I’ll Never Change My Name audiobook

I gobbled up this book in three airplane flights. On one leg, my seatmate, a 10 y/o boy remarked, ‘wow. You read fast. You’re the only one in our row who didn’t watch a movie’. I tried to tell him what pleasure there was to be had in reading, but he wasn’t buying it. I can’t think of many 30ish authors whose autobiographies are worth reading. But here is one of them. Bias alert: I am quite a fan of the brothers Chmerkovskiy and squarely in their camp. This book is frank (let me repeat, candid as in nothingheldback candor, the kind that made me realize the age gap between Val and me. My proper Bostonian mother would have been mortified had I written a book this truthful at that age). But Val is authentic and dishes out his life just as it has been served to him - straight up and fast. Val connects with people - very well. To his thinking, there is not much purpose in a life without connection and helping others. His large and generous heart beats true on every page. I appreciate his love, pride and loyalty for his family (see #familyovereverything). His life is an immigrant’s patriotic love story for America. He’s a hugely accomplished ballroom dancer and one of the great delights of the book, having followed Val for some years now, were the behind-the-scenes backstories on his partners, their triumphs and trials. Val also provided insight into the mind-boggling elements of choreography (he makes it look so easy!). He melted me with the line, “I paint with movement”. In 2016, I had the pleasure of seeing Val and his brother Maks’ dance tour. During the performance, there were women with their smartphones held up for much of the show, catching it on video. (I should mention these women were in the first two rows of the audience!). Maks and Val actually asked them - WHY are you doing this?! Wouldn’t you rather be IN THE MOMENT, savoring the sheer joy of an artist’s live performance?Val mentions this 21st century issue in his book - that being on a cell phone is taking us out of the moment, away from actually living and experiencing life. This is a lesson worth learning young.

So inspiring

I really enjoyed Val's story and how he told it. I couldn't get my hands on an actual copy of the book, but I got the audio version and I loved that Val narrated it! I feel like it made it more real. I think the fact that he didn't shy away from saying his feelings about all the people he's danced with or almost danced with (or could've possibly married 🤣🤣 ) made it interesting. I had no idea that him and Julianne Hough almost partnered up. That story was interesting and the outcome kind of hmm worthy. Several years ago, momma and I went and saw him and Maks on tour and you could see their bond through their dancing. Everything that Val tells makes that bond even deeper. And yeah Val still gives off his cocky attitude, but that's who those boys are and I'm glad he didn't dim it down for the story!Family means a lot of the Chmerkovskiys and I love that so much because I feel the same way ❤❤

I’m a huge fan of Val on DWTS. I also really enjoyed listening to his book about his experiences leading up to and including DWTS. I was surprised how the first 1/3 of the book felt like it was a tribute to his brother Maks, but he did a good job of explaining how very instrumental Maks was in shaping his life and career. As such, I can see dedicating so much of the book to his appreciation for his brother. I love that he read the book himself as I love hearing how an author means various comments to be intended in the author’s voice. He’s funny, intelligent, and brash at times. Overall, I enjoyed listening to his book and was thankful I invested the time listening to it.

4.5!

I listened and enjoyed! He’s a character and also very inspiring and hard working!

