Book Review: unSweetined

How rude!

Jodie Sweetin melted our hearts and made us laugh for eight years as cherub-faced, goody-two-shoes middle child Stephanie Tanner. Her ups and downs seemed not so different from our own, but more than a decade after the popular television show ended, the star publicly revealed her shocking recovery from methamphetamine addiction. Even then, she kept a painful secret—one that could not be solved in thirty minutes with a hug, a stern talking-to, or a bowl of ice cream around the family table. The harrowing battle she swore she had won was really just beginning.

In this deeply personal, utterly raw, and ultimately inspiring memoir, Jodie comes clean about the double life she led—the crippling identity crisis, the hidden anguish of juggling a regular childhood with her Hollywood life, and the vicious cycle of abuse and recovery that led to a relapse even as she wrote this book. Finally, becoming a mother gave her the determination and the courage to get sober. With resilience, charm, and humor, she writes candidly about taking each day at a time. Hers is not a story of success or defeat, but of facing your demons, finding yourself, and telling the whole truth—unSweetined.

This autobiography from Jodie, with the help of Jon Warech, came out in December of 2009 from Gallery Books.

Yes, I am down a Full House biography rabbit-hole; this is the last one for now.

Jodie's story was a very quick read yet also a very eye-opening one. Readers who were looking for a cute celebrity tell-all might be disappointed. This is the story she wanted to tell - the open, revealing story of a young woman struggling to find her purpose and a place where she felt comfortable with herself. I totally get this; in my own youth I struggled with similar issues. She is also honest about the decisions she made - her decisions, her actions - and the repercussions that followed. I get those too (though I never went beyond the alcohol level myself).

I appreciated that she did not sugar-coat things. She details many of the ups and down (and ups and down...and ups and downs) she went through. She points out how hard it was to find the right, the ultimate motivation to get herself sober. It has been over a decade since she wrote this, and those who follow her know that she's made some very positive roads to move back into her former career. I think a new edition with a few new chapters chronicling that would make a nice addition to the story, though it is pretty strong just where the book ends in 2009.