Thank you, Lin-Manuel Miranda for recommending this book to me! I mean, he recommended this book to everyone who reads EW and now I'm going to recommend it to everyone I know. So laugh-out-loud funny, yet so heartwarming & honest, these essays never failed to entertain.

Honest open real so heartwarming you’ll fall in love with R.Eric Thomas follow him on Facebook read him in Elle he will have you hysterically laughing .This book was so touching a real look at his life struggles.abd accomplishments.#netgalley #randomhouse

This book was just lovely. R. Eric Thomas is the best thing to happen to the internet. His facebook posts and work for Elle always make me laugh out loud (and I'm normally the kind of person who says 'that's funny' instead of laughing). I started this book expecting a group of lighthearted, humorous essays. Instead it is a vulnerable, heartfelt memoir about his struggles with his identity.... that is also laugh-out-loud funny. 5 stars!

NOTE: I received a free advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, if you do not follow R. Eric Thomas on Facebook (or your social media of choice) and read his elle.com column, stop what you're doing and start following immediately. His columns are consistently laugh-out-loud funny. Which is why I requested an ARC of his forthcoming book.

Now, as for the book itself, I really enjoyed getting to know more about Eric. But be forewarned - while entertaining, this book deals with some pretty heavy topics. There are definitely some very funny moments. But also some darker ones too, as Eric does not shy away from spring the challenges and ups and downs he faced trying to come to terms with himself as a religious gay black man. And while I was initially hoping for more laughs, I actually appreciate reading his story - his very personal story.