Member Reviews

I enjoyed this book quite a lot! I have been a fan of Taylor Swift's music since seeing the music video for "Mean" on a restaurant TV, back in her country days. At that time the only thing I knew about her was she had a fashion doll line (like Barbie, but...Taylor Swift). I was surprised this book made no mention of the dolls. Instead it focuses on her music and love life and none of the merch. At this point there's so much merch, you could probably write a whole book just cataloguing it, but still, it didn't get even a mention.

I have bought all of Taylor's albums since the original release of Red. I've always liked her music - I never skip a song! - and I knew at this point she's a household name, but I didn't know about all the records she's broken, and this book covered those in great detail. It was really impressive without being dry reading.

There was a lot of info about Taylor's online social life, which I was clueless about previously. I feel like I learned a lot about her that I never knew, and the illustrations in the book are adorable, but I did notice that not all of the information is necessarily accurate. For example, the author assumes the entirety of latest album The Tortured Poets Department was written about Taylor's relationship with Joe Alwyn, when most of the speculation I've seen online from her fans was actually about her brief romance with Matt Healy.

I don't really care about Taylor Swift's personal relationship status but the book does have a pretty heavy focus on it. I count myself as a fan of Taylor's because I love her music, but I can't say after reading this book that I have even seen all of her music videos. I did learn a lot about her that was new to me, but I think the reader has to take some of the info with a grain of salt because it is often based on info from social media, which may not be the most accurate source.

At the end of the book was a fun little horoscope that tells you what you have in common with Taylor and what your most relative Taylor Swift song is, and I thought that was pretty cute. I really enjoyed this book and it's probably something I would buy as a keepsake.

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This quick review of Taylor Swift's music and her career was very informative. I like how it went through each of her albums and gave behind-the-scenes information about its making.

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I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. I want to clarify that the opinions I'll share are completely my own.

As a recent fan of Taylor Swift, I found this book to be incredibly informative. It's kind of like a crash course in Taylor Swift culture, and I adore it. Exploring each album was a lot of fun, and the Taylor A-Z section was simply amazing. I feel like my knowledge has expanded, and now I feel confident discussing Taylor Swift with my niece without feeling like I don't know what I'm talking about.

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I loved this book! The art work is fantastic, I thought the background information given on her albums and the meanings behind many of her songs was great. This would be a great book for any Swiftie to own!!

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New Swiftie here and this book was perfect for me. Part one goes through a quick biography, part two goes through all her albums in order and explains Track 5s, muses, awards won, etc. for each, part 3 is Swiftology which goes through the easter eggs, the song chants, basically Taylor Swift 101. The illustrations in this book were *chef’s kiss* so cute! I feel like for any of the OG Swifties the information covered here is information they all already know, but I think it would still be enjoyable, especially looking at the cute illustrations! I recommend this book to any new Swiftie, or family of a Swiftie! Publishing date is July 16th!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this eARC of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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First, I want to thank NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. for the ARC of "Taylor Swift is Life" by Kathleen Perricone.

Of course, I had to read this book about Taylor Swift! The illustrations are fantastic, capturing her iconic looks perfectly.

The book begins with a biography detailing her move from Pennsylvania to Tennessee, her first record deal, and the journey to recording her first six albums.

The second part of the book is a discography, explaining Track 5, awards, and her muses. Although, I will point out that there is no mention of Matty Healy.

The third part is an A to Z of Taylor Swift, covering everything from arm lyrics to December and even William Bowery.

The final section dives into Easter eggs, color theory, and the Taylorscope. I can't name a Swiftie who hasn't gone down a rabbit hole searching for Easter eggs.

This book is a must-read for every Swiftie, parent of a Swiftie, and anyone trying to understand the mind of a Swiftie. Very informative. Overall, I would rate it a 4/5.

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I'm pretty new to the Swiftie lifestyle (I fell off the bandwagon around Red and didn't come back in until Midnights) so this book served as a fun little primer to all the things I missed/forgot. This biography covers Taylor Swift's journey from childhood through The Tortured Poets Department and has a section about fan terminology (I will be referencing the Chants before I go to the Eras Tour in November) and her famous easter eggs. The illustrations are so cute and capture tons of Swift's most iconic looks. The writing and format lean towards a younger audience, but this would be fun for any dedicated fan or someone just getting into the Swiftie lifestyle!

