ccarn 's review for:

Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire by Ashley Spencer

3.5

challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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Reading this after "i'm glad my mom died" was very interesting. Being able to compare Nickelodeon VS Disney. Seeing investigative journalism/interviews VS a memoir. Largely hearing from people in positions of power(producers, etc)/adults/information from interviews conducted with a different context VS J's candidness. It made me read all of this with a sometimes skeptical lens when these adults talked about how healthy everything was for the kids while also talking about industry work-arounds for child labour laws, etc.

The book wasn't what I expected. It was largely focused on the industry background but then steadily became more about the personal struggles of the child actors. Those topics were largely dealt with delicately but I felt that the book was a bit unfocused? It was a lot of business focus for social and emotional focus, but too much social and emotional focus for a business book?

That said... this is a read post-concussion. Maybe it's me. Either way,. interesting read.