• Will I Ever Be Good Enough?

  • Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers
  • By: Karyl McBride
  • Narrated by: Karyl McBride
  • Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,260 ratings)

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Will I Ever Be Good Enough?  By  cover art

Will I Ever Be Good Enough?

By: Karyl McBride
Narrated by: Karyl McBride
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Publisher's summary

The first book specifically for daughters suffering from the emotional abuse of selfish, self-involved mothers, Will I Ever Be Good Enough? provides the expert assistance you need in order to overcome this debilitating history and reclaim your life for yourself. Drawing on over two decades of experience as a therapist specializing in women's psychology and health, psychotherapist Dr. Karyl McBride helps you recognize the widespread effects of this maternal emotional abuse and guides you as you create an individualized program for self-protection, resolution, and complete recovery.Narcissistic mothers teach their daughters that love is not unconditional, that it is given only when they behave in accordance with maternal expectations and whims. As adults, these daughters have difficulty overcoming feelings of inadequacy, disappointment, emotional emptiness, and sadness.

©2008 Dr. Karyl McBride (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The author provides parenting tips as well as advice on maintaining healthy love relationships and friendships." ( Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about Will I Ever Be Good Enough?

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Helpful

Very informative book. I think women struggling with manipulative and controlling mothers will find that this book will help them to look at their situation in new ways and recover from emotional and psychological abuse.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Acceptance and grief

Will I Ever Be Enough showed me how to love myself, and how to be there for the little me.

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5 people found this helpful

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Soothing enlightenment with excellently delivery

Would you consider the audio edition of Will I Ever Be Good Enough? to be better than the print version?

I think the narrator did an excellent job of presenting what the book tried to represents, thus I think the audio version would be better. However, I do not have the print version and could see highlighting some areas of the book if I had it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Will I Ever Be Good Enough??

That a person cannot try to fix or heal a person that does not feel anything for anyone. In addition, the examples presented leads to future narcissistic or co-dependent mothers, and continues if cycle is not broken.

What does Karyl McBride bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The clarity of her voice provides an authentic note of personality as she describes her experiences as a child, teen, student, and adult.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Mommy Dearest Returns

Any additional comments?

While I listened hanging on to every word, I found myself thinking of great sayings or pointers in each chapter that caused me to start over on each chapter. Thus, it is a book that is worthy of listening to very slowly, perhaps a chapter a day to let pointers sink in. It is worthy to note that the narcissistic mother may not recognize these traits in their self as damaging to others because they relate to envision how it is to be anyone other than themselves. Great story to share with others. I was surprised that the mother was aware of her doing the book...

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5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Definite need for this book, editor badly needed

The writer is obviously someone who has spent her life in academia. Her information is good, the concept of using individual's stories as illustrations is good, but it's extremely tedious to wade thru due to the dire need for a journalistic editor.
She'll tell you how to do this in Chapter 13. Make sure you wait for a list of something in the following paragraph... The only way to get better is to do this in her order.... yadda yadda yada.
When you're pandering to a board to get your Phd this stuff is right up their alley, but if you want to help people, write to be readable. A good editor would have chopped and winnowed....
If this is your first exposure to a book about having survived a narcissistic mother, you will find bits and pieces of helpful information. What a shame no one got this manuscript to a competent journalist to edit for readability.

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4 people found this helpful

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Lord Save us from authors who try to narrate

The narration was so horrible it ruin the book. Luckily audibles app allows speed adjustment. Otherwise it could not have made it through. This woman talks so sad lonely and without personality you have to have a lobotomy to follow her. By the printed book or the e-book and that your computer read it to you. It will have more personality. I personally find it narcissistic for an author to assume she can do everything. Just because you can write a book does not mean you're a qualified reader. It's a skill.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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I’m so sorry, but I can’t do the narrator

I’m guessing other people will be fine with this, and I feel bad writing it as a feminist 🤦🏽‍♀️, but in case this is a thing for you too...the narrator’s syrupy voice just drove me crazy. It’s breathy and feels like it belongs to a princess in an old Disney movie or to the mom in a children’s fairytale. There’s no change in intonation and everything sounds sad and wistful. If this is your thing (it’s lots of peoples’!) that’s great! She’s an excellent narrator for you. But this type of voice is personally grating, so if you’re in that vein, I’d suggest listening to a sample before buying it. It also reminds me of ASMR voices, which I know a lot of people will love, but if that’s not your thing (my asmr response is INSTANT irritation) it’s worth noting.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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This overrated book is very subjective

The beginning of the book seems promising, but over time I realized that this book is almost religious in it's nature. I don't mean that it is Christian. I mean that it feels more like a list of her opinions than something based on real science.
Many of her readers might choose to agree with her, and that is fine. But the problem I have with the book, is that the writer doesn't take the time to really convince me of her viewpoint. She seems to assume that because she has a Ph.D, everybody will just take anything she says as gospel. Never mind that the social sciences have the poorest reputation in all of academia.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Yay me! I'm not crazy. I don't usually get excited

about an audio book, but, this one had me nodding my head and tearing up.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Life changer!

This book gave me so much insight into myself, my mother, and our relationship. Best of all, it set me free from the guilt and responsibility I used to feel about trying to please her. The book was filled with healing and well-thought out chapters that led me through a transformation. I purchased the book and opted to listen to it while taking notes. It was the right decision for me. I loved Karyl McBride's voice and her way of delivering the message. It felt very comforting. If you suspect that your mother had traits of narcissism (even if you are not yet fully convinced), I highly recommend reading/listening to this book to explore the possibility. It took me some time to believe and recognize my own mother's traits during my healing journey. Initially, I felt guilty about using this word to describe my own mother. Karyl McBride will help you work through all these feelings in a masterful way.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Is this about my Mother?

Would you consider the audio edition of Will I Ever Be Good Enough? to be better than the print version?

In some instances I wish I had the print version so I could highlight some sentences, and read them again.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that someone knows how I grew up, that I'm not alone, and that there is a way to forgive.

What three words best describe Karyl McBride’s voice?

Soft Flat Smart

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not extreme since I've had over 20 years of therapy to deal with my Mother and how I survived her. I liked to hear the quotes from other patients that had similar Mothers. It made it more real. I learned a lot more about narcissistic traits that I hadn't recognized before. I recognized that my Mother was raised by a Narcissistic Mother as well. I loved my maternal Grandmother so much, but she was a completely different Mother to my Mother than she was to her grandkids.

Any additional comments?

Thank you for this book. I hope many women read it so they can move on and love themselves more.

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