Mayci Neeley - Told you So
In Told You So, Mayci Neeley—known to reality TV audiences from The Secret Life of Mormon Wives—offers a candid account of growing up within the rigid structure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and its stark collision with the realities of modern adulthood. A tennis prodigy raised in an affluent, tightly knit community, Neeley seems destined for the traditional arc expected of young Mormon women: early marriage, motherhood, and quiet devotion. Instead, her journey leads her through trauma, domestic violence, and the kind of moral reckoning her faith conditioned her to avoid.
As a student at Brigham Young University, Neeley finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship, and later faces the stigma of an unplanned pregnancy. Within a belief system that places premarital sex just below murder on its hierarchy of sin, her experience becomes not only a personal crisis but a spiritual minefield. Rather than finding refuge in the institution that shaped her, she encounters silence, shame, and isolation.
Yet, to me, the memoir’s greatest strength lies not in its critique of Mormon orthodoxy but in Neeley’s unflinching resilience. I found it refreshing that her story isn’t the typical narrative of victimhood or rebellion. Instead, she writes with grace about the slow, painful work of reclaiming agency and becoming the breadwinner in her family—first as a young mother healing from trauma, then as a content creator building a new life in a public spotlight she never anticipated. Her rise as a social media figure and reality television personality may seem an unlikely outcome, but for Neeley, it represents a hard-won autonomy.
Told You So also offers a window into the lived experience of contemporary Mormon womanhood—a subject often simplified in public discourse. Neeley’s reflections on navigating college life, where alcohol, coffee, and sexuality are taboo, are both revealing and deeply humanizing for readers outside of the faith.
Reading Told You So, I was struck not just by the weight of what Neeley has endured, but by how human her story feels. This isn’t a memoir written to shock or indict—though there is plenty here that’s unsettling—it’s written to connect. Neeley’s voice stayed with me long after I turned the last page.
Out October 7th, 2025.
In gratitude to Simon & Schuster for the much appreciated Advance Reader’s Copy.
