2 stars
I received this book through Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. This was in no way a bad book. It was filled with hilarious/beautiful pictures, some good advice, and some pretty humorous jokes.The pictures are really helpful for the tutorials (makeup, hair) and also are beautiful/weird/fun/humorous/sexy to look at. Belli’s style is very cool and the pictures really enhance the book. Having said that, there is nudity, so if that offends you, you may want to consider another book. However, if you are considering this book in the first place, a few nudes probably wouldn’t deter you, so carry on.A lot of the advice was good, such as not seeking revenge and accepting yourself, but at the same time much of the advice seemed to be too focused on appearance. I realize that Belli is a performer and appearances is how he makes money, but not wanting a “friend” with no style in your selfies is pushing it for me. I like my friends for who they are, not how they look (I know, I know, I’ll try to refrain from any more Hallmark moments). The main problem I had with this book was that sometimes I think Belli took humor too far and made jokes about serious issues that shouldn’t be joked about (harassment, eating disorders, domestic violence). While I understand his intent and his heavy use of sarcasm, the jokes minimize the issues, which can be hurtful at one end and dangerous at the other. Belli’s humor is often prejudice as well. While he is obviously very supportive of the LGBTQ community, he is very discriminatory against people who are fat. There were so many jokes at fat people’s expense, I couldn’t help rolling my eyes each time. It’s totally fine that Belli wants to look a certain way, but putting down a whole group of people seems a little backwards.So while this was not a bad book, the amount of stereotypical/harmful/prejudiced jokes brought the rating down for me personally. I spent a lot of time trying to accept myself and other people in life and some of Belli’s jokes/tips felt like a step backwards to me. A humorous book with great pictures, but some superficial/shallow/derogatory advice. |