in her book. She used exact names and quoted from that meeting. The safety that I thought I had in my support group was shattered when someone recognized me and my dead baby girl in her book. To my shock and horror, I started reading This Undeserved Life. I see the name of me, my baby girl that died and my rainbow baby. I see my older son, not named, but described. I see the reason my daughter died and how old she was when she died. Then, I see quotes. I see sentence after sentence after sentence of me talking. My trauma and anxiety surrounding my stillbirth and my struggle with having my rainbow baby is all in print. It is all too much for this grieving mom to handle. I have privately asked Natalie Brenner to recall this edition of her book and she has not. For 7 months now I have been in turmoil because my pain and my dead baby girl and my quotes are still in a book. The safe place of support groups should be honored by recalling the books with this chapter in them. ...more

1

Feb 16, 2018

IF YOU HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK, PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO AND RETURN THE BOOK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWIX1...

Bad things just happen to Natalie, over and over again. That was my take away from this book. I didn't enjoy it at all. But the bigger issue, is that when Natalie released this book she included an entire chapter from a private grief/loss support group. She knew the information was to be kept private and yet she chose to write about it. The story was not hers to tell. And, even IF YOU HAVE A COPY OF THIS BOOK, PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO AND RETURN THE BOOK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWIX1...

Bad things just happen to Natalie, over and over again. That was my take away from this book. I didn't enjoy it at all. But the bigger issue, is that when Natalie released this book she included an entire chapter from a private grief/loss support group. She knew the information was to be kept private and yet she chose to write about it. The story was not hers to tell. And, even worse, she used the mother's name and name of her children. She did not have permission to do so. This mother's grief filled story was written about for Natalie's own gain. Natalie has and continues to benefit financially from this book but has refused to make any effort to recall the first edition of this book or own up to her actions. ...more

1

Apr 17, 2018

It's so unfortunate that such a tender subject was exploited. Names were used, stories were told, quotes were taken without permission. Isn't this one of the first things we teach our beginning writers? Mrs. Brenner's intent may not have been cruel and bitter but her lack of understanding, public apology, and failure to comply were just that, cruel and bitter. Please, if you have this book. Send it back to her.

1

Apr 14, 2018

UPSETING and DOWNRIGHT WRONG ‼‼‼ How can a so called Christian steal & write about a grieving moms private words , in a PRIVATE GRIEF MEETING....that they signed a privacy affidavit to enter into. Also using their REAL names. Not Acceptable....Natalie Brenner....shameful . UPSETING and DOWNRIGHT WRONG ‼️‼️‼️???? How can a so called Christian steal & write about a grieving moms private words , in a PRIVATE GRIEF MEETING....that they signed a privacy affidavit to enter into. Also using their REAL names. Not Acceptable....Natalie Brenner....shameful ????. ...more

1

Feb 21, 2018

Natalie Brenner capitalized on the grief of a mother grieving the death of her child at a confidential support group meeting. Natalie used identifying information, devoting an entire chapter to this mother's story, exploiting her privacy and vulnerability. Shame on her!!

1

Apr 23, 2018

So disappointing that the author never received permission to use others’ deeply personal and immensely painful details included in the book.

1

Apr 19, 2018

This Undeserved Life, is a very catchy name for Ms. Brenners book. Let's camp on undeserved for a moment, if you will. I am perplexed at how Natalie could attend a private grief meeting ONE time and then use the very explicate and privately shared information in a book about her own grief. Did this grieving mother deserve the added pain that Natalie has heaped upon her? I believe the answer is a resounding, NO! No one deserves to have their life, let alone the absolute darkest moments of your This Undeserved Life, is a very catchy name for Ms. Brenners book. Let's camp on undeserved for a moment, if you will. I am perplexed at how Natalie could attend a private grief meeting ONE time and then use the very explicate and privately shared information in a book about her own grief. Did this grieving mother deserve the added pain that Natalie has heaped upon her? I believe the answer is a resounding, NO! No one deserves to have their life, let alone the absolute darkest moments of your life penned out for a profit. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in that one of the vital pieces to getting through this life is to have trusted people that you can share with. Being assured, to some measure, that they are not going to use or abuse the information that you are sharing and even willing to sign their name to this. That is exactly what Natalie did when she attended this meeting. She postured herself as being one of them but come to find out it was for her own gain. It is very sad and yes, undeserved pain that Natalie has caused an already grief stricken mother. Please do the right thing and help the woman and her precious baby that have been named in this book, without permission, to heal and send back any books that have her name in it. Legally, morally, and ethically this should never have happened. Especially from a woman who is putting herself in a position to help other people write books. Unbelievable! I personally do not feel Ms. Brenner is in a position to be a help to anyone, especially on the matter of grief until she has properly helped the woman that she has hurt. A person of character and integrity would have dealt with this matter long ago. I hope that Ms. Brenner is encouraged to do the right thing. ...more

