I’ve been vaguely aware of Nylon magazine for years, but hadn’t previously heard of Gabrielle Korn and her meteoric rise to Editor in Chief at only 28. The description for this memoir/essay collection was appealing and it did not disappoint. Korn writes in an incredibly readable and enticing manner that drew me in immediately. Korn is incredibly smart and ambitious, but was admittedly in the right time and place to become editor in chief of a major publication due to amassing key skills, catapulting her image/brand, and layoffs of other departments. Korn was also admittedly very privileged in terms of her education and not requiring much income to survive in New York due to having a free place to live, which gave her freedom to accept low-paying jobs in writing, which she was able to use as stepping stones in her career. Korn writes about her struggles with the massive hypocrisies ever-present in the fashion world and personal struggles with anorexia. She illuminates the ways in which feminism and body positivity becoming mainstream have been monetized, while the beauty industry continues to profit largely off of insecurity. This theme was a bit redundant and I wanted more variety or distance. I appreciated how Korn was so candid about her personal struggles and growth in her twenties. I really enjoyed this memoir, but maybe it’s just me, I have a hard time with memoirs written by those who are so young and not entirely separated from what they are writing about. Korn is still figuring things out, as we all are, and I really liked her push in broadening the scope of Nylon and emphasizing how we shouldn’t have to sacrifice ourselves and our health for successful careers.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing this ARC.

Gabrielle Korn’s part-memoir, part-essays manages to be funny, sobering, relatable, unrelatable, provocative, and reflective all at the same time. Korn’s journey as the head of Nylon, her struggles with anorexia, and her lived experience as a gay white woman combine to share powerful reminders of work/life balance, life in your 20s/30s, and the role privilege plays in our interactions. As a New Yorker in my 20s, this book resonated quite a bit.

A great book to read and get empowered!

In a world with impossible standards, Korn brings on a fresh perspective and a well-needed voice. While I do not believe I am a true feminist, I believe it is important for us to have our voices heard. This book discusses the challenges that females today face in an ever-building pressure cooker online. With a click of a button, beauty is everywhere and it's impossible to escape. This book examines that plight. An excellent read.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I wasn't sure what I expected this book to be, but it definitely wasn't what I thought. That doesn't mean it was bad though! Gabrielle Korn's memoir is vulnerable and incredibly well written. I valued her insights in later chapters on feminism, fashion and the struggles that women face in our patriarchal culture: they were bold, personal and so relatable.

thank you for the ARC!
I was instantly hooked. Gabrielle is such a talented writer and stoyteller!
I feel that women everywhere should have Everybody (Else) Is Perfect on their shelves!
This book is so relateable on every level.

I especially enjoyed reading about her career and how she got where she is. Pretty empowering.

4 stars!

This book was a #ARC from #NetGalley provided to me by the author and publisher - free of charge for an honest review.

Gabrielle Korn broke through the glass ceilings in both the NYC fashion and publishing industries with tenacity and a no-BS attitude while facing discrimination on the basis of her looks, weight, sexual orientation and gender. This memoir showcases the personal and professional struggles of a fierce feminist trying to forge her place in the world while making it a better and more inclusive place for all.

While I appreciated Ms. Korn's work and story, I found it hard to connect with her. The only space we share is that we are female. The elite life of NYC fashion and publishing houses is far from where I am. However, I will stand and cheer her, and all people she champions for, as the battle for equality continues.

#netgalley #everybodyelseisperfect #whenifinishthischapter #bookreview #booklover #readmore #memoir

Gabrielle Korn is an excellent writer! I was not a regular reader of Nylon, and I wasn't familiar with Korn, but her title spoke to me. Through the series of essays, she covers how she catapulted through the digital department up to the executive level at a young age. When one works in the media industry, it does take over your life, especially in your 20s. It was fascinating to read her insights as she deals with body image, the fashion and magazine industries, being gay, asking for a raise, and overall discovering herself and her abilities. I was also impressed at how relevant her book is right now. I hope Korn continues to write about her life, as I am eager to read more and see where she goes.

“It’s hard to be radically honest about things that you’re ashamed of.”
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I devoured this book, reading nearly half the book in one sitting after starting it at 11pm. Korn’s voice is so approachable, engaging, and focused. I loved the first few essays, learning how women’s media functions from the inside out and the work Korn did throughout her career to advance diversity and inclusion. The later half of the collection felt a but repetitive and muddled, but I still found myself engaged with the text and enjoying Korn’s narrative voice. I would happily recommend this book to any of my friends!
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I received this book as a free eARC from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley!

