Oh Alaska. An entertaining read that I did laugh a couple times while reading.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

I have a confession before I go any further: I had heard of Alaska Thunderfuck but I was not familiar with them. I do not watch RuPaul or Drag Race. I do get the holiday album every year. So why did I choose this autobiography? Because I had only ever read one biography about a drag queen and I wanted to know about this area of the rainbow.

Unfortunately, you really need to be a fan of Drag Race to appreciate all that Alaska shares. I don’t watch the show and I am unfamiliar with almost everyone Alaska talks about in the context of the show. Alaska definitely dishes the tea about their rise and drops all the names and their wrongdoings. Don’t get me wrong, Alaska shakes out their own laundry too.

I am just not a huge fan of this type of memoir. This is not the fault of the author, but all mine.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily. I didn’t care for the direction this story is written in. You might, so please do not take my opinion as anything other than a reader who did not make a connection.

I received a free copy of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

This book is for all the weird kids who didn't quite fit in! I have been a RuPaul and Drag Race fan since the beginning, and Alaska has been one of my favorite Queens through the years. I knew about her relationship with Sharon Needles, but didn't know the history. This book not only tells Alaska's rise to fame, but we are along for the ride as Alaska navigates us through a myriad of emotions including childhood and teen memories, the volatile romance with Sharon, and what it means to be a drag star. There is a little Drag Race/Rupaul backstory here, but the book mostly focuses on Alaska's trajectory from figuring out pageant drag was not for them, and that the weird, bizarre John Waters-esque performance art made them come alive. I laughed my way through the book, and Alaska has led a colorful life, it was great to hear all the stories. And it's a rags to riches story as well, so that made Alaska super relatable. I loved the photographs in the book, they were a fun mix of Alaska before drag and after drag. I think any Drag Race fan would enjoy reading this!

Essential for any fan of Rupaul’s Drag Race, My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska? dives into the life of one of the series’ most memorable queens. A heartfelt and memorable look at her life, Alaska invites readers to get to know her outside of the television and provides laughs and heartfelt moments along the way.

Alaska is one of my favorite Drag Queens. She is hilarious and that comes across in this book. I found it to be a light, quick, and fun read. It was nice to learn more about Alaska, who is always good at making me laugh.

Honestly, who doesn’t love Alaska!

It was really cool and fun to get a look inside at more details of her life and the drag world. I laughed out loud and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing! I’m sure I love her more now.

For fans of the art form and the artist, this is an excellent book for fans and newcomers to the artform of drag. Alaska encapsulates the best of the art, and the book shows it. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital review copy. This fun and informative book is filled with great photos and words of Alaska. Rupaul’s Drag Race, her love affair with Sharon Needles and other stories are included in this book. If you love Alaska buy this book.

Who doesn't' love Alaska? I've been following her journey from Drag Race Season 5 to today and was so excited to receive a copy of her book. It's great to get a glimpse into her reality and I ate i tup. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGallery and Chronicle Books for the ARC copy and thanks to Alaska for writing this. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her on my screen wearing a garbage dress and a horse mask, saying that famously “hieee” that would be forever be part of her. But getting to know Justin, the person behind the art, in such a vulnerable and raw way was truly beautiful and heartwarming. This was so well written and I was constantly blown away by everything Alaska went through to be were she is today. Following her and supporting her all these years and being aware of certain situations it’s definitely not the same as reading the memories she wrote with her own word. I’d even say that this was so essentially Alaska that I could hear her voice in my head. The amazing and strategically placed photos also lets you fully immerse you into the scenery. Truly an inspiring and magical journey. I firmly believe that she’s out there doing things most drag queens haven’t even thought about it and I can’t wait to see where her she is going next. Because, to quote the queen herself, “anus-thing is possible.”

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for my review.

This memoir was so open and honest, Alaska was so honest and open about everything in her life. And I love how she put the photos in each chapter of her life and it was nice to learn more about Alaska as a person. Alaska memoir reads like a diary, Alaska acknowledge her successes, and also her mistakes and how she owned up to them, and learn from them. This is a really great memoir. For people who loves to read memoirs, like I do. This is a nice one to pick up

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVE dragqueens and especially enjoy Alaska. This is a great little ditty by Alaska herself and it's wonderful. The photos are beautiful and reading about her hometown life/her personal story was interesting. I didn't realize I really didn't know a thing about her until this book. I'm a huge fan of behind-the-scenes of TV shows so if you are a fan of Drag Race I would recommend this one to you.

Also, if you liked the "how to" book by Trixie and Katya then you will definitely like this one by Alaska.

5/5

This book was a new, more human side to the larger than life drag queen we met on Drag Race and All Stars. Alaska gets very personally in this debut, with tales from her failures, abusing drugs and alcohol, her toxic relationship with Sharon Needles and her complicity in her and Sharon's racist past actions.

"My Name's Yours, What's Alaska?" reads like a diary with its vulnerability shining in every page. I love that Alaska chose to use this platform to bring up a few controversial things others may have avoided. She validated trans drag queens, expressed opinions on RuPaul's and other drag competitions transphobic rules and mindsets, and the discomfort of former partner Sharon's racism. She also highlighted how toxic drug and alcohol use became for her and how that tarnished relationships with her lifelong friend, coworkers and Sharon. Alaska didn't shy away from the uncomfortable truths of her doing bad things throughout her stories.

