Review: More Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys

This fascinating book tells Alicia Keys’ story — in her own words. She became famous for her singing and songwriting while still in her middle teenage years, and somehow never succumbed to the stress of success that so many people who find the limelight at an early age do. She explains the life-long impact of her imperfect childhood, but never uses this as an excuse. The point of her book is to relate her personal struggles in finding her own identity, coming to terms with her self-worth, and achieving success on her own terms.

Keys embodies fame and achievement, having won numerous Grammy awards over the years for her seven albums. Yet she is also an amazing woman who committed to a life of activism as a young person and expanded that commitment through the years by establishing foundations to address specific social issues such as empowering children in Africa and racial justice and equality. 

Had I been an avid Alicia Keys fan, I’m sure this book would have had an even deeper meaning for me as she details the creative process surrounding her most famous songs. This book makes apparent her enormous talent and dedication to achieving the greatest depth of relevance through her music.

Keys takes the reader step-by-step through her personal journey of self-development and awareness.  She shares the good, the bad, and even what some may consider the ugly, and does not pull any punches. In doing so, Keys offers a pattern for others striving to discover their own personal best in a life of struggles and pulls in all different directions. She identifies the “voicelessness” so many women feel when our feelings or opinions are cast aside by those who think we should sublimate our wishes to their own.

Keys also describes the elation of realizing our own uniqueness as “what makes us wildly, boldly, and marvelously who we were born to be.”

This is an autobiography with a difference. More than just the who, what, and where, Keys allows us to peek into her inner soul and envision her personal growth. She wants to offer her readers a hand in achieving the power of womanhood she so well illustrates. I recommend this book to the individual reader and as a gift to Alicia Keys fans, as well as young women working to discover their own personal best.

More Myself: A Journey, by Alicia Keys, is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and local booksellers. Published by Flatiron Books under the Oprah Imprint, New York 2020. This article contains affiliate links.