Born to Fly

by Sara Evans, Cindy Coloma (With)

Discover country music star Sara Evans’s inspirational story about her rise to stardom, her roundabout path to love, and how her faith brings daily joy no matter the circumstances.

Sara Evans—a Billboard, ACM, and CMA Award–winning country music star who’s been named one of People’s “50 Most Beautiful People” and competed on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars—has been inspiring fans throughout her successful music career.

In this powerful, personal, and often humorous book, Sara opens up and shares stories from her career, describing what it’s like living in the spotlight and how her faith keeps her strong. She writes about overcoming life’s most challenging experiences, from a childhood accident that nearly took her life, to the loss she experienced when her parents divorced, and from her own painful and very public divorce, to finding incredible love when she least expected it with former pro quarterback-turned-sportscaster Jay Barker. Now, after over a decade of marriage, Sara and Jay’s blended family of nine is thriving, filling her life with focus and meaning.

As she weaves the narrative of her life, Sara candidly reveals the things that are most important to her and her family now, her favorite tips about staying true to herself and her faith, knowing when to ask for help, abandoning perfectionism, and the importance of a strong support group of friends and family. Fans old and new will enjoy this inspiring, heartfelt book.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Music, Audiobook

211 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

Sara Evans is an American multi-platinum country music recording artist and songwriter. She was named female vocalist of the year in 2006 by the Academy of Country Music and was once awarded video of the year from the Country Music Association. She and her three children live in Birmingham, Alabama with former pro quarterback-turned-sportscaster Jay Barker, whom she married in 2008.

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was keen on reading this as a big fan of Sara’s music, and it was overall a good read. I think she could have benefited from having an editor as I found the writing to be filled with poor grammar. I wish she had gone into more detail about her albums and other career details. Most of it comes across as advice on how to be a good Christian, mother, wife etc. In that sense it is preachy. When I read an autobiography I am not looking for as much advice as she offers here. She comes across as preachy and I found myself skipping entire chapters.

[Karina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of evil out there in the world. There always has been, but today it seems really dark. There are idea being pushed on us that to me are the pits of hell. One of the ways I have learned to de-stress when I feel like the world is going crazy, is to slow down a little and focus on my home and my family. And also pray. (PG 159)

I liked Sara Evans. I went into this not knowing anything about her but I have respect for her and how she takes care of her family and how much God means to her. Her stories were interesting in the beginning and I enjoyed the young Sara + family life. I think it's hard to be a Christian in Hollywood/music industry. It's almost like a target on your back as John Rich has commented recently.

I liked it and it was short but the other reviewers weren’t lying about the second preachy half. I want a tell-all memoir not a choose-a-few stories memoir.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many reviews of this book, I found the first half very good and interesting. I loved the antidotes of Sara’s childhood and her honesty about her feelings about her dad and her parent’s divorce. The second part of the book seemed to jump around chronologically. It also got preachy and sanctimonious so at times, for me, it was a little hard to swallow. While I enjoyed reading about Sara’s life, I did not especially enjoy the second half of the book and found myself skipping and skimming most of it.

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know this looks like a memoir and is billed as a memoir, but it isn't really a memoir. It's more of an instruction manual with Evans telling readers how to live their life, deal with stepkids, be married with a few interesting life examples, and occasionally some bad business and parenting advice thrown in for good measure.
I'm a fan of Sara Evans' music. Her album, Restless, really spoke to me at a particular time in my life. As a fan of her music and not really caring about her personal life, I hoped for some information on her song writing, where her inspiration comes from, maybe how some of her personal struggles (including her nasty divorce from husband #1) influenced her creative career. You won't get any of that here. I'm still a fan of Evans' music and plan to keep listening. I might even go to a concert. This "memoir" didn't leave me with a good impression of her personally.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with many of the reviews here that the tone of the book was very preachy and condescending at times. I was especially offended by the part where she says she judges women who use paper plates at dinner time. As a Mom who lives in a small home with no dishwasher, it was simply a huge time saver for me. And my kids did not suffer because of it. She's entitled to her opinion , of course but I don't agree. I'm a huge fan of Sara's music and have seen her multiple times in concert. I'm still a fan, just not of her book. Sorry, Sara!

