Sarah Hartshorne recounts her time on America's Next Top Model, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I was obsessed with ANTM in middle and high school, and while I don't remember many of the details, I definitely watched Sarah's season.

Sarah's writing was easy to read, and I finished the book in less than 12 hours. I was captivated from start to finish.

I loved how she told shark facts throughout her time and thought that was brilliant. I also loved that she interviewed others from her season to get input.

I knew reality TV could be bad, but I don't think I had quite realized the depths production went to. I appreciated how Sarah could appreciate how the show benefited her and also could see the shortcomings. I'm so glad she had therapy!

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC!

Instagram review to be posted on 2/7

This is, to my knowledge, the first book by a former contestant of America's Next Top Model. Based on what Hartshorne says about the non disclosure agreements, that makes sense. As a woman who watched seasons 1 through season 17, I really enjoyed this book. Lots of insider information and explanation about how they actually put the show together and why it sometimes seemed like things did not flow properly. This is a really fast read and, while I skimmed some of it, kept my attention.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

If you have any interest in this book, I highly recommend you pick it up. When I was younger, I watched America's Next Top Model just like so many other people my age, and also like a lot of people my age, I've reevaluated my experiences with the show as I've gotten older and realized how badly contestants were treated.

You Wanna Be on Top? is a frank look at exactly that. Hartshorne examines her time on the show with an unflinching lens, but also a huge dose of humor. YWBoT? is also a look at Hartshorne herself, how the show changed her, for better and worse. Hartshorne is personable, with a unique and fun voice. There were a few moments when I did laugh out loud and then there were a few moments when I had to put down my phone and when the reality of being on the show got me angry. The way the whole production was so obsessed with Hartshorne's weight made me want to scream. Hartshorne navigates everything really well and obviously has distance and put in the work to be able to share this.

I also appreciate that Hartshorne is very cognizant of what is hers to share and how the women of the show seem to have really been there for each other. I just really could not recommend this book enough.

So you think you want to be America's Next Top Model? Hard pass.

Former cycle (season) 9 competitor Sarah Hartshorne breaks open the world behind the camera of America's Next Top Model, a show beloved by many in the 2000s. Written with sharp wit, open-hearted honesty and hard facts, this memoir is an eye-opened for ANTM fans and newbies alike. From hearing about the utter isolation felt by the contestants (no book, phone or even music?!), to the leading questions that would make any person question their own thoughts, readers will be stunned.

As someone who was a key demographic when ANTM was on, I watched it week in and week out. After reading this book, I don't think that I could even stomach a rewatch because I would just be thinking about the awfulness that the girls must have been experiencing.

Now, let me be clear, this book is not a smear campaign against ANTM or the modelling world as a whole. It's an honest and heartfelt look into what one bad*ss contestant experienced in the lead-up, actual show, and aftermath. The whole being sequestered in a cruise ship room before the show even started still has me squirming even thinking about it, so props to all of the participants who are often viewed as vapid. The strength to get through that and other situations they encountered is mind-boggling to me, because I almost hyper-ventilated just reading about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read, but I was slightly disappointed by the content. As a big Top Model fan, I found this book lacking in new insight and behind the scenes content. Hartshorne is a lively storyteller in her online content, but this book feels lackluster in comparison.

Binging reality TV used to be my favorite pastime before diving head first into reading in 2022, so it was the perfect book for me! As soon as I read the title and author I knew I had to read it! I loved how she started with her background of how she went on the show and then starting dropping cold hard truths of her experience on the show. Again, being a “reality junky” this really opened my eyes to the hardships the contestants have to face. This gave a whole different side of ANTM and I’m so thankful this contestant was able to share her truth. Highly recommend!
Full review will be posted on Instagram

