Yikes.
I grew up idolizing Jamie Lynn, based off her lovable character Zoey on Zoey 101. The Spears family was always in the spotlight whether it be Britney’s rise to fame, family drama, or the news of Jamie Lynn being pregnant as a teen. It was then when I decided I needed a break from the Spears family.

To be honest, I never really expressed an interest since then in the Spears family. However, on my recent memoir escapade, I thought this would be an interesting read. I wanted to know Jamie Lynn’s take on a lot of the rumors that surrounded her decisions as well as her families. The biggest being rumor being the bullying allegations with a particular castmate on Zoey 101. I was disappointed in her lack of compassion and the way she twisted the blame to play victim. Instead of providing clarity, she instead pointed fingers and deflected blame. I’m addition, this book gave her a platform to speak out about Nickelodeon show writer Dan Schneider, and she really dropped the ball.

Early on in the book, Jamie Lynn sets a particular tone for the book. She almost is trying to convince her audience of her professionalism, all while reminding you throughout the book how she struggled due to her homesickness. I honestly believe that most of her audience are fans, so it rubbed me the wrong way that she feels the need to constantly justify her past decisions. I struggled to sympathize for her since she made it known that she loved acting and touring with her sister.

Growing up in the public eye couldn’t have been easy, and I’m sure that she’s used to defending her every decision until she was blue in the face. I feel bad that at times when I was reading, I felt like she was playing the pity card. Jamie Lynn mentioned many times at the start of her book that she enjoyed the attention. “I came into the world with a big personality and learned early how to get attention. Everyone’s response to my antics only made me want more attention, and I did anything I could to hold onto the spotlight.” Don’t get me wrong, there are many circumstances where I felt awful for Jamie Lynn. She had a lot going on simultaneously at a young age, which couldn’t have been easy. I don’t wish to make light of anything she went through, I just wish she widened her lens and considered what other parties involved were going through as well. At times she tends to come of entitled, which I know was not her intent.

Reading memoirs can be tricky, since it takes a lot for the author to hold the readers attention while describing personal life events. Maybe I’ve been spoiled with the few I’ve read recently, but I just had a hard time maintaining an interest in some of the subject matter of this book. Don’t get me wrong, the portions that discussed Zoey 101 or her daughter Maddie were interesting to me. However, the events in between seemed to lack that spark.

There was a lengthy chapter that was particularly hard to get through. Towards the end of the book, Jamie Lynn explains, for the first time, the events of her daughter Maddie’s accident in 2017. She had a tragic ATV accident which led to Maddie being in the hospital for days. While I was reading, my heart ached for the family, I couldn’t imagine the horrors behind the uncertainty of possibly losing your child. This portion of the book was so raw and filled with emotion, it was impossible not to sympathize for the whole family.

One of the last chapters in the book is named “My Testimony” (and because I’m reading as well as listening the audio book, she adds her own commentary saying “the chapter I wish I never had to write” after saying the chapter aloud.) In this chapter, Jamie Lynn makes several comments that she still supports Britney, even though she did not “lift the veil on what or who was truly responsible for her challenges.” Later she writes “ I am immensely grateful for my career in the events that have let me hear, to the life I know, enjoy. But that came from luck, hard work, and owning up to my mistakes along the way. My sister’s diatribe assigned blame, outward without any self-reflection.” I found it ironic that in her audio book, she skips over this particular line, and if I were not to be reading along, I would never read this backhanded comment. I tried to read this chapter without bias, and when she states that she spent the greater part of her life trying to protect Britney even when it wasn’t in her best interest…I can only hope that it’s the media’s speculation and misinformation that make me think otherwise.

All of this being said (and yes I know I said a lot), I feel like the writing itself was a bit jumbled. There were many instances where Jamie Lynn bounces between her childhood and her teenage years within the same chapter, and it’s hard to distinguish what period of her life she’s talking about in that moment. I did enjoy some greater insight on her teenage years, but I wish that she shared more details about the events, rather than try to excuse any questionable decisions she made or by playing victim. It was an easy read, but I left myself questioning the authenticity of the content.

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