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Adultolescence
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Poetry (2017)Comedian Gabbie Hanna brings levity to the twists and turns of modern adulthood in this exhilarating debut collection of illustrated poetry.
In poems ranging from the singsong rhythms of children’s verses to a sophisticated confessional style, Gabbie explores what it means to feel like a kid and an adult all at once, revealing her own longings, obsessions, and insecurities along the way. Adultolescence announces the arrival of a brilliant new voice with a magical ability to connect through alienation, cut to the profound with internet slang, and detonate wickedly funny jokes between moments of existential dread. You’ll turn to the last page because you get her, and you’ll return to the first because she gets you.
In poems ranging from the singsong rhythms of children’s verses to a sophisticated confessional style, Gabbie explores what it means to feel like a kid and an adult all at once, revealing her own longings, obsessions, and insecurities along the way. Adultolescence announces the arrival of a brilliant new voice with a magical ability to connect through alienation, cut to the profound with internet slang, and detonate wickedly funny jokes between moments of existential dread. You’ll turn to the last page because you get her, and you’ll return to the first because she gets you.
281 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 9, 2017
321 people are currently reading
10742 people want to read
About the author
Gabbie Hanna
2 books322 followersGabbie Hanna is an American YouTuber with over 6,000,000 subscribers. She is the author of Adultolescence, a comedian, actress, and singer-songwriter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,798 reviews
August 15, 2017
I liked 3 of around 200 of the "poems". Unfortunately most of this was poorly written or quite literally (as stated by her in the book itself, likely in jest) written "because [she] had a deadline and needed to fill pages."
I'm sure I just don't understand how clever/funny it's meant to be though so..yknow, maybe don't place too much stock in my review.
I'm sure I just don't understand how clever/funny it's meant to be though so..yknow, maybe don't place too much stock in my review.
January 15, 2020
When she spelled what as wut I was out.
October 8, 2017
Let me preface this review by saying that I like Gabbie. I've watched her videos for years. But this is..... bad.
none of these poems read like poetry, even the "good" ones. milk & honey looks poetic next to this, and anyone could look up and see that i did NOT like milk & honey because to me, it just read like normal sentences. these poems literally read like tweets. they’re not meaningful at ALL, even in a comedic way.
i think she set herself up for failure by saying that her inspiration is bo burnham. bo is a creative GENIUS with puns and clever social commentary imbedded with wittiness. this just rhymed sometimes, at best. the “good” poems in this book weren’t even good, per se, they just weren't as unbearable as the bad ones.
Also, she thinks this book is good? At one point she’s like “i’m so talented for writing this book.” and then later she’s like “can you imagine students reading this book for a class assignment?” .....no. this book is horrendous, and i don’t think she grasps that it only exists because of her follower count. She has no writing talent.
i say this in no hyperbolic fashion: some of these poems sound like a child wrote them. the writing style and content is just SO juvenile. she has no concept of rhyme schemes. her language use in these is like a shitpost. i can't believe an editor okay'ed this. probably half the poems in this are problematic because gabbie literally doesn't understand what a rhyme is.
for example, she tries to rhyme:
•horror & corner
•written & given
•plaything & amazing
•rare & unprepared
•water & thereafter
•traffic & panic
•unafraid & stage
•heads & bed
•tour & before
•future & sooner
•else & yourself
•produce & douche
•color & better
•inside & implied
•questions & mentioned
•often & coffin
•swap & tops
•ticked & wick
•bundle & rumble
•poetry & freely
Sometimes she would even switch rhyme schemes or abandon it altogether in the middle of a poem????
I think it says a lot about a book if I can read its 200+ pages but only enjoy 6 of them. I had low expectations for this, but it was baaaad..
none of these poems read like poetry, even the "good" ones. milk & honey looks poetic next to this, and anyone could look up and see that i did NOT like milk & honey because to me, it just read like normal sentences. these poems literally read like tweets. they’re not meaningful at ALL, even in a comedic way.
i think she set herself up for failure by saying that her inspiration is bo burnham. bo is a creative GENIUS with puns and clever social commentary imbedded with wittiness. this just rhymed sometimes, at best. the “good” poems in this book weren’t even good, per se, they just weren't as unbearable as the bad ones.
Also, she thinks this book is good? At one point she’s like “i’m so talented for writing this book.” and then later she’s like “can you imagine students reading this book for a class assignment?” .....no. this book is horrendous, and i don’t think she grasps that it only exists because of her follower count. She has no writing talent.
i say this in no hyperbolic fashion: some of these poems sound like a child wrote them. the writing style and content is just SO juvenile. she has no concept of rhyme schemes. her language use in these is like a shitpost. i can't believe an editor okay'ed this. probably half the poems in this are problematic because gabbie literally doesn't understand what a rhyme is.
for example, she tries to rhyme:
•horror & corner
•written & given
•plaything & amazing
•rare & unprepared
•water & thereafter
•traffic & panic
•unafraid & stage
•heads & bed
•tour & before
•future & sooner
•else & yourself
•produce & douche
•color & better
•inside & implied
•questions & mentioned
•often & coffin
•swap & tops
•ticked & wick
•bundle & rumble
•poetry & freely
Sometimes she would even switch rhyme schemes or abandon it altogether in the middle of a poem????
I think it says a lot about a book if I can read its 200+ pages but only enjoy 6 of them. I had low expectations for this, but it was baaaad..
never-to-read
February 8, 2020So, I was recently listening to a lot of videos from a commentary channel on YouTube, and a lot of them included something about Gabbie Hanna.
And this morning YouTube decided to give me an advert for this book... Is this the "there is no such thing as bad publicity" logic?
Anyway, me and modern poetry do not mix well, so, I will be staying away from it.
And this morning YouTube decided to give me an advert for this book... Is this the "there is no such thing as bad publicity" logic?
