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A review by sheryl_macca
Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
JVN takes us from childhood to Queer Eye S1 in this book with a heavy focus on their twenties. Overall Over The Top is a reflective, interesting and fun read with every JVN-ism you'd expect but in this part of JVN's life they are not the same person who we see on our TV.
Over The Top is, like most celebrity memoirs, not the most well written and very chatty in style but the depth of insight we are given more than makes up for it.
There are sections of the book which are really dark and challenging but JVN goes there without any drama and without their guard up. They are honest, frank and unapologetic. There are lessons to learn and ways to grow from these experiences, JVN doesn't dwell or ask for sympathy. They are simply sharing for the benefit of anyone who needs to hear it and that's a beautiful thing.
The thing I will take away from Over The Top?
We are all made up of many and different parts and we have to accept all of them to be able to love ourselves or another person. Oh and anything can be turned into a figure skating metaphor!
Over The Top is, like most celebrity memoirs, not the most well written and very chatty in style but the depth of insight we are given more than makes up for it.
There are sections of the book which are really dark and challenging but JVN goes there without any drama and without their guard up. They are honest, frank and unapologetic. There are lessons to learn and ways to grow from these experiences, JVN doesn't dwell or ask for sympathy. They are simply sharing for the benefit of anyone who needs to hear it and that's a beautiful thing.
The thing I will take away from Over The Top?
We are all made up of many and different parts and we have to accept all of them to be able to love ourselves or another person. Oh and anything can be turned into a figure skating metaphor!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Dementia