Turning the Tables by Teresa Giudice {a Book Review}

Ok guys, this is my first time writing a book review so please forgive me if it isn't all that great. Without giving anything away for those who want to read the book, this is my constructive opinion of Turning the Tables by Teresa Giudice.

First of all, it's a super easy read. Like really, really easy! You could definitely get this done in just a few hours. I personally love an easy read but if you are looking for something challenging, you might want to skip over this book. I loved the stories that Teresa told about her stay at Danbury but they weren't so intriguing that when I put the book down, I was dying to get back into it. It just wasn't one of those books that you can't put down. It was good, but not great. 

Teresa starts the first couple chapters of her book by giving us a rundown of her family and background. If you are a RHONJ fan like I am, you might find these chapters somewhat boring since we have already learned so much about her on the show. Obviously Teresa wrote the book as a memoir and with the understanding that not everyone watches RHONJ so I totally get why she included these chapters. With that being said, I DID learn a few new things about her but for the most part could have done without those chapters. 

I was really excited when the focus of her book turned to her prison sentence... that's the whole reason I picked up the book in the first place! She tells us in detail about her last night with her family which was completely heartbreaking. I'm not a mother so I can only imagine how she must have felt leaving her four children and husband. Ugh! She then tells us about what happened when she arrived. I think she did a great job of explaining everything because I could picture it all in my head and truly understood how she felt in that moment.

The book continues and she tells us about the challenges she faced while incarcerated- everything from roommates having sex in the room while she was in there to the 2 year old meat that was served from the kitchen. It was shocking but this was exactly what I was looking forward to from the book... so these were my favorite parts to read.

 

I do think that Teresa used this book as a way to convince fans that she is not mean or cold hearted {like the show RHONJ often portrayed}. Throughout the book she shows examples of when other people told her she was the "sweetest girl ever". I thought "oh that's nice". But then after the third time it got old and I got the sense she was heavy on self praise. I honestly like Teresa but this rubbed me the wrong way. I also don't like how she never took responsibility for why she was in there. She mentioned a few times that when she was faced with a challenge she would think to herself "why am I even in here?". That told me that she wasn't really owning what she did and again, that rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall though, I enjoyed the book! I also liked that she included excerpts from her diary and pictures from prison. You will see those throughout and I think that made it even more personable. Thank you Teresa Giudice, for sharing your experience with the world. Now I wonder if "Juicy Joe" will write a book while he's in prison!?





Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34