I appreciate what Mr. Chapman discusses within his book. Having heard about the "Love Language" books, I had never read them, as they were mainly directed towards married couples or parents. Why should I - as a single woman - want to wade through yet another book dedicated to people who are in a stage of life that I was not, but desired to obtain and yet could not?
That being said, I was very excited that Mr. Chapman decided to address Christian Singles. However, I was severely disappointed with the book over all. While he does an excellent job of explaining the different love languages, most of the scenarios seem to be taken from his "married", "teen", and "children" books. There is a plethora of examples of "how to fix your relationship" when dating, but very few options for singles who are NOT in a relationship, no matter how much they desire it! If I had picked up this book 6 months ago, before I was in a relationship, I would have thrown it across the room in disgust.
It does NOT give singles methods of expressing love in a Godly way - as Mr. Chapman leads the reader to believe in the introduction to his book regarding singles, widows, divorcees, or single parents - instead focuses on singles who have a significant other, a two instances of familial relationships (parents & child/brother & brother), and a few instances of parents relating to their children.
I'm sorry, Mr. Chapman. As someone who has been single (with absolutely no prospects for most of my 29 years of life)I feel gypped. Cheated. Overlooked. Like you put a finger-tip band aid on a hemorrhaging severed limb. From someone who is dedicated to showing the importance of communicating love, I sure DON'T feel loved.(Get the idea yet?! I sincerely hope so!) I felt like your editors told you "You know, there's a good market for Single Christians out there. Put out a Love Languages book for them." and then you cobbled together a few stories from discussions with "singles in a relationship" that you met during your pre-marital counseling or conferences and then sections of all your other books. This gave you a "book for singles" that you could market. I feel that this is not directed to "singles". What is a single, Christian girl/guy supposed to do? Singles desire love just like anyone else. In reading the introduction to your book, I felt hope. But by the end, I was disgusted.
I WILL NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANY OF MY SINGLE FRIENDS!!! By this I mean all those who desire relationships but are not in them (not for lack of trying), not currently wanting to be in a relationship, or widows, or those content with their singleness, nor single parents!!! Why waste the time? We would be better off getting the traditional "Love Languages" book, since we would not feel so let down at the end: after all, Singles ought to be used to applying "advice" from books dedicated to those in walks of life that are different from where they are and to "buck up" and "apply what you can where you can", right.

Sometimes with this sort of book, the advice seems "airy-fairy" or unrealistic to me. However the love languages concept resonated with me,. I was able to see myself reflected. Even more significantly, I had a potentially difficult conversation coming up and this caused me to stop and rethink my approach and think that is the true mark of success. The book was able to apply to my life, and in a positive way.

I skipped a few chapters at the end because I didn't need things like "love languages for single parents" etc... Anyway, the gist of it was interesting and I could see where he was coming from with the love languages. I found out what mine were, if you buy into that sort of thing, and I guess I can apply it to future dating but IDK. There was so much hype around this book that I kind of expected more.

And also, I didn't enjoy all the religious sermons and undertones he snuck into the book.

This is a great, easy read for anyone in a committed relationship...and hopefully your significant other will read it as well. The narrative is simple and concise. The examples are plentiful. The message is clear. The book is well documented, and the point is simple. I enjoyed this book and recommend it...particularly because it's short and easy to digest.

I don’t write reviews. But this needs to be said. If this book was written by a different author it would probably be a 4 or 5 star read. The concept is great—I’ve read articles about it and used it in my own life and even taught it to kids I counsel. I wanted to read the book to gain a deeper understanding and all I learned is that this book is PROBLEMATIC to say the least.

1) The author cannot refrain from pushing his Christian agenda any chance he gets. He quotes the Bible every chapter and even turns things into a Christian issue when they don’t have to be. For example, he writes, “Their lives have been scarred by physical or sexual abuse when they were children or teenagers. For these individuals, Christian counseling offers the most effective means of healing the memories of past abuse.” Did “Christian” really need to be added there? So Jewish, Muslim, atheist, or other non-Christian individuals who seek counseling can never heal as well as those who receive help from Christian counselors?? What about myself and other counselors who work in schools and therefore cannot use religion in our counseling even if we wanted to? Can we not help our students heal from their trauma as effectively?? So unbelievably unnecessary...this concept can easily apply to all relationships and you’re pushing people away for no reason, sir.

2) CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE VICTIM BLAMING??!? There were hints of it all throughout but I wanted to chuck my book across the room when I read this: “Some single adults are so desperate for emotional love that they allow themselves to be treated as sexual objects rather than persons. Again, I would encourage such individuals to seek individual counseling to gain the emotional energy and self-respect to stop abusive behavior.” I MEANNNNNNN...he’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s saying the victims are to blame and THEY’RE the ones who need to fix themselves. I can’t...

3) I expected this to be pretty heteronormative, most books about relationships are, but usually the author will at least say they’re writing from a heteronormative perspective but the principles can apply to anyone. NOPE...NOT THIS GUY! In fact, he stresses the definition of dating as being with a “person of the opposite sex” so many times that he HAS to be making a point. Likely about not only his disapproval of same-sex dating couples but about trans people as well. Here’s the kicker: “God made us male and female, and it is His desire that we relate to each other as fellow creatures who share His image.” There is absolutely NO reason to include that sentence other than to make queer people uncomfortable. BOY BYE.

Again, the concept of love languages is fantastic. Just don’t read about it from this man. Find some articles online, take the quiz there, and stay far away from this 1950s propaganda disguised as modern dating advice (because it “includes a section on the pros and cons of online dating!” Wow so modern and forward! Barf.)

Fantastic! This book can help improve all the relationships in your life. Gary Chapman helps you learn how to spot other peoples' love languages (Acts of Service, Quality Time, Giving gifts, Physical Touch, and Words of Affirmation), and learn how to express love to them by using their love language. He also helps you realize what your own love language(s) may be. You can take the test here - http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/ -- to see what your love language is!

This was an interesting way to look at relationships and the way to love one's partner. Could have done without the religious references, but still good.

A guide/ manual to long lasting love in relationships. Love, just as fire, needs constant looking after, or else it fades.

This is an awesome book to help people not only have more meaningful and loving romantic relationships, but relationships in all areas (friends, family, children, etc). This is a MUST read for everyone. And it's less than 250 pages, so why not?

I first read this book a few years ago and I found it to be life changing. I started reading it again just to remind myself of the concepts of the book. There are 5 love languages: 1. words of affirmation 2. Receiving gifts 3. Acts of service 4. Physical Touch 5. quality time. My primary love language is quality time followed by receiving gifts. Understanding the 5 love languages actually made me understand people better (as well as myself) and to be able to express love in a way that makes them feel more loved. I think this is one of those books that the whole world should read!

One of the most incredible books I have read. I always had an idea of what my love language and reading this book confirmed that. I also found out that you should try and discover the love language of your friends and family so that you can respond appropriately to them and give them your love language.

I picked this up at a thrift store and thought it might would work well for character development for my stories. However, after reading into just the first chapter, I grabbed out a notebook and pencil for me to take notes for myself. The "Five Love Languages" explores five common ways that most people express love: quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, physical touch. I have known about the five love languages for several years, but reading the book helped me to analyze how it really does help show love to others--and how to do so specifically.

I know that after reading any personality book, you tend to see those traits explored in everyone. I would say that five love languages has a Christian backbone, but the book itself was not an exploration of Scriptures but more of a human analysis. There were Scripture verses shared, but it wasn't the emphasis of the book. At the same time, I do think that the principles shared are Scriptural--such as looking out for others' needs, and not for only yourself.

Though this was written for singles, I felt a heavy lean toward "singles and dating, or wanting to date." While some of the information given was solid, I don't quite agree with where Mr. Chapman stands with dating (such as "date around so you know what personality will fit with you").

So, all-in-all, this was a book that I could filter out some things I disagreed with yet glean a lot of good from.