[Mediaman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn't much of a memoir--it's mostly parenting advice, complaining about radio stations not playing female country artists, and verbalizing anxiety. And while I admire Sara Evans' Christian faith and her claims about trusting God, she spends a lot of the book worrying about everything or not accepting her circumstances.

She ultimately blames most of her problems on her childhood accident when she was hit by a car, as well as her parents' divorce, and what she calls PTSD. What I'm more interested in is her first marriage, her famously splitting from her husband in the middle of Dancing With The Stars, and insights into the music business. Unfortunately there's nothing in this book that I was looking for. She barely mentions DWTS, hardly mentions anything about the music business beyond claims of sexism in radio (without much evidence), and must be legally bound to not discuss her first marriage because she avoids it.

There's no depth to anything in the book except when she wants to spout advice about step-parenting and being a Christian who doesn't want to follow anyone's rules. I found myself disagreeing with many of her conclusions, thought she gave some really bad parenting advice, relied too much on making sexual stereotypes, and had really simplistic views of Christianity with some bad doctrine. She's not a person I would ever take advice from and she misused this book--instead of sharing deep stories and drawing conclusions about how she has grown or changed she wastes most of it rambling and rebelling. While she may have been "born to fly" as a singer, this memoir never gets off the ground.

[Kev Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading, I would say that the music of Sara Evans (much of it written by her) is the best form of her biography. She is very talented as a singer and songwriter. I'm not sure if I would classify this book in the genre of autobiography or memoir, however. Although there are a few stories from her youth and her career as a country singer, there is just as much (or more) advice from Sara on parenting and relationships. As a reader, even though I agree with Sara on some of her points, that's just not what I was looking for here. In several places, it felt like the reader was being chastised. I think some may rate this book poorly as a result. This isn't a biography in the traditional sense.

The ghost writer did an excellent job of preserving the tone of the book in Sara's voice. The text is not rigid. It is conversational. It seems like Sara is right there reading it aloud. There are a lot of instances where all caps, superlatives, and/or multiple exclamation points are used to dramatize the text. That's not usually seen in formal writing. She shares several of her pet peeves as well. In many ways, this was a more insightful read than a traditional autobiography. The reader really gets a sense of who Sara is behind the scenes.

As I was reading, I couldn't help but think of Anne Lamott's quote about writing. She said, "if people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better." In this book, Sara takes a few shots at people that she's had trouble with, including the radio industry, her exes, the creators of a weight-loss program she disagrees with, and the contractors that worked on a house she bought. But she doesn't call out anyone by name. It reminded me of when a couple splits up, and one person cuts the other person's face out of all the family pictures, but keeps the pictures. There's no doubt about who the specific people were in the story, and it draws attention to the one who did the cutting. I might have left at least some of those parts out altogether. It felt awkward as a reader.

If I had to choose between this book and Sara's new cover album, I would buy her album, and I would give it five stars. The book is insightful, but Sara's music is outstanding.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Antonio Martinez · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am highly disappointed in this book. The summary did not disclose the fact that Sara was going to be so judgmental and give parenting advice nor the fact that she states several times how if you do XYZ in your parenting, you’re doing it wrong.

The book summary discussed how we would learn about how she became a star, her divorce, her remarriage to QB Barker and a near life threatening event. Though the book did have those parts in it, majority of the book was about Sara’s judgmental mindset and her imposing her beliefs on parenting to the readers. I wasn’t prepared for it and disliked the book.

[Kyra Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely love Sara Evans’ music, But I am so sorry I read this book. She is very judgmental, self-centered, and she does not appear to be very humble. I am glad that I borrowed a book from the library and did not pay money for this. This has the potential to be a great book, and the preachy tone just ruined it for me. She probably is a very nice person, but she does not come across that way in this book.

[Alison Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Sara Evans-was neat to hear about her childhood. I wished she would have talked more about life with her blended family, but she didn’t get into it much.
Interestingly, after finishing the book I found out she and her second husband whom she raves about in the book are recently divorced🤦🏼‍♀️

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adult nonfiction memoir. I love Sara Evans' music so as soon as I saw her memoir, I put it on hold at the library. This was an interesting look into how she became the country star she's known for. It is not a linear biography, but does have plenty of info about her childhood, starting off in Nashville, and life with her husband and their blended family of 7 kids. (She is noticeably short on details about her ill-fated first marriage, other than she was on the road a lot and usually took the kids with her. Her first husband does not seem to play much of a role in the lives of their three children). The book was conversational in tone and a fairly quick read. Some of her off-handed comments rubbed me the wrong way, but I 100% agree with her on pregnancy-- it's a rough time when there is outward pressure to be overjoyed when you are not in control of how you look or feel physically. It was interesting to see behind the scenes of the music industry-- what goes into a single being played on the radio for example, and also hear the backstory behind some of her hit songs. This book really made me want to crank up some 90s/ early 2000s country music and listen to some of the powerful country women I grew up listening to.

[Noelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about the life of Sara Evans. It’s always interesting to hear about the challenges that famous individuals overcome on their journey. We often forget that they go through hardships and trying times just like the rest of us. I was very interested in the first half of the book, as I learned about her childhood, her family dynamics and her ability to persevere through some very difficult times. However, throughout the book and mostly during the second half of the book, the author spent a lot of time giving advice - especially in the area of relationships, raising families and how to treat other people. I wasn’t really interested in any of that even though some of it I agreed with. It just struck me as condescending and I don’t usually read memoirs to seek advice on topics. I’d like to learn from the lives of people and take away my own lessons. Good book overall, I was just not expecting the format in which it was delivered.

[W. Whalin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Insightful Memoir

Like any successful musician or artist, Sara Evans was not an overnight success. BORN TO FLY is her transparent and personal story about her life. I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I learned a great deal from the experience. Evans has made her share of mistakes and poor choices but also been determined and continually focused on her music –yet also on her family. I loved the stories about how she takes her children on the road and builds boundaries and discipline into their lives. This book is loaded with insights for every reader (or as in my case listener). I highly recommend BORN TO FLY.

W. Terry Whalin is an editor and the author of more than 60 books including his latest 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed .

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born to Fly: A Memoir

By: Sara Evans
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sara let’s you in on her childhood. The closeness of her and her siblings and the divorce of her parents. She was in an accident, which had her in casts for a year.
🎵
Her faith is very important to her and she talks about it throughout her book. After an interview with one of musics top producers she lands a music contract for 7 albums. Sadly country radio radio was not playing her music saying it was “too country” after releasing her first album Three Chords and the Truth!
🎵
Her follow up album gave her her first number one hit “No Place That Far”. Radio was unkind to her music at first. After this hit she was the radio and her career took off.
🎵
During a performance at Wildhorse Saloon after the birth of her first child she received news the label wanted her to loose weight. She was appalled, which frankly she should be.
🎵
She looked into a new producer to produce her album Born to Fly. This album skyrocketed her career. She got the drummer she wanted for this album. She received 5 CMA nominations for this album. She finally felt respected by country music and started headlining tours. She grew her family with more kids who were always on tour with her.
🎵
She touches on the affect of her parents divorce and the feelings that she felt after her divorce. I appreciated her honesty. This book was written a few years ago. I love her music and her dedication to her children.

#borntofly, #saraevans, #bookstagram, #booksconnectus, #bookreview, #stamperlady50, #howardbooks, #memoir

[Sarah Foos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love reading autobiographies, but this one was lacking. While I really enjoyed some interesting stories from her life and her openness about her faith, the book was poorly written. Feeling a connection to the person sharing from their life is one of my favorite things about this genre, but I just didn’t... or couldn’t... with Sara.

[John Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical autobiography of a small-town, Southern farm girl who makes it big in country music. Sara writes mostly about her childhood, her parent's divorce, her first marriage, divorce, and her second marriage, which happily blends two families totaling seven kids. There isn't much about her career, and she does get somewhat preachy and judgmental with her Christian-based parenting advice.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally woke up early one morning and took this book outside, sat in my favorite chair, and read it cover to cover. Perhaps it's because I'm remarried and have four kids, but I especially loved the sections about being a stepparent and how a stepparent's role is not to act like a parent. The author makes a point to say she's a mom of three and a stepmom to four because there is a big difference. With her advice, she should be the spokesperson for stepmoms. One of the other things in the book I admired was the author's complete ownership of her athleticism because many women don't talk about that part of them.

