Never finished the book. There was too much name dropping. It read like a book written by someone other than Britney Spears to try and help improve her image. It did not feel authentic at all. Not worth the read. ( )

The fact that men are still having women committed today - and a famous wealthy woman too - is fucking atrocious.
How did no one in her life try to help and free her?
Honestly it’s terrifying.
This was written by Britney, so don’t expect excellent writing. You’re just going to get her side of the story - which features a whole bunch of nasty men and family members abusing her.
And I’m sorry, but if my ex is trash talking me publicly and ruining my reputation and career, you bet your ass I would speak up and air all his dirty laundry and burn his ass to the ground.
When you read this expect to get mad.

I never knew Britney Spears before I read this book. I didn't know the real Britney Spears.

I didn't know Britney Spears well enough before I read this book. And it opened my eyes to so many things I've never seen before.

Britney has been through literal hell. And despite that, she's still one of the kindest people out there. I've never met Britney, and if I ever do, I'll let her know that I respect and admire her for her strength and endurance through the years of abuse she was put through.

Britney's family is full of terrible people who used her for profit.

Once she got famous, her alcoholic father put her in a conservatorship, her mother put out a memoir and went on TV for an interview, Jamie Lynn was a spoilt brat and was ungrateful for what Britney had provided her family, and Britney's brother... I have nothing to say about what he was doing but it was clear that he and Britney didn't have any contact or a good relationship then.

Some of the most heartbreaking moments from this book are right here:

The saddest part to me was that what I always wanted was a dad who would love me as I was—somebody who would say, “I just love you. You could do anything right now. I’d still love you with unconditional love.”

Why did everyone treat me, even when I was a teenager, like I was dangerous?

That was a good time in my life. I was so in love with Justin, just smitten. I don’t know if when you’re younger love’s a different thing, but what Justin and I had was special. He wouldn’t even have to say anything or do anything for me to feel close to him.

Abortion was something I never could have imagined choosing for myself, but given the circumstances, that is what we did. I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.

When I tell you it was painful—I can’t begin to describe it. The pain was unbelievable. I went down to the ground on my knees, holding the toilet. For a long time, I couldn’t move. To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.
Still, they didn’t take me to the hospital. Justin came into the bathroom and lay on the floor with me. At some point he thought maybe music would help, so he got his guitar and he lay there with me, strumming it. I kept crying and sobbing until it was all over. It took hours, and I don’t remember how it ended, but I do, twenty years later, remember the pain of it, and the fear.

I should have seen the breakup coming, but I didn’t.

That’s one thing Justin and Kevin ruined about me. I used to trust people. But after the breakup with Justin and then my divorce, I never really did trust people again.

I became incredibly angry. I think a lot of other women understand this. A friend of mine once said: “If someone took my baby away from me, I would have done a lot more than get a haircut. I would have burned the city to the ground.”

I’m a five-foot-four-inch pop singer who calls everyone “sir” and “ma’am.” They treated me like I was a criminal or predator.

There's a whole lot more than that, but this review will be longer than a Stephen King novel if I keep running my mouth off on quotes and my feelings and opinions.

Britney has been betrayed multiple times by multiple people. She gave her heart to her first boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, and he pretty much coerced her into an abortion when she didn't want to get one. And then after having two children with her husband, Kevin, he suddenly lost interest and began behaving in a toxic manner towards her, going as far as dragging two innocent boys into the situation and trying to take their mother away from them by demanding full custody. He didn't want Britney to see the kids at all. Then, Britney's father, an alcoholic who scared her throughout most of her childhood and didn't show her any fatherly love, put her under a conservatorship, and mentally and emotionally abused her for years, restricting all of her freedoms and not letting her see her son.

During all those years, Britney was going around the world, doing tours and performing for her beloved fans.

None of that money was in her wallet. Her father owned and managed everything, and he had goons working for him that made sure Brtiney's entire life, from her cell phone activity to her diet, lifestyle, location, and hobbies, were controlled.