1

Apr 10, 2018

Should a grieving mother have to revisit the trauma-filled experience of losing her baby girl in a book? I did. Author and blogger, Natalie Brenner, published my grief in her book, This Undeserved Life, without my knowledge. Natalie Brenner attended an infant loss support group meeting. Then she wrote about that meeting in her book. She used exact names and quoted from that meeting. The safety that I thought I had in my support group was shattered when someone recognized me and my dead baby girl Should a grieving mother have to revisit the trauma-filled experience of losing her baby girl in a book? I did. Author and blogger, Natalie Brenner, published my grief in her book, This Undeserved Life, without my knowledge. Natalie Brenner attended an infant loss support group meeting. Then she wrote about that meeting in her book. She used exact names and quoted from that meeting. The safety that I thought I had in my support group was shattered when someone recognized me and my dead baby girl in her book. To my shock and horror, I start reading This Undeserved Life. I see the names of me, my baby girl that died and my rainbow baby. I see my older son, not named, but described. I see the reason my daughter died and how old she was when she died. Then, I see quotes. I see sentence after sentence after sentence of me talking. My trauma and anxiety surrounding my stillbirth and my struggle with having my rainbow baby is all in print. It is all too much for this grieving mom to handle. I have privately asked Natalie Brenner to recall this edition of her book and she has not. ...more

5

Jul 23, 2017

The author, Natalie, gave me an advanced copy, free of charge, for an honest review.

As I read this book, I kept thinking, "Wow Natalie is so courageous to share her heart and her life in this way. This is going to help so many people." I am so excited to share this with friends and family who will relate to parts of Natalie's story. Out of such heavy topics as loss, grief, and Church trauma, Natalie has created something beautiful. Her writing style is light, descriptive, and real. Readers will The author, Natalie, gave me an advanced copy, free of charge, for an honest review.

As I read this book, I kept thinking, "Wow Natalie is so courageous to share her heart and her life in this way. This is going to help so many people." I am so excited to share this with friends and family who will relate to parts of Natalie's story. Out of such heavy topics as loss, grief, and Church trauma, Natalie has created something beautiful. Her writing style is light, descriptive, and real. Readers will feel as if they are at coffee with the author rather than spending a whole Saturday in their living room reading this book all in one sitting (which is what I did).

We tell stories to become more connected with one another. Reading This Undeserved Life is an exercise in "Me too! Oh my goodness, me too!" Natalie has shared a story that will make everyone who experiences it feel less alone in their experiences, and there's no better purpose that a story can serve. ...more

5

Jul 14, 2017

Some words of advice when you read Natalie Brenner's This Undeserved Life: clear your schedule because you won't want to put it down; start a book club because you are going to want to talk about this book with everyone you know; and try not to bawl after reading because you realize how painful, incredible, stressful, and magical life can be.

Natalie weaves a story about grief, adoption, infertility, heartache, love, and more. Page after page you will be amazed at how one person finds her way Some words of advice when you read Natalie Brenner's This Undeserved Life: clear your schedule because you won't want to put it down; start a book club because you are going to want to talk about this book with everyone you know; and try not to bawl after reading because you realize how painful, incredible, stressful, and magical life can be.

Natalie weaves a story about grief, adoption, infertility, heartache, love, and more. Page after page you will be amazed at how one person finds her way through trauma and pain to a beautiful, imperfectly wonderful life.

This is a must-read for anyone looking to find more purpose, beauty, and life.

-- Crystal Perkins, Editor-in-chief Adoption.com

*The author Natalie gave me an advanced copy, free of charge, for an honest review. ...more

5

Aug 17, 2017

I received an ARC of This Undeserved Life to provide an honest review of it. I base my reviews solely on content and writing style.

