Melania

.... an embarrassment to all the first lady memoirs. First off.. there is no way Melania wrote this, she can't even write her own speeches. This was 100% written by a ghostwriter or AI. This is a vapid, no depth look at Melania's life that focuses solely on her fashion, love for Barron, and doubling down on her hatred of the media. There is no substance whatsoever to this, it doesn't even humanize her, in fact it does the opposite. The writing is banal and boring. "I wore Chanel to this event. Later I went to this event. It was such an honor." It just shows how little she did during her term as first lady. A full third of this book is dedicated to photos of herself and all the renovations she did on the White House (she talks more about that then her relationship to Donald). She addresses her plagiarized speech (of which she takes no blame), swatting away her husbands hand (protocol!), her infamous jacket (they took it out of context!), and many other faux paux she committed (but which blames the media for). Dry and boring, I cannot believe this vapid book was "written" by a first lady. What a joke. 

Melania and Me

I really enjoyed learning more about how the inauguration was planned, the inner workings of the East Wing, and insight into Melania's life - but I did not enjoy the whiney "look at me" moments from the author. Stephanie constantly touted her resume, her work with famous designers, editors, and politicians; including snippets from articles she was mentioned in and lots of photographic evidence to reinforce her larger than life reputation. Stephanie put herself in a stupid situation that was toxic for her emotional and physical health, her family and her finances. Yes she was friends with Melania since the early 2000s. They hung out and texted a lot. Then it quickly turned into Melania wanting favors from their friendship leading into planning and executing the inauguration and then taking an unpaid position in Melania's cabinet. She had no title and no salary but hung around because Melania was her friend and it was her patriotic duty? Come on. Is she really surprised that the Trump family threw her under the bus to save their own asses later on down the line? Again, there were some interesting tidbits about Melania, Ivanka and the Trump family but honestly no shocking revelations. They're all scum.