Review: Blessed Life: My Surprising Journey of Joy, Tears, and Tales from Harlem to Hollywood – Kim Fields

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

From "Facts of Life" to "Living Single" to "Dancing with the Stars" to wife and mom, here's the BLESSED LIFE of Kim Fields, veteran actress, TV personality, and star.

Kim Fields has lived most of her life with people thinking they know her, which is understandable. From her first job on a Mrs. Butterworth syrup commercial at age 7, she has spent 40 years in the public eye. There were 9 years as Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey on the classic sitcom The Facts of Life, 5 more in her 20s starring as Regine Hunter on the seminal coming-of-age show Living Single, and most recently appearing as herself on Real Housewives of Atlanta and Dancing with the Stars.

Behind the camera, she has directed episodes of Kenan & Kel, Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and House of Payne, and BET's Let's Stay Together. Between gigs, the pop culture icon's life has included theater, spoken word, music, speaking engagements, and simply being present to the point that she cannot go a day without someone stopping her to say, "When I was a kid, I wanted to be Tootie" or "You were my role model."

Flattered and blessed, after four decades in the business, Kim finally understands the role she has played onscreen and off as a successful, outspoken African-American woman. However, for as much as she's been in the public eye, people have really never known her the way they think they have, and that's because she, herself, spent most of her life figuring herself out. Now, at age 48, she is ready to set the record straight. She says, "It's not that I've been misunderstood. It's that I finally feel like I understand me enough to tell the life story that I've been asked to write for years." It will be a chronicle of living, learning, and keen moments of self-discovery as she's journeyed through the many facets and chapters of life. Fields found faith at age 14 and has found God to be right there every step of the way since then.

You take the good, you take bad, you take them both and there you have…” (I know it’s corny starting my book review with the lyrics of Facts of Life, but I couldn’t resist)

When I was a kid, I used to be glued to the television every week waiting for a new episode of The Facts of Life. There wasn’t a lot of girls my shade on TV during that time – the only three I can think of at the present time is Dee (Danielle Spencer, What’s Happening), Penny (Janet Jackson, Good Times), and Tootie (Kim Fields, The Facts of Life).

Now let’s talk about the book! We all know Kim Fields as the warm bubbly child star that could do no wrong in our eyes and basically, and that’s what you get in this book. Not saying there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you are looking for a tell-all or get down to the nitty-gritty kind of book – look elsewhere.

Kim does open up about her insecurities – something I was surprised to read but was happy she shared that with the readers. Sometimes we are so caught up by the lights – that we forget celebrities are human too. There’s still a part of me that wishes she dug a little deeper when she was writing this book. I felt as though she held back a lot, but I did appreciate the gems/bits of wisdom she shared in this book.

Good Read…

Reviewed by: Orsayor

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