An inside look at what one of the most controversial figures in American politics’ life should be an instant must-read. A book like this should be an enthralling page-turner that somebody cannot put down. “Melania” by First Lady Melania Trump is anything but. The memoir follows Trump through her lavish childhood in Slovenia, her beginnings as a model, her relationship with Donald Trump and her time in the White House.

“Melania” is a masterclass in tell, do not show. She interrupted several anecdotes about her childhood by telling the audience how amazing these experiences made her. A simple memory of her father’s expensive interest in cars and her appreciation of the vehicles’ beauty launches into her account of what a wonderful person she has turned out to be: “My childhood experience shaped me into a disciplined, ambitious individual who values hard work, dedication, and self-awareness,” Melania writes.

Trump’s overstatements and ambiguity also translate to the people in her life. Her broad descriptions of the people in her life make them seem like characters in a children’s book rather than real-life flawed people. She treats the people in her life that she likes as heroes, and anyone else is a villain. It is a harsh and black-and-white way to write that makes the reader uninterested in what she has to say because of its over-characterization. She blames others for every scandal, making her and her husband seem larger than life. She foots the blame for serious controversies to the media, and her constant accusations throughout this memoir give the book a sense of paranoia.

Melania’s writing leaves much to be desired. She concerns herself with smaller details of her life, skating over important life events. She has pages about her interior design skills in the White House. However, when it comes to significant controversies, like the January 6th riots, she writes a few sparse paragraphs riddled with confusion due to their ambiguity. To put it simply, her writing is confusing. She begins a paragraph seemingly reflecting on 9/11 but then proceeds to not speak about it and launches into a meeting with her husband. I was left lost, expecting something relatively profound, but then, and certainly not for the first time in this book, I was left dissatisfied and disappointed.

The one commendable thing is her being able to talk about her pro-choice views. Her ideas stand out because of her husband’s stark contrast in opinion. While differences in political views are expected in a relationship, Melania spends most of her memoir agreeing and praising her husband’s views, so having a page or two on her difference in opinion is refreshing. It humanizes her and is the one point in the book where their relationship seems somewhat candid and less rehearsed. Regardless, it comes too late in the book, and it is certainly not worth it to read the entirety of the memoir for that small breath of fresh air in an otherwise pointless read.

“Melania” came out in October of 2024, deep into the election season when Trump’s husband was up for reelection, which must be why it feels like the reader is being “preached” to. Instead of leaving the reader with a final, inspirational takeaway, Trump chooses to have the final two pages be a message that she crafted after her husband was shot, which begs the viewer to vote for her husband in the 2024 election. However, this is not at all surprising. After reading the whole book, I found that this political message fits perfectly with the memoir. The book feels like another piece in the campaign trail, taking away any meaning anybody could find in this book. When Melania writes about her life, the lack of transparency makes sense when paired with a vague and political ending. The book’s snooze-worthy writing and lack of substantive life experience make it something that should definitely be taken off a “to be read” list.