Britney was treated like a schizophrenic patient. As if she was dangerous and incapable of controlling her thoughts and actions. As if she was a threat to society outside. She couldn't see her children, couldn't date anyone, wasn't even allowed to eat fast food, and was forced to work herself to death, performing for her fans when she wasn't allowed to live the life she worked so hard for throughout her childhood. All the while, her family was using her money to party and have fun. They enjoyed their status as Britney Spears's family.

Her family was presented as the most loving people on the planet, and so was Kevin, the father of her children. No one knew Britney's father was an alcoholic who used to constantly argue with her mother and was a bad father figure to his children. (Or to Brtiney and Bryan, her older brother.) Her mother wrote a memoir and went on TV, promoting the book and making money off of the story while her daughter was suffering. Her sister, Jamie Lynn, was also basking in fame, making herself look like a cool teen star while abusing her sister behind the scenes. Justin Timberlake was that one boy that all the girls drooled over. He got away with cheating on Britney multiple times and making her abort their baby because he didn't want to take responsibility as the father. Kevin was seen as a good dude and a great dad to his kids while he was using them as pawns in his divorce with Brtiney and didn't want her to be a mother to them. Lynne Spears, Brtiney's mother, went and wrote a book. Everyone who abused Brtiney was loved and looked at as idols. And Britney had to bear all the criticism for every act she did that didn't please the public.

This book highlights the abuse Britney faced throughout her entire as a woman. Many young girls seem to think that fame comes with unlimited love and a life of luxury. Think again. Being in Hollywood and being in the spotlight doesn't necessarily add up to living the elusive American Dream.

Brtiney's story told me that behind the scenes, we don't know what's going on. So many celebrities appear to be living the perfect life because they're such good performers and they know how to act in public. They know how to wow the paparazzi and show the cameras their good side. But we don't truly know what happens in the dark. But eventually, the ugly truth that's been covered by darkness will come to light, regardless of how long it takes.

In conclusion, I want to recommend this book to all young women and girls. Please know that this book does go deep into the bad side of being a woman in the entertainment industry. This book is an easy and quick read, is very heart-wrenching and emotional, tells a story in full truth, is raw, and shows us who is behind the Britney Spears we see performing on stages all around the world. It tells us the story of a woman who has been traumatized for most of her life but has fought her way through it because she's a survivor. A warrior.

Thank you for reading this review! 😊 ( )

So incredibly sad, she needed a mother and a therapist and she got the opposite her whole life. This is not well written, and not thoughtful or introspective as you might expect, especially the first half feels like short little answers you'd give for a magazine article or something. But it's still good for her story to be out there, and for us to take compassion and empathy into our observance of anyone in the spotlight. ( )

You know how it's often a bad sign when a blockbuster movie is in production and someone new is brought in to do script re-writes? This slim book had three separate ghostwriters. Three! Finding that out explained a lot.

Look, I'm very glad that Britney Spears has escaped what was clearly an abusive legal conservatorship and that she is now better able to live her life on her own terms, but this is not a well-written book. It didn't feel like I was reading about the traumatic experiences Spears has had, and her reflections on them, so much as a manifestation of that trauma. There's no analytical depth here, but in a way that felt less like Spears was boundary keeping and more that she just doesn't have the emotional maturity needed for true self-reflection. She's a woman in her 40s but she sounds like a teenager. The writing is repetitive and contradictory, and while it's great that Spears feels more capable of sharing her own perspective and experiences, she comes across as a fairly textbook example of an unreliable narrator.

Spears also needs to have some friend around her who can say "Girl, no." Who thought that, after all of the Crazy Britney media narratives of the '00s that this book is trying to refute, it was a good idea for her to publish a memoir in which she says things like "I've always been almost disturbingly empathic. What people are feeling in Nebraska, I can subconsciously feel even though I'm thousands of miles away"? Girl, no.

(Justin Timberlake: Christ, what an asshole.) ( )