Anyway, me and modern poetry do not mix well, so, I will be staying away from it.
February 2, 2018
um my jonas brothers fanfic from 2007 is better than this
October 18, 2017
Absolutely one of the worst garbage-fire pieces of trash I've ever read. I don't know how this got published.
May 18, 2018
Okay the only thing I liked about this was her illustrations. The author made it very clear on multiple pages that she is writing a book for the money not for anything else. Many pages she even called “ filler” pages because she has a deadline and it’s not even funny to see that stuff if that’s what she was going for? In my opinion, this is not a poetry book she pretty much has abbreviations 4 (haha just like that) every word she is writing. I didn’t enjoy
November 1, 2017
“i’ve got a head full of nightmares,
a heart full of rage,
a belly full of liquor,
and a sink full of dishes.
i’ll start with the dishes”.
Great humor- photos - real life issues - *real*
If you enjoy rupi kaur ......you’ll enjoy Gabbie Hanna! She pours her heart out in this little book!
This book must be experience- I’d recommend a PHYSICAL BOOK if possible!
a heart full of rage,
a belly full of liquor,
and a sink full of dishes.
i’ll start with the dishes”.
Great humor- photos - real life issues - *real*
If you enjoy rupi kaur ......you’ll enjoy Gabbie Hanna! She pours her heart out in this little book!
This book must be experience- I’d recommend a PHYSICAL BOOK if possible!
November 2, 2020
should have stayed in the drafts x
November 23, 2017
Full disclaimer: I don’t watch Gabbie’s videos. I tried, found I wasn't a fan, but I also don’t dislike her. I picked up this book purely bc I liked the look of the poems in the store and I liked the pictures. I’ve barely read any poetry and I don’t really know what kinds I like or don’t like. I know I didn’t like Adultolescence though.
Half the time, I felt like I was reading a shit post on tumblr (the “Advice” poems were the worst), which would be fine, if it didn’t go into this expecting poetry (even funny poetry, none of this was funny). I couldn’t get past the abbreviations and only about 4 or 5 poems stood out to me in the entire collection.
Alsooooo, some of it was pretty insensitive. Particularly the poem “Cut” which seemed to be about self harm but has a plot twist where the girl is talking about cutting her hair.
I dunno, not a fan myself
Half the time, I felt like I was reading a shit post on tumblr (the “Advice” poems were the worst), which would be fine, if it didn’t go into this expecting poetry (even funny poetry, none of this was funny). I couldn’t get past the abbreviations and only about 4 or 5 poems stood out to me in the entire collection.
Alsooooo, some of it was pretty insensitive. Particularly the poem “Cut” which seemed to be about self harm but has a plot twist where the girl is talking about cutting her hair.
I dunno, not a fan myself
October 9, 2017
1.5 STARS
Existen libros escritos por youtubers que son muy buenos, este NO es uno de ellos.
Es más, me atrevo a decir que es de los peores.
Este libro es una especie de “PARODIA DE UN POEMARIO” Si algo así, contiene listas, ideas, chistecillos, consejos y “poemas” sobre la adolescencia, o más específico, la adolescencia de esta generación, o más más específico la adolescencia de esta generación en países de primer mundo.
Es un libro por de más superficial que trata de ser ingenioso, pero no lo logra. Trata de ser sarcástico, pero termina siendo ridículo.
Cuando yo tenía como 14 años escribía poesía, no era buena y nunca me tome el tiempo a mejorarla, pero si me llevo a conocer jóvenes con este talento, jóvenes que escribían con más calidad y de forma más profunda que este libro entero, y tristemente como la autora de este libro es una INFLUENCER ella si merece tener publicadas sus ridiculeces.
Cuando lo estaba leyendo estaba imaginando a una chavita de 12 años escribiendo en su diario, porque eso es lo que parece este libro, el diario de una niña de 12 años de familia adinerada, y oh sorpresa en realidad la autora ya casi tiene 30 años.
Las imágenes si me llegaron a gustar, algunas más que otras, no son originales ni nada, solo están bien y ya, lo cual me lleva a dudar si la autora realmente las hizo.
En Conclusión: Este libro es un chiste mal contado, un chiste sin gracia, un chiste que no hace reír. No lo lean.
P.D Sáquenle un screen shoot a esta reseña, porque les aseguro que editorial Planeta lo publicara en español en un futuro no muy lejano.
"i donated blood today.
feels good to finally be somebody’s type."
Existen libros escritos por youtubers que son muy buenos, este NO es uno de ellos.
Es más, me atrevo a decir que es de los peores.
Este libro es una especie de “PARODIA DE UN POEMARIO” Si algo así, contiene listas, ideas, chistecillos, consejos y “poemas” sobre la adolescencia, o más específico, la adolescencia de esta generación, o más más específico la adolescencia de esta generación en países de primer mundo.
Es un libro por de más superficial que trata de ser ingenioso, pero no lo logra. Trata de ser sarcástico, pero termina siendo ridículo.
Cuando yo tenía como 14 años escribía poesía, no era buena y nunca me tome el tiempo a mejorarla, pero si me llevo a conocer jóvenes con este talento, jóvenes que escribían con más calidad y de forma más profunda que este libro entero, y tristemente como la autora de este libro es una INFLUENCER ella si merece tener publicadas sus ridiculeces.
Cuando lo estaba leyendo estaba imaginando a una chavita de 12 años escribiendo en su diario, porque eso es lo que parece este libro, el diario de una niña de 12 años de familia adinerada, y oh sorpresa en realidad la autora ya casi tiene 30 años.
Las imágenes si me llegaron a gustar, algunas más que otras, no son originales ni nada, solo están bien y ya, lo cual me lleva a dudar si la autora realmente las hizo.
En Conclusión: Este libro es un chiste mal contado, un chiste sin gracia, un chiste que no hace reír. No lo lean.
