Never Say Never

Finding a Life That Fits

By: Ricki Lake

Narrated by: Ricki Lake

From the beloved teen star, talk-show host, and media personality, an uplifting and revelatory memoir about turning forty, losing weight, and learning to reinvent oneself at any age.

Ricki Lake’s life has been a series of rebirths—from fat to skinny, married to divorced, rich to poor, and more. In her intimate, bold, and relatable book, Ricki shows us how her unique life in the spotlight offers wisdom to anyone who has ever struggled in her own skin. She takes us behind the scenes of her troubled childhood—filled with food issues, abuse, and an unabashed yearning for a better life outside her suburban home. She pulls back the curtain on her talk show and her early days as a “fat actress,” and she shows how she reinvented herself as an author, filmmaker, and much beloved finalist on Dancing with the Stars. Ricki weathered near bankruptcy and an extremely difficult divorce, but, as she writes, life always hands you the unexpected—so you should never say never. By trusting her gut and following her heart, Ricki Lake turned an unconventional life into an unparalleled triumph, and this memoir stands as a hopeful, hilarious, and honest exploration of how any woman can do the same.

Open

Wonderful that it’s open. Great story. I related to a lot. If the reader is not interested in the journey for a chubby girl to find self acceptance then this is not the book for you. But, it still could be. I enjoyed it a lot.

Okay, but narration kind of rushed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Maybe. It was fun to hear her story, but no real "takeaways"

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Wrapped things up nicely

Would you be willing to try another one of Ricki Lake’s performances?

Maybe. She needs to slow down and add some emotion to her reading. It really seemed as if she rushed through it

Did Never Say Never inspire you to do anything?

Sorry to say it, but no

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed the story and "no holds barred" approach, but felt she needed to "tell" the story, not just quickly read through it

This should be required listening.

If you could sum up Never Say Never in three words, what would they be?

Heartfelt. Real. Fascinating.

Have you listened to any of Ricki Lake???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I almost did. Listened twice in 24 hrs, the first keeping me awake until after 2am.

Any additional comments?

The messages of this view into the private thoughts of this public personality demonstrate so clearly the impact all of our actions, criticisms and failures-to-act can have on the lives of those close to us. If you listen to this moving account, I assure you names will come to you: you will want someone you know to have a copy. Well done!

I'll Second You Ricki Lake

Completely Understanding With Weight 🙋
All I Can Say Is,
Biggest Hugs Ricki Lake ✨💓💫
You Are Awesome!

Horrible Narration

What would have made Never Say Never better?

Having someone that could do a better job narrating than Ricki Lake.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

You would think that having the author herself, (especially considering that author is also an actress) read the book would undoubtedly be the best choice, but that is certainly not the case here. I am an avid listener of audiobooks, as in there is NEVER a time when I'm not listening to SOMETHING but unfortunately, in this instance I was unable to even get through the first few chapters because Miss Lake's "narration" was so disjointed, uncomfortable, unemotional & honestly just completely lacked of ANY inflection or feeling whatsoever that it was a TOTAL distraction from the story itself.
There have only been a handful of times in the YEARS I have been listening to audiobooks where I've felt the narration was so completely distracting that I had no choice but to turn the book off & unfortunately, Miss Lake's book was one of those times. As a matter of fact, she was the first & as of yet the only narration read by the author themselves where this has occurred.
I should have heeded the warnings of the other reviewers that experienced this same issue but I've always liked Ricki Lake & genuinely wanted to hear her story. I mistakenly thought, how bad could it be? It's HER OWN STORY & she is a professional actress after all. I heard how bad it could be, pretty darn bad.