I feel that it's important to give a disclaimer that I picked up this memoir as someone only very slightly familiar with the author, not as a fan or with any pre-existing knowledge of their life or platform. Maybe that was my mistake going into a celeb memoir, because I think enjoying this book (especially as an audiobook) might be contingent on being familiar with and enjoying JVNs voice and storytelling style. That's really my biggest gripe with this book: it took me about a third of the book just to get settled and be able to follow, and even then I didn't feel a lot of the humor or personality touches landed with me but rather were distracting. It was just very very evident that JVN is not a professional writer or narrator, and I'm not convinced much professional editing was involved either, because the line of discussion was chaotic and jumbled and included so many unannounced time and topic jumps that left me rewinding repeatedly to understand what is going on, and often felt like JVN was surprised by where a sentence went too. I think the best way to set expectations for the delivery in this book is to liken it to a motivational speaker at a middle school that is trying to impart big ideas but with enough entertainment to snag attention and seem relatable and approachable.

That said, I actually do think there are some really great messages included in the book, if the delivery works well enough for you to stick it out to get to them. For as many random stream of consciousness asides as were included, there were so many really serious and heavy topics: bullying, homophobia, CSA, ED, addiction to sex and drugs, sex work, and HIV being among the count. I do really admire JVN as a public figure using his platform to educate and advocate and destigmatize with such an honest first person account, and I think in particular the sections on addiction and HIV were extremely powerful and inspirational. However, not all topics were treated with the same care, and especially CSA and ED I was pretty concerned with the messaging on, and I think warrant readers approaching with caution. There was also a great opportunity to demonstrate the lifelong consequences of childhood bullying, and while JVN very frequently referred to it as a root issue and the lived experience that so many of his actions and decisions hinged on/were caused by, there was unfortunately a disconnect for me because there was so little actual depiction of it. It's just a shame because there was so much potential that could have been realized through a more heavy-handed edit.