Book Review for the book Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton

UNBREAK MY HEART By Toni Braxton - Book Review

Book Review for the book Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton has been one of my favorite singers for many years, since my high school days. Toni Braxton has an amazing singing voice. Toni Braxton's autobiography, Unbreak My Heart is a very interesting and thought provoking life story.

• Toni Braxton admits to being a bit rebellious after her strict religious upbringing.
• This is not the first time that I have heard about a very strict religious upbringing having the opposite than intended effect as the child rebelled. There are actually many stories like this among personalities in Hollywood and the music industry.

Toni Braxton is among six siblings. There are five girls and a boy. Toni Braxton was part of a very musical family and while they avoided secular music, she was brought up singing in the church and was discovered for her amazing abilities.

• Toni Braxton had not been allowed to listen to secular music in the family home that she shared with her parents and she became familiar with these types of songs in mainstream music by “sneaking around”. She loved learning the various tunes and singing to them.
• Toni Braxton found that she had a particular affinity to listening to the songs of famous singer Anita Baker and found Anita Baker to be very influential in her own style of singing.

Toni Braxton was still relatively young when she left her home in the Maryland area to pursue a music career that would one day make her very famous. She speaks about her business partnerships with people such as Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, another famous singer with a wonderful voice.

• Babyface and Toni Braxton have worked collaboratively on and off for many years in numerous aspects of music direction and production including their singing together in duets.

In her autobiography, Unbreak My Heart, Toni Braxton discusses her journey from young girl to developing her stage presence as a singer.

In Unbreak My Heart the book, Toni Braxton spoke about her fashion choices and discussed how even her signature hair cut was part of her persona or brand.

In the book, Unbreak My Heart, Toni Braxton discusses many heartbreaking experiences including being diagnosed with Lupus.

• The Lupus had an adverse effect on her skin and she had to take some harsh medications to manage the condition and its effects.
• Toni Braxton was warned about how the medicine could adversely affect fetal development if she became pregnant.
• In the book, Unbreak My Heart, Toni Braxton discusses some deeply personal and heartbreaking things related to the Lupus diagnosis and medications.

She married and became the mother of two sons, one of which was diagnosed with autism, a condition that caused much stress for the family.

She recalls having to change the daycare program that she had selected for her son with autism because the program that she chose was not equipped to work with him.

In the book, Toni Braxton also does not shy away from discussing that she had to file for bankruptcy. Since she is a public figure, this was much discussed in the media and it was humiliating for her especially when the items in her home had to be appraised for their value and taken to be sold / auctioned off.

Toni Braxton admits that she was at times too naïve and too trusting of people that she should not have allowed to mismanage her money. She also had to do an enormous amount of spending just to be able to put on her shows, something many entertainers often discuss.

This book, Unbreak My Heart, is transparent and insightful, interesting and poignant.