Over the Top audiobook

I really appreciate hearing the stories of admirable people like Jonathan who have been through so much trauma and hardship and still come out of it fiercely positive and kind - not just to others but to themselves. The book is written in a conversational style that might be off-putting to people who aren’t familiar with JVN, but I think it helped show their personality if you have seen them from Queer Eye. Jonathan sheds light on the trauma that many LGBT+ people face, all the while reflecting on how we can take our hardships and turn them into more emboldened initiatives for self-love.

Fabulous book. Honest, raw, funny and heartbreaking. This won't be the last time I read this book. I feel the need to watch the Queer Eye series from the beginning again now. Jonathan Van Ness is such a Beautiful Soul.

This made me cry with laughter and cry with sympathy all in the same chapterCW: homophobia, sexual assault, depression, suicidal thoughts, deathI loved this biography so much! I’ve been a fan of Jonathan since season 1 of Queer Eye and I’ve always wanted to hear their story. This book lived up to my expectations and then some more. I didn’t expect to feel so seen and resonate with so many of the topics discussed in this book. It made me laugh, made me cry, all of the feels and I’m just so glad I picked it up. Amazing!

I don’t know, it just makes me happy that this guy exists. I have had a rough couple of years mental-health wise, and queer eye, and JVN in particular, have consistently brought happy tears and smiles. There is something about his energy that inspires me to be less of a misery-guts. Which is a good thing. As for the book - well it is not exactly literary genius, but that is not the point. It is his voice, and certainly not polished by a ghost writer. Reading about all the brutal shit he has been through makes his attitude toward life even more impressive. Plus seeing him on the cover has encouraged conversations with my 8 year old about how he wants to wear dresses sometimes because he thinks they are cool. Which of course he can. All hail Queen JVN. Long may he reign.

The biography of Jonathan Van Ness of the Fab 5 of Queer Eye. I do love that show. Talk about feel good and making the world a better place, that show spreads the love and sparkles like no other. When I'm feeling down, I will put that show on and Jonathan is the sparkle fairy of the show. He is the secret of it's greatness. His super positive attitude and off the wall-totally-hilarious sayings that come out of his mouth are drop dead funny and make the show over the top fabulous. It's takes all 5 to make it work.Anyway, Jonathan has been through some stuff: sex, drugs, eating issues, body issues and relationship issues. She's 100% human. One thing that strikes me is how often and how many famous people seem to battle drugs and sex and other things. It seems to me people who do that are the very people who usually say 'YES' to all things in life. They aren't afraid and so fear doesn't hold them back. They say yes over and over until they make something of themselves. I'm sure not everyone does that, but it does seem to be a thing. Jonathan was the queen of his school and he got called plenty of horrible names. It made him stronger. I wish I had had that courage as a kid and let that stuff not stop me. It made me shy and too scared to say yes to much. I love Jonathan's sparkles and his yes to live and being 100% himself. He has all the good and bad of a person like rest of us and he can bring sunshine into so many people's lives. This was a great read and I had fun reading it. It was touching and funny and lifted me up for the day. I love a good biography. Famous people tell great stories, well, most of them.

"It’s not gonna be pretty, but it’s my truth, and if I don’t share it, I won’t be able to help others who are struggs to func."In Over the Top, Jonathan Van Ness uncovers the pain and passion it took to end up becoming the model of self-care and acceptance that Jonathan is today.Fans of Queer Eye will LOVE this one! There is so much more to JVN than meets the eye, and in this memoir he opens up about all of his parts. It's raw and unflinching, as he shows that even for an effervescent positive person like he is, life has not always been sunshine and rainbows. This one will put you through the emotional wringer - if you aren't laughing, you're crying.I also would highly recommend the audiobook as JVN narrates it himself and it is one of the best audio experiences I've ever had. Absolutely pissing myself laughing while out listening on my daily walks, and then shedding a tear or two...At the very beginning of the book, JVN asks if you will still love him once you know everything he has been through - and yes i still do! Even more so, in fact. All the stars for this one! 5 stars.

Listened to the audiobook on a road trip I highly recommend the audiobook since the author narrates it. If you like a narrator who doesn’t hide their personality and is open to sharing the lowest and highest points of their life with a mixture of humor and a promise of optimism you’ll love this book.To answer the question asked at the start of the book, would I love you if I knew everything you’ve been through—-YES!

Jonathan Van Ness is life! This book is life!Genuinely funny, extremely heartfelt & heartbreaking at the same time!For god’s love just read it! I hope one day to listen to the audiobook as well!Keep slaying queen!!!

