St. Martin’s Press – Review: 5 stars

I love that I have a place that helps keep me grounded. Whenever I’m back home, the thing I just came from feels like a dream. It legit feels like it never happened. Until, of course, I’m out and about and someone I’ve never met before says, “Hey, Tan!”

Tan France, Naturally Tan

Book synopsis from Amazon :

In this heartfelt, funny, and touching memoir, one of the stars of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning smash-hit Queer Eye reveals how an Englishman raised in a traditionally religious home became a fashion icon—and the first openly gay, South Asian man on television—simply by being Naturally Tan.

In this heartfelt, funny, touching memoir, Tan France tells his origin story for the first time. With his trademark wit, humor, and radical compassion, Tan reveals what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional South Asian family, as one of the few people of color in South Yorkshire, England. He illuminates his winding journey of coming of age, finding his voice (and style!), and marrying the love of his life—a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.

From one of the stars of Netflix’s runaway hit show Queer Eye, Naturally Tan is so much more than fashion dos and don’ts—though of course Tan can’t resist steering everyone away from bootcut jeans! Full of candid observations about U.S. and U.K. cultural differences, what he sees when you slide into his DMs, celebrity encounters, and the behind-the-scenes realities of “reality TV,” Naturally Tan gives us Tan’s unique perspective on the happiness to be found in being yourself.

In Tan’s own words, “The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be.”

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.

I feel like I should start off by saying that I love Netflix’s Queer Eye to pieces, and Tan is always one of my favorite parts of the episodes. When I got approved for this ARC I legitimately called and bragged to my fiancé because I was so excited and I would get to read it first. So basically, I knew that, unless it was really, truly terrible, I was probably going to love this book. But now that that disclaimer is out of the way. Wow. I really loved this book.

I don’t tend to read very many memoirs, and so I usually assume that they will be a little bit longer of a read for me because I will be reading it interspersed and in-between my other books that might be a little bit faster paced. And while it did take me about a week to read this, and while yes, I was reading other books at the same time, the pacing wasn’t the cause at all. Tan as a narrator is exactly how I would have pictured based on his personality on the show – he is intelligent, and witty, and has fiery sass and sarcasm dripping out of every chapter. Anyone who knows me personally would tell you that I relate to that and that I eat it up.

He also doesn’t hold anything back, which I really appreciate. He doesn’t pretend that, fairly sudden, fame doesn’t have its drawbacks and that it isn’t hard for he and his family sometimes. He doesn’t pretend that he had a perfect and easy childhood, or even a perfect and easy adulthood. He tells you like it is about himself, his life, his world, and his deep hatred of crocs. Seriously. If you ever think that you may come in contact with Tan France, HIDE YOUR CROCS! Luckily for me I a) don’t own any crocs (I’m on your side, Tan!), and b) I don’t believe I am likely to be seeing Tan France any time soon, especially not in my closet. Oh well, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Another thing that I really loved about this that really set it apart from other memoirs that I have read is that it didn’t go directly in chronological order of his life. While yes, for the most part it started with stories from his childhood and ended with stories more centered around his life today and as a member of the Fab 5, it seems obvious that he didn’t feel obligated to stick strictly to that linear story. He freely mentions his husband, Rob, in an early chapter in a “Later I would come to find out” kind of way, or in a late chapter he goes back and touches again on his previous jobs that he had listed and explained away in the third or fourth. In a way, it almost seems like he wrote the book out of order – like he knew what stories he wanted to tell and wrote them out in chunks that made sense together as chapters, and then later switched them around to be roughly in the order that they happened. It made it feel casual, and fun, and just like an easy conversation with a friend. And I adored it.

Another thing that I thought was so whimsical and fun, and definitely worth noting, was that the chapters were all headed by a garment or accessory that would be important to the stories that he would be telling next. Rather than being numbered or having names like “The Early Years,” these chapters are headed with things like “Leather Jacket,” “Ode to a One Piece,” or even “Slippers” (spoiler, when he had his first date with his now husband, Rob showed up wearing slipper shoes. And the story is so charming.)

While we are on the subject of Rob, let’s talk a tiny bit about their relationship, because #goals. One thing that I didn’t realize before reading this book was how long they had been in a long-distance relationship before they got married. As someone who is in a long-distance relationship now, let me tell you, they are a whole lot of work and they aren’t always as much fun as they could be, but this is another thing that Tan is completely open and honest about. I so appreciate that he didn’t sweep it under the rug of “But we love each other, so it never had its difficulties.” It did, and it does. But they love each other, and they seem to compliment each other so well, that those difficulties were never bad enough that they couldn’t fix it together. Their story is so sweet, and it was truly a delight to get to read. Also, he mentions that they speak in a strange voice when they are only speaking to each other, and have enough inside jokes that they are always laughing and almost speaking a different language sometimes, and I loved that small peek behind the curtain.

All in all, I really did love getting to read this book. There are stories in the beginning about how difficult it was growing up and trying to hide who you are so you won’t be bullied (any more so than you already are), and heartbreaking stories about a particularly dark time in his life while running a few too many businesses, but there are also really funny and charming anecdotes about his friends, or Queer Eye, or meeting Jon Bon Jovi and almost FaceTiming his wife. There are so many wonderful things to find in this book, and I recommend it to anyone who might be even remotely interested. I will also, very likely, be buying a physical copy so that my fiancé can finally read it too. I mean, come on, after my bragging about it? I’m not totally heartless, am I?