Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up

I am glad I opted to listen to the audiobook so I could hear the tone and inflection in her voice. Her style of writing feels very much like a conversation with the readers - from the uncensored opinions and anecdotes to the non-linear storytelling - so it wound up being a great match with the audiobook format. The non-linear storytelling wound up being both a pro and a con for me because, while I understand the choice to break the story up into sections the way she did, I had a little trouble fitting all the puzzle pieces of the conversation together in my head, but I think that speaks less about her writing than it does about me.

The section where she spoke about how adulthood comes with reaching the point where you look at your parents and can finally see them as people going through their own problems instead of tyrants out to make your life miserable is something I related to quite a bit, and I am glad that she was able to reach that moment of understanding with her mom after everything.

Overall, the stories and reflections shared in this memoir were interesting and the gimmick of ending each chapter with Sorry and Not Sorry lists is really sweet, but there are topics that are discussed with less sensitivity than should be called for. It would seem that the unfortunate implications she makes while doing so are due to clumsy wording more than intentional malice, but the thoughts still hang there.

In the end, this is a book she wrote to reclaim and reconcile her life story in a way that would hopefully reach the people who needed to hear it so that they would know they're not alone in their experiences, and that's pretty great.

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emmaturley_x's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

Listened to on audiobook and was haunting to hear Naya narrate her life after her death. Was very interesting and sad to hear about the struggles in her life. I didn't know much about her life but was nice to hear her perspective on life as a celebrity behind the scenes.

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nubiarivera's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

3.5

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charlottereadsthings's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

Like many, I know Naya Rivera from her role in the popular TV show Glee. I adored her character on the show and the endless amount of talent that seemed to spew out into every project she did. Sadly, as Glee ended (and despite my constant rewatches) I lost touch with what most of the actors were doing with their lives.

This book was on my library holds wait list for 3 months and finally became available, sadly, after her death. I was on the fence about reading it given that the grief is still fresh but I pushed on so that I could read her words and learn more about her life.

My favourite thing about this book is the honesty. Naya is honest about her experiences in all walks of life. Each chapter ends with a summary of things she's sorry for based on what she's discussed, and followed up by a summary of things she's not sorry for because, even though it might have been akin to a car crash, she still learned a lot of things along the way. She's also reserved, having moments where she actively won't rise to bait set out by paparazzi and when talking about feuds, refusing to use her book as an opportunity to trash talk.

My time spent reading this book flew by because her words are so easy to read and it felt like just sitting and listening to someone tell their life story. It was heartbreaking hearing her talk about planning on living a long life and her plans for the future when her son grows up, knowing that isn't going to happen. I miss her greatly.

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