P.D Sáquenle un screen shoot a esta reseña, porque les aseguro que editorial Planeta lo publicara en español en un futuro no muy lejano.
November 5, 2017
The only poem I related to was the one that said to lock your bathroom door even when your home alone so that if a murderer is in your house you have time to pull your pants up and die with dignity 🤷🏻♀️
January 13, 2018
1.5 stars
I originally gave this book 2 stars, but the more I went through it, I realized that 2 stars was honestly too high if you compare what I liked to what I disliked. Because of this, I have knocked down my rating by a half star, so it now sits at 1.5 stars for me.
DISCLAIMER: I usually read books by YouTubers only of YouTubers that I actually watch every day, keep up with, follow in Instagram & Twitter, and I would call myself a fan of. However, that wasn't the case with Adultolescence. I watch her on occasion. I like some of her stuff, and I don't like some of it. I'm somewhere in the middle. That being said, I tried to make this review as completely unbias as I could.
Also, there are a lot of references and points I will be making to specific poems that I will be re-writing in this, so I guess TINY spoiler alert for the proceeding??
Anyway, enough of this stuff, onto the legit review:
Rating this book was a lot harder than I anticipated. This seems like one of those books that's a love or hate situation - you either give it 5 stars & don't shut up about how f*cking A M A Z I N G it is in your review or you give it 1 star & don't shut up about how f*cking horrible it was in your review. I fell someone in between but thinking it over, I feel like it fell shorter on the bad side for me, personally, hence the 1.5 star rating I have given this book.
I guess we'll start out with what I liked first, then go into what I disliked. Heads up: the first part is a lot shorter and less in-depth than the second part.
I appreciated the variety Hanna tried to use. She would include one deep, serious poem then throw in some funny (or more so 'supposed to be funny, but failed' poems, but we'll talk about that more later), random sh*t right afterward.
There was a small handful that I liked. I have picked out a few I will leave below for you to read for yourself if interested in doing so along with a tiny explanation of why I picked it out:
HIDE
everyone's asking if i feel okay.
truth is, i'm always feeling this way.
i'm just having a hard time disguising it today.
Like most, if not all, of the others, picked out for this part, I just appreciated the realness and relatableness, for me at least, to it.
YOU
don't worry about who you "should be";
you don't need to be ashamed.
you're perfect in the way that no one's perfect.
it's okay not to be okay.
I just really liked that one, and again, it just spoke to me, and I feel like a lot of other people can speak to it, too. The writing with that one also just felt more prominent and strong than a lot of the others for me.
LIVE
things won't get better if you're gone.
you can't feel a relief if you're a carcass.
if it's the shadow that you're running from,
remember that dead eyes only see darkness.
This one just stood out loudly compared to the others. It had another tone I appreciated and that I enjoyed seeing in this poetry collection.
DEPRESSION
when life is great and nothing's wrong,
i'll stay inside your head like a catchy song.
when you come up for air and you're feeling free,
i'll weigh you down like boots in the sea.
if you try to wash me down the drain,
thicker than mud, i'll stick to your brain.
when you're filled with joy without concern,
i'll hollow you out like a jack-o'-lantern.
when nothing you need to do is completed,
you'll get up to go, but i'll keep you seated.
when you start to build hope and future's bright,
i'll snuff out the sun and prolong the night.
no matter what personal or financial successes,
i'll crawl up your skin like the Reaper's caress.
when you're close to escaping but miss my a thread,
i'll be here waiting with a gun to your head.
When I saw the poem was titled "DEPRESSION" I expected some non-funny-but-intended-to-be-funny, stupid sh*t, but I actually got a pretty deep poem about what it's like to live with depression. From someone who has depression to whoever you are reading it, that was a f*cking accurate description, WAY more acurate than I expected by far.
Okay, enough of the good. Now, onto the bad:
I had read so many reviews of this book, and it seemed like everyone complained about the use of abbreviations. I didn't realize until I read it how f*cking annoying it would be for me. I bothered so much.
The poems titled "ADVICE *insert number here*" were the absolute f*cking WORSE in this entire collection and I mean it. They were completely & utterly just terrible on any & all levels.
Here are a couple of the advice poems I picked out to include in this review. Just read them and I'm sure why I f*cking hated them will speak for itself.
ADVICE 3
always lock the bathroom door bc 10/10 times it prevents an awkward situation but do it even if ur home alone bc if a murderer comes u'll want to have time to pull up ur leggings & die with dignity
ADVICE 17
it's pretty shocking that racism still exists it's literally a matter of black & white like say u like kittens ur going to like kittens whether its a black kitten or a white kitten the color of the kitten doesnt change the fact that it's a kitten so we can all just chill with judging by color because fur is just fur & kittens are just great oh & if ur a dog person feel free to replace the word kitten with puppy.
There are other ones and ones just as bad, but I don't want them to fill up this interview more than that last one just did because oh my goodness.
Hanna mentions towards the end how she had some poems she had to fill because of a deadline, and some of them feel like filler poems to me. They just felt like they were thrown in last second just to fill space like a filler does.
There were a few poems scattered throughout this collection that just flat out bothered me. The one below appears to be about self-harm, but is about a girl cutting her hair. Pretty damn insensitive, intense, and misleading if you ask me.
CUT
her hand trembled around the sharp, cold metal
as she looked at her distorted face in the mirror:
"just do it,"
she told her reflection.
"don't do it,"
her reflection replied.
"come on, p*ssy!"
she shouted at the glass.
"you're going to regret this,
you always do,"
the glass warned back.
"no one gives a sh*t if i do it,"
she reminded them both.
"this is a permanent decision
based on a tempory emotion,"
the mirror pleaded.
"hair grows back, dumba*s."
