User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Am I allowed to rate & review this? Is this cheating? Am I going to get arrested?
Rating: really liked it
Won a copy of You're Crushing It as part of a prize pack from Bloomsbury UK!
Lex has a YouTube channel which up until reading her book, I had never watched. However, I loved You're Crushing It. It is designed for teen audiences but as a 21-year-old, I did find myself totally engrossed by her life advice on social media, falling in love and friendships. I talk about my reading experiences more on my Instagram at www.Instagram.com/alicetiedthebookish...!
Rating: really liked it
I’ve watched Lex on youtube for years and was lucky enough to have a proof copy of
You’re Crushing It fall into my hands. The advice on being kind to yourself, living ethically and dealing with the setbacks that come from the flesh prison (sorry, gross) we all have to walk around in are delivered with genuine warmth and a practicality that emphasises how little changes can make all the difference. It’s a book I can see teenage girls picking up and, as we all know, teenage girls can change the world. Anyway, world-changing or not, the book has the same fun and witty tone that Lex’s youtube videos have and I wish it was something teenage me had read so she would have had the confidence and belief in herself to just go for it. Not sure what ‘it’ is, but I strongly suspect it would have been something to do with actually leaving her bed and not just binge-watching tv episodes all day. 16-year-old me probably really needed someone to tell me everything would be okay.
And you know what?
When Lex tells me everything will be okay I’m inclined to believe her.
Rating: really liked it
This book was awesome! I didn't realise the author was a youtuber until half way through so now I'm defintely going to watch her videos!
The advice in this book was great and the title is a perfect description - 'Positivity for living your real life'. The layout was unique and made it really entertaining + easy to read. The full page quotes every now and then were great for segmenting the different parts of the book within each chapter. It made it all flow nicely with reasonable breaks. My favourite thing about this was how it really dipped into every topic from body image to living ethically yet it didn't get too serious and remained light-hearted.
As a 16 year old girl, I really enjoyed reading the author's insight into all these topics and it was quite inspiring. The take-aways in this book were really simple yet powerful and there were so many! One of my favourite quotes from the very end of the book: "You should never feel guilty or beat yourself up about having limits as a person."
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it probably won't be the last time I do. :D
Rating: really liked it
At first I wanted to give this book 4 stars, but I think that, within its genre, it's one of the most uplifting books I've read so far. Lex Croucher gives really positive and humorous advice which seems attainable, unlike some self-help books which seem to set the bar too high. Lex describes very recognisable situations in a light and funny way and no, it wasn't life changing, but it has given me exactly what the cover describes: positivity for living your real life!
Rating: really liked it
I've been following Lex on Youtube for about 6 years now so when I heard she wrote a book I knew I had to read it because I ADORE her. I'm not really into self-help books and I didn't learn anything new per se, but this book was very enjoyable, and Lex is a great writer - her sense of humor that I know from her YouTube videos generally translates really well to her writing.
Rating: really liked it
I probably would have enjoyed
You're Crushing It more if I hadn't been reading it as an eBook, as I've seen some pictures of quotes online and the constant repetition seems quite effective when it's stylised. However, as an eBook I just found myself getting annoyed: every page had a huge bold quote that was then repeated halfway through the paragraph, and most of them were that faux-inspirational bullshit that graces 90% of motivational Instagram pages.
This isn't a bad book - Lex Croucher is trying to shake young people out of their funk and get them feeling a bit more optimistic about life and the world around them - but I think I'm just a bit too cynical to appreciate it as much as I had hoped to. I'd read all of the advice before, and the 'humour' barely had me cracking a smile. I felt as though I was about ten years older than the intended audience, which was quite demoralising when I realised the author was a YouTuber who is a few years older than me...
If you are having a bad time with your mental health (I know there are a lot of us who start struggling as soon as the nights draw in and the weather gets colder) then give this a shot, because if there's a chance that it might put a smile on your face it is worth it! Just don't expect this book to move mountains or shake your worldview.
Rating: really liked it
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
A light and funny read written by a twenty-something American women who gives you all sorts of advice on various topics such as bodypositivity, dating.
