I had such high hopes for this memoir. I went to the bookstore and purchased it on the day it was released. I pushed back all the other books I had scheduled to read, and got right into. Unfortunately, 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 did not measure up to my expectations.
I can always tell when I’ve read a great celebrity memoir because I end the book feeling like I’ve just had a long conversation with a friend. I feel like I’ve come to know and like the celebrity more than before. I also get a slight sense of melancholy when the memoir comes to an end. I felt none of these things upon the completion of this book. I don’t know Shaunie anymore today than I did before completing her book. And instead I liking her more, I actually like her less.
Shaunie starts by saying there are many different versions of her. But to me all the Shaunie’s seem the same, they are just in different situations. The Shaunie in this memoir is the same standoffish, self-serving, and disconnected Shaunie I’ve seen weekly on the reality series 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴.
Let me give you an example. In a chapter titled, 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴, she talks about colorism and she states how it’s not popular to be a light-skinned person in this country because of the BLM movement! 🤯WHAAAATTT! Shaunie you have got to be kidding me! Are you serious???? This is the most self-serving bull💩 I’ve ever read from a black woman. Reading her opinion really pissed me off! But wait, it gets worse! She then has the audacity to talk about a video shared by a comedian celebrating the beauty of black women. In the video, the comedian celebrates the beauty of dark-skinned black women. He loves on my black coffee, no sugar, no cream sistas (shoutout to the late great Heavy D #RIP). And let me tell you, Shaunie and her friends did not like it at all. She had the nerve to say it’s reverse colorism. And that light skin is not the thing anymore! All because a man posted a video that did not display light-skinned women. Because she’s not the center of attention, it’s reverse colorism! Girl bye! I found her reaction to the video offensive! Why can’t dark skin beauty be celebrated without Shaunie and her friends feeling as if it’s rejecting them? Their views are no different than the ignorant people who believe BLM insinuates WL don’t matter. It’s ludicrous. This is a clear example of how self-centered Shaunie really is. It displays how she only views the world through her privileged tinted Gucci glasses. I could go on and on about this but I digress😒.
There was a portion of the book that did resonate with me. I felt her when she talked about the past. The “good days, the innocent days when summers felt endless”. These were the days before her father passed away, before she got divorced, and before all her kids grew up and moved out. I understood her feelings because I feel the same way. I also miss the days of raising young children with a house full of family and love.
The chapter in which she appeared to be the most vulnerable was chapter thirteen. In it she writes about her father and his health issues leading up to his death. I applaud her attempt at going below the surface. Although it wasn’t a complete success, I give her an A for effort.
Evelyn Lozada and Jackie Christie are the only Basketball Wives Shaunie mentions by name. She did talk about others, but for legal reasons I’m sure, no other names were mentioned.
The most interesting fun fact I learned was that Shaq is not the biological father of her oldest son Myles. Myles was two years old when Shaunie and Shaq met. I had no clue.
Overall, I believe the purpose writing a memoir is to allow your supporters to get to know a side of you they’ve never seen before. It requires a willingness to be open and vulnerable. A great memoir demands the author to go deep, uncovering parts of their emotions that may have been buried even to themselves. Unfortunately, that did not happen in this memoir. And for that reason, I had to give it 3⭐️s.
But like I always say, if you have this book on your TBR, please continue to read it! Just because it wasn’t for me, does not mean it’s not for you.