Ok - full disclosure, I used to be OBSESSED with trashy reality TV competitions and I was a huge fan of ANTM in its heyday despite the fact that it was clearly gross and problematic EVEN THEN.
This book, by one of the contestants who at a size SIX was considered "the fat girl" on her season was chef's kiss for me! Fun, insightful and equal parts lighthearted and horrifying, I could NOT stop reading it. I devoured it in one sitting!
Netgalley graciously provided me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Pulling back the curtains on a pop culture reality show is always a fun gossipy read. Ms. Hartshorne’s is at the top of the heap. Funny, heartfelt, at times sad. A breezy, quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released July 8, 2025.

Ooo I was so excited when I got approved to read this one and let me tell you it did NOT disappoint!! JUICYYY.

I watched all of ANTM back in its day… you know before we all realized the issues and toxicity that the show had. I vaguely remembered Sarah and I definitely was ready for her to spill all the TEA. Oh, and tea was spilled but I also am happily surprised that while Sarah shared a look from behind the scenes and her experiences she was not malicious in any way just brutally honest about the conditions on the show.

You Wanna Be On Top? is a deliciously scandalous read in one sitting book. I’m still shocked at how these girls wellbeing was ignored (NOT BEING ALLOWED TO GO TO THE RESTROOM FOR STARTERS) and how vile certain judges were at times with their comments and criticisms.

Also, for me this book is very thought provoking. It’s left me with a lot of questions like I wonder how many shows are still being made under the same or similar or WORSE conditions than this? Do we not have laws and regulations for this? I have QUESTIONS and CONCERNS especially as reality tv shows are still highly successful today.

This book sure did not disappoint in any way and I absolutely recommend it!!

This is perfect for anyone who grew up watching America's Next Top Model, week after week for many years. It gives us a perspective on how these young girls truly felt when the cameras weren't rolling. It also gives insight behind what the producers made them go through on a daily basis and how everything we see on TV is not as polished and perfect as we may think. Excellent writing!

Do You Wanna Be on Top spills all the dirt this reality fan wanted to know! Congrats to Sarah Hartshorne for surviving the craziness and using it to her benefit as a career.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Not many people know this about me, but I love trash tv. My love for those kinds of shows started with this series and that led me down a rabbit hole that I'm not sure I'll ever get out of. Seeing Sarah write about her experiences on the show had me rushing to get my hands on a copy of this.

Talk about scandalous. This is sizzling!

Let me tell you, my draw dropped as I read this. It hung open the entire damn time. I could not believe what the producers, crew, co-hosts, and even Tyra put these ladies through. If you learn one thing from this, it's that you never really know a person.

Sarah bravely shares her experiences, revealing the struggles she and others faced just to be part of the show and to remain on it. It was both heart-wrenching and eye-opening, and I could feel the pain in every word. As I continued reading, my shock deepened. The illusion that everything was wonderful, with just a hint of drama, was shattered. The reality is far more cruel than we could have imagined.

In the past, we saw the judges as supportive and caring figures. Now, when I look back, I can recall all those hurtful words and the disdainful glances from those who were meant to uplift you in your career. It’s incredibly disheartening and speaks to a deeper level of betrayal.

"You Wanna Be on Top?" is a heartfelt memoir that has profoundly changed my understanding of reality TV. It’s important to remember that appearances can be deceiving, and this book will truly open your eyes to the unseen struggles behind the scenes.

I was a big fan of ANTM growing up. I loved seeing ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This was an interesting behind-the-scenes book about one person’s experience on the show. It wasn’t as secretive and eye-opening as I expected. It was kind of like watching the show with a little extra information about the other people working on the show besides who you see on the panel.

The writing was amateur, but in all fairness, she’s not an author. Some of the writing was repetitive and meandering. I think if you’re a fan of the show then you’ll enjoy it. I feel like I’ve heard a lot of the behind-the-scenes type stuff from word of mouth and following some former contestants on social media. There wasn’t really anything new besides her personal experience. I do remember watching her season and she was a likable person, but she wasn’t a favorite.

Thank you, NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

I recently finished You Wanna Be On Top by sarah hartshorne and it was everything I hoped for and more.

Sarah Hartshorne takes readers on a behind the scenes journey of her time on America's Next Top Model Cycle 9. From auditioning for the show, to the wait time between casting and filming, the chaos that was her time on set and then the relief that came after her elimination and what her life transformed to following the show airing.

I'm not going to lie, this book made me miss my late teen years of watching ANTM on cable tv and chain texting my bff about our reactions to the show. I loved every season and I loved Tyra and the judges. I loved to hate the girls who did poorly in the photoshoots or screwed up on the go-sees or on the runway. I totally bought in to the whole "this is how it has to be if you wanna be on top" threats and despite knowing that there was obviously a lot wrong with the show it was addicting and exactly what we came to expect of reality tv.

The behind the scenes info about conditions on set is just as bad if not worse than I anticipated based on the rumours and controversy around the show that has come to light in recent years. And connected to those working and living conditions, but separately horrendous, the psychological trauma imposed on the contestants was significantly worse than I expected. From isolation and punishment to body shaming and brainwashing. We watched girls have complete mental breakdowns and thought "omg why is she crying over a hair cut?!" when in reality, she was probably at her breaking point after the crazy conditions she'd been experiencing day in and day out on set for weeks.

