In her intimate and in-depth memoir, Lioness: My Journey to Glory, Beth Mead takes readers on a journey through her career in addition to her personal life while she is continuously dealt an unfavorable hand. However, before it delves into the story of the now world-renowned soccer player, there is a moving foreword by Ian Wright, a formal Arsenal player, who highlights just how monumental her recent achievements are. His brief but personal excerpt also mentions her struggles as a child and her incredible personality that makes her a delightful person to be around. After the foreword, the prologue begins. Mead recounts the call from the then-coach of Team GB, Hege Riise, who informs Mead that she will not be going to the Olympics. This call spurs a sequence of events that fans affectionately call the "Beth Mead Revenge Tour," which also happens to be the reason this memoir exists. Before all of her success though, was a kid that loved football, brought up in a small rural town called Hinderwell. Her struggles were similar to many girls that played football at the time, with Mead having to play with boys while their parents heckled her from the sidelines. Her experiences extended off the pitch, with her speaking extensively on her experience realizing she is gay. The theme of homesickness is also explored through her unwillingness to attend England camps, which is an experience many can relate to. The novel explores her playing career in great depth, with Mead giving many insights on specific games, such as cup finals and matches that decided the league. The style of writing throughout the memoir is quite engaging, with readers able to feel the emotions conveyed through the page. There is a certain openness that athletes tend to lack when telling their life stories, yet the anecdotes and experiences can make a reader feel the raw emotion of living the moment themself. Certain points are more heart-tugging than others, with Mead's mother's cancer diagnosis being a prime example, along with other recountings of less-than-ideal memories. Ultimately, Lioness: My Journey to Glory is an impressive memoir that shows the hardship and determination it took for Mead to be an astounding player and an even better person.
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