My Side of Life
by Shane Filan
Having been a massive Westlife fan since I was little, when Shane Filan announced his first solo UK tour I had to get tickets. It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. When he announced his book I had to read it. It was a Christmas present from my Mum, and I've finally finished it. So here's my book review.
I was only 7 or 8 when Westlife started to get noticed, at that point I was never particularly interested in how they got to be famous, and I've never really thought about it since. This book gave a great insight into how the band got to where they are and the difficulties they faced. I never knew about the original band members who were kicked, and how close Shane was to being kicked out. I was really interesting to read and finally understand the history behind a band who'd played a big part in my life.
Compared to other autobiographies I've read, I didn't think this was written as well, but he's a singer not a writer so I'm not going to dwell on that too much. He's given everyone access into his life and thoughts, and I respect him for that. After what he's been through, it was a very brave thing to release.
The book opened my eyes to not only how life was in Westlife, the struggles they faced at different points in their careers, and their relationships with each other, but how the business world was working just before and during the financial crash.
I've studied the economic crisis of 2008/2009 as part of my degree, and I've understood how it happened, the effect etc. But it wasn't until I read this I realised how bad it got for some people. To work hard to get the life you want for your family, and see it all pulled away from you must have been heartbreaking for Shane.
I felt very sorry for the whole family towards the end of the book. They hadn't been stupid and wasted their money away on flash holidays, drugs etc. They'd tried to be sensible and invest but everything came down around them. They lost the castle they'd built in seconds. No one should have to go through that.
At the end of the book Shane talks about his solo career, and how loosing everything actually was good in some ways. It was great to see that despite everything, he's seeing the positives and using his own experiences to build a new career.
A brilliant read if you're a Westlife/Shane fan, but I think it would be interesting to hear from the other boys and compare stories to see what everyone thought of their time together.
Sarah x
I was only 7 or 8 when Westlife started to get noticed, at that point I was never particularly interested in how they got to be famous, and I've never really thought about it since. This book gave a great insight into how the band got to where they are and the difficulties they faced. I never knew about the original band members who were kicked, and how close Shane was to being kicked out. I was really interesting to read and finally understand the history behind a band who'd played a big part in my life.
Compared to other autobiographies I've read, I didn't think this was written as well, but he's a singer not a writer so I'm not going to dwell on that too much. He's given everyone access into his life and thoughts, and I respect him for that. After what he's been through, it was a very brave thing to release.
The book opened my eyes to not only how life was in Westlife, the struggles they faced at different points in their careers, and their relationships with each other, but how the business world was working just before and during the financial crash.
I've studied the economic crisis of 2008/2009 as part of my degree, and I've understood how it happened, the effect etc. But it wasn't until I read this I realised how bad it got for some people. To work hard to get the life you want for your family, and see it all pulled away from you must have been heartbreaking for Shane.
I felt very sorry for the whole family towards the end of the book. They hadn't been stupid and wasted their money away on flash holidays, drugs etc. They'd tried to be sensible and invest but everything came down around them. They lost the castle they'd built in seconds. No one should have to go through that.
At the end of the book Shane talks about his solo career, and how loosing everything actually was good in some ways. It was great to see that despite everything, he's seeing the positives and using his own experiences to build a new career.
A brilliant read if you're a Westlife/Shane fan, but I think it would be interesting to hear from the other boys and compare stories to see what everyone thought of their time together.
Sarah x