Pictures included were really great as well, they were a great selection to accompany Alaska's writing.

I do think there could have been a bit more accountability for racist acts that Alaska herself admits to having done and maybe use her platform to speak more on her being complicit in it.

Another of the "RuPaul Drag Race" alumni releases a biography about their life. Fan favorite and quotable Alaska tells all about their rise to fame, from humble beginnings and all about their once relationship with other "Ru girl" Sharon Needles.

Starting out as a small-town prom king to an obsession with wanting to BE Catwoman, to starting drag and eventually throwing in with Sharon and doing shows together and dating, Alaska is very candid about everything. There's wild parties, some rocky relationship issues and a bunch of "cool girl" allure hiding some inner turmoil. Fans of the show and Alaska herself with come away understanding her a bit more and enjoying the wild ride.

5 stars

It would be irresponsible to avoid mentioning this essential point: I love Alaska. I have loved Alaska since I came to know of Alaska many years ago (as part of Rolaskatox). This book could have been terrible, and I probably still would have thought it was great. But good news: this bio is solid on its own merits, too.

Come for the story and stay for the photos. Throughout this piece, readers learn about Alaska's early life, rise in the Drag scene, relationship with Sharon, _Drag Race_ and _All Stars_ experiences, and finally post-Ru (if there is such a thing for any of the folks who have been on this circuit). Folks who are sensitive to talk about drug and alcohol abuse should know that there is a decent amount of this here, but it's not the focal point; it's just a part of the backdrop for a good chunk of the chapters. While I was expecting this - and a generally intriguing set of circumstances surrounding Alaska, I was not expecting so many fantastic photos. I expect I spent almost as much time enjoying these - and going back to them - as I did actually reading. Definitely get a color copy of this book.

Alaska is a fixture and for good reason. I have loved her drag for as long as I've been aware of her, and now I think she's a pretty fascinating person on the inside, too. If you saw this title, said, "Hiiiiiiieeeeee," and knew you wanted to read it, I expect you'll be pleasantly surprised; it may be better than you expect, too!

I will absolutely be buying a physical copy of this book - the ebook really doesn’t do the photos justice! This book is part memoir, part photo album, and I loved the visual evolution of Alaska’s drag paired alongside her memories. While she doesn’t spill much tea about her time on Drag Race, she does get into her relationship with Sharon, which was hard to read at times, particularly as Alaska tells about her lowest points with alcohol and cocaine. The ending also felt a little rushed to me - a quick note about her podcast success and Drag Queen of the Year, but I would have loved more insight into her life in recent years. I was also bummed not to have any content about her time with the Triple A girls, though there are a couple of gorgeous photos from that period. Still, it’s a great book for fans of drag, and as Alaska is easily one of my favorite queens, I will definitely be recommending this to friends.

First off, I love Alaska. I’ve rewatched season 5 many times and I’ve even seen Alaska live at Pride before. I appreciate her righting this and seeing what she has to say. However, this was messy. Extremely messy.

I felt as though the timeline skipped chunks of her life or just lightly glossed over things. I feel like most people would read this for her perspective on her seasons. Yet it was only addressed as quickly as possible. Truly only people who know Alaska will read this and semi like it. I have a feeling there was a ghost writer, but I could be wrong.

2/5 stars

I was so happy to see this on NetGalley to read. I’m a huge drag fan and Alaska is iconic. I enjoyed reading this! I don’t read a lot of memoirs but I would recommend this!

Entertaining read by the end. Took me awhile to get into it however. I thought I would enjoy it more, as the drag culture is very intriguing, but I just couldn’t get fully into it right away. Props to the author for sharing the stories of life.

I've become a fan of Drag Race recently, so it was fun to learn more about Alaska as a person, rather than just her drag persona and what's shown on the show, especially since so many other drag queens usually have nothing but praises for Alaska, and I've listened to podcasts where Alaska is a guest and enjoyed them a lot.

I really loved reading Alaska's journey, the way that she discovered doing drag, and how she evolved her drag as she learned about the history and the art of drag. It was so cool to see pictures of her throughout the years, where you can really see the growth to where she is now.

There isn't much about Drag Race in this book, but I was sad to read about how Alaska describes her time on season five compared to how she describes her time on All-Stars. Despite winning All-Stars, there's a line about how she didn't really leave the show feeling close to any of her sisters since she went into the season so focused on winning, and I liked the comment she made about how production seemed to really build her up throughout the season only to tear her down close to the end, resulting in her tantrum on TV.

Alaska's relationship with Sharon is described very candidly in the book, with all the messiness and regrets that come from a relationship that's not particularly healthy but obviously a big part of Alaska's life and very much formed a part of who she is today.

This was a super-fast read that engaged me from all the glossy pictures to the funny anecdotes to the pink brush-lettered chapter titles, I felt like I got a much better picture of who Alaska is and I enjoyed every second of it.

Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for the ARC.