*snip*
As someone who has dealt with self-harming, I just didn't like nor appreciate the 'plot twist' of that poem. But hey, nothing in this book is f*cking serious, so I'm not sure what I expected out of it.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, I'm not a huge fan of Gabbie, not even really a fan to begin with, but this just doesn't sound like her from what I know and have seen/heard of her. It just didn't read TheGabbieShow's Gabbie Hanna to me like I wanted it to.
There are other things that bothered me, but this review is way longer than I anticipated, and they're things I am absolutely horrible at explaining, so we're cutting this off here.
Bottom line - I liked a little of this, but what I disliked outweighed what I liked by a huge percentage.
I originally gave this book 2 stars, but the more I went through it, I realized that 2 stars was honestly too high if you compare what I liked to what I disliked. Because of this, I have knocked down my rating by a half star, so it now sits at 1.5 stars for me.
DISCLAIMER: I usually read books by YouTubers only of YouTubers that I actually watch every day, keep up with, follow in Instagram & Twitter, and I would call myself a fan of. However, that wasn't the case with Adultolescence. I watch her on occasion. I like some of her stuff, and I don't like some of it. I'm somewhere in the middle. That being said, I tried to make this review as completely unbias as I could.
Also, there are a lot of references and points I will be making to specific poems that I will be re-writing in this, so I guess TINY spoiler alert for the proceeding??
Anyway, enough of this stuff, onto the legit review:
Rating this book was a lot harder than I anticipated. This seems like one of those books that's a love or hate situation - you either give it 5 stars & don't shut up about how f*cking A M A Z I N G it is in your review or you give it 1 star & don't shut up about how f*cking horrible it was in your review. I fell someone in between but thinking it over, I feel like it fell shorter on the bad side for me, personally, hence the 1.5 star rating I have given this book.
I guess we'll start out with what I liked first, then go into what I disliked. Heads up: the first part is a lot shorter and less in-depth than the second part.
I appreciated the variety Hanna tried to use. She would include one deep, serious poem then throw in some funny (or more so 'supposed to be funny, but failed' poems, but we'll talk about that more later), random sh*t right afterward.
There was a small handful that I liked. I have picked out a few I will leave below for you to read for yourself if interested in doing so along with a tiny explanation of why I picked it out:
HIDE
everyone's asking if i feel okay.
truth is, i'm always feeling this way.
i'm just having a hard time disguising it today.
Like most, if not all, of the others, picked out for this part, I just appreciated the realness and relatableness, for me at least, to it.
YOU
don't worry about who you "should be";
you don't need to be ashamed.
you're perfect in the way that no one's perfect.
it's okay not to be okay.
I just really liked that one, and again, it just spoke to me, and I feel like a lot of other people can speak to it, too. The writing with that one also just felt more prominent and strong than a lot of the others for me.
LIVE
things won't get better if you're gone.
you can't feel a relief if you're a carcass.
if it's the shadow that you're running from,
remember that dead eyes only see darkness.
This one just stood out loudly compared to the others. It had another tone I appreciated and that I enjoyed seeing in this poetry collection.
DEPRESSION
when life is great and nothing's wrong,
i'll stay inside your head like a catchy song.
when you come up for air and you're feeling free,
i'll weigh you down like boots in the sea.
if you try to wash me down the drain,
thicker than mud, i'll stick to your brain.
when you're filled with joy without concern,
i'll hollow you out like a jack-o'-lantern.
when nothing you need to do is completed,
you'll get up to go, but i'll keep you seated.
when you start to build hope and future's bright,
i'll snuff out the sun and prolong the night.
no matter what personal or financial successes,
i'll crawl up your skin like the Reaper's caress.
when you're close to escaping but miss my a thread,
i'll be here waiting with a gun to your head.
When I saw the poem was titled "DEPRESSION" I expected some non-funny-but-intended-to-be-funny, stupid sh*t, but I actually got a pretty deep poem about what it's like to live with depression. From someone who has depression to whoever you are reading it, that was a f*cking accurate description, WAY more acurate than I expected by far.
Okay, enough of the good. Now, onto the bad:
I had read so many reviews of this book, and it seemed like everyone complained about the use of abbreviations. I didn't realize until I read it how f*cking annoying it would be for me. I bothered so much.
The poems titled "ADVICE *insert number here*" were the absolute f*cking WORSE in this entire collection and I mean it. They were completely & utterly just terrible on any & all levels.
Here are a couple of the advice poems I picked out to include in this review. Just read them and I'm sure why I f*cking hated them will speak for itself.
ADVICE 3
always lock the bathroom door bc 10/10 times it prevents an awkward situation but do it even if ur home alone bc if a murderer comes u'll want to have time to pull up ur leggings & die with dignity
ADVICE 17
it's pretty shocking that racism still exists it's literally a matter of black & white like say u like kittens ur going to like kittens whether its a black kitten or a white kitten the color of the kitten doesnt change the fact that it's a kitten so we can all just chill with judging by color because fur is just fur & kittens are just great oh & if ur a dog person feel free to replace the word kitten with puppy.
There are other ones and ones just as bad, but I don't want them to fill up this interview more than that last one just did because oh my goodness.
Hanna mentions towards the end how she had some poems she had to fill because of a deadline, and some of them feel like filler poems to me. They just felt like they were thrown in last second just to fill space like a filler does.
There were a few poems scattered throughout this collection that just flat out bothered me. The one below appears to be about self-harm, but is about a girl cutting her hair. Pretty damn insensitive, intense, and misleading if you ask me.
CUT
her hand trembled around the sharp, cold metal
as she looked at her distorted face in the mirror:
"just do it,"
she told her reflection.
"don't do it,"
her reflection replied.
"come on, p*ssy!"
she shouted at the glass.
"you're going to regret this,
you always do,"
the glass warned back.
"no one gives a sh*t if i do it,"
she reminded them both.
"this is a permanent decision
based on a tempory emotion,"
the mirror pleaded.
"hair grows back, dumba*s."