Just go buy it, you won’t regret it.
Rating: really liked it
Originally posted to www.rebeccasravereviews.wordpress.com
I was sent a copy of You're Crushing It in exchange for an honest review, so thanks to Bloomsbury publishers.
I don't mean this in a negative way but there is nothing mind blowing in this book - it's a run down of all of life's hassles, from body image, social media, friendships, dating, all that good stuff, with some mental health tips, funny anecdotes, and lots of reassurance that it's okay. You'll be okay. But it's Lex's charm that makes this book what it is. In the theme of a lot of her YouTube videos, and other online content, she's very honest that sometimes, life does go down the pan a bit. But that doesn't mean it's the end of the world! There's always something to fix things, make things right, or just cheer you up a bit, and her voice really comes across in her writing. Following her online for ages, I know that she's a big advocate of talking about mental health, body image, toxic relationships, and all the things she cares about she talks with such passion in her book.
Rating: really liked it
I really loved this book! While it is probably aimed at someone a big younger than me (I’m 27), I still really enjoyed reading it. Sometimes it’s just nice to read 271 pages of things you agree with.
I really think people who are still finding themselves or are growing into themselves will get great value out of the way Lex talks about life!
Rating: really liked it
Read this review on my blog here: https://rebeccafarren.com/review-your...
An uncorrected proof copy was gifted to me by Bloomsbury.
When Lex announced she was writing a YA, positivity, life advice book I was, well, a little surprised. She has a dark sense of humour which often matches the tone of her YouTube videos so I really wouldn’t have expected her to write this type of book. Reflecting on it more though, I was so intrigued to read what she has to say, and I suspected that it would actually be very good. I wasn’t wrong.
You’re Crushing It covers a myriad of issues from friendship to body confidence to succeeding at work (even if you have the dullest job in the world!) It jumps straight into the advice with short and direct tips on each topic. This works so well and makes it very accessible an easy to read. You can choose to either blitz through it all or pick it up and read a chapter or two whenever you feel like it. Its layout and typeface are also very inviting, with big swirly chapter titles and key messages blown up for each point. This makes it even more pleasing to take in.
The advice itself is actually properly useful, common sense and followable. Lex doesn’t patronise the reader or expect them to take on a whole new lifestyle. I can’t say that I learnt loads from the book or that I had any epiphanies while reading it, but it was good to have reminders of stuff I kind of already knew all in the one place. It was also incredibly validating to see certain ideas written down in black and white, in a published book, particularly around choices about sex and relationships and privilege, or lack of it. It made me quite emotional at times! It’s not ground-breaking advice but it’s not trying to be; it’s a collection of accessible, enjoyable pointers trying to help the reader through life as a human.
Lex has a very strong, authentic voice in her videos, and this carries across to the book seamlessly. She’s naturally very funny and it doesn’t feel like she’s trying too hard to write specifically for young adults; you can tell she’s just writing as herself. One element I really appreciated is that Lex knows exactly when to clarify a point and to acknowledge that not everyone has the same experience, and when to be unequivocal in asserting that certain behaviour really is or isn’t OK. The confidence of the writing is so refreshing.
As with any advice book I didn’t agree with every single word, and I would have liked more depth in a few of the points, but the short, punchy format works so well for the vast majority of the book that I think it was the right decision to go with that style throughout.
This is a great, readable, fun and believable advice book that I think every young adult (or even old adult) could use as a manual in their life. I’ll definitely pop back to it if I’m having a bad day and I honestly wish I knew a teenager to buy it for!
9/10
Rating: really liked it
When it comes to “youtuber” books I’ve never really been that into them… wait no that is a bit of a lie, I have bought into them before, I own a few “youtuber” books but I have never really sat down and read them, I just bought them because every other person who was interested in the beauty side of youtube bought them and I just had to follow the crowd.
But this, when Lex announced that she was releasing a book I knew that this would be one of the books I would want to get my hands on- so I was extremely happy when I saw a proof of it at NYAlit fest, I think I almost dove across the table making grabby hands because I needed it.
