In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World – Joey Graceffa | ARC Review
10:12 AM
Pages: 240 Paperback
Publication
date: May 19th, 2015
Publisher: Atria/Keywords
Press
How I got the
copy: Received by Simon & Schuster Canada
Rating: 4 out of
5
Series: N/A
Summary:
A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality.
It’s not where you begin that matters.
It's where you end up.
Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance.
To his fans, Joey is that best friend who always captures the brighter side of life but also isn’t afraid to get real. In the pages of his first book, he opens up about his years of struggling with family hardships and troubles at school, with cruel bullying and the sting of rejection. He tells of first loves and losses, embarrassing moments and surprising discoveries, loneliness, laughter, and life-changing forks in the road, showing us the incalculable value of finally finding and following your true passion in this world. Funny, warm-hearted, and inspiring, Joey Graceffa’s story is a welcome reminder that it’s not where you begin that matters, but where you end up.
A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality.
It’s not where you begin that matters.
It's where you end up.
Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance.
To his fans, Joey is that best friend who always captures the brighter side of life but also isn’t afraid to get real. In the pages of his first book, he opens up about his years of struggling with family hardships and troubles at school, with cruel bullying and the sting of rejection. He tells of first loves and losses, embarrassing moments and surprising discoveries, loneliness, laughter, and life-changing forks in the road, showing us the incalculable value of finally finding and following your true passion in this world. Funny, warm-hearted, and inspiring, Joey Graceffa’s story is a welcome reminder that it’s not where you begin that matters, but where you end up.
Review:
Joey Graceffa
is a YouTube personality and I’m pretty sure if you’re active in the YouTube
community (an avid watcher or creator) you most likely know who he is.
I used to watch
Graceffa more often when I was younger and now watch his videos sporadically
but what I enjoy to watch the most are his vlogs and in saying that reading his
book made me feel as I was getting to know him on a more personal level and
that was pretty cool.
In Real Life: A Journey to a Pixelated World is very easy to read and (for all I know)
very honest. Graceffa opens up about his life as a child and the struggles he
had growing up with bullying, making friends, sexuality and his mothers’
addiction.
The now twenty-three-year old expands on his life when it wasn’t so glamorous and how he’s got to where he’s now. Graceffa’s story’s inspirational in many ways and I feel can touch many people who are struggling with any of the things Graceffa has struggled with either when he was young or more recently in his life.
The now twenty-three-year old expands on his life when it wasn’t so glamorous and how he’s got to where he’s now. Graceffa’s story’s inspirational in many ways and I feel can touch many people who are struggling with any of the things Graceffa has struggled with either when he was young or more recently in his life.
I can’t compare
this book to any other books written by YouTuber’s because I haven’t read any
other but this one, I can say I felt Graceffa did a nice job at expressing how
others see his life and how his life really was were completely different. For
example, when his collab channel WinterSpringPro and his personal channel Joey
Graceffa kept growing, for the most part Graceffa was still trying to figure
himself out and if I’m calculating right, for most of his life still didn’t
have many real life friends. Which I feel can help many of his viewer and now
readers to get through hard times and know that things can get better! You just
have to put yourself out there.
In addition to
this book, Graceffa included different type of fun lists and/or How-To’s at the
end of each chapter, which were fun. Throughout the book I laughed out loud
several times and I got to know more about Joey Graceffa. After reading this
book I feel like I need to give Graceffa mad props to all of his self-discovery
because it was the thing he struggled with the most.
The only thing
I would have added to this book were pictures! It didn’t have to be many but at
least one at the end or beginning of each chapter. I believe by adding some
pictures it would have made a deeper connection from the readers to the
storyteller.
A way to read
this book and get the most out of it I would say is reading this with your
computer or cellphone close by. In the book Graceffa mentions milestones of WSP
and his Joey Graceffa channels growth and I fell that when they mention
something about a video they made, to go check it out. The WSP channel is still
on YouTube and you can watch all the videos Graceffa mentions from the start!
In Real Life is written in a way readers at any age can
understand and relate too.
I recommend
this to Joey Graceffa subscribers/followers. It’s easy, fun and a great glimpse
to his real life and thoughts.
Rating:
Thanks for
reading,
Alexa Talks Books
Alexa Talks Books
4 comments
What does he say about his sexuality?
ReplyDeleteHe talks about how hard it was for him to come out. All the struggles he faced growing up because of how feminine he naturally acted and such.
DeleteDoes he swear a lot in the book? And how much does he get into his sexuality? Is it ok for a 14 year old?
DeleteThere is no swearing in Joey's book for I believe that reason, to allow his younger audience to be able to read it. He only talks about his sexuality to express how hard it was him to come out to his friends and family and about his first kiss, which is innocent. In my opinion I believe it's okay for a 14-year-old to read. Enjoy!
Delete