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A review by bethreadsandnaps
I Shouldn't Be Telling You This (But I'm Going to Anyway) by Chelsea Devantez
4.5
4.5 stars
For context, I've listened to the author's celebrity memoir podcast for a few years. She can be an acquired taste on the podcast (a bit manic energy, Chelsea's years-long wedding prep was overwhelming and skip-worthy for this low maintenance girl), but her overall message of women empowerment is fantastic. After reading so many celebrity memoirs, she's seen some stuff (her words) and themes in these memoirs: women silenced, eating disorders, domestic abuse, husband managers, societal expectations, switching the narrative, psychic readings, etc.
I have been looking forward to her memoir since she announced it. I was denied on NetGalley (ouch!), so I had to read it the day it came out. Who doesn't want to read a comedy writer and also memoir expert's memoir as soon as possible?
I was so pleased about how she tackled her own memoir: centering the influential women in her life, including her godmother, her drag queen alter ego, and her dermoid ovarian cyst (don't Google image search!) named Shayla. As expected, there was a chapter about her wedding, which I could have skipped, as it was featured SO MUCH on her podcast. But you know what? It's her and makes complete sense. She could have focused on a different theme that included men more, and, had she done that, it would have brought the book down for me.
I wanted to touch on the redacted first chapter and some of the last chapter. Chelsea wanted this memoir to explain some of the tragedy she experienced as a teen/young adult, but during the editing process lawyers came in, and she had to either rewrite those chapters or redact chunks of her book. As she stated in the podcast that was released on the same day as her book (June 4, 2024), late in the game (March 2024) she was forced to make a decision. And as she stated, she went with her gut to redact instead of rewrite. After more thought, I think she's questioning that decision now. But personally, as a reader and fan, I think celebrities and other memoirists ARE silenced through the book process, and the way she goes about it shows the reader how she took a stand for herself. Every other memoirist (and/or ghostwriter) would have rewritten it. I have to applaud Chelsea for her stance.
I think having some context for Chelsea, such as even listening to a few episodes of her podcast, will help. If you're going into this cold, there's a huge amount to take from it, and I think women aged 15-55 will be more of the target audience for this memoir.
I listened to this, and I also have the ebook. I had to have both in case there were pictures. When I scanned through the book, I could only find one picture. So stick with the audio on this one because you're not missing out on seeing pictures, the audiobook has a bonus chapter, and her voice makes it!
For context, I've listened to the author's celebrity memoir podcast for a few years. She can be an acquired taste on the podcast (a bit manic energy, Chelsea's years-long wedding prep was overwhelming and skip-worthy for this low maintenance girl), but her overall message of women empowerment is fantastic. After reading so many celebrity memoirs, she's seen some stuff (her words) and themes in these memoirs: women silenced, eating disorders, domestic abuse, husband managers, societal expectations, switching the narrative, psychic readings, etc.
I have been looking forward to her memoir since she announced it. I was denied on NetGalley (ouch!), so I had to read it the day it came out. Who doesn't want to read a comedy writer and also memoir expert's memoir as soon as possible?
I was so pleased about how she tackled her own memoir: centering the influential women in her life, including her godmother, her drag queen alter ego, and her dermoid ovarian cyst (don't Google image search!) named Shayla. As expected, there was a chapter about her wedding, which I could have skipped, as it was featured SO MUCH on her podcast. But you know what? It's her and makes complete sense. She could have focused on a different theme that included men more, and, had she done that, it would have brought the book down for me.
I wanted to touch on the redacted first chapter and some of the last chapter. Chelsea wanted this memoir to explain some of the tragedy she experienced as a teen/young adult, but during the editing process lawyers came in, and she had to either rewrite those chapters or redact chunks of her book. As she stated in the podcast that was released on the same day as her book (June 4, 2024), late in the game (March 2024) she was forced to make a decision. And as she stated, she went with her gut to redact instead of rewrite. After more thought, I think she's questioning that decision now. But personally, as a reader and fan, I think celebrities and other memoirists ARE silenced through the book process, and the way she goes about it shows the reader how she took a stand for herself. Every other memoirist (and/or ghostwriter) would have rewritten it. I have to applaud Chelsea for her stance.
I think having some context for Chelsea, such as even listening to a few episodes of her podcast, will help. If you're going into this cold, there's a huge amount to take from it, and I think women aged 15-55 will be more of the target audience for this memoir.
I listened to this, and I also have the ebook. I had to have both in case there were pictures. When I scanned through the book, I could only find one picture. So stick with the audio on this one because you're not missing out on seeing pictures, the audiobook has a bonus chapter, and her voice makes it!