Name: You Got Anything Stronger?
ISBN: 9780063119710

Gabrielle Union

"We're Going to Need More Wine... plus a few shots-acclaimed activist, actress, and New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Union is back with an even more intimate, revealing, and powerful collection of essays"--

Stories

You Got Anything Stronger?

🌞Laur🌞

“My belief is stronger than your doubt.”

We should be reminding ourselves that expressing hurt or articulating whatever pain they may be feeling- emotional, spiritual, sexual- is not only okay but encouraged. You can reach resilience without “toughen up, kid.” That proverbial stiff upper lip can actually be nurtured through encouraging people to communicate, rather than instilling a fear of emotional connection and vulnerability. 

but i ask those people: If the time bomb goes off and a person’s ass explodes, what kind of woman are you? Will you be there for her? Wouldn’t you want someone to be there for you?

Do you remember the words we said, that Friday night in a borrow high school gym turned into a film set? “Putting some blond hair on it and calling it something different.” It’s the moment everyone calls the confrontational scene, but it’s where I made you surrender. When I ad-libbed the words I thought you needed to say. 

I thought surrender was “class.” I didn’t know that I could give you “class” and dignity while also being very clear about holding people accountable. 

It doesn’t matter what you say, it matters how you make people feel. And you cant control that. 

Have you ever noticed how mediocre people keep getting breaks? It’s because there’s a buddy system to every industry, not just mine, so known quantities continue to get deals even as they rack up failures. Mediocre people look after their own, promoting each other and giving each other work. 

Remember when we hit it off so well that we decided We're Going to Need More Wine? Well, this time you and I are going to turn to our friend the bartender and ask, You Got Anything Stronger? I promise to continue to make you laugh, but with this round, the stakes get higher as the conversation goes deeper. So. Where were we? Right, you and I left off in October 2017, when my first book came out. The weeks before were filled with dreams of loss. Pets dying. My husband leaving me. Babies not being born. My therapist told me it was my soul preparing for my true self to emerge after letting go of my grief. I had finally spoken openly about my fertility journey. I was having second thoughts--in fact, so many thoughts they were organizing to go on strike. But I knew I had to be honest because I didn't want other women going through IVF to feel as alone as I did. I had suffered in isolation, having so many miscarriages that I could not give an exact number. Strangers shared their own journeys and heartbreak with me. I had led with the truth, and it opened the door to compassion. When I released We're Going to Need More Wine, the response was so great people asked when I would do a sequel. The New York Times even ran a headline reading "We're Going to Need More Gabrielle Union." Frankly, after being so open and honest in my writing, I wasn't sure there was more of me I was ready to share. But life happens with all its plot twists. And new stories demand to be told. This time, I need to be more vulnerable--not so much for me, but anyone who feels alone in what they're going through. A lot has changed in four years--I became a mom and I'm raising two amazing girls. My husband retired. My career has expanded so that I have the opportunity to lift up other voices that need to be heard. But the world has also shown us that we have a lot we still have to fight for--as women, as black women, as mothers, as aging women, as human beings, as friends. In You Got Anything Stronger?, I show you how this ever-changing life presents challenges, even as it gives me moments of pure joy. I take you on a girl's night at Chateau Marmont, and I also talk to Isis, my character from Bring It On. For the first time, I truly open up about my surrogacy journey and the birth of Kaavia James Union Wade. And I take on racist institutions and practices in the entertainment industry, asking for equality and real accountability. You Got Anything Stronger? is me at my most vulnerable. I have recently found true strength in that vulnerability, and I want to share that power with you here, through this book.

Gabrielle Union gave a great group of short stories sharing some of her deepest moments. I really enjoy the vulnerability and honesty that she provides. It’s like she’s talking to me as a friend. 

0.2 off just because I feel like she rambled a bit at the end. 

Gabrielle Union gave a great group of short stories sharing some of her deepest moments. I really enjoy the vulnerability and honesty that she provides. It’s like she’s talking to me as a friend. 

0.2 off just because I feel like she rambled a bit at the end. 

Tori Nelson

Gabrielle Union could write a book about watching paint dry and I would probably read it. I loved her first book, We're Going to Need More Wine, and definitely recommend reading it prior to picking up this one. The sheer openness and vulnerability she displays throughout this book is unreal. She talks about everything in her life: relationships, trying to conceive, motherhood, adulthood, the pandemic, parenting, her career - no stone is left unturned. 

With autobiographies/memoirs, I always recommend the audiobooks and this one is no different. Union relayed her words with intent and the perfect tone that made me understand exactly what she meant. 

I do advise the content of some chapters could be triggering as some chapters discuss: sexual assault, trying to conceive/miscarriage, racism.

Lauren Attaway

Reading this book is a lot like having a series of conversations with Gabrielle Union, and while I think I enjoyed the previous chat more, I still really enjoyed this book. I appreciated her vulnerability and her honesty.

You Got Anything Stronger? Stories

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