How can a sidekick dancer write one of the more interesting recent memoirs? My expectations were low when starting this book but this is an engaging book (written with a lot of help from Gil Reavill) that wisely places the author's season-by-season experiences with dance partners as the focus of many chapters. Instead of just starting with his life story in Ukraine he uses the first fifth of the book to tell stories about how he got on Dancing with the Stars and what it was like to work with celebrity partners. After the first few chapters he then mixes in his life story with that of his time on the show, making for mostly entertaining reading.This man is deeply dedicated to his family and we get to know them well here. The early years in Ukraine are interesting (though there could have been more details) and when the family moves to the Bronx it's a shock that they encounter more violence and insults in America than they ever did in Russia. The book becomes half about his famous dancing brother as well, with the two boys in competition with each other. Val goes overboard teasing his brother, putting him down, revealing embarrassing stories (he could have skipped the part about Maks filling his pants on the airplane when they moved to America!), and bragging that Val the younger had become equal to the elder. But through it all there is demonstrative love, with family first above everything else in life.If there's one problem with the book it's that Val brags about himself way too much and has a bigger ego than any I've ever encountered before in a book. He thinks incredibly highly of himself and makes sure you know about his successful dance career. He repeats mentions of his awards over and over, and the book starts to drag as he goes into too much detail about his world competitions or successes. Cutting out 30 or 40 pages would have made the read a little smoother and made the reader appreciate the author more. We don't need to have him continue to tell us how great he is--we got it the first time it's stated on the very first page!I actually learned a life lesson from the book. Val had to make a distinction between the children he taught at the family's dance studio in New Jersey and the adults that he coached on the TV show or in their adult dancing clubs. The kids that wanted to become champions were disciplined strictly and barked at in order to improve, but that would have only upset adults that were dancing for fun who needed to be finessed with lower expectations and a lot of personal charm. I took away that when teaching someone you have to think about the expectations of the audience (the student) and adapt the goals or teaching style to what they're there of, even if you're training multiple groups the same thing.Also what's interesting is what Val doesn't say in the book. There are a couple of his celebrity partners that he basically ignores (Danica McKellar must have been trouble because he quickly skips past her while devoting a dozen pages to each of most stars). There are also some private details that he leaves out (his dad's shifty finances, implying that the Mafia was involved in some of his family's business dealings, and failing to talk much about women Val was involved with). But overall it's a surprisingly good book that has a lot of depth and in the end is turned into an inspirational story.

Update 7/3/2018: So far Val has explained how he met Laurie, how Maks got onto DWTS, how he got onto DWTS, complained that he screwed up with Elisabetta Canalis, how he redeemed himself with Sherri and Kelly, and how he creepily went on chat forums to defend Maks. And all I kept thinking was "He isn't as into himself as I thought." Yet at the same time, I had this reaction: Don't get me wrong, yes he redeemed himself after his first season but at the same time it kinda strikes me as hilarious that he and Kelly faked their romance angle so much just to stick around. You weren't fooling anyone Val....we knew it was fake. The thing that bothered me more was that he still comes across as a bit over confident still.Update 7/4/2018: His family story/background is amazing. I never knew some of this. It was touched upon on DWTS but now I'm getting why Maks and Val are different in a sense. Update 7/5/2018: The stuff about his partners on the show in this section was VERY enlightening. Kinda feel bad for Janel to be honest though. She must have thought "boyfriend and a great experience" and like Val said, they were quickly overtaken media-wise with the romance angle. But at the same time they could have stopped it. Just could have went instead of writing about it and complaining. Just a thought: Elizabeth was a fun section since she did this on the show: Danica was a sweetheart. Boring but a sweetheart. LOVE her Hallmark movies though.Rumer falls into the same catagory as Danica but anyone that can do this and look that good doing it....you have my respect. And Zendaya......oy. Ok so I hated this pairing on the show because I still think she was over scored. She definitely had an experience though according to Val. Kinda weird she went from this to this though at the drop of a hat: The stuff about how his life in America when he was younger was captivating. I have to give him credit on one thing in particular: He can do it all. Dancer? check. Media personality? check. Rapper? check. Writer? Check. Violin player? Check. Basketball player? Apparently so. The insight about Maks is just eye opening though. Maks has softened a bit as he got older it seems. His insight into Italian first names is SPOT ON.Update 7/6/2018: The sections about competitions and Dance With Me were captivating. Not so much the section about the Ukranian version of the Bachelor. But it gave me my favorite quote from the memoir: "According to the concept of The Bachelor , Sasha was the supposed love of Maks's life. She lasted with my brother for all of two days."The chapters about the remainder of his celebrity partners were great. He and Tamar were a fun pairing but I still got the sense from Val that he liked that season a bit more than others. Plus they did this:Ginger is the perfect example of unexpected. She is a gem. Laurie is the highlight of the past couple of seasons of the show in my opinion and it seems like he loves her as much as the rest of the world does, which is great. Normani was a tough section and season for me due to two reasons: 1)Overscored and 2)Overrated in general. She has a great voice but she isn't that good of a dancer and America must have picked up on that since she came in third and"shocked" everyone. Nice that Val made the band have fun on tour though? In hindsight, not a surprise the band broke up. Only minor complaint I had about the ending was that he should have just added a bit more about Victoria but I guess the next book will have more about her experience on the show? Final ReviewThis was an unexpected treat and he is a great writer. Saying that, I cannot wait for his next one.

