Goodreads Synopsis
From online entertainment mogul, actress, and “queen of the geeks” Felicia Day, a funny, quirky, and inspiring memoir about her unusual upbringing, her rise to Internet-stardom, and embracing her individuality to find success in Hollywood. The Internet isn’t all cat videos. There’s also Felicia Day—violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become the ruler of a new world... or at least semi-influential in the world of Internet Geeks and Goodreads book clubs. After growing up in the south where she was "home-schooled for hippie reasons", Felicia moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But Felicia’s misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her own production company, and become an Internet star. Felicia’s short-ish life and her rags-to-riches rise to Internet fame launched her career as one of the most influential creators in new media. Now, Felicia’s strange world is filled with thoughts on creativity, video games, and a dash of mild feminist activism—just like her memoir. Hilarious and inspirational, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is proof that everyone should embrace what makes them different and be brave enough to share it with the world, because anything is possible now—even for a digital misfit.
About the book and my thoughts...
I love Felicia Day and honestly this book just made me love her more.
Felicia Day is the woman I wish I could be. She's quirky, she's funny and most of all she's true to who she is. She's very open about her struggles with anxiety, depression and most of all the struggle women went through to be in the gaming community.
The first time I stumbled across Felicia was when I sat down to watch A Town Called Eureka (well, I did originally watch her in Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I didn't realise it was her till years later!) Once the show finished I lost track of her and it wasn't until I watched an episode of Tabletop on Youtube (my dad loves boardgames) that I found her again. Felicia co-created the show with Will Wheaton along with the company Geek and Sundry.
When I read that she had written a book I had to have it however it took another year and a half for me to finally purchase the book and a year after to read it. Now, having read it I honestly regret leaving it that long.
Felicia had a very different up-bringing, something I couldn't connect with at first but something I came to love. I was rooting for her every step of the way and the fact that she created her web show, The Guild, with her two friends and whoever and whatever they could find was so inspiring. Since having read this book I have actually read the first three volumes of the comic books based on The Guild and absolutely loved them! I'm going to try and find the webseries to watch.
When I started this book I was scared that I wasn't going to mesh with Felcia but i was hooked from the introduction where she mentioned her view on life which is exactly the same as mine;
“I know I shouldn’t introduce my own memoir with this amount of insecurity, but my personal life philosophy is always to assume the worst, then you’re never disappointed. BAM! Highlight that previous sentence, baby!”
After reading this book and reading about her difficulties with anxiety and depression have made me realise that I want to stick with this blog. Even though its different from what most people spend their free time doing, its something I want to do and I need to be brave to share my thoughts with the world.
She also reminded me that no matter how lonely I start to feel there is always the online world such as bookstagram and the blogging community where I can be accepted for who I am.
So thank you Felicia, though I honestly doubt you'll ever read this. Thank you for proving to me that it's okay to be different then most people and that anything is possible as long as I put my heart into it.
My Rating: 5/5 stars
“But the heart of my story is that the world opened up for me once I decided to embrace who I am—unapologetically. My story demonstrates that there’s no better time in history to have a dream and be able to reach an audience with your art. Or just be as weird as you want to be and not have to be ashamed. That lesson’s just as legit.” ― Felicia Day.
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