Amy Kannel's Reviews > The Woman in Me

The fact that this was voted Best Memoir/Autobiography for the Goodreads Choice Awards last year makes me despair for humanity.

I can't explain to you how much I loathed Britney Spears's music when we were in high school (we are the same age)...I haven't paid much attention to her since. Listening to this did transform a lot of my judgment into pity. I was stunned at how her family abused and exploited her even as an adult (though I'd be lying if I didn't also wonder at times, as I was listening, how far her story can really be trusted--not that her parents seem remotely trustworthy, but she also doesn't seem super stable or mature).

After I finished the book I went back and looked up some of her music. I didn't know what any of it really sounded like except for the first couple of hit singles from the late 90s. And...YIKES. I don't understand how she became such a megastar. It's really perplexing (and honestly disturbing) how someone can simultaneously be so childish and also so sexualized.

I'm glad she's free now and I'm glad she had the opportunity to tell her side of the story after so many years. But...I don't know what else to say except "yikes."