mandiainslie's review
5.0
There is a special kind of honesty and vulnerability that accompanies an autobiography. No filter had me relive, rethink and reframe some of my own experiences. Perhaps it even lent me some forgiveness for myself. and for that I am eternally grateful.
miked755's review
5.0
Paulina has lived an extraordinary life, and she shares candidly from the good, the bad, and everything in between. Written in essay form, she lets people into her mind in a way that many people would never allow, and it's that vulnerability which makes the story she shares so special.
manda_reads's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I am only aware of who Paulina Porizkova is due to the CBS TV series Beyond the Edge. It was intriguing to learn about her and her life through her memoir.
joelaw's review
2.0
I was in college when Paulina met Ric making his bands’ MTV video so I was intrigued that she had written a book. Well, it’s not very well written. It’s a series of essays, not necessarily in chronological order. I didn’t mind this so much as the writing itself. This book felt like being tossed around in someone’s inner ramblings. Not fun! I think I read about her divorce/will battle at least four times! She uses far too much hyperbole and symbolism; I often had no idea what she’s talking about (what does it mean that some children learn to use the chimney to enter a house and that’s how she loved?). I don’t regret reading this, I learned a few things about Paulina, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
julia_may's review
DNF at 12%. I had no idea who she was prior to this book so had no preconceived notions and I liked her message re beauty and ageing, but.... Whilst I liked her intro, the first few essays I read had a certain tone to them. Increasingly whiny. She keeps saying that she had no choices, things happened to her without her choice in the matter, but that's not really true, is it? Pursuing and staying in the modelling career was a choice, albeit a passive one. Going to a supermarket knowing your husband will be recognized and approached by random strangers is also a choice. Again, a passive one. There's a whiff of victim mentality here that I personally struggle to empathise with, perhaps because I'd gone through some similar situations (being uprooted as a child to a different country, unwanted and inappropriate "attention" from men as a teenager, lacking privacy is a claustrophobic community) in my life so I have a certain bias. So I'm just going to show myself out.
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