First, this book opens up with a very shocking story that I think provides the perfect kick-start for this story. It is a story of loss, grief, accepting grief, redemption, and love. The first part of this book chronicles a very long, tedious journey between Natalie and her husband in a memoir. It is full of stories of joy, but also and more importantly, it touches I received an ARC of This Undeserved Life to provide an honest review of it. I base my reviews solely on content and writing style.

First, this book opens up with a very shocking story that I think provides the perfect kick-start for this story. It is a story of loss, grief, accepting grief, redemption, and love. The first part of this book chronicles a very long, tedious journey between Natalie and her husband in a memoir. It is full of stories of joy, but also and more importantly, it touches on some of the most private and intimate parts of their life. The fact that she opened up so publicly in this book was nothing short of breath-taking and sobering. Natalie takes on, arguably, one of the most difficult subjects for someone to discuss: loss & grief. The passion and honesty brought into this book, backed with real-world experiences was incredible.

The book then moves on to the subject of dealing with loss, personal faith, and trust. It shows the journey Natalie and LB went through to deal with their loss - the nights of sleeplessness, the tears endured, the hugs, and finally, the love. Natalie perfectly grasps what it is like to lose and how to fight back and deal with grief.

Not only is the content of this book so immaculate, pertinent, relevant, and real, but the story in-and-of itself is so beautifully told. The story reads so flawlessly that you fly through the pages without even realizing that you've been reading for hours on end.

I am very much looking forward to more books from Natalie Brenner int the future. This story is so eloquent, timely, and quintessentially told.

This book is superb and is a page-turning must-read. Bravo! ...more

5

Jul 31, 2017

I read this almost in one whole sitting, it's that good. Natalie offers a fresh perspective on grief while also providing mass amounts of comfort to those who have suffered loss and experienced pain.

4

Nov 01, 2017

*I received a paperback copy of this book from the author. My review is an honest one.*

"I worried I would not handle infertility beautifully, heroically, as I envisioned myself doing. What if all those adolescent years of teaching myself to be strong in the face of weakness didn't toughen me up after all?" — Natalie Brenner, This Undeserved Life

The author has many, many gifts—from helping mothers with infertility to being a real-life version of God's compassion and grace. However, one of her *I received a paperback copy of this book from the author. My review is an honest one.*

"I worried I would not handle infertility beautifully, heroically, as I envisioned myself doing. What if all those adolescent years of teaching myself to be strong in the face of weakness didn't toughen me up after all?" — Natalie Brenner, This Undeserved Life

The author has many, many gifts—from helping mothers with infertility to being a real-life version of God's compassion and grace. However, one of her greatest gifts is honest eloquence when writing about tough, hard-to-talk-about topics. She is truly a wonderful writer, but it's her sincerity that sticks with me the most.

"I felt like I needed their approval to grieve, to feel, to be honest." — This one struck me. Natalie, as well as many others, was told at some point that they couldn't be sad and still trust God. That's just not true. God doesn't want us to grieve alone—He wants to wrap his loving arms around us and cry with us. And I think that's what Natalie wanted to get across to those dealing with loss: it's okay to los someone you love and cry. It doesn't make you weak. It makes you human.

All in all, this is a very well-written book that I know every grieving mother needs to read and cherish. I gave it 4.5 stars, just shy of 5, because there were just a few too many misspellings and grammar errors for my liking.

I hope book clubs and support groups will pick up Natalie's book and study it together. I know they will leave feeling like someone gets them, someone understands what they're going through.

4.5 stars ...more

5

Oct 20, 2017

Before I get into my review, I have to disclose that I was a part of Natalie's launch group for this book. I had already planned on buying this book and still did, but I had early access to the book, and got some gifts for helping promote this book. This review is my honest feelings toward this book.
I loved this book so much! Natalie was honest about her feelings throughout different trials and tribulations in her life. She was open about her experiences through miscarriage, church abuse, Before I get into my review, I have to disclose that I was a part of Natalie's launch group for this book. I had already planned on buying this book and still did, but I had early access to the book, and got some gifts for helping promote this book. This review is my honest feelings toward this book.
I loved this book so much! Natalie was honest about her feelings throughout different trials and tribulations in her life. She was open about her experiences through miscarriage, church abuse, transracial adoption, pregnancy, and birth trauma. Natalie is very raw and open about all these events in her life. She also told of how God walked with her and her husband through these hard times and the good times. I pre-ordered a book to be sent to my friend and ordered a print edition and later the kindle edition of this book. I'm so glad I did, because a week after I ordered the kindle version, another friend of mine lost her baby at 6-7 months and had a stillbirth delivery. I felt God lead me to giving my print copy of "This Undeserved Life" to her to help her cope with her loss. I sincerely hope "This Undeserved Life" will be a blessing for you to read. ...more

