Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up
Navigating through youth and young adulthood isn't easy, and in Sorry Not Sorry, Naya Rivera shows us that we're not alone in the highs, lows, and in-betweens. Whether it's with love and dating, career and ambition, friends, or gossip, Naya inspires us to follow our own destiny and step over--or plod through--all the crap along the way. After her rise and fall from early childhood stardom, barely eking her way through high school, a brief stint as a Hooters waitress, going through thick and thin with her mom/manager, and resurrecting her acting career as Santana Lopez on Glee, Naya emerged from these experiences with some key life lessons:
Sorry:
- All those times I scrawled "I HATE MY MOM" in my journal. So many moms and teenage daughters don't get along--we just have to realize it's nothing personal on either side.
- At-home highlights and DIY hair extensions. Some things are best left to the experts, and hair dye is one of them.
- Falling in love with the idea of a person, instead of the actual person.
Not Sorry:
- That I don't always get along with everyone. Having people not like you is a risk you have to take to be real, and I'll take that over being fake any day.
- Laughing at the gossip instead of getting upset by it.
- Getting my financial disasters out of the way early--before I was married or had a family--so that the only credit score that I wrecked was my own.
Even with a successful career and a family that she loves more than anything else, Naya says, "There's still a thirteen-year-old girl inside of me making detailed lists of how I can improve, who's never sure of my own self-worth." Sorry Not Sorry is for that thirteen-year-old in all of us.
Reviews (189)
RIP Naya.
Although I’ve never met Naya Rivera her death is hitting me very hard. I just feel that she was taken too early and she had a lot left to do. It’s sad and scary and part of me still thinks it’s not real. I feel for her son, her ex husband, her parents and siblings. I think it’s very courageous of her to use her last breath and bit of strength to make sure her son was ok. Part of me regrets reading this book because theyre are so many references to a long life filled with more children and grandchildren. Its so sad that she will never get to live that life. Reading this book did make me feel closer to her and its very funny and real. Just be aware that you’ll feel some kind of way while reading it considering that she is no longer with us😢
Lovely ❤
I adored reading from her perspective and now finishing when this dramatic, horrific ending happens for her....im just terrified and horrified for her foremost and her family. I adore her, she's BEYOND gorgeous and so incredibly talented and the whit and charm she exudes is wonderful. I cry thinking of what she went thru and now what her family lives with. It's just a nightmare. Much much love to her family.
Good read - her death breaks my heart
Good read. I could not put it down. Her death is sad and breaks my heart and I wanted to know more about her. To read her life story (ups and downs) coupled with her tragic death is heart wrenching. We should all follow our dreams and Naya did that. She kept pressing forward no matter the hurdles she faced as her mom encouraged her when she wanted to throw it all in. We all must LIVE each moment as if it was our last as we never know. Prayers to Naya’s family and son. I too was a small child (5) when my mom tragically died. My mom also saved me (would not let me go on our daily bike ride this specific day). God had a plan. It still breaks my heart 45 years later that my mom tragically died. Naya also saved her son. Continue to nurture, hug, and cover her son;Josey, with the undying love she had for him. Thinking of Naya. Praying for the family.
This book is real!
I found a lot of myself within a lot of moments in this book. Naya Rivera opens herself in a raw way that gains major respect and admiration. She digs deep allowing you into her beautiful and crazy life of being human. This was definitely a page turner with the witty one-liners and great story telling. Her life has so many layers for anyone to relate to. Not only could you see Rivera grow as a human right before your eyes (through her eyes) but this book also gives you the chance to reflect on your own life. This book was written with a lot of love and gratitude which you feel for yourself in the end.
Insightful and fun
I read the whole thing in one sitting. Not at all what I was expecting, but 100% worth it. Ms. Rivera comes across as intelligent, funny, frank, and quite authentic. There's some pretty good gossip (engagement to Big Sean, fights with Lea Michele/Ryan Murphy, etc.) that you can probably snatch from reviews on the typical celebrity websites, but in my opinion you'd be missing out by not reading this thing in its entirety. As someone to whom Glee is very near and dear to my heart, I was of course the most interested in the parts of the book that dealt with that period in her life. And, although she doesn't linger on it nearly as long as I thought she would, there is still plenty here to read. Lots of fun anecdotes, reflections, and a quite sobering/touching passage about the death of Corey Monteith. The parts that weren't about Glee, though, were equally as good: for starters, there's lots of boy drama. She talks openly about issues such as abortion, anorexia, being a minority, and a girl's right to be a whore (yes, you read that right. It's awesome.) I was particularly surprised by her openness about her Christian beliefs; she brings up her relationship with God quite frequently throughout. Not in a preachy way at all. In fact, even though I'm not religious I think it would have been a shame if she hadn't included it. It's clearly a major part of who she is. In summary, the book does an effective job of stripping down the star that you've read about in the tabloids and instead painting a portrait of a living, breathing woman who has experienced joys and sorrows just like anyone else. Why, then, should you read it? For me, it's because whether I like it or not, Naya Rivera became a part of my life when I started watching Glee in 2009: her work, her voice, and her talent have entertained me for countless hours in the last seven years. She was one half of Brittana, which changed countless young queer women's lives forever and opened doors for more (hopefully not-accidental this time) LGBT representation on television. I don't know her at all and I never will, but I care about her, god damn it. If any part of what I said speaks to you, then you should definitely buy this book.
