Naturally Tan by Tan France

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

And with this book, my 5 star streak has sadly been broken. I absolutely adore Netflix's Queer Eye. I was a little young for the original version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, but this reboot has completely won my heart. When I saw Tan was putting out a book, I had to get my hands on it. Naturally Tan by Tan France is his memoir, going through his childhood, working odd jobs, meeting his husband, getting into fashion, starting his own company, and finally landing the role on Queer Eye.

This was a fun read, and definitely screamed Tan! It was peppered with some amazing illustrations by his husband, Rob France, which I thought added a great touch. There were also little PSAs about fashion, dating advice, and even a face mask recipe! It was very interesting reading about his struggles, not only with his race, but also with his sexuality. My heart broke for him multiple times throughout the book, as his personal experiences really were an eye opener. It really felt like you were just sitting down and having a casual conversation with Tan versus reading a book. I've heard the audiobook is fantastic, and even has interviews with Antoni (swoon!) in it as well!

One big complaint with this read was that it really jumped around a lot. I felt like certain sections were cut really short, while others were unnecessarily drawn out, and the flow of everything wasn't as smooth or linear as I would have liked. Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was that at times it felt extremely judgy. For example, in this book Tan comes for bangs, and comes for them HARD. Bangs are my signature look, but seeing them raked across the coals so hard kind of hurt. Yes, not everyone can pull them off, but I feel like I can! He also came for long hair (another one of my own traits!) among other things, and it just felt very contradictory to the Queer Eye message of loving yourself and being authentically you.

This was a solid 3-star read. Some good parts, some bad parts, and overall very middle of the road. 

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press for a finished copy of this read! Naturally Tan by Tan France is out now!