There are many great points made in the book, teaching young adults that they're not alone in their struggles with jobs, friends, love, faith, and family. Some of my favorites were "Rocking adulthood is sometimes nothing more glamorous than Patient Ever-Day-Ness" (162), "If you don't define success, success will gladly define you" (168), and "A college diploma is NOT our golden ticket into DreamJobLand" (42). The secrets are presented in a light, humorous way, but are still impactful in their message.In many ways though, this information was better presented as an article than as a book. 101 is a lot of secrets, and as far as I could tell, there was no organizational structure for what was discussed where. For example, Angone presents #49, a secret about breakups, followed by #50, a secret about not knowing the plan for our lives, and then #51 is another secret about breakups. I would have appreciated if the secrets were organized by category so that if you needed inspiration or comfort, you'd know where to look for it.
The light-hearted fun feel of the book also goes a bit far with too many made up words, making the book seem childish - not something someone in their 20s would appreciate. As a 23 year old reader, I was not amused by things like "Round-Mound o' Goodness" as a description of chocolate (37) or "LivinginYourParentsHouseAgainVille" (42). That kind of informality is fine for a 21 point internet article, but it didn't really work for a full book.
My advice to my peers would be to read the article, but skip the book.
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Moody Publishers for this review. The opinion in this review is unbiased and reflects my honest judgment of the product.
"LivinginYourParentsHouseAgainVille" is irritating to me. Despite the economy and/or recovery, not every adult in their 20s lives back home. Sounds a little tongue in cheek. lol
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Not a fan of the format, nor the message!
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