eBook and Audiobook: Over the Top - A Raw Journey to Self-Love By Jonathan Van Ness

OMG! If you are a fan of Queer Eye you totally must read this book! Even if you aren’t a fan or have never seen the show...I repeat, I REPEAT! YOU TOTALLY MUST READ THIS BOOK! You know I am serious because I just wrote that in ALL caps, so I mean business. This book really is a raw journey. I have been a fan of Jonathan Van Ness since I started binge-watching Queer Eye last summer. I was late to the Queer Eye game. Although I love all the fab five, Jonathan sticks out like a glittered and glamourous sore thumb. If you have watched the show, then you know what I mean!

On the show, Jonathan’s expertise is grooming. He is the hairdresser and skin expert. He is known for his empowering and uplifting attitude. You can visibly see the self-esteem lifted on the faces and shoulders of the people that he helps on Queer Eye as he shows them one on one TLC. He radiates self-love and self-care. However, that was not always the case. The book lives up to the title because he truly does take you on a raw-journey into his life, and how he came to fame. I did both the eBook and audiobook format because I received the eBook first. Then I saw that he read the audiobook and I knew I had to listen in.

“Would you still love me if you knew everything about me?”

This is the question he leaves us at the end of chapter one. After that he takes us back into his past and childhood, growing up “different” in the small town of Quincey, Illinois. We go through his journey of discovering his sexuality, being bullied and outcasted as a child in addition to a traumatic experience. An experienced that shifted his world, that would be carried with him for the rest of his life and even leading to actions he made into adulthood as an attempt to suppress the pain that haunted him. This book is filled with his positive energy even when he talks about the troubles he faced as he blindly navigates his life into self-acceptance and love. We see how he started his career as a hairdresser and into what led him to the first content he created for Funny or Die’s hit show Gay of Thrones. Then we learn how that led to the gig that skyrocketed his career as the grooming expert on Queer Eye.

Though Jonathan’s personality is out of this world, there are some very serious themes and topics that are covered in this book that are heavy such as drug addiction, prostitution, HIV, sex abuse, sex addiction, and molestation. Even though these are some of the things Jonathan faces throughout his life, we learn an important lesson, that we are worthy. Even when we mess up over and over again, and even if things happen to us that out of our control, self-love and self-acceptance are knowing your worth and loving all of you, to include all of the dark parts, no matter what.

So to answer Jonathan's question, yasss queen! I still love you and so would anyone after reading this book.

*This book may be triggering for some due to the heavy nature of the book. But if you feel brave, you might find that you are not alone in your struggles and that no matter what, regardless of your past, you are strong.

If you are interested in reading or listening to this book, please click the links below or contact your local library.
Overdrive Audiobook
Overdrive eBook
Amazon