Book review: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Review is also available on my site: https://roxannacross.com/2025/06/24/b...

The audiobook, also available in paperback, hardcover, or Kindle versions on Amazon or your local library, is narrated by the author herself, adding to the audiobook’s personal aspect. Based on Cassie Phillips Let Them and Let Me poems, Robbins turned the book into a “theory” and mass-marketed it. Every serious reader must consider whether Robbins is guilty of plagiarism or if it falls under the spectrum of recycled work. After all, in the publishing industry, nothing new under the sun gets published, right? Authors put their twist on classic tropes, spin their magic, and poof, a book emerges.

Robbins’s Let Them Theory is a classic self-help tool that reminds readers to stop letting others control them. The best quote to sum this up is the following one:

“You’ve wasted so many years being so consumed with other people, their feelings, their thoughts, and what they’re doing. So let this book be your wake-up call; you are in charge.”

The message that Robbins kept spouting in each chapter was the call to “Let Them,” which she repeated insistently, often reducing the message to redundancy. Her intentional way of making it sink into readers’ brains is like the cognitive mantras on positive thinking. The “Let Me” part is on the message’s flip side. Basically, empowering the reader to take action, for example, let your family have crazy political beliefs, let cashiers be slow at the check-out counter, let the dog walker leave poop on the trail, etc. Instead of allowing these situations to dwell and fester, move on or take charge, live, and let live. It’s an age-old message said in different words. Let’s face it: Elsa even sang about it in Frozen. Save yourself 20$ bucks. Listen to the song on repeat a few times and take what you will from it.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the fact that we’ll never stop encountering situations we don’t like and can’t control. Robbins’s advice is simple: Let them happen. Life isn’t fair, but Let Me decide how to adapt to the situation. However, the whole manuscript could have used some editing to tighten and shorten the overall piece, making it more concise.

Robbins’s easygoing nature, frankness, and genuine way of sharing her life experiences and how she applied the “Let Them Theory” to fix her failures and strive to change her life’s outlook were relatable. Without them, her message could have easily been a podcast episode or published as an article. Questionable plagiarism and redundancy aside, Robbins’s personal touches turned this into a palatable 3.5-star listen or read.



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