In this photographic memoir, we get a hilarious and brutally honest look at Alaska’s life pre- and post-Drag Race fame. Alaska doesn’t hold back, even from some of the most unflattering parts of her life. From her small town childhood to experimenting with form in drag to her messy public breakup, this memoir shares the story behind the drag queen with Alaska’s signature humor. I really appreciate Alaska's willingness to face her past mistakes and bad behavior, and I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at RuPaul's Drag Race. This is a great read for fans of Alaska and the art of drag.

I enjoyed this book, and it was a fairly quick read. While she's no Hemingway, I thought the book was honest, filled with to the brim with tea, and was a fun supplement to her Youtube channel. I would recommend to fans of Drag Race.

I had mixed expectations going into this book. I'm a fan of Alaska's from RuPaul's Drag Race and on the one hand she's always been a top competitor and shown how creative and capable she is. On the other hand, after Drag Race the queens are often doing something gimmicky like releasing really, really terrible music. So I figured this could go either way. I was very pleased to find Alaska's book was just as interesting, colorful, and creative as she is!

I found this book to be very readable. The writing is great and I could hear Alaska's voice in the narration. Her story is told in a chronological order, from her childhood to the present. I expected to see more highlights from her time on Drag Race and Allstars, but it's true what she said, that the audience that knows her from the show is already aware of what went on. I guess I was hoping for a little more behind-the-scenes info, but her story was strong even without it. I always liked Alaska but it was interesting to see, in her own words, where she came from and what shaped her into the person she is today, and what influenced her craft.

I've seen other reviews saying this book is all about Alaska's relationship with drag queen and fellow Drag Race alumni, Sharon Needles. I didn't feel that was true. Alaska and Sharon don't meet until a third of the way into the book. And while Sharon was a big part of Alaska's life and an integral part of her story, they weren't the focus of the book. The story was always about what else was going on while Alaska was caught up in this toxic relationship.

I will say I was surprised by just how toxic Alaska's relationship with Sharon was. I enjoy watching RPDR but I'm not so obsessive as to follow all the social media accounts and forums about it, so prior to reading the book I'm not sure I even remembered that the two of them had a history. By Alaska's account Sharon seemed to have serious issues and all the classic signs of an abuser. It was really shocking and disturbing to see how she manipulated and tormented Alaska. I'm glad they were able to move past it and be friends again, but I'm even more glad that Alaska got out of that web.

I loved the book's formatting. The leopard print at the start of every chapter with the hot pink chapter titles, and the glossy photos that accompany the story. This is a book I'd enjoy having on my shelf and would enjoy rereading.

Alaska made me love her even more with her book! My Name's Yours, What's Alaska is a detail account of growing up and blossoming into one of the most memorable drag queens. Alaska talked about hiding her masculine side through most of school. She was blessed with a wonderful bestie, mother, and grandmother that supported her through coming out and being a drag queen.
I enjoyed the fact Alaska was so open and honest in this book. She covered drug and alcohol abuse, the drag scene, and her love for Sharon Needles. Alaska and Sharon were so ying and yang! I could totally see why they were each others enabler. I will definitely say I admired Alaska was so persistent to be on RuPaul's Drag Race.
This was overall a great read for me. I mostly recommend Alaska's book for all drag queen loving friends and others.

My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska?: A Memoir by Alaska Thunderfuck 5000

TAGS: LGBTQIA, non-fiction, autobiography, memoir, comedy

I thought this book was authentic and real and laugh out loud funny. Girl is HILARIOUS! This books follows Alaska's journey from small-town to drag superstardom. I loved reading all of the behind the scenes stories from RuPaul's Drag Race. The pictures were AMAZE -- full color, full GLAM! I would recommend this book to any die hard RuPaul or Drag Race fans or anyone interested in reading personal stories about a drag queens rise to stardom. Lots of fun, behind the scenes anecdotes about your fave people from Drag Race: RuPaul, Trixie Mattel, Cherri Baum, Sharon Needles, Bianca del Rio, to name a few... I subscribed to her Race Chaser and Moguls of Media Podcasts after reading book because I just want more, More, MORE Alaska content! Let's hear it for LGBTQIA+ representation in the mainstream! We need more books like this on the market.

MY RATING: 3.5/5 stars

MY RATING SYSTEM:
1 star = I don't recommend the book
2 stars = I would not read the book again
3 stars = I enjoyed the book
4 stars = I liked the book and would recommend to others
5 stars = Everyone should read the book; I would read the book again & again

*Thanks to NetGalley & the book's publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for my honest review. #NetGalley #MyNamesYoursWhatsAlaska #LGBTQIA

Thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the advanced copy of this book!

Alaska Thunderfuck is probably one of the more notable characters to come out of the Rupaul's Drag Race machine since the show's inception, and though a bit of a controversial queen, she has always intrigued me in a kind of car crash that you can't look away from kind of way. My stance on her kind of depends on the day, but she has certainly left a mark on Drag and provided some iconic moments.

