So we are putting Ads in books now?!: Master of Me Review

I hate to say it, I hope I don’t sound ridiculous but I hated this book. 😬

I give this book a 2/5 stars ⭐️⭐️ and sorry not sorry!

The story follows Keke Palmer as she tries to help us (the common reader) master ourselves and be the best we can be. The problem is that the book is marketed as a memoir, and come to find out…. it’s a self-help book that doesn’t tell us anything of substance about her life or actually how she became successful. Which (shocker) would’ve actually “helped” me more than a damn self-assessment quiz. (Yes, she actually had real self-assessment quizzes throughout the book as if we were in a therapy session – a bad one without substance). Apparently the full title is “Master of Me: The Guide to Controlling Your Narrative”, this title is only online and not on the physical book.

Now I love Keke Palmer! I actually do! Which is why this review hurts me because it feels like stabbing my childhood best friend in the back! I grew up on True Jackson VP and her amazing and the extremely underrated movie Rags!

Regardless of how I feel about the book there are some things I liked. Here are some quotes I thought about, and I’ll put them here:

“I tune out the noise because I do believe art is subjective. If I feel good about my performance, and my director feels good about my performance , and the audience was entertained, then I’ve done the best that I could” (p. 27)
“People say they want diversity within our community, but when it’s not what they like, it has to cease to exist. That’s the problem that respectability politics places on Black creativity…Diversity should exist in our genres and in our reviews.” (p. 29 – 30)
- You are right, people, especially Black people should be able to create whatever they want.
- Earlier on in this passage though you defend Tyler Perry and that’s not really a fair assessment in my eyes. Tyler Perry is a very rich business man that could use his platform to highlight Black actors in a way that uplifts them.
- But instead he chooses to make minstrel shows that spread hurtful images that affect the Trans community. You are right, he should be allowed to make whatever he wants, but we live in a society where his actions have consequences. Given all he has done, he should at least do something to help the Black Trans community, but he hasn’t so I think the criticism is warranted.
“When we learn lessons we think that means that nothing like that will happen again…I don’t think life is like that; I think it’s actually about experiencing many different versions of the same triggers and it’s your bounce-back rate that proves sufficiency.” (p. 34)
“…at its core, feminism truly is about the right to be an individual….Barbie did a good job exploring how the patriarchy is the death of individualism and feminism is a way to find our way back…. When any one of us decides to be an individual and base our value on what we think is important, we shake the entire system and how it’s meant to control our sense of self.” (p. 43 – 44)
- I don’t necessarily think feminism is that closely linked with individualism (I don’t think individualism helps us as much as we think it does) but I like the way she analyzed the Barbie movie as feminism is the answer to patriarchy. I do think self-determination is a big part of feminism and Black feminist praxis.
- Feminism is about finding freedom from a patriarchal society that oppresses them and people being able to self-determine who they want to be outside of societal expectations. I don’t think individualism is the answer to patriarchy or should be conflated with feminism.

Now if you are a big fan of self-help books and workplace dynamics and how to build a brand go ahead and give it a try. Unfortunately it was not for me.

Now here are my thoughts while reading:

I’ve never seen anyone so proud to be a clown! She talks about being clown as if it’s not an insult. I know she’s an actress but I think that’s very different than being a CLOWN!
- “… I’ve entertained all my life. I love being a clown, but it does hurt when y’all laugh while I’m not performing.” (p. 53)
I understand what she’s saying here but when the persona of Keke Palmer is showing on social media, on tv, on film, its hard for the average viewer to know the difference between the performance and the real you.
I think most people think this persona IS the real you because you come off as so authentic and unapologetic, it’s hard to distinguish the two.

This reads like a handbook on race and gender in the workplace, using evidence from lived experiences with a little sprinkle of self promotion, so far.
She already wrote a self-help book “I Don’t Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice” apparently, so this second one really is a cash grab.
Acting really is its own form of education, because you learn so much about lives you would’ve never lived without doing this job.
- You learn psychology, sociology, finance through living it rather than reading it
“The plot is about a young, beautiful Black girl… who created a brand …becoming a generational talent. That’s the plot. It’s not “I’ve got problems with my baby daddy.” Now let’s move on.” (p. 53)
- Actually, let’s not –
- You chose to publish this book, make a music video with Usher, and have a podcast with Usher right after this entire baby daddy drama. Knowing good and well that you are capitalizing off of it, and now when people buy your book to learn more you are saying No, that’s not the plot.
- Actually it is. I know it’s not what you want the plot to be but it’s definitely a huge part of it.
- Your relationships with people, especially the father of your child, shapes the dynamics of your life tremendously, you can’t talk about your life and ignore one of the biggest catalysts in your development from Girlfriend to Mother. This isn’t some person you can ignore.
- Yes, it’s not the WHOLE plot, but you ignoring it in this book AFTER capitalizing off of it just comes off disingenuous and actually annoying.
- The whole premise of a memoir is honesty and if you can’t be honest about yourself, especially the parts you would rather hide, it makes the reader not trust you nor the book as a whole.
Feels like a cash grab yet again!!!!

Yes you played a queer woman in Nope but it wasn’t obvious she was queer like what maybe one line was hinted at it and she dressed like a tomboy, that’s not enough to start claiming it like a badge of honor 🙄 (reference to p.77)
“I’m a people pleaser so having a kid made me less of a people pleaser because I had to say no to everyone so I can please my kid.” (my paraphrase – p. 94)

YOU’RE STILL A PEOPLE PLEASER YOU DIDN’T CHANGE, YOU JUST CHANGED THE PERSON. STOP PREACHING THIS!!!
I understand that taking care of yourself is necessary to take care of your child, but don’t pretend that that process helped you find yourself and become less of a people pleaser.
You are supposed to take care of yourself because you are important not because of your child or anyone else. Your life just went from being attached to the audience to being attached to your child and that’s not healthy. DON’T ADVOCATE FOR THAT.
People shouldn’t have kids as a means to an end. And you shouldn’t have kids without doing the mental work to put yourself first BEFORE HAND.
Maybe I’m being too harsh but I hate when people use their children to spread a message or an agenda.
A child is a child, not a prop, not a motif, not an argument and not a means to better yourself.
And maybe if this book spent time on actually showing us the story of her first born rather than telling the message, it could’ve come across more beautifully and less preachy.
Ch 19 – this is real, we finally get a VERY SMALL SNIPPET of her life, but she’s still telling me instead of just taking me through the story.
- You say you are a storyteller, but you’re not telling me the whole story!
“I often feel like I missed the “IT” factor of life” p. 174, show me how, don’t just tell me?!
You have a fucking AD in the middle of the book! (Chapter 23)
- That’s so fucking bold of you wow!
Why does Chapter 26 feel like an ad for KeyTV like girl wtf does this have to do with who you are

“Not my personal matters- because that’s not what matters” (p.219)
- Yes the fuck it does when your writing an autobiography, why tf do you think I’m reading this!!!!
p.230 GIRL ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?!!
- You are basically saying: Capitalism sucks but we can’t do shit about it, so make a brand like me so you can be in charge of your own life and make it a corporation so you feel more in control.
- THAT’S NOT HOW CAPITALISM WORKS! We can’t ALL just buy out or else the system will collapse.
- We need to completely restructure the system if we want to escape we can’t just buy out and strike it rich
You make it seem as though we are the only things preventing our success, as if layers of oppression are completely within our control, but it’s just not true.
Ugh finally this dumpster fire of a book is over!

ziyah reads and writes!