The Undiscovered Goddess is a women’s fiction novel by Michelle Colston. Like a blind bat, Holly started 2010 without having made any New Year’s resolutions to keep or goals to achieve. She only knew that the year was going to be a good one. Holly is a wife to a just promoted husband, and a mother of three children. She is gung-ho about magazine quizzes and horoscopes. When a Cosmopolitan quiz tells her something about herself that she doesn’t like, she can’t believe it. How can she be “Stylish but Shallow”? The Cosmopolitan ends up in a recycle bin, but the damage has already been done. In May of that same year, Holly buys a workbook called Discover Your Inner Goddess!, and through it she begins a journey towards a happier, healthier, and world changing self.

One thing that is sure to make readers fall in love with this book is Colston’s incredible sense of humor. At times the comedy might feel a bit overused; at others it might cause sudden explosions of laughter. All funniness aside, Colston creates a realistic suburban wife and mother in Holly. As an unvarying procrastinator, Holly tends to put the tasks given to her by the author of the workbook aside for a later time. Readers get to read the workbook along with Holly, one lesson at a time, which allows readers to follow Holly through her journal entries as she evolves throughout her journey. Like an actual person, Holly sometimes finds the lessons in the workbook difficult and confusing, but she always figures it out in the end. It is fiction, but it feels incredibly real.

We've all been there. We've all had one too many glasses of wine, and decided that a Cosmo quiz will give us the definitive answer about where we should be in our life (whether in our love life, professional life, or just in general...life) and this catalyzes one of many existential dilemmas and quarter and mid-life crises. This is the case for poor Holly, mother of three, and now explorer for the lost case of her inner goddess. The Undiscovered Goddess by Michelle Colston is very smart, funny, and lifelike almost to a painful degree. This is the book of the summer for all of you going on vacation or just hanging out by the pool.

As a character, Holly is NOT someone you really like at the beginning of the book. That's okay...she really doesn't like herself either. Thus starts her journey into self-discovery and, as she grows on herself, she grows on you too until you're cheering her on and hoping she finds herself and a fulfilling life.

This book was both lighthearted and deeply emotional at the same time. It was funny, without taking itself too seriously but still imparting great messages and a deeper meaning than just surface stuff. I greatly enjoyed reading it and Michelle Colston has a light and entertaining voice within her writing to make you want to come back again and again. The Undiscovered Goddess is a fun dash through the life of a housewife on the edge and is a great summer read.

After finding out that she’s leading a shallow and purposeless existence, according to the credible psychoanalysts at Cosmopolitan Magazine, housewife and mother of three, Holly, desperately wants to keep up with the trends and get in touch with her spiritual side. When scouring the Self-Help section at the bookstore, she comes across a workbook titled Discover Your Inner Goddess. She decides to buy it and commits to the exercises in the workbook, finding each of them to be ridiculously uncomfortable and hard on her emotions, not to mention her digestive system.

The Undiscovered Goddess by Michelle Colston is told through a personal journal of a woman who is unhappy about her life. In the beginning, protagonist Holly is hard to like and might put off some readers. She’s quite irrational and sarcastic, which also meant that the humor element is presented in a more caustic manner at first. That said, her attitude gradually changes for the better, along with the way the humor aspect is delivered, as she works her way through the self-help workbook. The character of Holly is well developed and she also feels like a real person – she’s not just an imaginary protagonist, but a subject in the real world.

On the whole, The Undiscovered Goddess may not be for all, but readers who always find themselves hunting for a good book in the self-help section in the bookstore or online can definitely relate to it. It’s thought provoking and provides some valuable insights as well as inspirations.