an engrabed mome rath reviewed The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
Illuminating in some ways, woefully opaque in others
3 stars
Devoured it in 4 hours (not that it's a very challenging read). The book reads more like a long-form interview than anything else, which means that Britney's charming voice comes through loud and clear, but it also means that the prose is rather basic.
The book definitely illuminates a lot of Britney's thought process throughout her conservatorship and drops a lot of interesting tidbits about her life and career. For a fan, though, much of what she's said has already been stated in various Instagram posts (among other things), and there is very little on anything not concerning the conservatorship. This book is almost solely about her personal life; various mysteries concerning her career (Original Doll, the Make Me video shoot, lipsyncing, etc) are largely left untouched, as is the vast majority of her music career.
The book also becomes more rambling as it progresses; the deeper into the conservatorship …
Devoured it in 4 hours (not that it's a very challenging read). The book reads more like a long-form interview than anything else, which means that Britney's charming voice comes through loud and clear, but it also means that the prose is rather basic.
The book definitely illuminates a lot of Britney's thought process throughout her conservatorship and drops a lot of interesting tidbits about her life and career. For a fan, though, much of what she's said has already been stated in various Instagram posts (among other things), and there is very little on anything not concerning the conservatorship. This book is almost solely about her personal life; various mysteries concerning her career (Original Doll, the Make Me video shoot, lipsyncing, etc) are largely left untouched, as is the vast majority of her music career.
The book also becomes more rambling as it progresses; the deeper into the conservatorship she goes, Britney starts repeating herself more and more. On the one hand, I think it's important that this book be put out now for the purpose of reclaiming the narrative of her life, but as a piece of literature, it definitely would've benefited from Britney being a few more years removed from the conservatorship situation.