by Issa Rae
225 pages
I’m just going to go ahead and throw this out there, when I read the 2017 Reading Challenge for the first time, I couldn’t really believe this category. I suppose the wording of it just made me think, “What year is it?!” Why is this such an offensive sounding category? So, I guess when this book popped up, I thought it would be perfect.
In all fairness, this book is written as a sort of memoir by a YouTube star. To be completely honest, I had never heard of her or her show before. Perhaps if I had been more familiar with her or her work, I might have enjoyed the book a little more.
The book tells various stories Issa Rae has experienced in her life so far. Some of them were pretty funny. I think that I can definitely relate to a few of them and some that I couldn’t relate to, I could still remember from my youth. Haha. It took me back, for sure.
The first story is about AOL and early internet chat rooms. Issa Rae was young when this technology first hit the scene (like 11ish). She had two older brothers and little parental supervision. She used this opportunity to meet new people and explore what it felt like to be grown up. So, I don’t really relate to this one because I wasn’t into online flirting, but boy, do I remember those early AOL IM days. Haha!
One of the things I really felt was me, was when she talked about dancing. Issa Rae is not skilled in the dance department – much like myself. So, she lies about her abilities and tells everyone at school that she is amazing. When she shows up to the party that weekend, she hopes she can get away with it, but her classmates pull her into the middle of the dance floor and everyone watches as she makes a fool out of herself. So, that exact thing never happened to me, because Issa Rae has more guts than I do, but I felt her pain. I also really felt it when she talks about being awesome at chair dancing – you know, dancing while you sit in a chair. Basically only having to have rhythm in your upper body. That’s my life story.
Ultimately, I have mixed feelings about this book. There were a couple chapters I liked and thought were pretty funny. Other chapters I didn’t particularly get into or didn’t particularly love. I guess a lot of it sort of fell flat for me. I don’t think I’d recommend this book if you are not already familiar with Issa Rae or her previous works. If you are, then you might like it better.
2 Stars