Surprisingly, this self-help book from the 80s holds up, I think. The writing is not eloquent, but it is accessible and conversational, which matters more for its particular subject. The structure is intuitive, and coping mechanisms it includes are relevant yet. As a child of an alcoholic, what Beattie describes was very familiar and accurate.

One understandable side effect of reading this book is that you may spot codependency in everyone around you. I believe Beattie iterates this at least once, but to iterate it again: everyone displays some codependent traits from time to time. This doesn't mean everyone is pathologically codependent.

With this being a book from the 80s, there is a glaring lack of observation of intersectionality in all manifestations of codependency. Perhaps there is a more contemporary text that addresses codependency with comparable astuteness to Beattie and incorporates intersectional factors into the elucidation.

What the book could've done without, with no excuses for the time of its genesis, is less Christianity shoved down the reader's throat. Turning to God and having faith in God are legitimate coping mechanisms listed alongside the rest. Not having faith in God is listed as a symptom of codependency. Faith can be helpful, it can be a cathartic tool, but faith does not look the same for everyone. Christianity is not everyone's faith, and should not be embedded into a book that aims to be a professional, objective guiding tool. The consistent emphasis on this one religion throughout the text undermines Beattie's credibility, which is a shame, because she has useful things to say.