Review: Trouble Maker by Leah Remini

Trouble Maker by Leah Remini

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: November 3, 2015

Format: audiobook via Overdrive

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.

That was never more evident than in 2013 when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.

Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists alongside people such as Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.

But when she began to raise questions about some of the church’s actions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishioners—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever.

My Thoughts

By now we have all heard at least something about Leah Remini and her relationship with Scientology but I wanted to know a little more and straight from her mouth so I decided to check out this audiobook. I loved hearing her story from her and her voice just cracks me up. However, I really did find her story fascinating and not only did we get her Scientology story but we also got her life story which I was really drawn to.

We heard how she got into the religion and her story of growing up, her relationship with her dad and how she got her start in acting. I must admit I liked hearing about her fellow famous Scientologists especially some of the events involving Tom Cruise and his wedding to Katie Holmes, I just found all that so funny and wondering if all of that could be possible it just seemed so far fetched. All in all, it was an intriguing read one that I found engaging and really interesting.