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A review by danajoy
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
It feels wrong to give this a rating. This memoir is raw and at times confronting as well as being the bright, inspiring JVN you might have seen on Gay of Thrones or Queer Eye. This is a truly vulnerable vision of his life and all its trauma and triumph.
The audiobook experience was lovely, it sort of feels like you're having a chat. I love that when faced with sharing a particularly difficult part of his life story there is an interlude consisting of a report he wrote as a child. It is an incredible book but there is a lot of pain in here so I'm sure JVN would be ok with me saying, if the discussions of childhood sexual abuse, addiction, self-destructive behaviour or disordered eating are triggering for you it is not just ok but important that you practice self-love and don't retraumatise yourself through this story.
It is fantastic and well worth the read. Thank you Jonathan Van Ness for sharing your story and I hope that it proved that yes, your fans will still love you if they see all your parts.
The audiobook experience was lovely, it sort of feels like you're having a chat. I love that when faced with sharing a particularly difficult part of his life story there is an interlude consisting of a report he wrote as a child. It is an incredible book but there is a lot of pain in here so I'm sure JVN would be ok with me saying, if the discussions of childhood sexual abuse, addiction, self-destructive behaviour or disordered eating are triggering for you it is not just ok but important that you practice self-love and don't retraumatise yourself through this story.
It is fantastic and well worth the read. Thank you Jonathan Van Ness for sharing your story and I hope that it proved that yes, your fans will still love you if they see all your parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Medical content