Book Review: God's Special Forces: A Manual for Becoming a Young Woman of Quality by Darlene Laney

This special program has been designed for pre-teens and teens to help them transform their minds, and thereby, transform their lives. Focusing on inner beauty that comes from being “skillfully formed” and “wonderfully made,” this program helps young women think positive, discusses self-esteem, and teaches basic etiquette and beauty tips.

I can’t say I’ve ever read a book like God’s Special Forces before. In some ways it’s deep; using Scripture, devotionals, and definitions to truly transform a young woman’s perception of herself. I loved the focus on how God “made everything beautiful for its own time.” During the years when girls are trying to hard to fit in, I feel this is especially important. The discussion on what a young woman can learn about value from the Proverbs 31 woman was very interesting. And the book retains a Christian perspective no matter what topic is being discussed.

From a “charm” perspective, the program dives into best hair styles to match the shape of your face; diet and exercise; how to sit, stand, and walk properly; beauty tips like caring for your skin; fashion advice and etiquette pointers. While some of these tips seemed outdated, like tucking a sugar wrapper under your saucer (What pre-teen or teenaged person cares about paper on the table?) or making sure your leg wear matches your outfit (The style I’m seeing these days is mismatched leg wear and the mixing of different patterns–if they use leg wear at all.), I still feel it’s important to provide this audience with the basics so as they mature they’ll have a good foundation.

God’s Special Forces is filled with numerous exercises and quizzes that will be popular with pre-teens and teens. My girls (11 and 9) found some of them a bit embarrassing, but the author admitted some of them might feel awkward at first. The ones I liked best were the exercise that got the girls thinking about what messages they received about themselves from their favorite books, magazines, and television programs and the My Style Quiz.

I’m glad my girls and I got a chance to go through this together. I feel pre-teens will get more out of the program if they go through it with their mother or other female role model. Teens will be fine working independently.

Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Halo Publishing International (January 31, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1612441262
ISBN-13: 978-1612441269

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I was not compensated for in any way.