The Woman In Me by Britney Spears
My review
3/5 stars
With all the hype around this book, I found myself unable to resist the urge to read it for myself. I decided on audiobook format because, although Britney does not read it herself, Michelle Williams has a lovely voice and it felt like it would be better to hear rather than read on a page.
My main takeaway from this book is that Britney Spears has lived a life filled with pain and challenge that none of us will ever fully be able to appreciate, no matter how much we read about or from her. She has been betrayed by a lot of people in her life who should have been focused on supporting her and protecting her.
What confused me about this book was the tone of the writing. What she writes about is often very emotional and deep, but the tone throughout was very calm, matter of fact and a bit flat. There is a disconnect between what she's writing about and how she's writing about it - I'm not sure if that's because she's unable to let herself get too emotional about it, because there was a ghost writer who missed the emotional mark, or because she's just got to a point where the emotion of it all has been processed. Either way, it left the book lacking something important in my opinion - the emotional connection wasn't there.
I'm glad I read it, and more importantly, I'm glad that she got a chance to use her own voice as she saw fit.
Book blurb
The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candour and humour, Spears’s ground-breaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
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You can buy the book here now. It was published by Simon & Schuster.
For more on the author, you can follow her on Instagram.
