Todays review is a memoir by a gent with the pen-name Mr Socially Awkward, and it is called Just Trying 2 Figure This Shit Out. It is a fairly short book available on google play and Apple Books. It was self-published on 28th February 2020 and is only available in ebook format.
So Mr Socially Awkward, approached me on instagram with his book to review it, it is a little different for what I’m usually asked to review, it is in fact the first memoir that I’ve done a review on. Just to give you a little background I will drop the description from Goodreads below…
Hi, I’m Jaylen Marcus Cooper, better known as Mr. Socially Awkward. It’s January 22, 2019, 8:12 a.m. I’m three months away from turning twenty (damn, I’m getting old, or at least I feel like it). As I begin to transition out of my teens into a twenty-year-old man, I’m starting to feel stagnant. And this feeling of no progression has me questioning a few things.
Maybe I’ve been chasing after the wrong thing? Maybe I’m chasing after the right thing but bitching about the process that comes with what I’m chasing after? Maybe I’m moving too fast and not putting much thought into my decision-making? Maybe this stagnant feeling is a sign that it’s time to adapt a new level of maturity? And if that’s the case, so be it.
There is technically more of the description on Goodreads, but I realised that it is literally just the first page of the book, so I copied in the first couple of paragraphs for you, rather than the entire thing. So basically, this book follows the thoughts of, 19 year old Jaylen (Mr Socially Awkward) coming to terms with aspects of his life and self he isn’t happy with. We learn about his childhood and upbringing, mental health and hopes and aspirations for the future. We see Jaylen, really come to terms with his misfortunes and wrong doings in his life and how he plans to overcome them.
I did really enjoy Mr Socially Awkward’s book. I felt it was very honest and straight to the point. Which when we are looking at ourselves, is very hard to do. We are often overtly biased when it comes to judging ourselves and we like to deny our wrong doings but throughout the book, Jaylen is surprisingly candid and straight up when it comes to his behaviour and choices. I also appreciate and love how throughout the book he manages to find some hope and his attitude changes to one of positivity for who he is and his future.
There are some aspects of the book where I have some constructive critiques. That mostly is just in grammar, though. It is a difficult one, Mr Socially Awkward writes very much how he talks, which in one sense is endearing to his personality and makes the book feel more personal. However, there is some grammar issues that I noticed which make it a little odd to read. Some examples are such as using I instead of I’ve or I have, the phrase “…the fuck is you…” instead of are you, using just “you” instead of you’re or you are. These are just a few example of what I noticed throughout the book. I get this is probably how he speaks but written words and spoken words flow and can be interpreted differently. I feel like it takes away from the flow of the book and it may have worked better to find a sense of balance between how he would physically and audibly talk and what is grammatically correct when writing. I feel that balance would easily elevate this book from a good one to a great one.
All in all, I did really enjoy this book. I have to put my hands together for Mr Socially Awkward for being so candid and open, and to do something that many people struggle to do. Which is just be honest with themselves. I’d definitely recommend this book to others, I feel like it definitely makes you think.
Star Rating /5
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Todays review is a memoir by a gent with the pen-name Mr Socially Awkward, and it is called Just Trying 2 Figure This Shit Out. It is a fairly short book available on google play and Apple Books. It was self-published on 28th February 2020 and is only available in ebook format.
So Mr Socially Awkward, approached me on instagram with his book to review it, it is a little different for what I’m usually asked to review, it is in fact the first memoir that I’ve done a review on. Just to give you a little background I will drop the description from Goodreads below…
There is technically more of the description on Goodreads, but I realised that it is literally just the first page of the book, so I copied in the first couple of paragraphs for you, rather than the entire thing. So basically, this book follows the thoughts of, 19 year old Jaylen (Mr Socially Awkward) coming to terms with aspects of his life and self he isn’t happy with. We learn about his childhood and upbringing, mental health and hopes and aspirations for the future. We see Jaylen, really come to terms with his misfortunes and wrong doings in his life and how he plans to overcome them.
I did really enjoy Mr Socially Awkward’s book. I felt it was very honest and straight to the point. Which when we are looking at ourselves, is very hard to do. We are often overtly biased when it comes to judging ourselves and we like to deny our wrong doings but throughout the book, Jaylen is surprisingly candid and straight up when it comes to his behaviour and choices. I also appreciate and love how throughout the book he manages to find some hope and his attitude changes to one of positivity for who he is and his future.
There are some aspects of the book where I have some constructive critiques. That mostly is just in grammar, though. It is a difficult one, Mr Socially Awkward writes very much how he talks, which in one sense is endearing to his personality and makes the book feel more personal. However, there is some grammar issues that I noticed which make it a little odd to read. Some examples are such as using I instead of I’ve or I have, the phrase “…the fuck is you…” instead of are you, using just “you” instead of you’re or you are. These are just a few example of what I noticed throughout the book. I get this is probably how he speaks but written words and spoken words flow and can be interpreted differently. I feel like it takes away from the flow of the book and it may have worked better to find a sense of balance between how he would physically and audibly talk and what is grammatically correct when writing. I feel that balance would easily elevate this book from a good one to a great one.
All in all, I did really enjoy this book. I have to put my hands together for Mr Socially Awkward for being so candid and open, and to do something that many people struggle to do. Which is just be honest with themselves. I’d definitely recommend this book to others, I feel like it definitely makes you think.
Star Rating /5
⭐️⭐️⭐️