a hilariously written book, that shares the life of the author in ways the reader can decide to either be simple entertained by it take some lessons away from the book.
great read!

This book really made me miss my high school theater days. There is a certain rush that live theater gives, and this book really captures that feeling.

Tim shares lessons from Broadway that will delight and educate readers. These lessons can be adapted in real life scenarios.

Fun little book. Good read and informative.

I don't really love self-help books and this didn't help make that go away. Found it really hard to connect and it just wasn't what I expected. Admittedly, the theatre part pulled me in but other than that I wasn't really involved in any other aspect. Most chapters were well written but as mentioned before, the only reason for the low rating is my lack of connection.

I'm fairly certain this is the first even remotely self-helpey life-guidey book I have ever read, and it was nowhere near as cheesy as I thought it was going to be. Everything about this should have been cheesy, but somehow, and I genuinely don't know how this was managed, it's just fun, and alive, and nothing about it gave me the vibe of kale smoothies, yoga and quinoa I always associated this type of books with. It was wonderful.

Federle offers 50 fairly generic tips on how to live your best life, sprinkled with anecdotes from his life with theatre - some more relatable to me as a non-theatre kid than others - that all ring true as simple ways to make your life that much brighter, and it's such a cheerful and positive read. Delightful.

I loved this book! As a theatre lover, how could I not love a theatre-themed self help book? For once, I knew all the references, which is incredibly rare for me. It was written with wit and humour and it was just incredible. While most of it seems like common sense, it is the advice you need to hear for everyday life.

'Life is Like a Musical' is a book full of theatre-based analogies for situations in life. Although I could (with a bit of artistic licence) manipulate each of the analogies to fit my own life, I felt that this book would be much better suited for someone who is in the performing arts themselves, such is the heavy focus on musicals and suchlike throughout this book. It is however certainly a fun take on a self-help book, and much easier to read than the dreary self-help books full of lectures and lessons. There are plenty of life lessons which the reader can certainly take some learning from, but on the whole I'd say this book is better suited as a gift for individuals in similar fields.

Tim Federle is my people. If we’d been at school together, we would have been friends because then we would have each had someone to geek out with about musicals when no one else cared. While the advice in this book might be somewhat generic, I really enjoyed the theatre anecdotes that he used to back up his claims, a lot of the time because I could relate, having had a similar experience somewhere in my amateur theatre experiences.

This book is full of lessons Tim learned during his time on Broadway as a dancer, as well as later, writing theatrical material and novels. You can see some of them on the cover: “Let someone else take a bow”, “take the note” (i.e. accept constructive feedback without getting defensive”) and “Dance like everyone’s watching”. He applies these lessons to wider life, careers and relationships.

I really enjoyed some of the anecdotes about being backstage at a theatre. I’ve never performed on Broadway, just at a couple of local theatres in the towns where I’ve lived, but the experiences are much the same. I laughed out loud a lot. I also enjoyed the stories about the big names the Tim worked with on Broadway.

This book probably isn’t for everyone, and I think it probably will particularly appeal to those like me who have a theatre background (even if it’s not a very extensive one). But I laughed out loud several times and related to Tim’s stories so often, so I definitely recommend checking it out.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite a different style book for me to read but living near London I've grown up going to see shows at the theatre! So this book really appealed to me, and the cover just jumped out straight away. I started this book on holiday but quickly realised that it was one that I wanted to pay more attention to, so I stopped reading and started up again when I could give it more attention. AND I LOVED IT! I read it in one sitting and loved each and every chapter. It honestly gave me some great life advice, and hearing it from Tim's point of view and through his experiences brought it all to life. One quote stood out to me particularly which was 'We might not all be able to hit high C's but we can all give high fives' - I thought that was such a great way to express what can be a difficult thing to do. I also loved the idea that we're all stars of our own shows but forget we're extra's in everyone elses life. It reminded me how I love to help others and that I want to be one of the extra's that they remember for all the good reasons. Thank you for the chance to read and review - I can't wait to blog review this!

A charming, accessible self-help book. Perfect for fans of musicals, but I'm not fully sure if those averse to Broadway would resonate with examples. However, ideal holiday gift for theater kid in your life!

This book was amazing. VERY brief, I read it in a day. I want to give it to everyone who is struggling with "finding" themselves, either personally or professionally. I chose to read it because I love musicals and theater. I thought it would be a "fun" read, and it was so much more than I expected.

Recommended: for shy kids, anxious adults, anyone who doesn't have what they want handed to them on a silver platter, victims of bullying (at school, or at work), underdogs, anyone who wants more from life, and wants to do more than they are right now. Oh, also recommended for anyone who secretly (or not so secretly) wishes the people around them would burst into song at any time.

Turn that frown upside down! Tomorrow's only a DAAAAY AAAAAA WAAAAAAAYYYYYY.

This the book you want to give to all your high school and college graduates. This is a self-help book that besides giving you the advice, it also cheers you all the way to the end. I read it really fast (it was just very funny and engaging), but I think that ideally readers should take their time and go slow to really internalize the points the author is trying to make. Nevertheless, you will find that going slow will be just impossible because the author gets to you from the beginning and will not let you go until the end. Really great book, parents and teachers please take a look at it because some of the ideas can even be shared with younger kids.

Finally, a life advice guide that I can actually relate to! A fun way to dispense advice and ideas, it's surprising no one has used this lens to view things through before!

Life is Like a Musical is compose of fifty advices that the author learned from his experiences in show business and his life. I enjoyed reading it especially learning about some of the ins and outs of working in a musical and being a part in making one. I loved all the musical references in this book and the titles of the each chapters! I definitely recommend it for people who wants a funny and heartfelt advices or who wants to read a book that has theatre references!

As a theater lover (performing and watching), I v
loved this book. It bills itself as a theater geek's version of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, which is an apt comparison. The life advice at times might seem like common sense, but is dispensed with wit and humor and a huge helping of theater trivia and magic. Creative people will enjoy this book. It seems to be especially geared towards teens but adults who love theater will enjoy this too. Expect lots of Hamilton references and more.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in one sitting. It's funny, sweet and very inspiring. I'm gonna recommend it to my friends who don't really feel like they own their lives.