This book gave me some great advice that I needed to hear. The author said, "So, all you're doing when you refuse to discipline is ensuring that your precious child will have a hard time in life and in relationships. Why would any loving parent do that? Because they are being selfish, in my opinion. They are being lazy and parenting in ways that make them feel good, like letting your child play Xbox all day. Why do some parents do this? Because it's easier than making them stop." Then she goes on to say, "When kids are little, they're going to cry. So let them cry. You're doing your JOB," all caps. "They will thank you for it later. When you don't push back on a child who's being willful or disrespectful, they sense that you don't care, and that is heartbreaking."

If you want to listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://www.momsdonthavetimetoreadboo...

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographies and memoirs are some of my favorite books to read and I really enjoyed this one. I was a fan of Sara and her music years ago, but haven’t heard much out of her in recent years. Initially, I was drawn in as a fan of hers and music in general, but this story goes much deeper than that. Born to Fly highlights her childhood, and how life as a product of a broken home affected her, as well as her rise to fame, heartbreak and a second chance at love, parenting, both as a working mom and in a blended family, mental health, the journey to her strong faith, and also her hope to continue to bring joy and happiness to others through her musical talent. We all know the same old story: A musician moves to Nashville, struggles, gets their break, hits it big, and lives happily ever after. Sara’s story is so much more. What a horrible realization it must be to work so hard and have all of your dreams come true only to realize that you are not happy and need to make a painful change. I love that this book isn’t all sugar coated and is more about her version of happiness and peace despite the drama and chaos that last put her name in the headlines. As a visual learner, and just a sucker for nostalgia, I really enjoyed the pictures she included in the book. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Jamie Rincker · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, let me say I am a huge fan of Sara Evans and recall seeing her in concert while she was pregnant with one of her daughters, I'm pretty sure it was when she was opening for Brad Paisley.
The first half of the book was excellent, and I felt a deeper connection with her as I am an Illinois farmer's daughter myself and I married a farmer from a county over where I grew up. This book further strengthened my belief she is very sweet and very down to earth and the proof is provided in the pages of this book.
Honestly though, I could have done without the whole second half of this book. When I read a memoir, I am not interested in someone's input on how to live life and she gave a bunch of advice, and quite often repetitive.
It also stopped going in chronological order at one point, jumping from getting married to her second husband to having babies with her first husband, making it a whole jumbled up mess of her life.
Overall, it was enjoyable enough. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to give an honest review.

[Lauren Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7 rounded rounded to 3 stars... I’ll start by saying Sara Evans is my favorite country music singer there is. When anyone asks me who my favorite country star is, I don’t hesitate to say Sara Evans. With that being said, I am honestly disappointed in this book. I would even say it’s a stretch to only call it a memoir. Her stories were all over the place. There was no order to this book at all. It was so scattered and she would go off on tangents in the middle of a story and eventually get back to the first story and it seemed like she would add random thoughts in as she was typing the book. Towards the end it was really just her preaching her opinions about things and how she views the world and what she thinks people should do in certain situations. Which isn’t necessarily bad! It just doesn’t make sense to stick that in a memoir in my opinion. I gave the book 3 stars but I rounded up...although I’m disappointed, it was interesting to learn a little more about her as a person.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Sara's music and have been for a long time. I did enjoy this book and Sara's voice through it came loud and clear. My biggest problems with it are that she spoke very little about her career - The main reason why I bought the book was to read about her long and successful career in country music, and part of the book is mainly Sara's thoughts and opinions on certain things - I'm not sure I really want to know her thoughts on things like dieting or divorce (I know there's a gag order on her divorce but talking about divorce generally without actually talking about your own divorce is weird). She came across as quite preachy - even if I agree, no one likes being preached at.

Overall, it is a nice overview of her life and if you're a fan, you'll probably enjoy this book. I hope she'll release a more in depth one on her career later on.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born to Fly by Sara Evans is a great memoir about her life and self-reflections. We get to learn more about her life growing up as a child on a farm. We get to see some of the difficulties and adversities she faced to place her on her current path as a successful country singer.

We also receive insight into who she is as a person, a mom, a friend, and a great country singer. I enjoyed learning more about her.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Howard Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

[Amanda St. Amand · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Sara Evans voice. I like that she is from Missouri, good Midwest success story. Let’s just say she does not lack in self confidence. She tells you repeatedly that she has a great voice. She has great legs. Great husband. (Not the first one, whose name is never mentioned nor is their very ugly very public legal battle) Great kids. There are some
Good anecdotes in there but I also got the sense that you don’t want to b e the one to ever tell her so ergo g she doesn’t wNt to hear.