*snip*
As someone who has dealt with self-harming, I just didn't like nor appreciate the 'plot twist' of that poem. But hey, nothing in this book is f*cking serious, so I'm not sure what I expected out of it.
Like I mentioned at the beginning, I'm not a huge fan of Gabbie, not even really a fan to begin with, but this just doesn't sound like her from what I know and have seen/heard of her. It just didn't read TheGabbieShow's Gabbie Hanna to me like I wanted it to.
There are other things that bothered me, but this review is way longer than I anticipated, and they're things I am absolutely horrible at explaining, so we're cutting this off here.
Bottom line - I liked a little of this, but what I disliked outweighed what I liked by a huge percentage.
August 29, 2018
"i'm the cockiest most insecure
confident self-conscious self-
assured anxious proud self-
loathing person i know."
If you want a quirky and unique book that jumps from an in depth poem about serious depression, to the random rantings on hangovers and dishes, this is for you! I found this to be an unexpected journey, since I didn't know what I would get when I turned the page. Although the tweet like poems were interesting I did find the art being my favorite part.
confident self-conscious self-
assured anxious proud self-
loathing person i know."
If you want a quirky and unique book that jumps from an in depth poem about serious depression, to the random rantings on hangovers and dishes, this is for you! I found this to be an unexpected journey, since I didn't know what I would get when I turned the page. Although the tweet like poems were interesting I did find the art being my favorite part.
September 5, 2021
what in the money-grubbing hell did i just read?
i don't care about any youtubers, but this seemed interesting and the hour-long audiobook was available on libby, so i gave it a shot.
hanna's obnoxious narration put me off immediately. god, she's annoying. her poems just feel like mediocre tweets.
she even has a poem titled "filler," about how many of the poems were uninspired and written for the purpose of meeting her deadline. considering the fact that she also writes about wanting to be successful as a youtube personality and wanting to make money on book sales, this is pretty gross. i think she's trying to be funny and ironic by being so honest, but it's pathetic.
i feel awful for anyone who spent money on this book, and i feel embarrassed for everyone involved in its publication. it's so bad.
i don't care about any youtubers, but this seemed interesting and the hour-long audiobook was available on libby, so i gave it a shot.
hanna's obnoxious narration put me off immediately. god, she's annoying. her poems just feel like mediocre tweets.
she even has a poem titled "filler," about how many of the poems were uninspired and written for the purpose of meeting her deadline. considering the fact that she also writes about wanting to be successful as a youtube personality and wanting to make money on book sales, this is pretty gross. i think she's trying to be funny and ironic by being so honest, but it's pathetic.
i feel awful for anyone who spent money on this book, and i feel embarrassed for everyone involved in its publication. it's so bad.
October 12, 2017
I really wanted to like this book when my friend excitedly let me borrow it for a bit. I love Gabbie, she's one of my favorite YouTubers and has always been. Plus, her song is killer and is so relatable and beautiful. This book, however, was the total opposite. I have seen lots of excuses from her devoted fans, who probably didn't even read the book themselves, saying it's supposed to be childish and silly and a parody or whatever. That's supposed to make us people who don't like it change our minds and go, "Oh, yeah, so it's bad on purpose."
It's just bad.
Even if it's 'supposed to be' childish and silly and a parody or what have you, it just wasn't good. The poems weren't funny at all, I didn't find myself laughing at any of them. Half of the time, they didn't even make sense. I mean, using big words and rhyming doesn't make the poem better or have more structure. It just means you took a bad poem and added big words and rhymed some of them. There were maybe one or two good poems within all of the 256 pages. And they just weren't worth it.
Again, I love Gabbie, I think she's amazing. But she really missed the mark with this book. She even admitted herself inside the book that she wrote some things just to fill pages. I think that's rather obvious with how backwards the book really is.
I should talk about the things I enjoyed, considering this review is rather negative and I'm not here to be a horrible person. One thing I loved was seeing some YouTubers that I know within the book. The conversation pieces were creative and I thought really cute. I also really liked a two-page poem where it talked about smiling and when you flipped it over it was a poem about frowning. That was really creative and I appreciate that particular poem. I also really like the two serious poems that Gabbie had (I honestly feel like there were only two, sorry for being negative yet again) because I actually related to them, and they weren't worded in a weird way that made me cringe. (Negative again. Sorry.) I also really loved the artwork. It's amazing how talented Gabbie is with art and singing and stuff like that.
I think Gabbie should either stick with the serious poems, where she blossoms, or not write poetry at all. I do believe it's better for her to write about her life or storytimes, which I personally find really interesting. Or she should stick with the singing and song-writing. Or she should stick with modeling (girl has an amazing body). Or she should stick with the YouTube stuff, where she shines the most. Or she should stick with artwork, because wow, I'm really impressed with these drawings. Or she should do all of that because she obviously does all of those things really well. Or she should not listen to me at all, which is probably the best bet for her, and stick to doing what she loves to do.
Cutting this review short, I didn't like the book. I almost gave it two stars because of the poems that I did like, but I really didn't think they were worth it. The author is an amazing and talented person, but this whole poetry parody thing just didn't agree with her.
It's just bad.
Even if it's 'supposed to be' childish and silly and a parody or what have you, it just wasn't good. The poems weren't funny at all, I didn't find myself laughing at any of them. Half of the time, they didn't even make sense. I mean, using big words and rhyming doesn't make the poem better or have more structure. It just means you took a bad poem and added big words and rhymed some of them. There were maybe one or two good poems within all of the 256 pages. And they just weren't worth it.
Again, I love Gabbie, I think she's amazing. But she really missed the mark with this book. She even admitted herself inside the book that she wrote some things just to fill pages. I think that's rather obvious with how backwards the book really is.