What all goes into being on a reality TV show? What's it like being around Tyra Banks? Is all as it seems from the viewer's couch? These questions, and many more can be answered in You Wanna Be on Top? by Sarah Hartshorne. Fans of America's Next Top Model fans will truly enjoy this quick and fascinating read in which one contestant shares her experiences on this show, from the moment it was introduced to her, until she went back to her normal life post-ANTM.
I have been a shameless ANTM fan for a long time. Looking back, I am more than aware of the toxic and really unhealthy events that transpired on the show, whether due to the ignorance of the times or the ugliness of "the fashion industry," I can't say for sure, but it is something most people with a perspective from 2025 can now easily acknowledge. That being said, some of the comments, fixations, and events that took place on this show were still relatively upsetting to read about. I won't go so far as to say they were triggering, at least, not for this reader, but I will say that Hartshorne, and many other contestants, have a lot to be angry about (and probably a lot to discuss with their therapists, but don't we all?). However, despite the many wrongs and general ickiness thrown Hartshorne's way, she may have been the perfect former contestant to write a memoir. She is honest, straightforward, and, surprisingly, not bitter in any way. She doesn't rage on about some of the injustices that took place on the show, but rather presents them as they were: an unfortunate reality that wasn't show on this reality show. It gave her a great deal of credibility and allowed me, as the reader, to trust her completely as she took us through this bizarre fever dream of being a contestant on ANTM. While the writing wasn't anything profound, it was honest, quick, and easily digestible. I read this book in about 2 days and would have finished it sooner if the pesky realities of life hadn't gotten in the way. I would recommend this memoir to any fans of the show or any individual interested in the concept of reality television.

This memoir is a very through play by play day by day of Sarah’s experience behind the scenes on Season 9 of ANTM. As a millennial woman, I was super excited to read the juicy gossip on this show, as when I was in university this was my The Bachelor. This was my show that I would gather with other girls to watch on UPN on real time cable television and then judge it as it was playing.
I have read other reality television show orientated books before (PATRICIA WANTS TO CUDDLE, ONE TO WATCH), and I have also read another TikTok Reality star memoir before (BAD MORMON). Nonetheless I had high hopes for the writing but the quality of story telling fell a bit flat.

I would absolutely recommend this to those seeking out more on their favourite cancelled show, or ones needing to get all the information straight from the source: the insight into how reality television contestants are treated, and the subsequent lawsuits brought against the show’s creator really makes so much sense after this first hand account.
I think that our author is a great storyteller for super fans, but it’s not as compelling story for a more tepid readers.

You Wanna Be on Top by Sara Hartshorne has been one of the books I have been looking forward to reading since I heard about it online. As someone who used to watch America's Next Top Model religiously every week, I was interested in seeing what really happened behind the scenes. I was not too shocked by what I read as more and more comes out about the nature of reality television and television working conditions in the early 2000s. I was shocked to learn that they did not get paid for their time on the show, which is something I had never considered before. The anecdotes of Hartshorne's life between her reflections on the experience of ANTM were well done and made sense. I highly recommend this book to anyone who grew up watching television in the early 2000s or has rediscovered America's Next Top Model in recent years.

I was absolutely obsessed with Top Model for quite a few years/cycles. I think Cycle 10 was my favorite, but I also really enjoyed Cycle 9, so when I saw that Sarah, one of the contestants from that cycle, had written a memoir, I had to request it!

It was a fascinating read of what goes on “behind the curtain” so to speak of a reality show. Sarah absolutely did not shy away from getting real, and it was interesting when she talked about the things that made it to air and the things that didn’t. From being mic’d constantly to sneak watching tv in the bathroom, it was crazy to read about how much attention these girls got and how little privacy there was for them. It was also interesting to see notable characters from the show like Mr Jay, Miss J, Nigel, and of course Tyra herself through the eyes of a contestant.

I ended up googling the cycle because it’s been so long since it was on air that I had forgotten the different challenges so it was good to be able to visualize the girls and their outfits. I liked seeing Sarah’s friendship with the other contestants. I particularly liked seeing a sweeter side of Ebony (one of my favorite contestants).

This book definitely delved into the fact that reality TV isn’t real at all and what you’re watching is nothing like what the contestants actually experienced. I can’t believe the total lack of control they had over their own lives! They were frequently put “on ice” where they were in a room together but were not allowed to talk to each other.

This is definitely worth the read, especially if you enjoyed the show and wanted a behind the scenes look at the making of one of the cycles.

This book was definitely not what i expected but it was so good i couldn’t even put it down this will definitely be a sercind read

I appreciated Sarah Hartshorne sharing their story with the reader, it had that element that I wanted in a memoir. I remember watching Sarah on America's Next Top Model and really enjoyed her on the show. I appreciated getting to read the real story with what was happening and thought it was written well.

