Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you are looking for a memoir in the strictest sense, this is not that book. If you are seeking a book of essays in the sense of argument presentation, again this is not that book. And that’s a good thing, because what this is, as the subtitle states are stories from the accomplished Gabrielle Union, which works out absolutely fine. And these stories run the gamut from the personal to the professional. She tells stories about race, gender, feeling inadequate, hair, colorism, homophobia, Hollywood, sexuality, school, college, step-parenting, marriage, divorce and even rape. She manages to tell these stories with a fearlessness that entertains as well as informs. Like a high-wire act with no safety net. Gabrielle comes across as a very thoughtful, likable, brave and funny woman, one that I think readers would indeed enjoy a glass of wine with. There are of course elements of memoir, as she takes us through her school years growing up in the suburbs of California, one of the few Black girls in her schools of Pleasanton, CA. There are also elements of essay, like the chapter called Mittens which deals with how Blacks are perceived and policed, and how we often go out of our way to make accommodations to those perceptions. In reference to this she says, “Worse, I am told that people don’t want to hear these stories, but the reality is we experience life in a never-ending loop in which we are told that if we just “make it,” we will enjoy the fruits of our labor: assimilation.” But what makes this book special are the stories and the way she tells them. And digesting the stories on the whole, we see her blossom into the confident audacious and vivacious woman she is presently. She wasn’t always the beautiful woman we think of, when we hear the name Gabrielle Union. In fact she describes herself at an early age,“I was so thin that I looked like a black daddy longlegs spider with buckteeth. This is not overly earnest, false-humility celebrity speak, I swear."It is those type of self-deprecating comments along with the willingness to bare it all that portends an air of authenticity. If you are a fan, you will become a bigger fan and if you’re not than surely you will become one after reading these stories from Gabrielle Union. Thanks to Edelweiss and Dey St. books for an advanced ebook. Book drops 10/17/17.