A review by wordsofclover
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I listened to this on audiobook narrated by Michelle Williams and highly recommend. I was so connected with listening to this story, and even though I wouldn't say Michelle Williams sounds like Britney, I genuinely did forget it wasn't Britney narrating her own story.
For anyone who ever has had a connection with Britney Spears whether it's listening to her music as a child, coveting the Britney Barbie, experiencing your first concert as a Britney one (The Onyx Hotel which truly mortified my mother thanks to how sexualised it was, which Britney agreed with, haha) and then watching from afar as Britney fell into a very dark place, didn't seem well and eventually the world learned how she had been controlled. I'll be the first to admit as well that I took a step back from following Britney on social media in the last couple of years as I felt she was still someone who needed mental health help, and some of her erratic behaviour on Instagram made me feel uncomfortable. But this book, hearing Britney's story from Britney herself for the first time as really made me look at her differently and I truly admire her for even being able to get up and do another day after everything she has been through, and how she was exploited by pretty much everyone in her life.
While the book does feel a bit short, and there were certain times I would have loved to have spent more time in areas of her life, I also understand Britney maybe not having the right memories or the emotional to spend any longer than she needed to. I think she is someone who was always prone to feeling a lot, possibly an empath, and should have been someone who was always supported professionally with a good therapist who could have helped her more with the hard parts of her career, and her heartbreak over JT which seemed to take a massive toll on her in a way that if anyone suffered like that after a heartbreak, is not a healthy way to deal.
I think what Britney suffered in the conservatorship and how her mother, father and siblings plus her management exploited her was truly disgusting and I never understood the level of this until reading it in this book. I'm so glad that Britney was finally able to speak her truth and lay out how much she was hurting for so long. Her father in particular deserves to rot for what he did, and it was alarming to learn at the very start that locking vulnerable women up was a family tradition.
I was bet into this book, loved it as much as you can 'love' learning about someone's trauma and release from a terrible situation and only wish Britney the best of things from now on and I truly hope she finds the peace and happiness she deserves. And I would also love some new music, won't lie.
For anyone who ever has had a connection with Britney Spears whether it's listening to her music as a child, coveting the Britney Barbie, experiencing your first concert as a Britney one (The Onyx Hotel which truly mortified my mother thanks to how sexualised it was, which Britney agreed with, haha) and then watching from afar as Britney fell into a very dark place, didn't seem well and eventually the world learned how she had been controlled. I'll be the first to admit as well that I took a step back from following Britney on social media in the last couple of years as I felt she was still someone who needed mental health help, and some of her erratic behaviour on Instagram made me feel uncomfortable. But this book, hearing Britney's story from Britney herself for the first time as really made me look at her differently and I truly admire her for even being able to get up and do another day after everything she has been through, and how she was exploited by pretty much everyone in her life.
While the book does feel a bit short, and there were certain times I would have loved to have spent more time in areas of her life, I also understand Britney maybe not having the right memories or the emotional to spend any longer than she needed to. I think she is someone who was always prone to feeling a lot, possibly an empath, and should have been someone who was always supported professionally with a good therapist who could have helped her more with the hard parts of her career, and her heartbreak over JT which seemed to take a massive toll on her in a way that if anyone suffered like that after a heartbreak, is not a healthy way to deal.
I think what Britney suffered in the conservatorship and how her mother, father and siblings plus her management exploited her was truly disgusting and I never understood the level of this until reading it in this book. I'm so glad that Britney was finally able to speak her truth and lay out how much she was hurting for so long. Her father in particular deserves to rot for what he did, and it was alarming to learn at the very start that locking vulnerable women up was a family tradition.
I was bet into this book, loved it as much as you can 'love' learning about someone's trauma and release from a terrible situation and only wish Britney the best of things from now on and I truly hope she finds the peace and happiness she deserves. And I would also love some new music, won't lie.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, and Miscarriage