Matriarch: A Memoir by Tina Knowles | Book Review

If you know me, you already know…

I am the ENTIRE Beyhive by my damn self and have loved Hov since the 90s.

So walking into this memoir I already had love for THEE Tina Knowles. What I did not expect was to walk away knowing her on an entirely different level.

When I pulled up the audiobook and saw 17 hours staring back at me, I will not pretend I didn’t pause. I am used to 10 hours or less. But from the moment her voice came through my speakers, I was locked in and that runtime flew by.

Ms. Tina has done countless interviews over the years and I thought I knew her story well. This memoir proved me wrong in the best way.

What she shares in Matriarch goes far beyond motherhood and womanhood. She takes you into who she has always been at her core, fiercely loving, sophisticated, bold, and yes, with a tomboyish side that I absolutely loved learning about. None of it felt performative. All of it felt like truth.

There is something particularly powerful about hearing a memoir in the author’s own voice, and Ms. Tina’s delivery made every chapter feel deeply personal. Like you were sitting right there with her through all of it.

Her story was absolutely worth telling and I enjoyed every single minute. 10/10.