(book review)

“Time has shown me there is no benefit in trying to protect people who never tried to protect me.”
― Mariah Carey, The Meaning of Mariah Carey

‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’ is a well written, humorous, telling story of Mariah’s life. Mariah discusses in detail her childhood, family members, adolescence, and how she was catapulted into the super star we all know and love today.

Mariah really breaks down what it is like to be a biracial woman in America. She gives so much insight into what it was like to grow up in the 1970s and 1980s when biracial children were far and few in between. She tells sad stories of bullying, feeling inferior, and never belonging.

‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’ emphasizes Mariah’s songwriting ability. There are passages of her song lyrics throughout the book, which really highlight her impressive writing skills. So many only see Mariah as a singer, however the woman has written all her songs! “Hero,” “My All,” “Fantasy,” “We Belong Together,” all of the wonderful songs we’ve heard on the radio and those that were never released as singles were all written by Mariah.

I highly suggest that you should read along with the audible as you get the full effect. Mariah sings along to her song lyrics and her hilarious personality shines through. The book comes alive.

If you’re looking for any salacious stories about Eminem or the billionaire, James Packer, she was engaged to, they are not in here. Guess they weren’t meaningful enough to make the book? She does discuss Tommy Mottola, Derek Jeter, Luis Miguel, and Nick Cannon. Bryan Tanaka gets an honorable mention, however she does not go into detail about their relationship.

Mariah’s “breakdown” is discussed in depth. It’s nothing like the media portrayed it to be. It’s nothing like it appeared.

Throughout the book Mariah expresses the love she has for her lambs and how they have pulled her through the hardest times of her life. She genuinely loves us.

She does not discuss her bipolar diagnosis; I’m guessing because it does not define who she is.

She mentions the J Lo feud but never mentions her actual name because, well, she doesn’t know her.

I’ve been a lamb since I was a child. I even stood by Mariah during the “Glitter” era and I can honestly say I thought I knew everything about her, however after reading this book I feel like I only knew part of her. Her family life is nothing like I thought it was. Her mother, brother, and sister are characters who will make you hold on tighter to your stable, loving, kind loved ones who want the best for you.

Mariah really strips her soul in this memoir. I love her and understand her even more now. My rating is 10/10.