Review of Miss Memory Lane
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Miss Memory Lane" by Colton Haynes.]
Colton Haynes is the son of an alcoholic mother and a mostly absent father. Born into a household with a lot of half-siblings and major instability, Colton ends up growing into a child desperate for attention. As a child, he finds himself drawn to female clothing and, not long after, discovers that he is attracted to men. At the age of 6, Colton is abused by his uncle, Tom, and this sets the pace for a downward spiral of toxic sexual relationships. At the age of 14, he has sex for the first time with a 41-year-old police officer named Damon, whom he has had a crush on. Colton's hunger for attention and for being desired drives him towards a destructive path as he finds himself constantly bending over just to be in people's good graces and, in some cases, using his body as a means to do that.
Miss Memory Lane by Colton Haynes is a touching memoir that tells us about the unspoken experiences of the movie star from his childhood through his teenage years to his life as an adult. We see the effects of growing up in a broken family and being sexually abused as a child. Colton Haynes does not spare us the gory details as each scene gets more heart-wrenching than the next. We watch as he makes one wrong decision after the other and watch as the consequences come to deal with him in the end. After leading us through a very dark tunnel that makes up most of his life, he brings us hope for a better future as he journeys through sobriety. He talks about his journey to sobriety and his renewed outlook on life. But does Colton ever find the happiness he deserves? Would he ever be able to fill the vacuum of loneliness he feels inside?
There are a lot of emotions one experiences while reading this book, from feelings of shock at Colton getting sexually abused as a child by his uncle to feelings of sadness, heartbreak, and hurt as we empathize with Colton as he walks through a self-destructive path as a closeted gay in the streets of Hollywood. I also loved the pacing and progression of this book, as each chapter left me wanting to know more, but not in such a way that I got suffocated with unnecessary information and details. Another great thing about this book is that, though Colton describes some of his sexual interactions in it, he avoids going into too much detail, making it okay for a teenager of about 15 or older to read. This book tugs at your heartstrings as you empathize with Colton's experiences. Colton leaves no ground uncovered as he gives us the dirtiest, most painful details, and such sincerity is genuinely admirable. Also, I could not detect any grammatical errors, so I'll say that the book was exceptionally well edited.
However, there were what I considered plot holes littered throughout the book. Whether this was a result of confidentiality agreements, I will never know. This is mostly in reference to some of the people we were introduced to at the beginning of the book. We ended up not knowing what happened to them, like the police officer, Damon, who groomed Colton as a child or his fiance, Jay, who proposed to him when he was still a teenager and whom he ended up breaking up with.
Miss Memory Lane is a captivating memoir that gives readers an insight into unstable childhoods, sexual abuse, and finally, what it means to toe the path of fame, especially as a closeted gay in Hollywood. However, this book can be a bit triggering for people who are victims of the things mentioned above. I'll give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading this book, and apart from some trigger scenes, you would find this book an interesting read as well.
So grab a seat, and in less than 7 hours, you will be done with the emotional rollercoaster that is the life of Colton Haynes, and who knows, it might leave you more empathic to actors and actresses in Hollywood, about whom no one truly knows their stories and who are dealing with a lot of hidden baggage.
******
Miss Memory Lane
View: on Bookshelves |
Colton Haynes is the son of an alcoholic mother and a mostly absent father. Born into a household with a lot of half-siblings and major instability, Colton ends up growing into a child desperate for attention. As a child, he finds himself drawn to female clothing and, not long after, discovers that he is attracted to men. At the age of 6, Colton is abused by his uncle, Tom, and this sets the pace for a downward spiral of toxic sexual relationships. At the age of 14, he has sex for the first time with a 41-year-old police officer named Damon, whom he has had a crush on. Colton's hunger for attention and for being desired drives him towards a destructive path as he finds himself constantly bending over just to be in people's good graces and, in some cases, using his body as a means to do that.
Miss Memory Lane by Colton Haynes is a touching memoir that tells us about the unspoken experiences of the movie star from his childhood through his teenage years to his life as an adult. We see the effects of growing up in a broken family and being sexually abused as a child. Colton Haynes does not spare us the gory details as each scene gets more heart-wrenching than the next. We watch as he makes one wrong decision after the other and watch as the consequences come to deal with him in the end. After leading us through a very dark tunnel that makes up most of his life, he brings us hope for a better future as he journeys through sobriety. He talks about his journey to sobriety and his renewed outlook on life. But does Colton ever find the happiness he deserves? Would he ever be able to fill the vacuum of loneliness he feels inside?
There are a lot of emotions one experiences while reading this book, from feelings of shock at Colton getting sexually abused as a child by his uncle to feelings of sadness, heartbreak, and hurt as we empathize with Colton as he walks through a self-destructive path as a closeted gay in the streets of Hollywood. I also loved the pacing and progression of this book, as each chapter left me wanting to know more, but not in such a way that I got suffocated with unnecessary information and details. Another great thing about this book is that, though Colton describes some of his sexual interactions in it, he avoids going into too much detail, making it okay for a teenager of about 15 or older to read. This book tugs at your heartstrings as you empathize with Colton's experiences. Colton leaves no ground uncovered as he gives us the dirtiest, most painful details, and such sincerity is genuinely admirable. Also, I could not detect any grammatical errors, so I'll say that the book was exceptionally well edited.
However, there were what I considered plot holes littered throughout the book. Whether this was a result of confidentiality agreements, I will never know. This is mostly in reference to some of the people we were introduced to at the beginning of the book. We ended up not knowing what happened to them, like the police officer, Damon, who groomed Colton as a child or his fiance, Jay, who proposed to him when he was still a teenager and whom he ended up breaking up with.
Miss Memory Lane is a captivating memoir that gives readers an insight into unstable childhoods, sexual abuse, and finally, what it means to toe the path of fame, especially as a closeted gay in Hollywood. However, this book can be a bit triggering for people who are victims of the things mentioned above. I'll give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading this book, and apart from some trigger scenes, you would find this book an interesting read as well.
So grab a seat, and in less than 7 hours, you will be done with the emotional rollercoaster that is the life of Colton Haynes, and who knows, it might leave you more empathic to actors and actresses in Hollywood, about whom no one truly knows their stories and who are dealing with a lot of hidden baggage.
******
Miss Memory Lane
View: on Bookshelves |
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