Though I wouldn't necessarily say this book spilled a ton of tea, it was unflinchingly honest. Alaska talks a lot about her path to stardom and is very frank about the missteps along the way. She discusses her very public relationship with Sharon Needles and isn't afraid to shine a light on the unhealthy way they both fed into the relationship's toxicity.

It was also refreshing to hear a bit more of Alaska before she was Alaska. It humanized her to learn about her upbringing and how she got into performing. There's also a lot of growth throughout as Alaska reflects on choices she's made and things she's done, which made no moves to hide her flaws, which I appreciated.

This book is definitely for a niche audience but I am part of that audience and enjoyed it! Lots of good pictures throughout, though the photos rarely matched up with the chapter content.

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000's memoir "My Name's Yours, What's Alaska" is definitely for the essential RuPaul's Drag Race fan which follow's Alaska/Justin's journey from child and teen in Erie, PA, to world traveling drag superstar.

Alaska's beginnings are very relatable. A supportive mother. A feeling of being different than most other boys. The obsession with fame and success. But, the true gem of the story is the journey itself.

Alcoholism. Drug use. Cheating on a partner. What intrigued me most is that she is fully honest in this book. Drag Race fans will especially appreciate how much text is dedicated to the start and terrible ending to her relationship with fellow Drag Race winner, Sharon Needles.

I also appreciated a lot of the Drag Race behind-the-scenes: what it took to be on the show, the hard time she had on All Stars, and the fact that the season fan favorite episode "The Snatch Game" was actually really "boring" to film.

I have always liked Alaska, although there is a big chunk of her personality that I can't relate to. I still am in awe of the drag character she has created. It says a lot that I was interested enough to finish the book all in one sitting, yet when I came to the end I asked myself if I liked her more after reading her story and the answer was no, and that's only because I adored her to begin with.

I don't think someone who is not a huge fan of the Drag Race series would enjoy reading this book, but then again I doubt any person who has not seen the show would pick it up to begin with. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer. I would have loved more detailed stories about her time on the show.

Note: the copy I received did not yet have the introduction by Jackie Beat added.

Thank you to Net Galley, Chronicle Books and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 for the advance copy of the ebook.

I truly love that Alaska has published a book, especially one that is unlike what any of her Drag Race sisters have released so far (like Willam's anti-self-help book and Bianca's "Dear Abby" style book of advice). This is the kind of book we WANT from the dolls: a behind-the-scenes memoir! The pictures were mostly wonderful, the stories fun and sometimes insightful. It fell apart a little by the end when Alaska seemed unsure of how to wrap things up and where to leave off, but it was such an enjoyable read!

This book feels like a good time spent in a cozy bar with Alaska showing photos and telling stories of her life. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to fans of Drag or Rupaul’s Drag Race. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s always interesting to hear someone’s life story from their point of view. Learning the moments they feel impacted their life and made them who they are today.

Alaska’s story starts out like most drag queens story (Including mine and 99% of the rest of the queens I know). The beginning of the book made me nervous, thinking to myself, “any queen could have written this.” However after we get past a few “in the beginning” chapters we start learning the stories… and I couldn’t get enough!

Alaska takes us through the ups and downs in her life, those critical moments that shaped her into the person she is today!

Fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race will get a few glimpses of behind the scenes, but more importantly, fans of Alaska will get glimpses into her mind!

The photos are great, the stories are great.

This memoir is a must-read for fans of RuPaul's Drag Race. It provides a different lens on the diva that viewers came to seemingly know well during Season 5 of the mothership and Season 2 of All-Stars. Alaska had a very defined narrative on the show, so it's interesting to see where her story has done since the cameras stopped rolling. Yet, it's still enough inside ball that diehard fans may struggle to get engaged.

“By senior year of high school, I felt like I knew who I was as a person. I knew I didn’t care what people thought about me, I knew I liked playing with the meaning of gender, and I knew I wanted to be an actor.”—from My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska?

I’m envious of Alaska. Not for her beauty or fame. I envy her confidence and don’t give a f attitude IN HIGH SCHOOL! It took me thirteen more years to reach that level.

“It didn’t matter if you were really good at make up or if you were a giant hairy dude; you could make magic happen with Drag. It was like they were taking pop culture, flipping and inverting it, chewing it up, turning it queer, and spitting it back out again. It wasn’t lofty or unattainable; it was for everyone. It didn’t matter if you had money or an education.”

Alaska seems like a nice enough person. Sharon Needles is maybe not so nice. But we are only hearing Alaska’s side of their relationship.

I was expecting much more tea to be spilled in My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska? The best revelation is that RuPaul films all three finalists winning Drag Race live. Only when the televised version airs do the winner (and the losers) discover who has really won.

