We are all Human

Powerful, Riveting, Full of Life

Revisado: 02-09-25

The world, mythology and characters of the story are all so rich, compelling, and nuanced. The vivid worlds and characters lay the foundation for an empowering story told with a full heart.

Having lived in Ghana and traveled prolifically in West Africa, I deeply appreciate the authenticity of both the writing and narration. The cultural diversity of the region was embraced beautifully, and the pronunciation was spot on. The narrator also channeled each character with such clarity and fullness that they all came alive as distinct people with their own personal history and unique perspective and voice.

The story unfolded beautifully and was well-paced. The author succeeded in telling a cohesive, powerful story with two protagonists, artfully weaving their journeys together in complementary and contrasting ways.

From the details of the villages, forests and courtly life to the intelligence, heart and soul of the characters, the writing pulled me in from page one until well after I finished the book. This is a world that I wish I could live in.

I can’t wait until the next book by this impressive author.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Incredible Life-Affirming Story Told Honestly with Compassion, Wisdom, Humor and Strength

Revisado: 01-18-23

I wholeheartedly recommend Ms. Davis’ story told in her own voice. Listening it has healed something in me.

She has a beautiful way of finding the heart of the matter and speaking directly to it. Her story is one of intense transformation, a literal rags to riches story, but what spoke most potently to me was not the fame or accolades but her inner transformation. She has a determination to live as fully as possible and to do so as an artist who respects the people, the characters she embodies. It’s incredibly inspiring.

As someone with tons of uncanny connections and overlap between her story and mine, I deeply appreciate her sharing her naked truth and doing the excavation work.

Being an artist can be incredibly lonely, it sometimes feels like doing the most intense therapy except instead of one hour a week in a therapist’s office, you’re doing it all day every day, alone without the help of a trained professional and turning it into something that can heal and transform others. This is exactly what this book is, and the magic of Ms. Davis’ artistry is that you end up feeling less alone because someone else has walked through hard things, confusing things, and uplifting things too.

She doesn’t wallow in the difficulty. Instead her story has twists and turns. She soars and describes incredible friendships, collaborations and experiences. Just like her acting work, her book has depth and breadth, nuance, complexity, layers, humor, and power. She celebrates all of life.

This is a book I will refer back to for years to come. I highly recommend it to anyone who is an artist, a woman, a person of color, or a human who wants to know someone else’s experience of being fully human.

Content Warning: there are some horrific circumstances and events that she has lived through, but she tells them in an honest way that for me was deeply healing. Below, I will list all the areas of content that might be difficult for some readers. If you don’t want spoilers, stop reading this now and start listening to her heart-filled book.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Context Warning: poverty, racism, sexism, domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, death of animals, death of humans, cuss words, rats, mice, bed wetting, hunger, addiction, infidelity.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Resource for Everyone Breaking into TV

Revisado: 01-08-23

This book is a huge gift for anyone working to become a staff writer or recently hired and wanting to prep for the job. It demystifies exactly what goes on in a writer’s room, what the expectations are for each job, and goes far beyond just the writer’s room itself to include pretty much every aspect of being a working TV writer (other than how to actually write… But there are tons of resources out there already for that.).

From how to make sure you’re accepting jobs that you will thrive in, to how to create community, to strategies for when you’re hired to work with difficult people, to how to navigate politics, personalities, and different approaches to structuring the process, Niceole walks us through every aspect of the job with open honesty and transparency while advocating for each of us to have a healthy working environment in which we give to the best of our ability and ask for what we need.

As a queer AAPI female writer, I deeply appreciated her discussions on what it’s like to be the only person of a certain underrepresented community in the room. While there were some hard truths mentioned, Niceole also gives us strategies and avenues for how to deal with anything from mindless insensitivity all the way to toxic or abusive situations. That’s info that I wish everyone was armed with in every room, not just writer's rooms.

She also went into detail about rates and the WGA’s policies on payment for various scenarios, which was empowering.

In addition to the abundant pearls of wisdom on what it’s like to be a staff writer (and how to make the most out of every opportunity), which is where most of the book lives, she also laid out the path up every rung of the ladder from staff writer to show runner, what each job entails, and how to thrive in each one.

I also loved the advice given by a whole host of other writers, broken down by genre (drama or comedy) and gender of the writer. Speaking of genre, Nicole also dove into differences in drama vs comedy writer’s rooms and how to switch between the two which I found helpful.

I love that she narrated the book herself and found her speaking voice to be approachable and easy to listen to.

Overall, this book is like a super smart mentor who is always in your corner, not afraid to tell you the hard truth when you need it (like, don’t let your dedication to the job take over your whole life. You need to keep doing what makes you you so that (a) you don’t burn out and (b) you have interesting things to write about). And she also inspires and lifts you up when you need that as well. I highly recommend giving this book to every aspiring writer you know.

Note: It’s clear that a lot of thought went into trying to be as inclusive as possible in this book, which I deeply appreciate. However, some readers may feel excluded by the use of “he or she” throughout the book, since that languaging normalizes the gender binary and assumes everyone fits within it (which is obviously untrue). As a gender queer person, I felt excluded by that languaging and would have preferred the use of “they” or “he, she or they” when talking about a person whose gender is unknown.

Technical Note: Thls book says there’s an accompanying PDF, but there’s not one as of Jan 9, 2023. This is probably just a glitch, and I look forward to reading the PDF when it becomes available.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Superb

Revisado: 07-26-22

Wonderful book that I highly recommend listening to rather than reading. Hannah Gadspy’s voice and timing make this book impactful and funny. If you’ve seen Nanette, you know that there are some triggers around molestation, rape, and abuse. But these were handled in a sensitive way. I appreciated both Hannah’s personal stories as well as her inclusion of relevant Australian historical and cultural contexts. This book touches the heart, and there’s something healing in the listening of it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Incredibly Helpful, Funny, Inspiring & Courageous

Revisado: 01-14-14

What made the experience of listening to The Power of Vulnerability the most enjoyable?

Brene Brown is a total delight to listen to. I just finished the audiobook and am also reading her book "Daring Greatly," which I highly recommend as well. She has a genius combination of hard, measurable research data mixed with totally down to earth stories from her life and her work that make everything relatable. I feel like she's talking directly to me, and hearing her speak to a live audience, listening to their "aha's" and nervous laughter and even some gasps makes it feel like I'm a part of a community of people who are all doing this vulnerable personal work together. This is a phenomenal audiobook, one that I will listen to again, no doubt and that I will share with my friends, family and colleagues. I'm very grateful for work like this and for Brene's authenticity and insight.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña