Having grown up watching TGIF, Family Matters was a stable in my house. I was excited to read Growing up Urkel by Jaleel White in part because of my love for that show. However, it didn't quite hit the way I had hoped it would.

No doubt Jaleel White came up in the industry during a time where black programming and diverse casts were not the norm. Learning about how the role of Urkel came to be was quite interesting, and because I've watched and loved Family Matters, I'm not sure I could imagine the show without Jaleel White.

With that said, the one thing I love about the memoir genre is the reflection it gives people in looking back on their stories and their lives. Growing Up Urkel is very surface level and in a lot of ways, he comes off as arrogant. Perhaps it's that arrogance needed to survive within Hollywood, but it makes for questionable writing especially when you consider the people he chose to highlight in his book like Billy Cosby and R. Kelly. Now I will say, he does ask for forgiveness given the historical information, but it read as name dropping to name drop.

There were parts I enjoyed reading and learning, there were parts that felt repetitive especially where his family was concerned when it came to money and contracts. I will say this, if I ever became famous (I won't) an entertainment lawyer is a must!

Normally I'm either happy to have read or sad to have wasted the time when reading a memoir, and with Growing up Urkel I felt indifferent. Not bad, but also not great. It just was.

Jaleel White narrates his memoir and from an audiobook perspective I felt he did a great job. I would recommend the audiobook to anyone who prefers that format for consuming books.

Thank you Gallery Books for the gifted book to review and Simon Audio for the gifted ALC.