Overall, this book is best for hardcore fans of Alaska or Sharon Needles. It would also be fascinating for any new Justins thinking about a career in Drag. 4 stars!

Thanks to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it felt like a conversation with a friend. It was super accessible too, I feel like someone who saw this book and knew little to nothing about drag culture could pick it up and still understand everything Alaska talks about. She doesn’t hold back at all, which I loved. My only complaint is that for the first like 75% of the book especially I didn’t feel like the pictures had much to do with what was being discussed most of the time. Another issue I had was that right before a chapter discussing her being chosen for season 5 of Drag Race, a photo is displayed congratulating her for it. I feel like most people reading this would know she was chosen, but for those that do not this could be a major spoiler, and I think that picture would do much better at the end of the chapter. Just a couple nitpicks, overall I loved taking a deep dive into the story of an iconic queen.

A fantastic glimpse into the life of Alaska, superstar drag queen. I loved seeing bits and pieces of her life before drag, growing up in Erie, PA. I learned a lot about Alaska, and loved all the little anecdotes of what made one of Drag Race’s most beloved queens into Alaska, including the fact that she stole all of Jackie Beat’s ideas to try and make drag, pre-drag race, a viable career, and that she was voted Prom King!

A great book for all drag race fans, I really enjoyed this one.

I really enjoyed reading this memoir. I loved how it felt like it was just Alaska talking and I could actually hear their voice in my head. Seeing what made Alaska, Alaska, was very interesting and getting insight into Sharon, other Ru girls, and some insight into the show as well was fun. Only issue was there were some things I wish were talked about but weren’t, like for example the AAA girls. Especially since there was some pictures from that time frame. Other than that, I loved this book.

I started watching Drag Race in high school, when season four was airing. I was mesmerized by the artistry and hard work involved, as well as the community formed between LGBTQ+ people from different walks of life but who all faced similar hardships when it came to their identity and sexuality. As a teenager who felt very much like the “odd one out” and had interests other kids my age may have found weird, I felt seen by a lot of the personalities that came and went on the show.

It’s interesting to hear from a queen like Alaska (who has become so well known and widely loved) about not only the challenges she faced while being on Drag Race, but also the situations and inspirations that led her to drag. She is truly an artist of experimentation, and simultaneously acting like she doesn’t care what people think but putting so much thought into her work and performance. As a casual fan of hers, I didn’t know about the extremes she went through involving substance abuse at various points in her career, and how that affected her. I imagine that’s a terribly difficult thing to talk about in detail and relive, but she does so in an eloquent and raw way with this book.

I feel like Alaska covered a rather large span of time in not a lot of pages, which had me wishing for a little more detail about certain situations and moments from her career that she briefly mentioned or didn’t mention at all. That being said, this isn’t advertised as a “tell-all”, so I can’t expect her to give away *all* of her secrets and honest opinions.

Overall, fans of Alaska and of drag in general will really enjoy this memoir. It’s surprisingly heartfelt and earnest, while still maintaining the level of camp and humor she’s known for.

4.75/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for providing this e-arc!

This was such a fun and quick memoir that kept me wanting to here more from the author. Its rawness makes it a perfect blend of the painful truth and the campness of the profession that consists of dressing up to entertain drunk gay people. It also deals a bit with Alaska's troubles with love but i'm happy to see this book have a happier than expected ending. Also a very fun book to read to then analuze the author's music and performances after!

ps. not giving this a full 5 due to lagging problems with the e-arc which the publisher and site should be responsible of

I really liked this book. The setting was imaginative and the characters were memorable. Thank you for the ARC, I will definitely recommend this book and this author to my peers.

My Name’s Yours, What’s Alaska? is a clever memoir about the hilarious queen Alaska Thunderfuck 5000. The book shows Alaska’s rise from small down queen to becoming the winner of RuPauls All Stars season 2 and everything in between.

One of the things I loved most about this book is just how much of herself Alaska shared with us. We got to see the lowest points as well as the highs and she didn’t try to hide the moments where she messed up. In particular when she struggled with her issues with overcoming her substance abuse issue and how to navigate the drag world as someone other than Sharon’s boyfriend I was really rooting for her. Even though she was not a great person at time, she seemed to learn from her mistakes and really grow.

I’ve been a fan of drag for awhile, so it was really fun to learn more about how much drag has changed just in the past ten years alone. I also enjoyed learning a bit about some of the history of drag, and I’ve definitely added the documentary The Queen to my viewing list. I also loved the photos throughout so we could really see the evolution of Alaska.

The first part of this book did drag a bit, but once I got about a quarter of the way through I finished the rest in one sitting. That being said I really enjoyed this book. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Chronicle for the advanced copy.

A very easy read! Wonderfully organized, written, and informative. It was so fun to learn about one of my favorite queens' lives through her own words and phrases. biyeeeeeee