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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
This isn't a memoir. It's Madison Beer's journal with a few "Ask Amy" style sections and a handful of journal prompts for the reader. When I hear the word "memoir," I anticipate a narrative-driven account of a person's life, and The Half of It is far from that. She tells us what happened and then deep dives into her feelings about it. Every chapter is so far detached from the actual events of her life, as if the reader should be able to picture everything that happened to her, as if I should already know what she's talking about and just listen to her thoughts about it. The only descriptive story I could actually picture was one of the very last ones where she is shooting the final scene for her "Reckless" music video.
Do I feel sad for what Madison went through and is probably still going through? Absolutely. Reading certain parts of this book truly made me angry at the world for not helping a victim. It made me angry at the music industry for the way it chews up and spits out children with no regard for their health. And it made me angry with the way young women are treated in the US, especially those who have a platform.
I will also argue that Madison poses many thought-provoking ideas in this book. She pushes the reader to think critically about their own mental health and is inspiring in some of the things she says.
Ultimately, though, this book is not for readers. It's written only for her fans. It's written poorly, and is practically begging for a ghost writer to step in and make it good. It lacks any kind of timeline or structure. It's all tell, no show. Most of it belongs on a WordPress blog. But Madison's casual way of describing her struggles with mental health and the trauma she is trying to work through surely is a powerful message to her fans, and anyone else who struggles the same.
Do I feel sad for what Madison went through and is probably still going through? Absolutely. Reading certain parts of this book truly made me angry at the world for not helping a victim. It made me angry at the music industry for the way it chews up and spits out children with no regard for their health. And it made me angry with the way young women are treated in the US, especially those who have a platform.
I will also argue that Madison poses many thought-provoking ideas in this book. She pushes the reader to think critically about their own mental health and is inspiring in some of the things she says.
Ultimately, though, this book is not for readers. It's written only for her fans. It's written poorly, and is practically begging for a ghost writer to step in and make it good. It lacks any kind of timeline or structure. It's all tell, no show. Most of it belongs on a WordPress blog. But Madison's casual way of describing her struggles with mental health and the trauma she is trying to work through surely is a powerful message to her fans, and anyone else who struggles the same.
such a beautiful and wise soul, i want more people to know about her & this book
cant wait to see her live in london (& jann!!!)
cant wait to see her live in london (& jann!!!)
3.5 ⭐️
I read this exactly when I needed it most.. nothing but the utmost respect goes to Miss. Madison. YOU DID IT GIRL
I read this exactly when I needed it most.. nothing but the utmost respect goes to Miss. Madison. YOU DID IT GIRL
quick memoir, felt a little repetitive at times but overall I found it interesting. Definitely did not know a lot about her life and the struggles that come with becoming famous at a young age.
One of the bleakest celebrity books I've read since Robert Enke's biography.
loved how open and vulnerable madison was about her mental health struggles. it’s so inspiring to see how she’s remained strong despite all of the hardships she’s faced.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I love madison and her music is amazing! This book wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be though. It felt more like a book where madison explained cyber bullying and issues of growing up with social media while trying to be famous. She threw in a couple of stories from her own life, but in my option it lacked a personal feel. Madison explained herself at the beginning that she didn’t want to go into a lot of detail about certain things as it’s not something she is willing to share with the public. That fact is totally understandable especially with the way she has been treated by the public, but it made the book as a whole feel less of a story of her life and more of a generic book warning kids that being famous isn’t all that. This also made it quite repetitive as the same examples from her life were used over and over and most of them were only surface level stories as Madison didn’t want to reveal all. If you’re expecting an exclusive from Madison detailing every aspect of her life, then this is not it.
que ganas tengo de ir al concierto!!! no tenía pensado leerme este libro pero cuando me compré las entradas estaba buscando un libro cortito que leerme y dije por qué no, aunque no soy de leerme biografías. y me ha gustado, no ha sido aburrido como pensaba que quizá iba a ser. no sabía mucho de su vida y ahora conozco un poco más, aunque me hubiera gustado también que hablara más de su música en sí o de ciertas canciones. pero ha estado bien y ahora tengo muchas ganas de verla en directo :)
