It was written with Michaela Angela Davis, and was published by Andy Cohen Books, an imprint of Henry Holt, as well as in an audiobook format read by Carey herself on Audible.

The book navigates the complex racial, social, cultural and familial tensions associated with Carey's upbringing as a biracial woman in Long Island, New York.

This is framed alongside first-hand descriptions of the singer's personal and professional triumphs and struggles, and is interspersed with fragments of Carey's songwriting output.

[31] While Mottola "tried to destroy" her,[32] she began a covert relationship with professional baseball player Derek Jeter, and their encounters deepened her music on Butterfly (1997).

[36][a] Combined with her demanding schedule, Mottola's meddling, and a tabloid frenzy over her appearance on MTV's Total Request Live, Carey was crippled with anxiety, fear, and exhaustion.

[45] Carey appreciated the commercial success of The Emancipation of Mimi (2005) and the critical response to her role in Precious (2009) for their ability to make both the public and herself move on from Glitter.

[47] Carey was delighted that "All I Want for Christmas Is You" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 music chart for the first time in 2019 and expresses how fulfilled she now feels as a person.

[53] Writing for The Guardian, Alex Macpherson described the book as "not the glitzy, gossipy celebrity reminiscence some might expect, but instead a largely sombre dive into her past" due to the significant length about her traumatic childhood.

[58] Referring to the passage "I really don't want a lot for Christmas—particularly not the cops", Macpherson felt "Carey recounts many of the worst parts of her life with a deadpan, self-aware wit".

[49] The Financial Times' Ludovic Hunter-Tilney described the book as "laced with dry wit",[52] and Segal thought "she cracks enough jokes to suggest she would be great fun over an unguarded bottle of wine".

[53] Hannah Reich of ABC News thought Carey's humor was pronounced in the audiobook version as it is aided by her speaking voice.

[60] Citing comments about getting her hair done after the September 11 attacks and referring to Jennifer Lopez as "another female entertainer ... (whom I don't know)", Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone felt "every page is packed with her over-the-top personality".

[68] Carey explained the purpose of writing the memoir and the process of recording the alternative rock album Someone's Ugly Daughter during an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show.

[72] In an interview with Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, Carey detailed relationships with her children and fans and addressed the pervasiveness of sexism in the music industry.

[80][81] It entered at number seven on The Sunday Times' General Hardbacks chart, selling about 6,940 copies in the United Kingdom according to Nielsen BookScan.

[85] In the Los Angeles Times, Rich Juzwiak said short stories such as Carey's relationship with Jeter incorporate "tension and poignancy not typically seen in celebrity writing".

[85] Hannah Reich of ABC News described Carey's experiences with racism both as a child and in the music industry "deftly and powerfully rendered".

Writing for the i, John Aizlewood criticized it for "concentrat[ing] on how unspeakably awful [Carey's] life was" with Mottola instead of mentioning more positive aspects of the relationship which he felt led to their marriage.

[96] As she and Eminem "volleyed diss tracks for years", Juzwiak thought the memoir does a disservice to readers by not acknowledging him,[56] and Variety's Danielle Turchiano considered the choice odd because "there is still enough interest ... to warrant a chapter".

[10] Conversely, Cady Lang of Time and Michael Blackmon of BuzzFeed News viewed the exclusion as an effort to wrest control of her narrative.

[11][54] Given the absence of references to Packer, Andrew Hornery of The Sydney Morning Herald said Carey "committed the worst crime of a celebrity autobiography: skipped over and outright ignored some of the juiciest chapters of her life.

"[99] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield was surprised Whitney Houston is first recognized in 1998 despite being perceived as her rival since 1990,[14] and Lordi remarked there is "no hint of competition" with other musicians.

[5] Mariah's sister Alison filed a lawsuit against Carey with the New York Supreme Court in February 2021 seeking $1.25 million for emotional distress caused by the memoir.

[100][101] In the same court the following month, Mariah's brother, Morgan filed a lawsuit against Carey, Davis, and the publishers for emotional distress and defamation for his portrayal.