A review by jordanenright
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

3.25

I feel for her and everything she’s gone through, truly, but I think the story would have had far more impact had she hired an actual writer for this book. I understand that she wrote the memoir while recovering from extreme trauma, and that it gave her a sense of independence and ownership over her life. I can 100% appreciate that sentiment and the need to tell her own story after so many years of her life not being her own. Unfortunately, the writing was still just extremely choppy, the story pacing was a little all over the place, and I never had a great grasp on how old she was/what year we were in when any particular event happened.
She went from being part of the Mickey Mouse Club to having a live in boyfriend & an abortion within about 30 minutes (on audio) and without any indication as to how much time had passed.
As a millennial girl who grew up on Britney’s music, I thought I might have a better sense of the timeline based on the events of her early career, but that just wasn’t the case. I also, selfishly, wish she had discussed her early work more. I love memoirs, and I love when authors talk about their experience of moments I remember fondly. It creates a sense of connection to the author. It was very disheartening that the primary focus when she wrote about her early career was largely unpleasant, and mostly focused on her familial trauma during that time. Not to take away from her very valid experiences, but it - again, selfishly - would have been nice to hear about the creative process involved in creating the music that defined my childhood in so many ways as well. I absolutely feel that she has a story that needs to be shared with the world, there’s no question about that. It just might have been more impactful had it been told with the help of an experienced writer. 
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