Sarah does an incredible job weaving in the comments and memories of others who worked on the show, as well as some quotes and facts about cult culture, psychological control strategies and her own perspectives of what was shown on TV. It is a super well written and interesting book and a must-read for all ANTM fans.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher crownpublishing for giving me the chance to read and review an advance copy of this book. It comes out in July!

I love a good voyeuristic look behind the cameras at reality TV. This account of manipulation and exploitation is captivating, infuriating and at times funny. It was a time and culture that made many men rich making young women insecure with themselves and distrustful of each other, and I will never get tired of having it all exposed.

For fans of reality TV, Unreal, and millennials who bought into "TV magic" before we knew better.

I grew up watching ANTM religiously (at way too young of an age) and LOVED it. To the point of where I put it on “about me” school projects as my favorite thing, because I loved it that much. I jumped at the chance to receive an ARC of this book and BOY did it deliver.

There was so much I’d forgotten about ANTM and so much I just had no awareness of when I was watching the show, given that I was a literal child, but reading this book as an adult was unreal. I figured the conditions were probably pretty bad on most reality TV shows, especially one like ANTM, but I didn’t realize just how bad these models were treated behind the scenes and how emotionally manipulating the circumstances were.

I loved this book for Sarah’s account and what I learned but man, it was so juicy that I still want more!! How did everyone get out of the NDAs? What does “signing away your life rights” even really entail? What on earth did those contracts look like? Were they actual doctors treating the girls on set etc?? I want to know everything!!

Very well done and I loved Sarah’s tone, she’s witty and I’d love to read more from her one day, even if it has nothing to do with ANTM. I feel like a book of essays from her would be so good. An absolute must-read, not only for anyone that grew up watching ANTM, but anyone who lived the wild time that was early 2000s pop culture.

I spent a good part of the pandemic rewatching America's Next Top Model as well as following along with Oliver's Twixt's interview with former contestants. I knew things behind the scenes were probably bad, but hearing it first hand blew my mind. Then, when I saw that Sarah from Season 9 wrote a book, I had to read it. I remember Season 9 being one of the craziest, considering it started off with a cruise!

Sarah's story was honest, vulnerable, funny, and sad. She made you recognize how complex it is to be thankful for an experience while at the same time being traumatized. She connected with other contestants and those who worked behind the scenes to confirm her experiences and get their POV on things that happened. Sarah provided a behind the scenes deep dive that shows why these girls acted the way they did on camera and how the producers turned things to be what they wanted and not what actually happened.

If you are an ANTM fan, I highly recommend this book! If you are not an ANTM fan but still know of it's cultural relevance, you should still check this book out to see a glimpse of how reality TV shows were done in the aughts.

This was a great memoir! As a kid, I had a love/hate relationship with ANTM, so I was excited to read this book. I found it very well written. I appreciated the research she did for the book and she even quoted one of my favorite books (Cultish by Amanda Montell). I also liked that she interviewed other contestants for the book. It is quite shocking and awful how they were treated during filming. Sarah is also hilarious!

Thank you, Net Galley and Crown Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

When I was in my mid-thirties ANTM was my guilty pleasure, so I could not resist this book. I learned so much about being a contestant on the show—it was both worse than I ever imagined, but the camaraderie between the girls was better than I thought possible. Beyond the ANTM experience, Sarah Hartshorne is a funny and poignant writer, and I found myself highlighting lines that speak to the universal experience of being a trauma- survivor, writer, and a beautiful woman in today's world. I think one of my favorites was, "there is no bouncing back from having a baby, only bouncing forward," and I loved the truth in that. Highly recommend to anyone who loves memoir even if they never got into the whole ANTM craze.

I am an on-and-off reality tv junkie. I remember being obsessed with ANTM in the late 2000s, with it becoming a regular hangover binge show. There was always a very catty undertone to the show, and I’m not really surprised at how bad everything was on set. However, that doesn’t mean it’s ok in the slightest. The crew were pretty cruel to these girls, you will see throughout the stories told. The constant comments on weight, dieting, confidence… I’m glad Miss Jay seems as nice as he is on tv.

This book was a quick read, easy because it’s gossip, but also critical of a pretty crappy industry.

I have a soft spot for ANTM, despite all the atrocious information that has come to light in the recent years about things that happened behind the scenes of the show. That said, I quickly and easily fell into this book, wanting to read and learn all I could about anything related to ANTM. It was fun to learn about the audition process, and to hear directly from someone involved about all that went on but didn't make it to our television sets. I found Sarah Hartshorne's writing to be honest, funny, and direct. I really enjoyed the entirety of this book, and would read another non-fiction written by her. I actually even feel as though she could write a fictional book, as she is quite talented. I'll definitely recommend this book, but I think I will have an audience from the beginning. Definitely a book worth checking out!

If you can't get enough of what it is like behind the scenes of reality TV in the 2000s, this is for you.

I wish Sarah had gone into more details, but I assume she's still under an NDA. Overall, it was fun

I am the perfect audience of this book- a woman who came of age during the peak of America's Next Top Model. This book had everything I wanted and more with Hartshorne showing a wonderful sense of humor as she shows us behind the scenes of a "reality" show. I found myself laughing when she pointed out the absurduties in creating the show and read this book in less than 24 hours. A true winner,

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.