[Kimberly Landreth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Sara Evans, she was all I listened to back in high school. I mean she is just this amazing singer and songwriter. BUT reading her memoir- it felt a bit, dare I say cocky? Maybe I just don’t get her humor? 🤷🏼‍♀️ I loved reading about her childhood- and how hard she worked to get to where she is...but the stuff in-between there just kind rubbed me the wrong way.

[Cherop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning more about Sara Evans, how she grew up, her beliefs and her thoughts on children, discipline and marriage.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Sara Evans, I still managed to learn several things about her through this book, especially about her childhood, which was nice! She does an especially great job of describing her experiences as a child dealing with her parents getting divorced. The biggest flaw with this memoir was the way she glossed over the bulk of her music career. She went into detail about getting a record deal, which was super fascinating! But then the details of her actual career were treated as an afterthought. The bulk of her career is summed up in one to two paragraphs that are basically like “After ‘Born To Fly’, I started getting more huge hits like ‘Suds in the Bucket’, ‘Perfect’, ‘A Real Fine Place To Start’, and ‘Cheatin’. Finally I felt like I had made it!”

That’s it. And that is why I can only give this three stars. As a huge fan, I want to hear what it was like touring with Brad Paisley. I want to know why she turned down the offer to record “Jesus Take The Wheel” before it was given to Carrie Underwood, and if there were any other huge opportunities like that which she had turned down. What does she do to exercise and maintain her voice? Did she ever feel like she was RCA’s second priority female, like they were devoting more muscle into Martina’s career? What caused her to release “Tonight” as the final single from the Restless album when “Niagara” and “Rocking Horse” were RIGHT THERE? Who decided it would be a good idea to release “Coalmine” to radio even though there was that famous mining disaster just a couple months before? What was going on behind-the-scenes after “My Heart Can’t Tell You No” peaked and then the label waited like 8 months before randomly releasing “Anywhere” as a third single from the Stronger album and then gave it no promotion whatsoever? What was going on behind the scenes when “Feels Just Like A Love Song” was released, and then immediately pulled from radio after just a couple weeks and expunged from the universe as if it had never existed? Are there any songs she regrets recording? Etc.

I know it’s unrealistic to expect all that from a 200 page memoir, but I was at least hoping for more reflections about the actual career that caused us to know and love her. As somebody who never quite reached A-list status and had to fight for every bit of success she achieved, I am sure she has some truly fascinating insights about the country music industry that go much deeper than what she gave us here.

Instead we got lots of rambling about how to be a good parent, how to be a good wife, how to be a good Christian, etc. that will definitely not be everyone’s cup of tea. I echo what other reviewers have said about the tone feeling very condescending and judgmental at times, although big fans are likely to recognize her deadpan dry sense of humor moreso that casual fans might. Also, Sara is an adamant subscriber to traditional gender roles in her family life that might make others uncomfortable. She says things about like how she believes that women play an especially large role in determining the emotional tone of a household, which might be too stereotypish for some, but is not exactly untrue if you really think about it, lol. At the end of the day, she loves cooking and cleaning for her family, and you can’t fault her for that. The point of it all is that she believes family is the most important thing, and she does whatever she can to keep the ones she loves comfortable and well cared for, which is a message that could benefit literally everybody. There are just some awkward rants about millennials and social media and phone use in the process, lol!

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are very few artists that I say affected my life somehow, but one of them is Sara Evans.

For those who may not know her, she is a country star whose music doesn't fit in with the "bro country" of today's music scene of the genre and who fits somewhere in what she calls "Nashville Country", not exactly pop, not exactly rock, somewhere in between with a country twist.

But her music, to me, is stapled by country music sad songs riddled with typically literature tropes: metaphors, nuance, storytelling. And Evans' music has all of that. She sings beautifully, assuredly, that when she asks "How do you wait for Heaven, and who has that much time?" (a lyric from her hit song/album and same title for this book, 'Born to Fly') you feel it. In fact, every song you feel what she's saying. She's one of the few artists I've heard who can sing something that says much more than the lyrics. Like her idol Patsy Cline, she touched a part of your soul.

She's also a kind person, from this book, someone who has conservative values but doesn't fall for the traps of being labeled into whatever someone thinks that means. She loves God. She loves her family. She worked hard for her career and worked the system, but never lied to herself.