Amazing Read of Life Reflections
“Even in my worst moments, I had to trust that God had a plan for me. I might make mistakes, but He doesn’t.” I have not watched one episode of Glee at all. The years that it aired on TV was my early 20’s where I was all over the place and not stable/able enough to sit down and watch anything. Will I watch it now? Yes, especially after reading her book. Especially after listening to her truth and how she explains her authentic faith in God! I enjoyed reading about her early years of being thrust into the entertainment business at only a few months old, to wincing at her pain when she had to return to a regular life in grade school, to giving up ever acting again, to being open and honest about those few years after high school before the fame as she dodged the sketchy Southern California streets. To getting her life together, fixing up her credit, completing a film course in NYC all by herself away from home and giving acting one more try after her mind was set against it...which led to her big breakthrough. She speaks with genuine love, care and honest reflection on every person/situation she’s ever encountered. To hear her speak on racial issues in 2016 gives you an eerie chill, because of what’s happening in 2020. I love how she dispelled all the rumors and exposed the truth behind the tabloid features regarding her. When you actually hear her side, you are happy for her and admire that she didn’t need to defend herself back then. I’m glad I read her book. I pray for God to always be with her family!
Interesting not overly gossip-y
Purchased before the sad news of her untimely death. Very upsetting to hear that. I like that Naya is honest about some extremely uncomfortable and controversial issues that she has experienced in her life. I also like that she makes it clear she did not hate Lea Michele, and the book is not overly filled with gossip about her time on Glee. What I don't understand is what the heck happened in her marriage. In this book, she seems thoroughly convinced that her husband is the love of her life, and they'd be together forever. Yes, I know she had been arrested for domestic battery, but those charges had been dropped and she had reconciled with her husband. Yet, less than two years after this book, they were divorced. I feel like we will never get the whole story there, but at the time this book was written she seemed very mature and certain that the marriage would last for good. I think what made me sad while reading this was that several times, Naya wrote that it was important to live in the moment and that tomorrow was never guaranteed. Obviously that is something many, many people say, but reading the words in light of recent events, her words seem prophetic.
Not a tell-all, but reassuring at times and very Naya
Like a lot of people, I assumed this book might have been a tell-all, or at least focused a little bit more around Glee. Instead, this book goes back and forth between Naya's struggles after she was a child actor and how she wasn't being casted in anything, financial troubles (some can be relatable like when her credit was garbage, her car was repossessed, though not all her financial troubles are relatable for someone that didn't make a lot of money at one point), having to work a few jobs that she absolutely hated so she could pay off her debt and eat/have a roof over her head, losing a loved one, and boys/men. The part that stuck out the most to me were when Naya talked about how everyone should be a slut at one point in her life. She wasn't actively telling readers to go out and have sex, but was reassuring them that it's alright to just have a lot of sex at one point in your life, just so you can get it out of your system and learn about yourself and what you like during the process. Not many people are willing to talk so openly about that, so it's refreshing to read about sex in a positive light. Also where she talks about her breast implants being for herself as a confidence booster and how it was one of the best decisions she's ever made. I loved how Naya talked about how much she loved Dianna and Cory and gave examples of good times she had with them (when she and Dianna went away to Paris, and when her and Cory shared a friendly kiss when they tried to figure out why they never dated each other). I was a little surprised she didn't mention her friendship with Heather very much, except for saying how she's one of her closest friends and that she did not stick her tongue down her throat during the wedding episode (even explained how to make it seem like they had). Then how she slammed the truth that gossip articles got wrong (like how her and Lea didn't hate each other, but they didn't get along the best, or how she didn't key Mark's car but threw sludge on it--she really regretted dating him, especially after he was charged with possession of child pornography). She also talked about how her engagement to Big Sean was just too fast and he didn't help her with planning it at all and she was fed up with him not caring in the end, especially when Ariana Grande started to hang out with him while they were still together. Then there were parts that she talked about when she dated her husband and how he was the best guy she ever dated and that she was scared/dumb and dumped him because she didn't know what to do with someone so great. I honestly finished this book in about a day and I don't regret purchasing it.
Honestly more than i expected
It’s probably a 4.5 at best. However her honesty and raw truth bumps it up. I see a lot of reviews upset with how she doesn’t “truly” act sorry for her sorry list. However i find it humbling she could tell her truth and own up to her part in every situation. You have to acknowledge the bad to know where you’ve come from and in order to see your growth. I’m guessing those who don’t like her honesty were hoping for more inside to gossip or won’t admit to their own wrong doings. Naya owns her past and shares what keeps her going. God. And for me it hit home. I wish i would have read it while she was still alive. May her family find peace.
Surprisingly Delightful
Wasn't sure what to expect- Naya jumps around a bit here and there with her tales, but still a great read. Glee fans will delight in some stories from the show, but she does a good job of not letting that be the focus of her book, and is interesting enough that I doubt even the biggest Glee fans will care. She genuinely has some interesting stories to tell, touching on a variety of topics people can relate to. My only disappointment was how expensive the book was, considering it's a rather short read! Wish there had been more!
Comments
Post a Comment