4

Nov 09, 2017

Multiple losses, related grief, and hope drive the story, written in an approachable way. The end has a whole section on working through grief. At times so sad, it was beautiful to see God working through their lives as they struggled with infertility, loss, and adoption. It follows the timeline of her life, so as a reader we may not have resolution on an issue until later in the story, which for me was a downside(view spoiler)[ (Her birth story for her second son was traumatic and she explains Multiple losses, related grief, and hope drive the story, written in an approachable way. The end has a whole section on working through grief. At times so sad, it was beautiful to see God working through their lives as they struggled with infertility, loss, and adoption. It follows the timeline of her life, so as a reader we may not have resolution on an issue until later in the story, which for me was a downside(view spoiler)[ (Her birth story for her second son was traumatic and she explains more fully later on why, but while reading that section I struggled to understand) (hide spoiler)]. Also, the names of some characters are pseudonyms (which I would have preferred had been more obvious in the story). ...more

5

Jul 05, 2018

I loved this book! Natalie shares real, raw, authentic thoughts on miscarriages, trauma, and adoption. I had a really hard time putting the book down. Natalie drew you into her story, and I felt like so many aspects related to my own story of miscarriages. I felt like I was sitting down with a friend for coffee and sharing our hearts. This book will encourage you to process your own pain, and find healing in a God who loves you. If you have had a miscarriage or know someone who has then I highly I loved this book! Natalie shares real, raw, authentic thoughts on miscarriages, trauma, and adoption. I had a really hard time putting the book down. Natalie drew you into her story, and I felt like so many aspects related to my own story of miscarriages. I felt like I was sitting down with a friend for coffee and sharing our hearts. This book will encourage you to process your own pain, and find healing in a God who loves you. If you have had a miscarriage or know someone who has then I highly recommend this book to walk you through pain. Although this book helped, I wish it was around when I miscarried, because it her story is so real, and helped to process my own pain. Natalie also shares a grief workbook at the end which is such a key to help as you grieve. Thank you for writing this book!!!! ...more

5

Oct 18, 2017

I don’t know a single person who hasn’t experienced a loss of some kind so therefore I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t benefit from this book. How many of us have been told to suck it up, or just move on already? Loss is not something we move on from, we need to learn how to lean into it and weave it into our everyday lives, accept that it is and will forever be part of our story. We can’t burry it and pretend like it never happened. Now I could probably write a novel the size of her I don’t know a single person who hasn’t experienced a loss of some kind so therefore I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t benefit from this book. How many of us have been told to suck it up, or just move on already? Loss is not something we move on from, we need to learn how to lean into it and weave it into our everyday lives, accept that it is and will forever be part of our story. We can’t burry it and pretend like it never happened. Now I could probably write a novel the size of her book on how each and every one of you need this book, so instead I’ll leave it at this; you are loved, your loss is valid, and you are not alone. ...more

5

Sep 18, 2017

After reading the first chapter, I had to put it down. To cry. And not just tear, but really let God break down some walls that I had built by my own hurts.

Natalie doesn't speak AT you, she speaks as a friend would while sitting over coffee in the early evening. Sharing her hurts and hearings, while trying to help you with yours.

**I did receive an ARC for free in exchange for my honest review.

5

Oct 15, 2017

Natalie writes on something we all can relate to: undeserved situations. I commend her for being courageous in embracing grief, shame, and all the icky feelings we rather not face. She teaches us how to deal with unforgiving challenges, and find purpose and healing within them.

3

Apr 07, 2019

Great stuff, some really interesting perspectives and wisdom. Just too long. I feel like she repeated herself A LOT.

4

Feb 11, 2019

Loved that this author didn’t rush through her grief or slap on a happy face in order to make others comfortable.