Riveting biographical narrative of a LGBTQ person in the editorial fast lane. It asks the pivotal relatable question: If you’re constantly surrounded by beauty, how do you not feel insecure? How do you define yourself in a world where projecting the correct image is the constant motivator. Gabrielle answered these questions in a searing memoir of all things glossy and all the real moments in between.

Maybe I'm just reading this at the wrong time in social history. I might have felt more sympathetic 5 months ago. So this book is just not my cup of tea right now. A confessional with an uneven balance of substance and fluff. The book isn't as well-rounded as it needs to be, and I'd challenge the author to rewrite in 15 years with a clearer perspective.

I read this because I’m a fan of Refinery29 and Nylon, but went in with low expectations because do we really need another memoir of a white “girl boss?” I was however pleasantly surprised because Korn recognizes her privilege and luck and was a champion of diversity and change as the youngest editor-in-chief of Nylon. Korn has also had her share of struggles and really opens up about her sexuality and her relationships with people, fashion, and food.
I can’t say it’s the most amazing memoir I’ve ever read, but I’d recommend it to women in their Twentys.

The essays in here were interesting, although I must confess that about halfway through they started to feel very repetitive to me. Her perspective on her professional challenges was interesting, as were the memoir/self-reflection aspects of the stories she told, but the repetitive nature did make even the interesting bits less interesting over time. Perhaps this is exacerbated by the fact that I did not know what Nylon was and had never heard of Gabrielle Korn. I'm not much for fashion or lifestyle and trend magazines, online or otherwise, so I'm probably not the ideal audience for this and that may explain why I had a difficult time staying interested in the latter parts of the book. Still, her struggles as a young woman in a field that is very competitive and male-dominated at the highest levels, exacerbated by the emphasis on thinness and control, did make for interesting reading...

This book was an amazingly insightful read of how a younger women can survive and THRIVE in a world that is dominated by people who do not want you to be a winner. She shares her wins, losses, and the discrimination she faced along the way. It hit really close to home with everything going on right now in the world, and with Pride coming up this month. Highly recommend this read. Also was a very nice share of the history of Nylon magazine. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Inside look at Nylon magazine from the perspective of a non-fashionable fashion writer. A good, though self-indulgent, read. Lacks the humor and depth of a memoirist like Caitin Moran.

Good read. Interesting to hear authors story.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I thought this was a sold collection. I honestly would have done better with it in physical form just because then I could have underlined and written in the margins. It was good though. Honest and fair. I liked it. I didn't love it. It didn't feel 100% new to me. It was like a lot of essay collections I've read for the Metoo movement, but I would still recommend it and say it's worth reading.

I flew through this book. I am a big fan of Korn's work and followed her when she was EIC of Nylon magazine. Her story is incredibly captivating and inspirational, as she was able to land a high-level position at the digital magazine at a very young age and was promoted to the head of the entire publication (through a series of CEO changes and organizational shuffling) at just 27, is the youngest person in the magazine's history to hold this coveted title.

I loved how honest she was throughout, talking about cutting her teeth doing low or unpaid freelance work and how this gave her an advantage that many don't have; the cruel and unfair reality that in order to make it as a writer or editor, one often has to be in the financial position to spend years working for free.

Korn also faced an incredible amount of ageism and sexism within her company, as she was paid less than half of what someone in her role should have been making and was almost lost her job when she tried to fight against this pay discrimination. Infuriating!

I don't want to spoil the ending, but she was able to carve her own path through this toxic work environment, which I was incredibly proud of her for.

This memoir discusses many important aspects of what women and others in our society go through. Homophobia, sexism, racism, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, and mental health. I believe these topics are extremely important especially in this day and age. I did enjoy this but there was something I found lacking that kept me from connecting with the author. Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I thought this was an important book for our time. Korn recounts her experiences growing up, coming out, dating, and working in fashion and journalism. I loved the piece about working in the fashion industry.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Everybody (Else) Is Perfect by Gabrielle Korn.

These are essays written by Gabrielle Korn, who was once EIC of Nylon. In these essays she discusses being a woman of privilege, but also tackling issues of race, body acceptance, sexuality, relationships, prejudices and misogyny. Korn shines a bright light on an industry that is supposed to be considered more "woke" and progressive, but still has a long way to go in tearing down damaging social constructs.

It took a few essays in to get hooked to this one, but after time I finally did and I learned a lot. It's easy to assume what I would do if confronted with certain situations, but Korn describes well just how hard it is to stand up for oneself, even when you are strong and exhausted from patriarchal abuse.