Everyone Loves an Underdog Right?

 

TITLE: Becky Lynch: The Man - Not Your Average Average Girl

AUTHOR: Rebecca Quin

PUBLISHER: Gallery Books

PUBLISHING DATE: March 26, 2024

PAGES: 384   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: By age seven, Rebecca Quin, now known in the ring as Becky Lynch, was already defying what the world expected of her. Raised in Dublin, Ireland in a devoutly Catholic family, Rebecca constantly invented new ways to make her mother worry—roughhousing with the neighborhood kids, hosting secret parties while her parents were away, enrolling in a warehouse wrestling school, nearly breaking her neck and almost kneecapping a WWE star before her own wrestling career even began—and she was always in search of a thrilling escape from the ordinary. 

Rebecca’s deep love of wrestling as a child set her on an unlikely path. With few female wrestlers to look to for guidance, Rebecca pursued a wrestling career hoping to change the culture and move away from the antiquated disrespect so often directed at the elite female athletes that grace the ring. Even as a teenager, she knew that she would stop at nothing to earn a space among the greatest wrestlers of our time, and to pave a new path for female fighters. 

Culled from decades of journal entries, Rebecca’s memoir offers a raw, personal, and honest depiction of the complex woman behind the character Rebecca Quin plays on TV.

MY THOUGHTS: I remember being a young kid and going to visit my grandmother during the summer.  She used to be obsessed with wrestling, though I don't know why because I was 8 or so and didn't think to ask.  We would gather on the couch on Saturday evening with plenty of snacks and drinks and watch wrestling.  Back then I wasn't aware of the fake/real debates on much of anything else except what lived in my grandma's attic and did there really need to be blood red carpet in the upstairs hallway.  

I know recognize wrestling for what it is - scripted sports entertainment.  However, the individuals who do it still have to be superb athletes as well as actors.  I only watch it from time to time now, but I always gets excited when the women step into the ring, and of course, one of my faves has to be the wrestler who goes against the norm.  This book tells all about the rise of Becky Lynch, including how a non-athletic kid turned into an athletic superstar.  It details family drama, her confusion on her place in life, her struggles with an eating disorder and finally finding true love and marrying her best friend.  

I loved every minute of reading this book.  I am really drawn to memoirs, and this is one I'm so glad I picked up.  If you liked tales of the underdog and how they come out on top, then consider it a go.  I will say there is a lot of information about years and years of the wrestling scene so if you aren't familiar with it, you might not get as much out of reading it.

MY RATING: 5 Paws