4 out of 5 stars ★★★★☆
October 21, 2014
Genre: Non-fiction, self-help, pop-culture
Synopsis:
Face it—being a young adult in the digital era is one of the hardest things to be. Well, maybe there are harder things in life…but being an adult is difficult! So Grace Helbig has written a guide that’s perfect for anyone who is faced with the daunting task of becoming an adult.
Infused with her trademark saucy, sweet, and funny voice, Grace’s Guide is a tongue-in-cheek handbook for millennials, encompassing everything a young or new (or regular or old) adult needs to know, from surviving a breakup to recovering from a hangover. Beautifully illustrated and full-color, Grace’s Guide features interactive elements and exclusive stories from Grace’s own misadventures—like losing her virginity solely because her date took her to a Macaroni Grill—and many other hilarious lessons she learned the hard way.
Amusing and unexpectedly educational, this refreshing and colorful guide proves that becoming an adult doesn’t necessarily mean you have to grow up.
I’m going to admit right away that I am not a subscriber to Grace on YouTube, and I haven’t watched many of her videos. Her humor did not really appeal to me. But I still admire her. She has accomplished a lot (and seen plenty of YouTube drama, i.e. when her show was DailyGrace) and I’m really interested to see what she does in the future. This book was step one. Like other YouTubers who are getting book deals, she’s one of the first who signed a deal (and not with Keywords Press, either, though she’s still at S&S) and I feel that it’s important to distinguish: she’s an influential person for more reasons than “she’s popular on YouTube.” I digress; I read this book because she is an admirable woman in the media.
Grace’s Guide gives so many different types of lifestyle advice that I’m sure she’s gone over on her channel: love, school, work, decorating your apartment. Like her channel, her voice and humor are strong, but I definitely do not fit her intended audience. That’s okay with me. Most of the advice I’ve learned through my own experiences or watching others. She’s a bit more of a hot mess than I am…
A piece of criticism, I would have preferred if she didn’t acknowledge she was writing the book as she was going through the sections. It took away the flow of reading for me. I don’t care that she was eating bacon while typing up a chapter about love advice. Or she was wearing sweatpants or taking lots of breaks in between giving social advice and how to avoid hangovers. Also, though the e-book had the enhanced worksheets, it would have preferred reading the physical version since the images inside did not fit well/look high quality.
I’m looking forward to watching her career from afar. I do hope her television show on E! does well. Then she’ll be the next Chelsea Lately!
