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Title details for You're Not Special by Meghan Rienks - Available

You're Not Special

A (Sort-of) Memoir

by Meghan Rienks
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In her first-ever (sort of) memoir, the beloved actor and YouTube sensation gets personal about everything from mental health to drunken debaucheries with this "brave, behind-the-webcam look at self-discovery" (Kirkus Reviews).
As an only child raised in a town of less than 8,000 people and without a Starbucks in sight, Meghan Rienks has always been pretty good at entertaining herself. Then one day—cue the dramatic voiceover—her life changed forever.

In 2010, Meghan was diagnosed with mononucleosis. Mono is basically just a really bad case of the flu, right? Wrong. To a party crazed sixteen-year-old, mono is social suicide. More than anything, it's just plain boring. So, Meghan opened up her MacBook, used the webcam for something other than a bad Andy Warhol–style photobooth session, and recorded her first YouTube video. Since then, Meghan has shared the ups and downs of her life with the internet, documenting her teenage years for the whole world to see.

Now that she's (mostly) through her awkward stage, Meghan's here to tell you that it gets better. You're not alone in the thoughts you think. Sometimes a bad hair day feels worse than a punch in the gut and asking a boy out seems about as difficult as achieving that perfect dewy glow. But despite what you've been told, your problems are not unique, and somebody else has felt the way you feel right at this very moment.

You're not special. But you're also not alone on the bumpy road to adulthood.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 5, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781982110123

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781982110123
      • File size: 4391 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      March 1, 2020
      The creator of a popular YouTube channel makes her book debut. When Rienks, a lifestyle vlogger and Instagram influencer, contracted mononucleosis as a teen, her mother, one of two "save-the-world bookworm" parents, suggested that she make a YouTube channel. Once anxious and insecure, the author found her niche. In this confessional mashup of memoir, self-help advice, mildly amusing lists ("100 Things That Are Worse Than a Broken Heart" or 40 ways not to break up with someone), and cutesy chapter titles ("Pimp Yo Profile," "What To Do When Your Parents Kind of Suck"), Rienks reassures fans that while "your problems are not unique...the upside is you're not alone." Throughout the book, which is best taken in small doses, the author revisits the same handful of topics--parties, dating and sex, heartbreak, angst, depression, difficult friendships--from shifting angles, and the advice is often shopworn, obvious, or unhelpful--e.g., a chapter on confidence boils down to faking it until you make it. Underneath the buoyant performance and tongue-in-cheek vanity--"I can make an Oscar-worthy Tinder profile, formulate the perfect combination of cheeky yet engaging messages on Bumble, and can compose a seamless response to every text that leaves the recipient completely and totally enamored"--Rienks occasionally hits on genuinely gritty topics, including bullying, sexual assault, alcoholism, ADHD, and why she cut off contact with her mother (a rending portrayal of familial toxicity). Refreshingly, the author reinforces that it's OK to seek help and that life often does get better. Rienks wisely stops short of drawing a direct line from specific traumas to depression, acknowledging that there are complex factors for why certain events can affect people's mental health. Rewardingly, the book ends with the author finding healthy love. Rienks' existing audience will find the narrative to be a brave, behind-the-webcam look at self-discovery. Casual readers may dismiss it as an erratic chronicle of resilience. For the fans.

      COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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