Sunday 26 April 2015

Book Review: All I Know Now

Author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
Rating: 5/5


Blimey! This is such a fantastic read! While reading I felt like I was genuinely sitting down with Carrie, having a cup of tea and a chat about the ups and downs of life with a bunch of comical anecdotes tagged on.

All I Know Now is a manual for those in the 'Teen Age' who need an Honorary Big Sister to help guide them through life based on said sister's experiences. The sister, in this case, being Carrie.

The book itself is split into eight acts, each of which are based on a particular subject such as the Internet and Turning That Frown Upside Down. I thought this made the book extra fun compared to the standard chapter-per-subject idea. (It's also rather fitting considering that Carrie is Eponine of Les Mierables.)

The thing I loved about this was that it didn't feel like some flawless pro-at-life was dictating how to go about being a person. Carrie's filled this with anecdotes from her not perfect but incredibly amusing Teen Age and reflected on how she sees herself now. That's it. She is giving advice to her younger self that may help you. She doesn't sit down and say 'right, here's what I think and you better jolly well do this'. She simply explains how she thinks positivity helps and gives ideas based on her own experiences.

Some of you may think this is just another Youtuber 'claiming' to have written a book completely by themselves, but it's not. It's not ghostwritten and a while back Carrie stated that the writing and the drawings are all her own (see this post for more information). On the topic of books by Youtubers, most of those who are or have brought out books have based them off of what they talk about on their channel (obviously there are a few exceptions).

But back to All I Know Now: it's definitely worth reading even if you're not in the target audience of those entering the Teen Age. There's this great page at the end of the first part of act one on dealing with stressful situations which I just wanted to tear out and stick on my wall because it's so helpful (I didn't because, you know, that would ruin the book). On top of this there is 'Props section' at the back of the book which gives telephone numbers and websites to use for expert help - I thought this was really thoughtful because the list is huge!

On an endnote, I highly recommend you give this a read. It doesn't have to be read all in one go. If you find you just need one section, then just give that one section a read! It's a book that you'll keep coming back to whenever you need some comforting advice.


Thank you for reading!

2 comments:

  1. I'm just exiting my teen years, but this still sounds like a good read. I've been curious about all the books popping up that have been written by Youtubers. This sounds like a good place to start!

    Great review! I like how you highlighted the different sections, so I know what to expect:)

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Sunny.

      I think it's still enjoyable to read - I'm in the last few teen years and loved reading it. Hopefully you will like it too!

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