I should talk about the things I enjoyed, considering this review is rather negative and I'm not here to be a horrible person. One thing I loved was seeing some YouTubers that I know within the book. The conversation pieces were creative and I thought really cute. I also really liked a two-page poem where it talked about smiling and when you flipped it over it was a poem about frowning. That was really creative and I appreciate that particular poem. I also really like the two serious poems that Gabbie had (I honestly feel like there were only two, sorry for being negative yet again) because I actually related to them, and they weren't worded in a weird way that made me cringe. (Negative again. Sorry.) I also really loved the artwork. It's amazing how talented Gabbie is with art and singing and stuff like that.
I think Gabbie should either stick with the serious poems, where she blossoms, or not write poetry at all. I do believe it's better for her to write about her life or storytimes, which I personally find really interesting. Or she should stick with the singing and song-writing. Or she should stick with modeling (girl has an amazing body). Or she should stick with the YouTube stuff, where she shines the most. Or she should stick with artwork, because wow, I'm really impressed with these drawings. Or she should do all of that because she obviously does all of those things really well. Or she should not listen to me at all, which is probably the best bet for her, and stick to doing what she loves to do.
Cutting this review short, I didn't like the book. I almost gave it two stars because of the poems that I did like, but I really didn't think they were worth it. The author is an amazing and talented person, but this whole poetry parody thing just didn't agree with her.
June 9, 2021
I need bleach for my eyes
July 8, 2020
Just... Don't ask me why on earth I actually read - and what's more; finished - this, because I can't even come up with an answer, apart from that curiosity killed the cat and I wanted to see just how bad this was (I was so confused by the Goodreads rating details because I've really never seen anything like it, so there's that as well).
And it was bad. Really bad. So let's say that I read this so you don't have to. It was terrible and I don't know where to start and what to say, but I'll try.
First off, I don't know Gabbie Hanna at all (she's a YouTuber, apparently, so I guess that's the only reason this got published). I'd never heard of her before this and I have no interest in knowing her. Second, apparently this is supposed to be a 'brilliant', 'exhilarating' (lol, what?) and 'wickedly funny' poetry bundle (it says so right in the blurb, I'm not making this up) that is super relatable and amazing and whatnot. Instead, it's by far my most cringe-worthy read of not only 2020, but of my entire 20 years walking on this earth. So, yeah. Third, apart from me disliking and not relating to 99% of what was in here, the writing is just plain awful. The rhymes are childish, and the spelling is not only childish but also completely incoherent.
Words cannot express how much I detested this. If you're looking for good poetry, please don't read this. If you're looking for something dreadful, then by all means...
And it was bad. Really bad. So let's say that I read this so you don't have to. It was terrible and I don't know where to start and what to say, but I'll try.
First off, I don't know Gabbie Hanna at all (she's a YouTuber, apparently, so I guess that's the only reason this got published). I'd never heard of her before this and I have no interest in knowing her. Second, apparently this is supposed to be a 'brilliant', 'exhilarating' (lol, what?) and 'wickedly funny' poetry bundle (it says so right in the blurb, I'm not making this up) that is super relatable and amazing and whatnot. Instead, it's by far my most cringe-worthy read of not only 2020, but of my entire 20 years walking on this earth. So, yeah. Third, apart from me disliking and not relating to 99% of what was in here, the writing is just plain awful. The rhymes are childish, and the spelling is not only childish but also completely incoherent.
Words cannot express how much I detested this. If you're looking for good poetry, please don't read this. If you're looking for something dreadful, then by all means...
September 18, 2018
That's a quick read but I suffered over a poorly written collection. The verses (or should I say rundown sentences?) are basic and flat. Some of them are random and lacked of substance. Poems should be well thought and emotionally stirring. This one has none. I don't recommend this collection. AT ALL. I'm on a roll of disappointing poetry books. This is a bad sign.
February 17, 2020
If a teen girl tried to make dad jokes and shitty puns of tweet length, then you collected them all and put them in a book, you would have Adultolescence.
I have been craving really bad writing lately though, because everything I have read this year has been alright . . . until this weekend. I think my thirst has been satiated by selections from this book. I did not read the entire thing, and did not for one second feel like I may have missed a gem.
Thinking about reading an Onision book next, more as a study of how a self-indulgent narcissist writes and thinks, but I don’t want to pay for it.
I have been craving really bad writing lately though, because everything I have read this year has been alright . . . until this weekend. I think my thirst has been satiated by selections from this book. I did not read the entire thing, and did not for one second feel like I may have missed a gem.
Thinking about reading an Onision book next, more as a study of how a self-indulgent narcissist writes and thinks, but I don’t want to pay for it.
September 23, 2017
Overall, this was mediocre. Some of the poems really stuck out to me, mainly the one titled Adultolescence and many about building yourself back/knowing your worth. The former mentioned left me crying and gave me goosebumps since I related to it as deeply.
However, this isn't that great a poetry book. There use of "bc" and shortened words throughout made my eye twitch and a lot of the poems are truly only things Gabbie herself would understand. She speaks about her personal experiences specifically and within those, I couldn't connect to the content.
I did enjoy the illustrations and some of the poems, but some of them were just not my kind of thing. I did read it in one sitting though, so there's that.
However, this isn't that great a poetry book. There use of "bc" and shortened words throughout made my eye twitch and a lot of the poems are truly only things Gabbie herself would understand. She speaks about her personal experiences specifically and within those, I couldn't connect to the content.
I did enjoy the illustrations and some of the poems, but some of them were just not my kind of thing. I did read it in one sitting though, so there's that.
January 16, 2018
Embarrassingly bad, with the ab/ab rhyme scheme poems registering as particularly cringeworthy. Read the top two reviews if you have even the slightest inclination that you'll connect with this trite potboiler.
August 2, 2020
okay to be very honest it wasn't horrific, some poems I did enjoy. however, it was marketed as a poetic book but this just reads like tweets and late night shower thoughts. another thing that bothered me was that if I'm not wrong most of these poems are meant to be "satire" but it wasn't even funny, well if its not satire then at least something about this book was funny👀
honourable poems that stuck with me for all the right reasons 👁👄👁
"k"
"link in bio"
"i dunno, yanno?"
