Everything Sucks by Hannah Friedman
Everything Sucks is the memoir of Hannah Friedman’s life from middle school until college. Basically, Hannah was a completely unpopular kid, didn’t have a lot of friends and was bullied relentlessly in her elementary school and middle school years. Plus, she never felt like she really fit in with her own family. Everything changes for her when she gets a scholarship to a very prestigious boarding school, and suddenly she becomes one of the cool kids on campus. But with Hannah’s popularity comes a host of personal issues including an eating disorder and a drug habit. This is the story of Hannah’s gaining everything she thought she wanted, losing it, then learning how to survive as herself in this crazy world.
To be completely honest, I didn’t expect to like this book very much. It just sounded very cliche, very immature, for my tastes. I hate to say that, knowing that the author is probably going to read this review, but it’s the way I felt before I picked it up. Actually, the only reason I accepted it for review is because so many bloggers enjoyed the book. I’m happy to say that despite my expectations, I really enjoyed Hannah Friedman’s memoir. It was equally touching and hilarious, and I sped through the book in just a couple of hours.
I think what made Everything Sucks so enjoyable for me was the authenticity of Hannah’s voice. I truly felt like I got to know her through her memoir, and not only did I know her, I liked her. Even though her and I aren’t much alike, I could relate to many of her struggles. Don’t get me wrong, I have never been the popular kid in school (especially high school – far from it), but I can relate to that feeling of wanting to belong, and being compelled to cave in when the peer pressures gets to be overwhelming. I think every teen goes through that stuff, in one way or another.
One of the great things about Hannah was that throughout this book, she was able to laugh at herself, to find humor in some pretty serious situations. It was almost like she trusted the reader to know that she’s grown up since these events took place, and now that she’s a little wiser she sees the severity of what she was doing with her life, but she also sees the funny side to some of the situations she put herself in. She trusted the reader not to judge her for the decisions she made in high school, and to understand that she’s not the same girl she was when these events were taking place.
I think teens can learn a lot from Everything Sucks. Popularity isn’t everything, for starters. Also, no matter how much you screw up, it’s just high school, and you can easily turn life around if you just put in the effort. There’s a lot to admire about Hannah Friedman, too – she’s extremely intelligent, well-spoken, articulate, and has an excellent sense of humor. I definitely look forward to seeing more from her in the future.
Here are some more reviews of Everything Sucks.
I read this a month or two ago and really enjoyed it as well.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this because I’ll be reading it soon!
Glad to hear the book exceeded your expectations. I hope to get to this one soon.
–Anna
Hannah has some great videos on her site (of her songs), many of which are hilarious. This book is definitely on my radar, so I’m glad to hear it exceeded your expectations!
This doesn’t sound like something I’d normally read, but your review has made me curious. I’ll have to see if my library has it.
An excellent review for an excellent book! I really related to a lot of the stuff Hannah talked about and was able to laugh along with the more bizarre and hilarious experiences ( like having a monkey for a sister.) I read about a sequel on the cosmogirl article but have yet to see any other news. Glad you enjoyed it!
xx
H
Sounds like a good book ! enjoyed your review
Hey Heather! This one was on tour with us a couple months back and the reviews were really good! Glad you enjoyed it too!
Interesting! I had the same initial reaction as you — sounds a little cliche. But really, what makes or breaks a memoir is whether the voice works, so I’m glad this one did! It sounds pretty good, I hope the library has it.
I read this a few months back for a blog tour. I was a little like you in the fact that I didn’t really expect to like it as much as I did. I’m really glad I read it!! Hannah is funny and real.
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Great review, I loved this book as well. So true about her finding humor in serious situations, and being able to laugh at herself, since she survived. It made her stronger. You can really see her grow up through the whole book, and looking back on someone’s whole life.. Reading it I felt like I was her friend!
I frequently forgot it was nonfiction, and when I read her newsweek article, I was like, “Oh yeah, this is real!”