Book rating: 3.5 starsI won the ARC version of this book through goodreads giveaways.I was looking through a list of all good reads giveaways and saw this title. There was no book cover photo. From the blurb, I assumed it was a fictional immigrants story. I was excited when I found out that I had won a copy because the book sounded like it had a good premise. Imagine my shock when I saw Val’s picture on the book! I am a casual GWTS fan and was excited that I had won the book. In the beginning he writes about how his parents discussed about immigrating to America. He talks about how difficult it was to get traveling papers and such. He goes on in a linearly style, talking about comming to America, meeting and living with family who lives in America and that he and his brother Maks each being gifted something they were surprised and excited to be given. I enjoyed the story and sympathized with Val and Maks when they were unwelcome by other kids in their neighborhood. The story about how Val and Maks became dancers and how their parents became owners of a dance studio was very interesting. Val gives an expert understanding of why Maks is so hard on the celebrity dancers. It has nothing to do with dislike or anything else I thought. Honestly until he worked with Kirstie Alley, I thought he was a smug and arrogant jerk. He really worked with her and I saw a teacher trying to really help his student. Van gives the reader a greater understanding of why his brother teaches the way he does. I do still consider him a little arrogant, but now I understand why he is that way. I enjoyed learning about them and their parents. Some of the stories were very interesting.Overall I liked the book but I just couldn’t finish it. I stopped about half way through. There were some problems I had with it. Mainly, I am someone who prefers to read a book that is in the progression from beginning to end. This book jumps all around going backwards and fowards. In the beginning there is a linear progression but than the book changes from someone writing to someone talking. It goes from deciding to go to America to being immigrants to Maks getting a call from GWTS to him working on DWTS back to when they were teens than back when they first immigrated and than to when he was writing the book. Annother problem I had was because the book went from event to event and time to time I was often confused as to what year the event he was talking about was taking place. The book is written as more of a long conversation/monologue rather than in a normal written format. It may be better to use audible rather than to read it. My cleaning lady found the book while doing her job and asked me about it. I gave it to her after I stopped reading it. She was very happy. I did ask her if she would post a review on Amazon, hopefully she will enjoy it more than I did and leave a good review. If I were to recommend this book to someone, I would suggest they use audible as they may enjoy Val reading his book more than trying to read it themselves. I applaud Val for not using a ghost writer. He did a good job for someone who has never written anything before.*EDIT*I gave the book to a friend of my parents who saw the book on my coffee table. She asked me a lot of questions and I could tell she was intrested in the book. I gave it to her as I just couldn't finish it. She returned it two weeks later. She told me that she couldn't finish because of the same problem I had. The book goes from the past, to the future and back again which is very confusing to read. It is now sitting on my burow. My brother vacations at a time share. The time share has a lending libary. Next time he goes, I will ask him to add this book to their shelves. My hope is that someone who can read the whole book finds it and enjoys it. I also hope for Val that if there is a person like that, they review it and pass the book on.