I enjoyed getting to know more about her as a person and as an artist - my hope is that one day she goes through her catalog of work and writes the inspiration behind them.

I will agree with other reviews that the book is a little disjointed, but I feel like that's Evans' persona - she's probably all over the place and just goes from one topic to the other, but I think nothing was written that she wouldn't have talked in public about.

But, like I say, the strength of Evans is in her music so I do hope one day she does a discography of her work.

Watching her in interviews I felt she was very conservative but it wasn't something she got preachy about as in wanting others to do the same, she just was telling what she does in her own life, but I did feel she came across more independent of some things typically conservative leaning, like not really being a part of a church for example but believing at the same time.

[LAMONT D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I do not declare a disclaimer on my rating for any books, but this is I suppose an exception because I would reduce my rating to a 3.5 if I could. I hesitate to give it a lower reading because the message is clear and powerful as Sara shares her life with us and all the ups and downs. She is a unique person and certainly one that has endured the public life to be successful in more ways than one. My paperback copy that we encouraged our public library to obtain is yellow in color on the front and has a section in the back entitled "Afterword" that continues her story and explanation on what and why she did not include certain things in the first edition including the struggles within her current marriage to Jay Barker. It appears that some people were not happy that she left out some things from her life that are very public. My point would be that it is her memoir, and she can include what she wants to for crying out loud. I would agree that towards the later stages of the book she becomes more forthright in sharing her opinions about a litany of subjects including marriage, divorce, blended families, parenting, discipline, etc. She certainly has plenty of experience in all those topics, but it did come off as she knows what is best for everybody. Having said all that, I learned a tremendous amount about her family, growing up on a farm in Missouri and it is clear how much she loved her experiences and her family. The accident at such a young age gave her an overriding purpose for her life along with the near fatal plane crash later that probably still affects her today. She is open about her struggles with self-image, comparison to others and debilitating anxiety attacks. I love her voice though, and I get why she thinks that getting her music played on the country radio stations throughout the years was a struggle because she was a female which is probably a valid comment to make. I could use less of her language in places but that I guess is who she is and who you get in this book.

[Colton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley as well as Sara Evans for the opportunity to read and review "Born to Fly" in exchange for my honest feedback. "Born to Fly" by Sara Evans is a memoir that, unfortunately, misses the mark for some readers who may have been eager to dive into the life of this celebrated country music artist.

One of the primary issues with the book is its lack of depth. Instead of delving into the complexities of Evans' life and career, the memoir often skims the surface, leaving readers wanting more. Important moments and experiences are sometimes glossed over or treated superficially, robbing the narrative of emotional resonance and authenticity.

Additionally, Evans' writing style may not resonate with all readers. Some might find her prose to be uninspired or lacking in sophistication, detracting from the overall reading experience. The memoir may come across as bland or formulaic, failing to capture the unique voice and personality that fans have come to love in Evans' music.

Furthermore, "Born to Fly" may suffer from pacing issues and a lack of narrative cohesion. The book jumps from one anecdote to another without a clear sense of direction, making it difficult for readers to fully engage with Evans' story. As a result, the memoir may feel disjointed and disjointed, leaving readers feeling unsatisfied and disconnected.

Overall, while "Born to Fly" offers a glimpse into Sara Evans' life, it ultimately falls short of expectations for readers who were hoping for a more compelling and immersive memoir. Its lack of depth, uninspired writing, and pacing issues may leave some feeling disappointed and underwhelmed.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok....Sara is my favorite country singer. Been to many concerts and did a meet and greet. She was so nice. I enjoyed reading her book. Especially about her younger life and how she got to where she is today. But, after her memoir section, she went into the “how to” mode. How to be a good parent and her advice was spot on. My daughters are raising their young children like she did. But, she only used one personal reference (Avery being a bully). Then she went into what you should do/say during a divorce. No personal references. She barely mentions her ex husband. In the beginning of the book, all of the sudden she talks about being pregnant with Avery. Never mentioned getting married although she talked about boyfriends before that. Then there was the “what to do and what not to do” as a step parent. Again...no personal references. If this was to be her memoirs, there could have been some. I’m not the nosy type but, what really happened to her first marriage? Why did she give the advice she did on those subjects? She became a Dr. Phil. I’m glad I read her book. If you are a true fan, you will enjoy it, especially the beginning.