Incomparable by Brie & Nikki Bella

Summary:

A raw, honest, and revealing co-memoir by Brie and Nikki Bella: twin sisters, WWE Hall of Fame inductees, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and stars of the hit E! shows Total Bellas and Total Divas.

As twins, the Bellas have always competed. Legend has it that Nikki drop-kicked Brie in the womb so that she could make her grand entrance first. But the rest of the world often treated them as identical and even interchangeable, so they decided to do something about it.

In WWE, the Bellas accomplished so much together: bringing in young girls and women while building the Bella Army, helping the transition of female performers from Divas to Superstars, starring in Total Divas and Total Bellas, and founding companies like Birdiebee, Nicole + Brizee Beauty, and Bonita Bonita Wine.

Though their early journey began with loss, abuse, and plenty of rough times, these challenges "shined the diamond." They resolved to be survivors and the heroes of their own stories, and to take control and responsibility for their lives. Eventually, they would come to show girls everywhere that they can do anything.

The Bellas may be identical twins—but as individuals, they have proven themselves Incomparable.

Review:

This book was... wow.

I really enjoyed reading this.

I've learned that when it comes to nonfiction, I prefer autobiographies. The only nonfiction books you will see on my bookshelf were written by wrestlers and YouTubers.

This book kinda reminded me of AJ Lee's book, in that a lot of what happened in it took place before the Bellas were wrestlers. The first half of AJ's book is about her childhood, and the second half is when she starts talking about wrestling.

Brie and Nikki kinda jump around the timeline in this book, but it is kinda half before they started wrestling, and half after they started/when they were wrestling.

So, most of the chapters switch between the two of them, and it's always labeled as Brie and Nicole, so you know whose POV you're reading.

They each have chapters dedicated to just them, too, and the one that hit me most was Brie's chapter just called "Bear." It's about an ex-boyfriend who is only an ex because he died, and it talks about how close they were, and how she dealt with his loss. It's very touching, and if you don't read the rest of the book, I do recommend that chapter.

It also touches on their not-so-good relationship with their father, Nikki talks about being sexually assaulted (multiple times, not just once!!), and Brie talks about her ex-boyfriends.

I also liked reading about the wrestling, too. They talked about training, they talked about getting called up to the main roster, and helping to start the #GiveDivasAChance movement.

At one point, they talk about Nattie, and how they came up with this agreement where she would help them train to wrestle, and they'd help Nattie with her fashion.

And then they mentioned something that I didn't realize they'd done. The match that started the #GiveDivasAChance hashtag was a tag team match where the Bellas faced Emma and Paige, and it lasted about 90 seconds. When the day started, the match was gonna be about 8 minutes, but when the show started, they cut it to 5 (obviously to give more time to the men, who are so much more important). The ladies decided they were gonna go out there, hit a finisher, and end the match. That was it. They had a little more time, but they wanted to make a statement, so they made the match that short for a reason.

I guess I just thought WWE made them do that (make the match so quick), I didn't realize it was a conscious effort on the ladies' part, so good on them for that.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, but there was one part that stuck out to me because I just don't think it happened. I'm not saying they made it up, but it just felt weird to me.

In this part of the book, they don't name the person they're talking about, but I am pretty sure they are referring to that AJ Lee promo that she cut on the Total Divas (where she said talent is not sexually transmitted, y'all remember it). In the book, they made it seem like they didn't know it was gonna happen. Like, they said they knew she was gonna come out (they were gonna add her to a storyline that was already going on), but I guess they didn't know what she was gonna say?

Well, they got all offended, and Nikki (who was writing this part) said that if they'd know what she was gonna say, they would've just ignored her and continued on with the match. Then, when they got backstage, Brie pulled AJ aside and gave her some big speech about how they have to stick together and blah blah blah.

I'm just...

Okay, assuming that they actually didn't know what she was going to say (which I doubt), what makes them think she came up with it? If they didn't give her a script to memorize, they definitely at least gave her bullet points to talk about. It really felt like they were putting all the blame on AJ, which I didn't like, because AJ wanted more opportunities for the women, too.

And later in the book, they talk about the WrestleMania match they had against AJ and Paige, and how much they loved it.

This just didn't sit right with me.

The rest of the book was good, I enjoyed reading it. I just didn't like that part.

Anyway, if you're a wrestling fan, I recommend checking this out. I'm not a huge fan of the Bellas, but I like them, and I think they have some important things to say, so definitely check this out if you're a fan of them.