I read this book on 2020, on the way back from New York to Jakarta, my hometown on the plane. As I deep dive into Val's life before becoming a professional dancer like now I see on youtube, instagram, television... he was just a boy from Ukraine that has a big dream.I love the foreword written by his elder brother, Maksim Chmerkovskiy (I hope I still can write their surname right. Teehee-). Sometimes, I understand his struggle before being famous, travel around the world with such a sophisticated yet cool surname itself, hard to pronounce by others. I knew it. But, this book turned out to be heartwarming because made myself realize... how to feel being blessed and always being grateful with the family you have right now. Also, I saw a pride being Ukrainian-American in this book. So proud of you, Valentin Chmerkovskiy. I'm happy now you get to marry such a beautiful woman like Jenna.xoxo

I won an ARC of this book through Goodreads Giveaways. While not a diehard DWTS fan, I am a casual viewer, so I know of and admire Val and Maks. I loved the parts that dealt with Val growing up in Ukraine and immigrating to the US with his family when he was still very young, then having to navigate Brooklyn and the international competitive dance world as a kid and teenager, before ultimately landing his first gig on DWTS. The writing felt very open and honest, inviting the reader in, rather than keeping them at arms length.The DWTS parts felt a bit chaotic in the way they were presented, jumping around in time. It made keeping track of the chronology a bit difficult, but nonetheless, it was fun and insightful reading about the unique connections with each different dance partner. I'd recommend this if you are a fan of DWTS, memoirs, or just looking for an uplifting and inspiring story.

Probably the first nonfiction book I've voluntarily read and wow. Such an eye-opening read. Things I never knew about the Chmerkovskiy brothers, about how they got their start on DWTS. Their struggle to become American, to make something of themselves but not lose who they were in the process. I love how close they were and are, how much Val loves dance . . .And to be able to read about America from the perspective of an immigrant family, to see what we take for granted or don't see at all but he saw as, well, as he said in the book: "freedom."Reading about his experiences with his celebrity partners was surreal, almost, seeing how he interacted with each of them, how he learned from them as much as they learned from him . . . I was moved to tears several times during this book.Definitely recommend this.

I absolutely loved this book. If you like Dancing with the Stars (or any type of dancing), a funny-light read, and the concept of assimilating into a new culture, then you would like this book. This book does have a good amount of DWTS talk and the partners that he has had and the struggles and triumphs along with those journeys. However, Val also dives deep into his family's journey to the states which was humbling and eye-opening. I am sad that I read this book so fast. It really is an easy read and I found myself laughing and also tearing up at some of the situations mentioned. I have been a fan of Vals for a long time and it felt like I met him in real life by reading this book. I highly recommend if you have interests in anything I just stated previously.

Fascinating story of an immigrant family from Ukraine to Brooklyn, NY. I read the book during my winter break & trip to NYC. It's awesome reading the book while traveling there, I got to know more about people's everyday lives by reading about Valentin'e experience, how his family immigrated and adapted to the life in America, how he grew up in Brooklyn Streets and opened the family dance studio in New Jersey, how he went on to become a superstar with international competitions and Dancing with the Stars. Great to see backstage stories of DWTS too. The literature value is good too - Valentin is good at writing, a master at the English language.

I really enjoyed this book. As a long time fan of DWTS, it was fun to get this “behind the scenes” glimpse of what it really is like for the pros. I loved Val’s story of family, immigration, hardwork, love of country, and perseverance and I felt like it was constructed in a way that kept me reading. I love Val’s confidence and that that was something his family and friends encouraged him to hang on to. I think his is a story that would be great for kids. That said, I wouldn’t recommend this one for kids because there was a lot of profanity. I listened to the audiobook and had to shut it off if my kids were in the room. Normally that doesn’t bother me, but I just felt like it was too much.

Compulsively readable story of the immigrant family from Ukraine, who entered the US with optimism and determination and started a business based on their children's talent. Val and Maks rose to the occasion amazingly well, with great devotion to family, and to dance. That Val was able to become such a fluent writer with little formal instruction is a tribute to his ambition and intelligence. He describes his dance partners with great analysis and kindness. But who is this Jenna Johnson,who rates a whole paragraph in the acknowledgements but is never mentioned in the book?

This book took on a special meaning for me, especially after having it personally autographed by Val along with a little bachata. I danced with a Star ⭐️, yet I identified with a fellow author! While my dancing 💃 skills may need some serious refreshing, I truly got Val’s journey through his words. Words which captured his life and dreams through the rhythm of the dance floor.I’m still honored to have had a brief moment in dance time with Val but even more so to know the man behind the name…:-)