From being an 8 year old who was in awe of an uber cool older 13 year old who graced my tv screen belting out Leave Get Out, I always had JoJo’s soundtrack to times I wanted to feel joy, empowered and times I wanted to divulge in the comfort of heartfelt emotional lyrics that spoke honestly to my painful, difficult emotions. Over the years that love and adoration has continued and I’ve got to experience each live show of hers when I was at university to being a fully fledged adult nearing 30.

It was an interesting experience to read the stories behind the lyrics and artist of what feels like my personal 20 year old soundtrack and moments I’d experienced as a fan over the past two decades. I’ve always respected JoJo’s honesty and candidness and it was so beautiful to experience this in her book.

She truly poured her heart into this body of work from sharing the trials, tribulations, mistakes, growing pains and life lessons learnt. One new aspect I learnt was the background of fighting her way to create a path out of poverty for her family and witnessing the difficulties of her parents struggling with addictions as child which garnered a huge new respect.

It was a moving story of learning to advocate for yourself and also what really stood out to me was the layer of honesty. There was ownership of reality of multifaceted imperfections and pain caused to others in relationships, the reality of addiction and complexity of growth. I think she delved into this with a surprising level of integrity and accountability which I respect in an autobiography.

For years I often channeled Joanna’s music for times of strength and envisioning a stronger version of self that Joanna conveyed and it was beautiful and inspiring the reality of emotions of insecurity felt in real time that unexpectedly mirrored my reality at times in similar struggles that i was aiming to feel escapism from. But now hearing the story behind these songs I think I resonated with the emotions of wanting to feel empowerment in your own life felt through those vocals. (Especially on Keep Forgetting To Forget About You) I think it also pulled the curtains back on how moments I thought were glittering spotlights were actually a contrast behind the scenes and I fully respect her authenticity and that gave a sense of solace for myself that I didn’t expect.

I sobbed in the chapters that spoke of grief and loss and beamed with joy in the chapters where she learnt to find her voice, build self love , achieve sobriety and embrace new passions.

Joanna, thank you for your ability to turn vulnerability into strength in this book. Truly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for inspiration off how to evolve and the art of resilience to carry in your own journey.

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Rating	4.7 (125 ratings)
Price	$0.99
Category	Arts & Literature

Over the Influence: A Memoir