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I’m the mother of a Swiftie which means I’ve listened to her albums, went to Vegas for the Eras Tour and watched the Eras concert movie more than once. I watched the Super Bowl on a cruise ship only for the sightings of Taylor and not for who won the game. So for me I wasn’t surprised by anything I read in this book. I like the layout first going through a quick summary of her life and career. There are no photos but drawings in similar style to the cover with familiar outfits and looks. The book covers each album listing songs and talking about inspiration, awards, and unique things related to them. And the final third of the book covers “Swiftology” or things fans should know like easter eggs, sound advice and theme songs. I like the author does include quotes from interviews or times when Taylor is speaking. Sometimes I am perplexed how confidently people say this song is about so and so if Taylor doesn’t confirm it. This type of book can become outdated quickly after another album is released or a new relationship begins. But I enjoyed reading it and getting caught up in the Swiftie world. I'd recommend to any fan of Taylor Swift. (3.5 Stars)

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I think this book is great for both those who are already swifties because there is a lot of information that they may have missed or can remind themselves of, and for people who have only heard of Taylor and are more interested in finally finding out who she is and why she is so popular. the book is incredibly informative, so I will tell you in a little more detail what awaits you inside because I recommend reading it.

in general, there are three parts here (+ Taylorscope, a few pages of the horoscope, and which song, according to the author, fits each sign), each of which tells about a different part of Taylor's work.

the first chapter, entitled The Making of a Mastermind, is devoted to Taylor's biography. here we are told about her life since she was a child, but of course, focusing mostly on the professional part, i.e. how Taylor started writing songs, playing guitar, how she got signed to a record label, etc., and so on up to the present.

the next section Taylor-Made Music contains, to my mind, almost all the information about Taylor's discography. here, the author talks about each album separately, and the text is presented in a structured way, so it is very easy to read and absorb what is read. first, we see the tracklist, then what records this album broke, what was the creative direction when it was recorded, the creation and choice of the cover and title, who inspired Taylor when writing it, the history of track number 5, and Taylor's version / re-recording. in addition, if there is any other interesting information about a certain album, then it is also presented here, it's just that these categories are fundamental for every album in general.

well, the third, very fan section, is Swiftology. here, the author gave us an alphabet of different concepts related to Taylor (Taylor A to Z), told us about all the easter eggs, advised different songs for different situations, and even talked about certain words that are repeated in different Tay's songs, how their meaning changes depending on from the song.

in addition to the informativeness of the book, I want to highlight the author's writing style in general, because, first of all, it is very easy to read, really. secondly, yes, of course, all this information can be found freely available on the Internet, BUT here it is all collected, well structured, and interestingly presented. well, and thirdly, the author is either a swiftie herself, or prepared a lot for writing, because she often uses various references to Taylor or her songs in the text, and it's always like that meme with DiCaprio from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: "oh, I know it!".

and, last but not least, there are nice illustrations, they are very cute, and although there are not so many of them, they also create some atmosphere. and on the edges of the pages, there is a color gradient according to the chapter/album of Tay, beautiful.

if you're interested in Taylor, I definitely recommend reading it, because it's really good work.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

First of all the illustrations in this book are so cute! This book was a one stop shop for knowledge on Taylor Swift’s music. It takes each album one by one and gives a breakdown of them. Then it gives a full Swiftology and also Easter Eggs! A must have for all Swifties!

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Overall it’s a pretty well structured book with most important insights on Taylor Swift’s career with a few beautiful illustrations too.

Although, I did find issues with some informations. For example mentioning muses in each era and saying her album “The Tortured Poets Department” is only about her past relationship with Joe Alwyn, no mention of songs that are based on Matty Healy or also about completely not about her (past) lovers.
I find it frustrating that the author also made it seem like all Taylor writes about and whats most important are the men she dated. Another example would be referring to “clean” from “1989” as a break up song, even though it is definitely about her struggle with an ed.
I was happy her newest album is included, but there was also no mention of the anthology?
Also there was misinformation. In the folklore section the author mentions the love triangle but says their names are Betty, James and Inez. However, Inez is another character in that fictional setting and August/ine (She doesnt have a specific name) is actually the girl James cheated on Betty with.

I overall liked the organization of this book. It was very clearly structured. You can easily find something if you prefer to read just sections and not everything in one go.

At first we got her development from the start on, in the next bit all about her albums (where each era got clearly depicted with important details like track 5 meaning and creative direction as well) and then more about her language use and stuff like that.
The Taylorscope was a cute detail in the end! I feel like the songs picked correspond well with their signs.