"everyday is just a battle between am I too hungry to sleep or too tired to eat"
"like, I didn't think I was like, gonna like it the way that I like it but, like, I like it."
now you will understand my rating. it pains me to leave an overly-negative review but this was just not it.
honourable poems that stuck with me for all the right reasons 👁👄👁
"k"
"link in bio"
"i dunno, yanno?"
"everyday is just a battle between am I too hungry to sleep or too tired to eat"
"like, I didn't think I was like, gonna like it the way that I like it but, like, I like it."
now you will understand my rating. it pains me to leave an overly-negative review but this was just not it.
December 14, 2020
Satire or not, it feels like I was going through my twitter feed... if that is what is regarded as poetic to Gabbie Hanna then I am concerned lol
October 1, 2017
I recently discovered Gabbie's YouTube channel and I was super curious about her book. I wasn't sure what to expect so I really didn't have any high hopes but I was still vaguely disappointed.
I'm no expert on poetry but some of these really weren't good at all. Many of the poems read like drunk social media posts and some felt like fillers. Gabbie even has a poem joking how some of the poems are in the book because she had a deadline. On one hand, the poems just weren't good, plain nd simple. But on the other hand, it kinda felt like Gabbie didn't take writing a book seriously and didn't appreciate what an amazing opportunity she had to create this book. I guess it depends on one's perspective how they see it.
There was a few really good poems as well. A couple were even great. But at the end of the day, I didn't buy this book for just a few good poems sprinkled in with a majority of crappy ones. I didn't expect this book to be the next Milk & Honey or The Princess Saves Herself in This One but I'm still disappointed by the lack of quality.
I'm no expert on poetry but some of these really weren't good at all. Many of the poems read like drunk social media posts and some felt like fillers. Gabbie even has a poem joking how some of the poems are in the book because she had a deadline. On one hand, the poems just weren't good, plain nd simple. But on the other hand, it kinda felt like Gabbie didn't take writing a book seriously and didn't appreciate what an amazing opportunity she had to create this book. I guess it depends on one's perspective how they see it.
There was a few really good poems as well. A couple were even great. But at the end of the day, I didn't buy this book for just a few good poems sprinkled in with a majority of crappy ones. I didn't expect this book to be the next Milk & Honey or The Princess Saves Herself in This One but I'm still disappointed by the lack of quality.
January 27, 2018
I had no expectations when I started this book and still, all I can think is: honestly, who let this be published? In every single page, I felt like I was reading an ordinary tumblr post or a tweet (I’ve actually read some tweets that are way closer to poetry than this) - it is my fault I read this though, I already suspected it would be underwhelming, just not this bad. Would certainly not recommend Adultolescence, unless you want to see what poor/flat writing looks like.
September 20, 2017
When i heard of Gabbie was coming out with a book i laughed, i figured it'd be a terrible book. But when she came out with a song "Out Loud" i second guessed myself. I figured that song, as it was promo for the book, was going to be a very good indication of how the book was going to be. I was wrong. As someone who loves poetry, this book is laughable. It follows a Dr Seuss rhyme scheme . "Unexpected" and "SLEEP" made me cringe. Now not all was bad, i enjoyed her more serious poems such as: Fashion, Stop, Smile, Arms, Dolly, Ghost and Snap... actually, those were the ONLY ones i enjoyed. Out of an odd, 200 poems, i enjoyed a grand total of 7. Though, some of her witty content, such as "O-Positive", did make me laugh. The book itself is aimed at young teenagers who use the words like "lit" and are into the more millennium context (swipe right) style of humor.
As if the "poetry" wasn't already childish and completely unprofessional sounding (even her darker poems were made light of) what made the book seem even more childish was her "text message" use of words: "U" "Ur" "Bc" "4". The book was far from sophisticated and i couldn't take her seriously, nor do i think anyone into this genre (poetry) could take seriously.
It was badly written, odd and just plain childish. This book isn't going to age well, or really be taken seriously by anyone over the age of 17. It's NOT a book for most people in my opinion.
Now that i said a lot of negatives, i just want to add a few nice things. I know as an artist you put a lot of hard work into a book and i feel bad giving a terrible review so let me say this:
The illustrations were wonderful. Some of them were very well drawn and worked well, and were cute, alongside the poems. As someone new to writing, it was well made, just not my cup of tea. I believe she has some wonderful talent, it was just not showcased well in this book.
Overall this book wasn't for me, or in opinion, for anyone over the age of 17.
As if the "poetry" wasn't already childish and completely unprofessional sounding (even her darker poems were made light of) what made the book seem even more childish was her "text message" use of words: "U" "Ur" "Bc" "4". The book was far from sophisticated and i couldn't take her seriously, nor do i think anyone into this genre (poetry) could take seriously.
It was badly written, odd and just plain childish. This book isn't going to age well, or really be taken seriously by anyone over the age of 17. It's NOT a book for most people in my opinion.
Now that i said a lot of negatives, i just want to add a few nice things. I know as an artist you put a lot of hard work into a book and i feel bad giving a terrible review so let me say this:
The illustrations were wonderful. Some of them were very well drawn and worked well, and were cute, alongside the poems. As someone new to writing, it was well made, just not my cup of tea. I believe she has some wonderful talent, it was just not showcased well in this book.
Overall this book wasn't for me, or in opinion, for anyone over the age of 17.
August 8, 2018
FILOSOFIA
se mangi una pizza intera da solo nel bosco,
senza farti vedere da nessuno,
le calorie contano?
UCCELLO
ho saltato oggi ma sono riuscita a sopravvivere
tutti credevano volessi morire;
volevo solo sapere cosa si prova a volare.
