I went into this expecting a bit more humor. It had a few chuckle moments, but I found this pretty dull and felt a little let down.

Megan’s “sort-of memoir” is mostly a juvenile self-help book. We learn quite a bit about her rebellious and awkward teenage years and mental health issues. By quite a bit, I mean repetitively. Chapters seem to go around in circles, personal stories stopping then restarting a couple chapters later. I’m not too sure how I feel about the lists that were thrown in.

Her advice is nowhere near groundbreaking. I think she should have stuck to a story about her own life and how she got through the troubled times, without feeling the need to throw her advice column in.

Thanks to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and Gallery Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

This, unfortunately, was DNF for me. Although I was intrigued as Meghan is an only child, I found myself not interested as I do not follow the YouTube star. However, I will add that the cover DEFINITELY drew my attention to this one.

I've been watching Meghan Rienks' YouTube channel for a number of years now, since back when I was in undergrad. This memoir is a genuine representation of who she is, not holding back, not pulling any punches, just her sharing the ups and downs of how she came to be who she is today.

Is this anything revolutionary in the world of published memoirs? No. Does that matter? No. Why? Because memoirs don't require the author to have gone through some profound change, they are just as valid if they discuss how the author has grown.

Meghan's story is relatable yet still a little fantastical to someone such as myself who lives in a northern part of Ontario. Her life experiences are foreign to me but the pains of growing up are not and that's what makes this book so accessible.

I used to watch Meghan Rienks on YouTube when I dabbled in “beauty blogging” ages ago so I thought I’d see what her book was all about.

I almost DNF’ed during the first half because the chapters about dating and friends seem childish and pointless or are just about her being drunk. She also mentions being assaulted, but totally grazes over the subject. With that said, I did like the second half much better because it felt more like a memoir than satirical advice.

She’s self-deprecating and may not be “special” as her title suggests, but she did get a book deal because of her fame and really doesn’t explain a lot about her YouTube or acting careers. I think this book is geared toward her younger fan base and doesn’t do anything to gain her new fans so I’d only recommend it if you follow her.

I know Meghan from Clevver Style's Beauty Break series, and I honestly found out about this book from recently watching her vlogs about having her second channel hacked. Though I've never been a huge fan, I thought it'd be a quick quarantine read so I requested it on Netgalley and I was pleasantly surprised. Though I wasn't thrilled at the fact that this was part memoir and part advice, I really liked the candid writing style and honest advice. I've read excerpts from advice books aimed at teens before and they all had generic advice about making friends and growing up, which this book did have, but Meghan also continues on giving advice about college life, sex and relationships, safe alcohol and drug use, anxiety and depression, and toxic family. I found these chapters to be very mature and honest, and I think older teens would be more likely to take this brash advice, not only because she is an influencer but also because it's written by someone they can truly relate to. I also really enjoyed reading her personal stories and I thought they complimented her advice well. A solid Youtuber memoir for sure.

"You're Not Special" is a great title ....and description of this review. I think when people try too hard, they over compensate and become unrelatable which is what I feel happened here. I detached from the book early on and just could not get back into wanting to read it... although I did finish it. I was intrigued because I watched a few of Meghan's early YouTube episodes and thought this book would be more lighthearted and fun to depict her life and struggles. I was not expecting more of a self-help gone bitter type of read.... hence the low star rating. I found this to be hard to read because of the language used and was hoping for something different I guess.

Thanks to NetGalley for my eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

After being a viewer of Meghan’s in the past I thought it would be interesting to get some insight into her life. One thing that put me off from this book is how angrily it’s written. I get it, everyone goes through hardships and life sucks from time to time, but I’m not going to lie, it was hard reading about bitter privilege. Some chapters spoke to me more than others, but overall I was left feeling weird and uncomfortable. I will still continue to support her and her channel, but this book was just not for me.

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

This book is like any other written by YouTubers. It doesn't provide any new insights, it's not a new voice we need to hear that's unique in any way. However, I did find her chapters about bullying and her parents to be very heartfelt. And my heart goes out to her for working through that and coming out the other side.