Rating: 
Summary: A book that dares to be honest
Review: There are a lot of good self-help books on the market, but most are pretty superficial compared to this one. As a philosopher (as opposed to a psychologist, marriage counselor, or "success" guru), Terry Warner digs to the root of the matter.Most passages in the book require multiple readings in order to really sink in. Many concepts are so counterintuitive that it takes serious mental effort to even consider that they may be true. Warner invites the readers to completely redefine their respective worlds, which, as I have discovered, is not a task for the faint-hearted or "quick fix" addicts. Thank you, Terry Warner, for daring to be honest, and inviting us to do the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: There are several issues I have with this book:
--This book should come with a large, bold, underlined disclaimer that it is not for victims of abuse. Only too late in the book does the author make this point. Being abused is not your fault; you are not "asking" for it.
--This book did not encourage me to improve myself. Instead, I felt like it was almost hopeless to try to improve, because it was so complicated!
--Also, this book claims to not fall in the trap of all the "self-..." books, however, it is obsessed with "self-deception". If it truly was not a "self-..." book it would have placed a larger emphasis on losing yourself in service for others, instead of being consumed with reflections on your faults.
If you wish to improve yourself without the complication, Gordon B. Hinckley's "Standing for Something" actually encourages realistic improvements and makes you feel that you have potential to be a great person.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: There are several issues I have with this book:
--This book should come with a large, bold, underlined disclaimer that it is not for victims of abuse. Only too late in the book does the author make this point. Being abused is not your fault; you are not "asking" for it.
--This book did not encourage me to improve myself. Instead, I felt like it was almost hopeless to try to improve, because it was so complicated!
--Also, this book claims to not fall in the trap of all the "self-..." books, however, it is obsessed with "self-deception". If it truly was not a "self-..." book it would have placed a larger emphasis on losing yourself in service for others, instead of being consumed with reflections on your faults.
If you wish to improve yourself without the complication, Gordon B. Hinckley's "Standing for Something" actually encourages realistic improvements and makes you feel that you have potential to be a great person.
Rating:
Summary: Can change your outlook on life
Review: This book can change your outlook on life if you will let it. It is a wonderful book full of stories and examples that will help you understand how you can be a better person. Some related books that are produced by people or companies associated with Terry Warner:
1. The Peacemaker: this book preaches the same philosophy but bases the learning on scriptures and the atonement of Christ - excellent read, highly recommended.
2. Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute: Same story format as the Peacemaker but from a business perspective.
All are great reads, but Bonds That Make Us Free is the masterpiece.
Other books that have changed my life:
The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck - great insights on how to improve yourself
Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley - a classic that will have you questioning modern society's basic premises.
Rating:
Summary: On my "top ten best books" list
Review: This book is a detailed analysis of how effective change in society can really be implemented. How? By changing the only thing we have the most control over - ourselves. Author Terry Warner exposes the deceptions that we, ourselves, create to keep us from the truth. The book reveals our true nature and offers a way to fill our lives to the abundundant light and truth that permeates the universe. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I have read this book and applied the principles in my own life. The small amount of courage that it took to face the truth about myself was rewarded ten times over by the happiness and love that filled my soul. It is on my "top ten" list of best books ever read. If you have any emotional pain in your life because of poisonous relationships, you need this book to heal. It is not just a covering up of the sympoms, but a complete eradication of the source of the pain.
Rating:
Summary: Bonds that make us free
Review: This book is for everyone. It helps you to see how you can become a better person with out making you feel bad about your self. It will create a new way of thinking in you!
Rating:
Summary: A watershed moment in my life...
Review: This book is, with out a doubt, the singular most important book to be read, studied and applied to one's life there is available in the wide market of "self-help" books. I have a very much used and cherished copy of his manuscript that this book was based on and Terry has delivered so much more with this book than was even promised in "Bonds of Anguish, Bonds of Love". Buy it, read it and share it. There are but a few moments in life as precious and sacred as those where what we read moves us to the next level of understanding, wholeness, connectedness and love. This book has brought several of these moments to me.
Rating:
Summary: Will change your life
Review: This book will change your life, soften your heart and improve your relationships. The message it brings is one that will ring true to every person, young and old. You'll pass it on to everyone you know and love.
Rating:
Summary: Aha! on almost every page
Review: This is one of those rare books that offers some type of "Aha!" experience on every page. The ideas expressed here are truly life transforming. Warner uses marvelous case studies to illustrate his ideas (I am usually bored by case studies, but in this instance they work wonderfully well). He suggests ways that we might live free from self-deception, and find happiness in and through our relationships with others. I believe that he describes something here that is having a profound impact on my life.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing, and at times radical, approach to life
Review: This is truly a self-help book unlike any other. Its basic premise is that the root of many of our problems is a type of self-deception. Because of dishonesty toward ourselves, we are dishonest toward others (often without realizing it) and are unable to change in a positive way. Celebrity psychologist Phil McGraw often points out that when two people are in a relationship, they tend to reinforce the other's negative habits, and that people often receive a payback (often unconsciously) from both their negative behavior and the negative behavior of the person. Warner explains such a process in detail in what is an especially fascinating part of the book. In many ways, this book is quite radical. It suggests that the way to find oneself is to connect with other people in an honest way. It also says that when there is a dysfunctional relationship, to find healing we need to admit where we were wrong -- no matter how wrong the other person was! Warner provides some case studies that at first glance seem shocking -- why should the abuse VICTIM be the one to apologize? Yet on further reflection, the anecdotes he gave made sense. Some of the steps that seemed to radical and/or counterintuitive worked only because the person took the action with the right attitude; Warner goes to great pains to point out that the same action might not be appropriate for someone else to take for different reasons. I have two major (and related) criticisms to this book: -- Warner does not adequately explain when (or if) it is appropriate for a person to act in his or her own interests when such an action might be detrimental (or seem that way) to another person. At one point Warner even criticizes self-assertion, although it's not clear exactly what type of self-assertion he is critical of. Surely Warner would agree that we need to set boundaries for ourselves, although he would probably agree that many people set boundaries for the wrong reasons (it's that self-deception thing again). This is an area that needs more explanation in Warner's paradigm. -- I think it might be easy for some especially vulnerable people to misread this book. Although this isn't Warner's intent, a person who is a doormat might understand this book as saying that it's OK to let another person step all over you. While certainly we should be forgiving of other people, it is also possible (and I don't think Warner would disagree) to extend "cheap grace" to other people, but I'm not sure Warner does a good job of explaining the difference. Despite these criticisms, I found Warner's book to be one of the most thought-provoking ones I have read in a long time. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who wants an intriguing and meaningful perspective on the human condition.
| 