CONSIGLIO 5
fa' attenzione al potere di persuasione una volta ho convinto un'intera tavolata di persone che un pezzo di torta al cioccolato aveva il sapore di pasta al formaggio e tutti erano d'accordo nel dire che ero suonata comunque non credere a tutto quello che senti pensa con la tua testa sii te stesso
MATCH
a volte devi tirarti su,
darti una pettinata,
guardarti bene allo specchio
e chiederti,
"gli faccio like su tinder?"
DEVIATO
queste notti sono tremendamente noiose
senza il tuo tremendo russare.
S
contenta
IRONIA
il novantotto per cento del tuo corpo è composto da H2O.
novantotto. percento.
idratati, o morirai di sete.
ma lo sapevi che puoi morire anche se bevi troppa acqua?
si chiama intossicazione da acqua
cercalo su google, stronzo.
il fatto che devi letteralmente continuare a tenerti in vita
letteralmente ti ucciderà.
in alcuni casi il novantotto per cento di te ti si rivolterà in un secondo.
l'acqua è la ragione dei miei problemi di fiducia
Così, per dare un'idea di che razza di minchiata sia questo libro. Che poi, LIBRO, parliamone.
se mangi una pizza intera da solo nel bosco,
senza farti vedere da nessuno,
le calorie contano?
UCCELLO
ho saltato oggi ma sono riuscita a sopravvivere
tutti credevano volessi morire;
volevo solo sapere cosa si prova a volare.
CONSIGLIO 5
fa' attenzione al potere di persuasione una volta ho convinto un'intera tavolata di persone che un pezzo di torta al cioccolato aveva il sapore di pasta al formaggio e tutti erano d'accordo nel dire che ero suonata comunque non credere a tutto quello che senti pensa con la tua testa sii te stesso
MATCH
a volte devi tirarti su,
darti una pettinata,
guardarti bene allo specchio
e chiederti,
"gli faccio like su tinder?"
DEVIATO
queste notti sono tremendamente noiose
senza il tuo tremendo russare.
S
contenta
IRONIA
il novantotto per cento del tuo corpo è composto da H2O.
novantotto. percento.
idratati, o morirai di sete.
ma lo sapevi che puoi morire anche se bevi troppa acqua?
si chiama intossicazione da acqua
cercalo su google, stronzo.
il fatto che devi letteralmente continuare a tenerti in vita
letteralmente ti ucciderà.
in alcuni casi il novantotto per cento di te ti si rivolterà in un secondo.
l'acqua è la ragione dei miei problemi di fiducia
Così, per dare un'idea di che razza di minchiata sia questo libro. Che poi, LIBRO, parliamone.
November 2, 2017
"some of these poems were written because inspiration struck, others were written because i had a deadline and needed to fill pages. can you guess which are which?" All of them??? (this is one of the poems btw)
This is honestly the worst thing I have ever read in my entire life.
These weren't poems whatsoever, some people said they felt like drunk tweets which I think half of them are so, but the other half felt like a poem a seven years old would have written for a school assignment.
The writing was bad, the orthography was horrendous (I know it was intentional but it felt so dumb), most of the poems (if not all of them) were awkward to read and felt so forced to either look "cool" and "edgy" or very philosophical. Some poems were literally like two words and made no sense (though neither of them did). Of all the poems I literally marked six of them as decent.
The only things that were good about this book were the illustrations, I actually really liked them and I think she is a good artist. However, this being a poetry book, the illustrations should not be the redemption because the entire fucking point of the book is the poems.(the cover is also very pretty)
I just don't understand how this was published. The entire book felt like a joke even though it wasn't one. Good luck if you read it.
This is honestly the worst thing I have ever read in my entire life.
These weren't poems whatsoever, some people said they felt like drunk tweets which I think half of them are so, but the other half felt like a poem a seven years old would have written for a school assignment.
The writing was bad, the orthography was horrendous (I know it was intentional but it felt so dumb), most of the poems (if not all of them) were awkward to read and felt so forced to either look "cool" and "edgy" or very philosophical. Some poems were literally like two words and made no sense (though neither of them did). Of all the poems I literally marked six of them as decent.
The only things that were good about this book were the illustrations, I actually really liked them and I think she is a good artist. However, this being a poetry book, the illustrations should not be the redemption because the entire fucking point of the book is the poems.
I just don't understand how this was published. The entire book felt like a joke even though it wasn't one. Good luck if you read it.
May 18, 2022
allow me to show you four pathetic excuses for “poetry” and four of the many reasons i do not read stuff written by influencers.
ADVICE 15
never let someone else be the reason u wake up in the morning
Tell that to my parents, darling. School waits for no child.
QUESTION
are you happy,
or are you not sad?
I’m actually in a towering rage, thank you for asking.
LINK
in bio.
How did that get published.
BREAKFAST
did you ever wake up in the morning
and really want a bowl of cereal
but you were out of milk
so instead of milk you used orange juice
and instead of cereal you used vodka?
That is #Tumblrdeep and also sounds like the most disgusting culinary combination ever.
LIKE
like, i didn’t think i was like, gonna like it the way
that i like it but, like, i like it.
Just like how I spent an hour of my life reading this that I’m never getting back.
ADVICE 15
never let someone else be the reason u wake up in the morning
Tell that to my parents, darling. School waits for no child.
QUESTION
are you happy,
or are you not sad?
I’m actually in a towering rage, thank you for asking.
LINK
in bio.
How did that get published.
BREAKFAST
did you ever wake up in the morning
and really want a bowl of cereal
but you were out of milk
so instead of milk you used orange juice
and instead of cereal you used vodka?
That is #Tumblrdeep and also sounds like the most disgusting culinary combination ever.
LIKE
like, i didn’t think i was like, gonna like it the way
that i like it but, like, i like it.
Just like how I spent an hour of my life reading this that I’m never getting back.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,798 reviews