A behind the scenes look at AtM,told through the eye opening experiences of the author who was a contestant.So well written an inside look at her experience really interesting.#netgalley #crown

I really enjoyed this book and I’m generally not a huge fan of non-fiction/biographies. I used to watch ANTM all the time and watched several seasons including this one. It was crazy to hear how bad it really was behind the scenes. I think this was so well written too and included positive memories so it wasn’t just this totally negative book. It flowed really well and maintained my interest. I would highly recommend if you were a fan of the show. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Fun book.
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.

Like many a Millennial, I was OBSESSED with America’s Next Top Model in the early-late aughts. Not even close to being tall enough to ever even consider being a model myself, I loved living vicariously through the lives of the reality show’s aspiring models as they took part in outrageous photo shoots, underwent dramatic makeovers, and were eliminated from the competition one by one. However, behind any good TV show is an even better sordid story of what really went on behind the scenes.

Enter Sarah Hartshorne’s scathing memoir, You Wanna Be on Top?, chronicling her time spent in pursuit of the elusive ANTM title during Cycle 9 of the infamous series. Since America’s Next Top Model’s demise in 2018, stories have come out about the true and horrid conditions the girls lived through during their time on the show, so I absolutely could not wait to get my hands on a copy of Hartshorne’s memoir about my favorite guilty pleasure TV series.

To say that I read this memoir in one sitting would not be an exaggeration. I was glued to the pages of this book, and was shocked and surprised to discover what really goes into making a hit TV series. Being that it is 2025 and the truth has come out about so many celebrities’ lives and careers, you would think that I had heard it all, but this bombshell of a book still had me gripping the pages over the absurdity of it all.

One of the things that surprised me the most is how controlled the girls’ communication and interactions with each other were. There were more times than I could count where the contestants were “put on ice,” forced to sit in the same room with each other, but not permitted to speak for fear that the cameras might miss a juicy or scandalous moment. The girls never had any sense of time or direction, as they were not permitted clocks, the Internet, phones, or TV, and the van in which they were shuttled from photoshoot, to contest, to elimination had its windows covered, never allowing the girls a glimpse of outside, much less a breath of fresh air. Little attention or care was given to the models’ sleep, nutritional, mental, or emotional needs, and they were essentially treated as a means to an end … the end being great TV.

Utterly compulsive and irresistible, You Wanna Be on Top? is a book that we did not know we needed, but is everything we wanted. Anyone who was ever a fan of ANTM MUST. READ. THIS. BOOK! I promise that it does not disappoint.

I really enjoyed this behind the scenes look at Sarah's life and experience on America's Next Top Model. Written in an wry, self-deprecating voice, this was a fun, enjoyable read for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC!

I have no shame.

I revel in bad reality competition shows. How bad? I remember things like ‘Who want’s to marry Harry’ and ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ with nostalgic fondness. I believe people should sashay away and not be there to make friends.

And, yes, I adored America’s Next Top Model – toxicity and all.

This is a memoir from a plus size (who, my god was not large) model on the show, so it gives a slightly different perspective than you might get from most of the contestants. And the read made me almost feel actually guilty for enjoying the show! My goodness, what these poor models were put through.

This is absolutely unvarnished and most of the people behind the show come off like the parasites they likely are. I’m also now more enthralled with Miss Jay, who clearly treated the contestants with kindness and respect.

I do think this book is very much for the folks who have watched the show. If you’re just in the ‘kind of familiar’ camp, you may not get quite the satisfaction out of it.

I’m glad the author wrote the book…and really sorry for everything they put her through.

• ARC via Publisher

I think this was an insightful portrayal of what the behind the scenes was on ANTM. I stopped watching in the earlier seasons because they made girls compromise their values and put them in terrible situations. While it dragged a little here and there, it was written very well and was an inside window for anyone wanting an inside view.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

This was rather hard to read at the start simply because they treated these girls so unbelievably terribly. I honestly think Tyra and the entire production team should be charged with crimes or at the very least forced to finally pay the contestants something (and a lot, honestly). It was an eye opening look into a franchise that so many of us followed for so long. And I’m now quite annoyed that Hulu has something like 15 seasons and skips season 9 so I can’t watch it now after reading all the behind the scenes dirt here. Guess I’ll be searching YouTube….

I read a digital copy of this book via netgalley for review.