4.5 “As scary as this can be I want you to know no matter how broken you feel, and how seemingly unlikely it is, we are never too broken to heal.”...If you didn't know, I love Netflix's Queer Eye. The whole cast - Tan, Bobby, Antoni, Karamo, and Jonathan - are all wonderful, and I was ecstatic to hear Jonathan was writing his own book!Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love is a memoir chronicling JVN's story from when they were a child growing up in a small mid-western town to their eventual success as a flamboyant, badass hairdresser on Queer Eye. I picked up the audio book, and was instantly drawn in by Jonathan's unique, hilarious narrative voice. If you've ever had the pleasure of hearing Jonathan speak, you know what I mean. It was fun and interesting, hearing about Jonathan's early life as a very gay child in a very conservative small town. From a young age, Jonathan was wholly unique: their great loves were (and still are) pop-tarts, gymnastics, and figure skating, and despite the horrible trauma he faced as a young kid, JVN's memoir radiates positivity, love, and truth.It gives me hope when I read about such radiant, loving people like Jonathan - they've been through so much, exprienced so much. I can't even begin to wonder how they made it out, but then again, Jonathan details their healing process in unflinching, raw honesty. There's no one path towards recovery, and their own story is proof of the resilience and perseverance that lives in all of us.Jonathan's story also specifically sheds a light on the bullying and trauma many young people in the LGBTQIA+ community face everyday. Some lines in here touched me deeply, and I appreciated how Jonathan specifically pointed out their privilege and how grateful they were for their family. JVN's mom (who's a badass lady) and her relationship with Jonathan's stepfather specifically warmed my heart.Despite Jonathan's vibrant, confident personality, the vulnerability and aching loneliness he suffered through in their early life hit me hard. I think anyone who was different growing up can relate to JVN's struggles. I certainly did.“Because when you have this much personality, there’s a fear lurking just below the surface: If you knew all of me, you wouldn’t love me anymore.”This book made me laugh, inspired me, and broke my heart in half. Jonathan's story, which is filled with love, loss, trauma, and intense recovery from addiction, never failed to exude JVN's beautiful soul. I usually don't read memoirs, but this was a great one to listen to, and I found it to be a very inspiring, important read. If you love Queer Eye, or just want to read a moving memoir, pick this up. It was wonderful!...“You know those plants that are always trying to find the light? Maybe they were planted in a location that didn’t necessarily facilitate growth, but inexplicably they make a circuitous route to not only survive but bloom into a beautiful plant. That was me—my whole life.”

DNF at 50%As much as I love Jonathan with all my heart, I had to DNF this simply because the audio doesn't work for me. It's not at all about him, it's my inability to listen to audiobooks. I have thought that listening to this one would be helpful, but no, now I know for sure that I can't listen to audiobooks... If there will be a printed version of it (from what I know just the audio was available on scribd) I will DEFINITELY pick it up because his story is amazing and heartbreaking and helped me realize some important stuff about me!!!You can follow my TWITTER If you want to support me, you can check my WHISHLIST Get 2 months of free books HERE

É um dos livros de memórias mais sinceros que eu já li. Além de falar sobre a vida pessoal do Jonathan, todos os momentos bons, ruins e péssimos, é uma grande aula sobre como cura não é algo linear. A gente não vai melhorando exponencialmente a cada dia; às vezes é "dois passos pra frente, um passo pra trás" e tudo bem. Seja qual for o tipo de cura e recuperação que você passe, você precisa seguir nesse caminho.O Jonathan tem um coração do tamanho do mundo e com o livro dá pra ver que ele sempre foi assim e ainda foi alimentando isso com mais motivos para não deixar de ser quem é. É uma história difícil de ler pois tem vários gatilhos de vários assuntos e por causa dessa honestidade inteira que ele coloca no livro. Dá pra sentir que ele foi transparente e enquanto lia às vezes eu pensava que tava invadindo um espaço pessoal dele, ou será se eu deveria estar lendo aquilo? Mas aparentemente é isso que é ser aberto com seus sentimentos sem medo de nada.Eu pude ler as outras duas memórias do Fab Five (Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope e Naturally Tan) e mesmo o Karamo sendo o meu favorito dos cinco, e o Tan sendo o que eu (impressionantemente) me conectei mais, foi a história do Jonathan que mexeu mais comigo.

"Over the top" é um livro de memórias de Jonathan Van Ness, especialista em aparência do reality da Netflix "Queer eye". Essa é uma história verdadeira, honesta e dura sobre traumas, relacionamentos e família. Alerta de gatilho: abuso sexual, traição.“If I’ve learned anything, it’s that acceptance is the key to so much, and we find so much freedom in feeling fierce about what we’re accepting.”Eu amei esse livro. A narração do audiobook é PERFEITA. (Não leia se você ainda não assistiu pelo menos os 12 primeiros episódios da série!) Recomendo!