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A review by skyhazzard
Over the Influence by Joanna "JoJo" Levesque
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Jojo has one of those voices that just sticks with you. I remember loving her songs when I was younger and then when I got older I wonder what happened to her, why we hadn’t heard anything new from her in so long and then learned about the troubles she’d had with her record label.
She really got the raw end of that deal and was just being yanked around for so many years. As someone who sounded so driven and had a will to succeed I can see how that whole situation would take a beating on her mental health. She had the desire but was being held back and restrained and despite it being because of other people’s actions her mind twisted it into thinking she wasn’t doing things right or other people new better. Not to mention that they wanted to mold her into an image that wasn’t authentically her. It does pain me a little that some of my favorite songs of hers are the ones she disliked the most (but girl you gotta admit you sang the hell out of those songs!).
I really felt like I learned a lot about her life through this book. She did a really good job at setting the scene. And can I just say I think her mom did the best she could do at trying to take care of her when she signed up for this business. She was dealing with her own issues but it sounded like if she didn’t vibe with someone or felt like they were trying to push something she did her best to protect her despite not knowing what she was doing. I know that ended up causing a lot of friction between Joanna and her mother to which her mother leaned back into her own addictions to deal with her pushing her away but I felt for her too. Especially as at one point her record label tried to pit her mom against her dad for custody just cause they felt like he’d be easier and more of a pushover to deal with.
I’m glad to have learned more about Jojo in the early years but I’m more glad to have learned about Joanna the person behind the Jojo image. I wish Joanna nothing but the best and hope she gets to do the kind of music she wants her way and on her terms.
She really got the raw end of that deal and was just being yanked around for so many years. As someone who sounded so driven and had a will to succeed I can see how that whole situation would take a beating on her mental health. She had the desire but was being held back and restrained and despite it being because of other people’s actions her mind twisted it into thinking she wasn’t doing things right or other people new better. Not to mention that they wanted to mold her into an image that wasn’t authentically her. It does pain me a little that some of my favorite songs of hers are the ones she disliked the most (but girl you gotta admit you sang the hell out of those songs!).
I really felt like I learned a lot about her life through this book. She did a really good job at setting the scene. And can I just say I think her mom did the best she could do at trying to take care of her when she signed up for this business. She was dealing with her own issues but it sounded like if she didn’t vibe with someone or felt like they were trying to push something she did her best to protect her despite not knowing what she was doing. I know that ended up causing a lot of friction between Joanna and her mother to which her mother leaned back into her own addictions to deal with her pushing her away but I felt for her too. Especially as at one point her record label tried to pit her mom against her dad for custody just cause they felt like he’d be easier and more of a pushover to deal with.
I’m glad to have learned more about Jojo in the early years but I’m more glad to have learned about Joanna the person behind the Jojo image. I wish Joanna nothing but the best and hope she gets to do the kind of music she wants her way and on her terms.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Car accident