Loving Amy Review

By Janis Winehouse

Loving Amy is a book about the life of Amy Winehouse from the words of her own mother. Arguably the most gifted artist of her generation, Amy Winehouse died tragically young, aged just 27. With a worldwide fanbase and millions of record sales, she should have had the world at her feet. Instead, in the years prior to her passing, she battled with addictions and was often the subject of lurid tabloid headlines. But who was the real Amy?

Amy’s mother, Janis, knew her in a way that no one else did. In this warm, poignant, and, at times, heartbreaking memoir, she reveals the full story of the daughter she loved. As the world watched the rise of a superstar, then the freefall of an addict to her untimely death, Janis simply saw her Amy, the girl she’d given birth to in 1983; the girl she’d raised and stood by despite her unruly behavior; the girl whose body she was forced to identify two days after her death – and the girl she’s grieved for every day since.

Packed with exclusive material that has never been seen before, such as extracts from Amy’s teenage diaries, photos, and notes, Loving Amy offers a new and intimate perspective on the life and death of the phenomenon that is Amy Winehouse.

You can find Loving Amy by Janis Winehouse at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more.

I have done reviews on other books about Amy Winehouse! These include Amy, My Daughter, and Amy: the Life We Shared.

My Review

In all honesty, I rate it the 3rd best book out of all the Amy Winehouse books I’ve read. (Amy, My Daughter is the first, and My Amy: The Life We Shared is the second.) It’s a very close second, though.

Yes, I know what you probably think: “It’s from her mother, though! What do you mean 3rd?” 

I rate it as the third because the older Amy became, the fuzzier aspects of her life became for Janis due to her MS. Just like Tyler James’ book, she speaks about herself quite frequently throughout the story. My theory is most likely trying to set up the scenery, so you know all the details before she gets to the point. (If you’re anything like me, you won’t mind those details.) Janis also dives into how fame changed Amy’s life and those around her. Fame destroyed Amy Winehouse.

Janis Winehouse writes about the relationship between Amy and her brother, Alex, more than in the other books (this isn’t a complaint.) From what I’ve read and compared this book to Loving, Amy is an outsider’s view of what was happening in her life. When I say outsider, I mean she was not a part of Amy’s fame circle. The only difference is that Janis knows the secrets and the truth of the events in Amy’s life more than a real outsider. She explains why everyone else’s account of Amy (who didn’t know her) is false. Needless to say, the story is still shocking and intriguing. 

Other Reviews

Five-Stars from Amazon:

Uncensored, heartfelt and well written. “Loving Amy” delivers the heart wrenching story as lived by Amy Winehouse’s mother, Janis Winehouse, from the birth of Amy, her untimely death and what great work the Amy Winehouse Foundation is doing to raise awareness and help for youth that are disadvantaged and/or struggling with addiction. Even if you are not an Amy Winehouse, which I am, this story should be read by any family that is struggling with an addict.

Kudos Mrs. Janis Winehouse for pouring your heart in sharing your memories, knowledge and courage! Bless You!! -Michelle

Another One:

I will start off by saying being from the USA I hadn’t seen or heard many good things about Amy. However once I saw the documentary Amy followed by reading this heartfelt piece of work, I too feel as if I somewhat knew her and wish she could have pulled through! Thank you so much for sharing all the precious moments of this remarkable woman’s life, ups and downs. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone!- Carolina czaja

Three Star:

This is an interesting book but not well written. I am a big Amy Winehouse fan and consider her to have been a truly gifted musician so I was interested in her mother’s point of view. It is somewhat scattered and though the personal stories and photos are worth the purchase alone, she could have used a ghost writer with some writing talent to make the book flow more seamlessly. There is a lot of information about her own struggle with developing MS and her relationship with Amy seems to be very distant during her last few years, so there isn’t a lot of information from her during that time other than a few stories. It’s an interesting book though and if you are an Amy fan, you will find it even more so.- LKBBA

One-Star:

I feel this book is all about her mother and not amy….I do not feel sorry for her….- karen winstead

Goodreads:

Five- stars:

Just like the story by her father, this is a beautiful yet tragic story. Janis was a little more intimate than mitchs however, I feel so bad for what they had to endure. Reading the stories from Janis, I can’t help but think that some of these things she was describing truly feel connected with her in some way, I think she suffered from a personality disorder honestly, she couldn’t find herself and drown herself in her addictions. A beautiful story very beautifully told. I’m so glad that I bought this actual book because I will be reading it again. -Jessica Beck

Another:

Just read this book in a couple hours and I loved it so much. Amy was and still is one of my favorite singers and to read about her from her mothers perspective was heart wrenching. Amy was a beautiful but scarred soul. 💔- Mark Hollywood

Three-Star Review:

This is a sad story. Especially that it was written by a grief-stricken mother about her addicted daughter. What I found respectable was that Janis didn’t attempt to sugarcoat her daughter’s troubled behavior nor did she try to give her endless excuses to justify her actions. Janis was upfront and honest. Amy’s father, Mitchel, was closer to her than her mother because she chose to detach herself from Amy’s addiction to protect herself & to take care of her own health (she has MS). Although I’ve never been a fan of Amy and she didn’t impress me one bit, I felt Janis’s pain which was obvious throughout this heart-wrenching book.-NON

One-Star:

I’m on a streak of books by mothers explaining what happened with their dead children. This one seems to unintentionally show how detached Janis was from Amy. She didn’t meet Blake until after he and Amy were married? That’s a huge sign of how unimportant Amy and her mom were to each other at that time.

Waste of time, unless you want to read a book of excuses, and not a lot of knowledge of what actually happened to her daughter. Poor Amy.- Wendi Manning

Is It Worth It?

It’s worth it because it’s from her mother’s perspective. She didn’t know her the best (in fact, Tyler James knew her better than anyone on the planet) though who wouldn’t want to hear it from a mother’s point of view? The most valuable parts are before she became famous, if that’s what you’re looking for. In my opinion, other sources are better.