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hayleyvem's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Grief, and Homophobia
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
celtic67's review against another edition
3.0
A reasonable memoir of growing up friends and forming Wham
bargainsleuth's review against another edition
4.0
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I was eleven years old when I first heard Wham! and fell for them completely. I thought they were going to be the next Beatles. And then, just like that, they were gone. But while they were around, their music was a big part of my life. So reading about Andrew and George's childhood relationship that turned in to one of pop's biggest phenomenons of the mid-1980's was a treat.
This book is not great literature, but a mostly fun read about pop stardom. Ridgeley repeatedly acknowledges George Michael's immense talent as a singer and a songwriter. This whole book reads like a love letter to a friend.
As for the negatives of the book, there's a lot of shallowness of the detailed descriptions of who wore what and when, and spending too much time talking about Michael's hair, but after all, this was the 1980's and the decade of excess and superficiality, so it works.
The only thing I wished for was more knowledge of how the relationship between these two school chums weathered in light of Michael's immense success and Ridgeley's several failed attempts at careers.
I was eleven years old when I first heard Wham! and fell for them completely. I thought they were going to be the next Beatles. And then, just like that, they were gone. But while they were around, their music was a big part of my life. So reading about Andrew and George's childhood relationship that turned in to one of pop's biggest phenomenons of the mid-1980's was a treat.
This book is not great literature, but a mostly fun read about pop stardom. Ridgeley repeatedly acknowledges George Michael's immense talent as a singer and a songwriter. This whole book reads like a love letter to a friend.
As for the negatives of the book, there's a lot of shallowness of the detailed descriptions of who wore what and when, and spending too much time talking about Michael's hair, but after all, this was the 1980's and the decade of excess and superficiality, so it works.
The only thing I wished for was more knowledge of how the relationship between these two school chums weathered in light of Michael's immense success and Ridgeley's several failed attempts at careers.
pbraue13's review against another edition
4.0
A sweet and touching memoir that is honestly more of a tribute to Ridgely’s friendship and partnership with his best friend George Michael in their group, Wham! George Michael was one of my idols as a teenager and reading this took me way too long to get to and I’m glad I finally sat down to read it. The only flaw I can say I find with this book is that it’s too short and skips over George’s whole solo career (similar critique I had to the documentary about Wham! that released this year) and Andrew’s feelings about it. Otherwise, a lovely, fun, and fast read.
3.5/5 stars!
3.5/5 stars!
dallonwrites's review against another edition
i dont critically rate memoirs but i will say it was a nice quick read and, most interestingly to me, the part that was most engaging + where andrew seemed the most engaged as a writer was the stuff before wham! and just telling the origin of their friendship. the wham! part had some interesting details and reflections but overall just felt like an outline of the era hitting all the detail beats a fan would want to know. there’s more i would have liked to have read about but i really think he just wanted to talk about his friend lol. very sweet tribute in that sense
uncle_dunc's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.25
I've always enjoyed Wham! and George Michael, but reading this brought a whole new level of appreciation to his music and how he got to the legendary status he was. The personal account of him and his life from not only his band mate, but his best friend, was a lovely perspective. RIP big time.
kiki_tyler's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Fun and warm
mousecroghan's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Wham! and George Michael and was devastated by his death nearly 3 years ago. I've not cried so much reading a book since Love Story. It's only now given me some sort of closure. Which I think is what Andy intended. An homage to Yog and their fans. Beautiful