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This is definitely the best Taylor book I’ve read yet (yes I’ve read all that’s out there) the illustrations in this book are unbelievably beautiful detailed and I loved every single one, this book was so well written it has everything for new or swifties who are “seasoned.” You get Taylor’s timeline of her career, her discography in order giving you everything you need to know about that era the songs, broken records, what track 5 means to Taylor fandom, and records she breaks, Taylor’s Easter eggs, and more! I truly loved how well researched this book is and if you love Taylor swift you need to read this book! I can’t wait to physically read own this book - I need it ASAP! Thank you so much for this advanced readers copy!

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Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the arc!

I actually really enjoyed this! As a Taylor Swift fan it was fun to read this!
I really like how the book was laid out and how it showed her growing up, family life, her discography, how she started in music. I thought putting the Easter egg section was a fun idea since Taylor Swift fans love the Easter egg hints and trying to find them!
I really loved the illustrations too!
This was a fun, quick read and I would recommend!

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This book was absolutely fantastic! My daughter and I had so much fun reading this together. It was so cute! Well done.

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The book illustrates the evolution of Taylor's music and is enriched with beautiful illustrations that make it visually enjoyable too.

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Huge THANK YOU to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
This was an excellent book every Swiftie and non-Swiftie should read. I loved the album summaries, covering both original and Taylor's Version releases. I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy of this book for my collection.

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Disclosure: I received an eBook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A must have for anyone who wants to quickly learn about Taylor's career and significant points!

As a fan myself, it was great having everything explained and formatted nicely in a handy book. For new fans, this is a must-have if you want to learn more about the Swiftieverse and some of the reasons behind certain things that happen. It is such a rabbit hole!! The graphics in here were also cute and I would say is a great start for a pre-teen getting into Taylor's music.

I would recommend reading it on a tablet vs any other device if you choose digital! I would definitely recommend this book to all Swifties - new and old!

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My daughter is in her Taylor Swift era. She reads anything and everything t swift. She loved this one.

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Pros: To many people, Taylor Swift really is Life, so this will be a fantastic gift to give them. My favorite part of this book is the illustrations--especially the detail given to Taylor Swift's well-known outfits. (And details are incredibly important to her fans!) I also enjoyed the section that detailed each of Taylor's albums and included fun facts. I was so impressed that this book already includes The Tortured Poets Department!

Cons: None that I can think of! (But that doesn't mean the Swifties won't have opinion...)

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – becker & mayer! | Epic Ink for the opportunity to read this book.

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A full biography
I could simply not say No to this book when I saw it on Netgalley. The next day, I dived deep into the life and work of my current favorite singer-songwriter. My journey with Taylor began only with 1989. Therefore, it was very informative indeed to read about her early inspiration, her very first performances, and her early albums in general. The book starts with a general view on her almost 35 years of life, before we dive deeper into each album. The biography’s writer comments on the significance of each album to her personally as much as professionally. I was already aware of many background stories, but also learned a lot of new things. Especially the pat on the easter eggs was an amazing summary of the Swifties’ clowning about many of Talor’s hints.

Swiftology
More than the sole information about Taylor’s albums, awards, records, and cooperations, the author also includes interpretations on Taylor’s symbolism. Kathleen Perricone walks us through a A to Z, with the most fun details and stories as much as parts of Taylors recurring imagery. Perricone also comments on relationships that Taylor sustained to her boyfriends, family, girlfriends, and cooperators. The last part of the book then allows the readers to compare themselves with Taylor’s attitude and music in Taylorscopes for every zodiac sign. I found this part expectantly vague and therefore unnecessary and could have imagined a better use for these pages. I nonetheless enjoyed most of the book a lot and feel even more like a Swiftie now, provided with new information.

Must-Have
This book is surely a highlight for Swifties, no matter how intense you have been following TS. I am certain that every fan will find some new information. In case they don't, this book will be nonetheless a wonderful addition to their shelves. More than pure text, this book also features the most awesome illustrations of Taylor in several of her best-known outfits. It summarizes her life and work and thus offers a perfect overview for every fan.
Although the book is now released in July, the cut for any additions might have been way earlier. Taylor’s eleventh album is included in the discography. Its interpretation and additional information is nevertheless limited to the early expectations of it being mostly about Joe Alwyn. Perricone worked many years on this book but there will nonetheless be some losses in the overall density of and engagement with the information. This is not to devalue her amazing work in any way!

In conclusion
If you’re even half as much of a Swiftie as I am, you will love this book! It covers not only almost 20 years of Taylor’s career but also takes a dive into her symbolism, her inspiration, and her life connected to her expressions in songs. Accompanied by cute illustrations, this book will be an informative joy of a read!

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