Biographies and memoirs are some of my favorite books to read and I really enjoyed this one. I was a fan of Sara and her music years ago, but haven’t heard much out of her in recent years. Initially, I was drawn in as a fan of hers and music in general, but this story goes much deeper than that. Born to Fly highlights her childhood, and how life as a product of a broken home affected her, as well as her rise to fame, heartbreak and a second chance at love, parenting, both as a working mom and in a blended family, mental health, the journey to her strong faith, and also her hope to continue to bring joy and happiness to others through her musical talent. We all know the same old story: A musician moves to Nashville, struggles, gets their break, hits it big, and lives happily ever after. Sara’s story is so much more. What a horrible realization it must be to work so hard and have all of your dreams come true only to realize that you are not happy and need to make a painful change. I love that this book isn’t sugar coated and is more about her version of happiness and peace despite the drama and chaos that last put her name in the headlines. As a visual learner, and just a sucker for nostalgia, I really enjoyed the pictures she included in the book. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Really interesting memoir about Sara Evans. Great!

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I absolutely loved her story. I have already recommended it to 3 others. This book really touched me.

Born to Fly started off strong with a detailed description of life growing up in rural Missouri. Sara vividly described life on a farm and how hard work was instilled in her at a young age. It was that trait that propelled her to county music stardom.

She shared the many obstacles she had to overcome as a child - being hit by a car, divorce, and the financial struggles of her family. Sara spoke candidly about her faith and the importance of her relationship with God and the role her family plays in her life.

The book faltered when it came to her judgemental tone - how to be a wife, how to parent children, and how women should care about their appearance. Not all women are on a public stage, thus appearance should not matter as much as one's heart.

Overall, the book lacked flow and continuity. It seemed as though some important moments in her life were skipped or glossed over to quickly jump to her current marriage.

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.

Though this book started out strong with Sara talking about her life growing up, it just became so hypocritcal that I finally stopped after about halfway through. She has had some really tough breaks in life (falling in a septic tank and getting hit by a car) and the book was very interesting and seemed to be about overcoming obstacles and challenges but quickly became a pity party. Not to mention it skipped over major events in her life (her wedding to her first husband). And there were some places when she interjected forward stories (the loss of her best friends sister) which confused me (wait, when did it say she suddenly started touring with Reba?). She paints women as extremely shallow (she seems to believe that women as a whole spend their time only thinking about getting fat!). She glossed over her problems with her first husband (I had to look that up and was shocked). She says to be a strong women, but be submissive. And finally, she just seemed to blame all her problems on PTSD and her father leaving. Man, I'm just really bummed with this book. It won't stop me from selling it to Sara Evans fans, because fans will be fans. But for me, it will make me turn the station if I hear her singing.

I think Sara Evans has a beautiful voice and I have always been a fan of her music so I was looking forward to this book. There were some things I loved about this book- learning about her childhood and the obstacles she's overcome, and her candid talk about suffering from anxiety and depersonaliziation- but there was so much about this book that irritated me. Usually when I read a memoir Income away from it liking the person more, and this time the further I read on the more I felt myself like Sara Evans less. There are so many instances of her being judgemental or of her personality just rubbing me the wrong way. I will continue to enjoy her music, but some of these things made this particular book a let down for me. I still gave it 3 stars for the great beginning and for the much needed not sugar coated talk about mental health issues.

Growing up around country music, Sara was one of my favorites. Her voice is simply beautiful and different. I enjoyed this book so much. Getting to know her, her family, her heartbreak and so much more, makes me love her even more. What a beautiful person!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been a country music fan for years. I went through a period of time where I was a super big Sara Evans fan as well. So to say I was looking forward to this book is an understatement. I wish I could rate this book higher than I am but I cant seem to do it. While it is a good book, it lacks the feeling of genuine honesty. A lot of things are glossed over or overly sugar coated like her success and hard times in her career or her divorce. It doesn't have to be blow by blow just something more than there was would have felt a lot more honest and genuine. Some parts of it felt very rambly and affected the flow of the book. I'm sure others will enjoy it but I was just hoping for more with it.

Born to Fly by Sara Evans is a great memoir about her life and self-reflections. We get to learn more about her life growing up as a child on a farm. We get to see some of the difficulties and adversities she faced to place her on her current path as a successful country singer.

We also receive insight into who she is as a person, a mom, a friend, and a great country singer. I enjoyed learning more about her.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Howard Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

This memoir had some great parts. Hearing about the author's struggles with anxiety was an expected and welcome surprise. I always admire when someone tries to remove the stigma that surrounds anxiety or depression. And I loved hearing about Sara's music career, but I wish the book had spent more time on that part of her life. Too much of the book covered her early life, which I wasn't as interested in as her music career. My biggest problem with this book is that the author gets preachy. Very, very preachy. She has very strong opinions about how everyone else should be living their lives and it started to wear a bit thin as the book went on.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. The reader is taken back to Sarah growing up in a big farmhouse in New Franklin, Missouri. The mishaps that happened to Sarah, falling into a septic tank and the horrible time she went to get the mail. I cried when her Mom ran down the driveway barefoot....A Mother's Love. The book glides over her first marriage and dives into her current marriage to Jay. I loved, loved this book. You feel like you are right there experiencing everything right along with the author and getting a behind the scene glimpse into her life. Great read!