Since it is Women’s Appreciation Month, it is the perfect time to review a book about a woman’s experience. Mayci Neeley published her memoir in October of 2025. The book focuses on Mayci’s various hardships she has experienced throughout her life. These include, but are not limited to, her Mormon upbringing, college struggles, relationship issues, and the beginning steps of her fame.
Neeley rose to fame along with other Mormon mothers in 2020 and 2021. They started to gain popularity from making TikTok videos, creating a community on the app nicknamed “MomTok”. Along with the fun moments and dances being shared, there were also dramas and scandals that were shown. With their lives sparking interest in the public eye, Hulu signed Neeley and other members of the community on a reality television show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Mayci became a “fan favorite” over the years, although she never expressed herself as truly as she did during her book.
Disclaimer: The rest of this review includes spoilers, which may ruin the book if you wish to read it. However, much of the information has been talked about online by Neeley herself. Her memoir starts by describing her childhood and teenage years. Growing up, she was a dedicated tennis player, much like the rest of her family. While juggling constant training, she was also growing in her faith and learning what it meant for her to be Mormon. She also went through one of the most relatable challenges a high schooler faces, which was deciding what college to attend. She knew she was skilled enough to play tennis at the Division I level and ultimately decided to attend BYU, joining the team her older sister coached.
Although having her sister as a coach felt nice at the time, it was followed by harsh treatment from her teammates. She was accused of only earning her spot because of her sister, which damaged her mental health and confidence. Besides being an athlete, Mayci fell into the college crowd that partook in partying and drinking. This wasn’t normal behavior for Mayci, so she had many conflicting thoughts about it. It kept her on edge because it went against the BYU honor code, along with her beliefs as a Mormon.
As if she didn’t have enough on her plate, she was also dealing with a toxic and abusive relationship with her boyfriend. He encouraged her bad behavior and would take advantage of her while she was vulnerable. Although she knew it was bad, he blackmailed her and forced her to stay in the relationship. Neeley was lucky enough to get out of the relationship due to the abuser moving away, but the trauma sticks with her to this day.
After this relationship, she found another love interest who treated her a lot better. However, he was suspicious at times, and they were still behaving sinfully. Neeley ended up getting pregnant with him, and she had a lot to sort out. She decided to keep the baby, but this meant leaving the tennis team and having to step out of school. After telling her parents about the pregnancy, they forced her to move back home and to not see her boyfriend anymore. Specifically, Neeley’s father was concerned about her boyfriend and his loyalty. After Neeley dug up some information, they found out that he was unloyal to her. She decided to end the relationship with him.
Although he kept trying to win her back and apologize, Neeley couldn’t find a way to forgive him. One day, as they were arguing over text, he never answered her. Later that night, she found out through social media that he had died in a car accident that day. This left Neeley crushed, and she entered into a severe depressive state.
She stayed in this depressive state for the remainder of her pregnancy. However, her life started to turn back around after having her child. She realised that she needed to be strong for her daughter, and her mental health improved a lot. Along with feeling better, Neeley also returned to playing collegiate tennis. It took some time, and her body felt different, but she was able to return to regular practice and playing. Early in the year, however, Neeley suffered an injury and had to have surgery. This didn’t stop her, and she was able to recover for her last year of eligibility.
To wrap up the story, Neeley explains how she met her current husband and how they worked through life after college. She also described the beginning stages of her influencer career and how she worked her way up to success.
The book sheds light on issues such as abuse, unplanned pregnancy, and faith: topics that many are afraid to speak about. Neeley’s hope was to help others, although it was hard to relive her experiences. I also think that within all of her struggles, everyone can relate to her on some aspect of their lives. Student Gracie Eyerly, who also read the book, explains her thoughts, “ I really enjoyed the book! I think that Macyi’s story is very encouraging and shows that your life doesn’t have to always be perfect to be successful.”
