Reason for reading this book
My main reason for reading this book is that I am a ReadHead which is a member of The ReadHeads podcast bookclub. Not only is Claudia Oshry, the author of this book, the sister of two of the hosts of the podcast, she also runs the network that produces the podcast, and she was a guest on the podcast. I knew the club would read and review the book so I had to read it of course. The crazy thing about how I became a ReadHead is that my best friend is a Toaster, follower of The Morning Toast Podcast where Claudia is a host, and she is the one who introduced me to The ReadHeads. She bought and read the book and then was gracious enough to loan it to me to read. I should mention that I listened to The ReadHeads podcast with Claudia before I read Girl With No Job by Claudia Oshry. My mindset going into reading this book was to be entertained, learn for about life as a social media influencer, and to understand how and why she was 'canceled'.
Content of the book
The book begins with Claudia's life as a child and where her desire for popularity began. She also touches on the hard lessons she learned following the death of her father. Claudia uses humor to tell of the lessons she learned from the start of her journey in the public eye, to her cancellation, and how she built herself back up following the cancellation. Claudia uses her love of celebrities and TV to examine cancel culture, fandoms, and the influence of social media.
Themes of this book
Family over everything. Bravery to continue in the face of adversity. Social media is not all that it appears to be. Learn from your mistakes so you can do better in the future.
What I liked about this book
As I mentioned in the reasons for why I read this book, I listened to Claudia's interview on The ReadHeads before reading the book. I am glad that I did this because I was able to use her voice in my head to narrate the book. The writing style of this book is exactly how Claudia speaks in real life. The book is filled with the phrases and pop culture references that she makes in regular conversation. I truly enjoyed the voice of this book because it was so accurate to the author. The writing style also made me feel like I was listening to someone narrate their life in an everyday conversation. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the authors use of humor. Recently I have not read books that have true laugh-out-loud humor. Claudia's use of humor had me laughing out loud and reading with a wide toothy grin plastered on my face. As someone who stays up to date on pop culture and celebrity news I was a fan of her use of pop culture references. This not only made it seem more like an everyday conversation, but it also incorporated something that the author is personally connected to. She states that she is fan of all things pop culture and that is displayed very well throughout the book. I liked that she used different pop culture references to give the reader the time frame of the date at which the story was taking place. One thing that I look for and expect when I read a memoir is that the author is open and vulnerable with the reader. After listening to the podcast I was worried that Claudia would use too much humor instead of being vulnerable. She did use this coping mechanism some times, but other times she was raw and shared her true emotions. When it came to being open with the read I feel like Claudia was as open with the reader was she was willing to be. There were some cases where it felt like she was holding back, which is okay and I can accept. Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was that I was able to relate to some of her stories. I feel like each reader can also relate to at least some part of the book.
What I disliked about the book
As someone who knew limited details about her cancellation, I was hoping that the book would fill me in on all the details I needed to know to understand what happened and how she moved on from it. After reading the book I was disappointed in the lack of acknowledgment for what the cancellation was truly about. I understand that it is a tough topic to take about because it revolves around racism and her mother's views, but why mention it if you are not going to give full details. I was left with more questions than answers. As a daughter of a single-mother I appreciate standing by your mother, but what your mom has said and done led to your cancellation so why not be fully transparent about the situation and address the elephant in the room. This is the only portion of the book that left me unsatisfied and unfulfilled. The book was missing the details all the readers wanted.
Would I recommend this book?
If you are a pop culture fan, Toaster, or in need of a laugh-out-loud read than I would recommend this book for you. With that being said, if you are looking for answers and details to the cancellation and her mother's views you will not get that. I would recommend this book as it is a quick, enjoyable and entertaining read.
Check out my book reviews for 2020!!
Check out my book reviews for 2019!!
August Book Review: Alex and Eliza: A Love Story
July Book Review: The Husband Hour
June Book Review: The Perfect Mother
May Book Review: Into the Water
April Book Review: Fangirl
March Book Review: Eleanor & Park
February Book Review: Turtles All The Way Down
Check out my book reviews from 2018!!
November Book Review: Visible Empire
October Book Review: The Bees
September Book Review: The Silent Sister
August Book Review: Dark Places
August Book Review: Sharp Objects
July Book Review: The Widow
June Book Review: Allegedly
May Book Review: Wonder
March Book Review: Gone Girl
February Book Review: The Woman in the Window
January Book Review: The Worst Hard Time
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