I have watched Lex on and off for a while now- I say on and off because I have had a love-hate relationship with youtube in general so I did stop watching a lot of people, but Lex is one person I will always watch at some point- even if the video is a couple of months old and probably not relevant any more. I’m a netflix or a book kinda girl.
“You’re crushing it!” is basically a self help book without being a preachy self help book, I actually just felt like I was talking to a friend… OK I would like to clarify that I wasn’t talking to the book, but it flowed so well and had so much of Lex’s humour throughout- you couldn’t accuse her of using a ghost writer, I swear it’s ALL Lex (of course I am saying this as someone who only knows of her personality via videos).
I found myself nodding along, laughing out loud, taking pictures of certain pages- I cannot bring myself to write in a book, so often my phone will be full of pictures of pages from books.
Luckily the formatting of this book makes it great to take pictures because on every few pages you can find some brilliant (and humorous) inspirational quotes.
(Pop on over to my blog if you want to see some of these quotes as I included a few images)
I can’t even say “I wish this had been around when I was a teenager” because hell I needed it now as a 30 year old woman, Lex knows her shit, and I love how open she is with her opinions, although I am hoping that the younger generations do pick it up when it is published as it is one hell of a book, that may not change your entire world but it may prompt you to look at some of your current actions and decisions.
Not only does this touch on friendships, relationships, mental health, periods (because people have them folks, it’s time we ditched the stigma, they aren’t dirty or wrong, they may be a little painful though, but everyone is different) but it also touches on privilege, politics and so much more.
If I hadn’t had to stop reading to go to work I would have definitely read this in one sitting, I will definitely be purchasing this when it is published (I may have to add tabs to that copy so I can easily locate sections that I may need) and I may have to buy copies for friends as well.
Rating: really liked it
This book could not have come at a better time. After having a little bit of a rough week (and certain individuals making some quite unrealistic demands), Lex Croucher’s words of wisdom (and wit!) were a much needed reprieve from some of the negative and exhausting thoughts taking up residence in my mind.
By the book’s design (and Croucher’s own admissions), it is a series of thoughts and positive self talk that can help all those who read it to be a little more kinder and a little more real towards themselves. The combination of run-on sentences and humour make this book such an easy read – seriously, it is like she is in the room with you, sitting on your couch in her comfiest pajamas with a glass of red wine in hand, listening to you and being there for you. Her thoughts are accurate and read true, to the point that it feels like she has gone through everything that you are going through.
I can’t wait to share this one with some of my senior English students! Especially as they near their big, final exams!
Thank you @bloomsburypublishing for gifting me a copy to review!
Rating: really liked it
What a lovely book! There's a lot of solid advice for all people, especially young teenagers. The pages about consent and self care were great and the gender neutral language is also really nice. Some parts of the book were quite funny too! I found the jokes and analogies a little bit excessive and unnecessary, but some were still good. I feel the book could have been condensed a little. I have been informed of the existence of "shag bracelets" on page 229 and it is indeed horrifying, hahaha. This book was very comforting when I felt sad and I looked forward to reading it every day! I'm happy I found this in my library and I'd definitely recommend it to people my age and younger.
Favourite pagesSince I got this book from the library, I took photos of my favourite pages and these have either helpful advice, an uplifting message, a nice analogy or some funny lines!
137, 145, 159, 163, 223, 226, 234, 237-239
Rating: really liked it
I got a lot of cool quotes from this book which I've put on post it notes to make me feel better. While there are a couple of chapters that really resonated with me, I feel that this book was not written for my demographic. Lex tries to be as inclusive as possible here but I think it's ultimately written for teen girls rather than 20-something year old men (oops). I usually enjoy Lex's sarcastic humour on YouTube, but felt it a bit strange translated over to written text and came across a little ramble-y. I did enjoy reading this book and getting an insight into Lex's inner monologue and it was always nice when I needed something that was positive and wasn't super heavy. I know my mum and sister are keen to steal this book off of me after I was done with it.
