The blurb as seen on Goodreads:
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Publisher: Bird Street Books
256 Pages
This book is Nick Carter’s autobiography and self-help hybrid in which he chronicles his struggles with a dysfunctional family and the unimaginable rigors of becoming an internationally successful pop-star at the age of 12. From his battle with addiction to serious health complications and the pain of his younger sister’s tragic death, Nick leaves nothing to the imagination and offers true and heartfelt advice to help readers overcome obstacles in their own lives.
I received an e-copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Release Date: September 17, 2013Publisher: Bird Street Books
256 Pages
This book is Nick Carter’s autobiography and self-help hybrid in which he chronicles his struggles with a dysfunctional family and the unimaginable rigors of becoming an internationally successful pop-star at the age of 12. From his battle with addiction to serious health complications and the pain of his younger sister’s tragic death, Nick leaves nothing to the imagination and offers true and heartfelt advice to help readers overcome obstacles in their own lives.
Let me just start off by saying, I am a Backstreet Boys fan. So of course when I heard Nick Carter was writing an autobiography, I jumped at it. Nick was always my favoritre of the group and over the years I remember hearing some very interesting things about his personal life. It takes a lot of strength to talk about extremely personal things just to friends, but here Nick bears everything from his past for everyone. Starting from his upbringing above a night club in New York to his current releationship with his fiance. Nothing goes unmentioned.
There were some stories that I knew: feud with parents, feud with brother Aaron, actually fighting with the whole family in general (House of Carters anyone?), dating Paris Hilton, and ultimately his sisters untimely death. Then there were the stories I didn't know: the lack of parental upbringing as a child, the all night binge drinking with the bumps of coke, the blame he received for Leslie's death. Nick talks about it all.
What I liked was the brutal honesty. This didn't read like an autobiography, it read almost like a therapy session. You could tell the words came straight from Nick himself and not another writer. However, this was the reason why I didn't rate this book higher. While I applaud him for writing about his experiences, it's quite obvious that he's not a writer (at least not the book kind). The book lacks cohesiveness and feels very thrown togehter, jumping from one topic to the next in no chronological order. Also, there are sections that are repeated multiple times throughout.
Overall, the book lacked structure. It didn't know whether it wanted to be an autobography or a self-help book. The chapters would start with a personal story and then suddenly go into "Here's what to do to counteract these feelings/actions...". I was instantly taken out of the moment and thrust into a classroom. Nick Carter is not a licensed shrink but he dishes out advice right and left (and repeatedly), all advice he's gotten by researching the internet. Only a few affirmations come, from what he says, directly from his shrink. If he had just stuck with his story then maybe thrown in a little section at the end about what to do or who to contact if in need, it would have helped the flow so much.
Backstreet Boys fans will probably respond best to this book. So, thank you Nick for sharing your story and I'm happy that you're getting help and are in a better place now with your personal life and professional life. Backstreet's Back, all right!
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