Book Review: I'm Judging You

Book: I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi

Source: Library


Rating: 5 stars

Review:

We all know not to judge people but sometimes you just have to tell someone the truth especially when they are doing something oh so wrong. And that's just what author Luvvie Ajayi is doing with her humorous and insightful book I'm Judging You. This book which is divided into four sections covers a range of topics such as: bad manners, insta-fame, racism, sexism, social media and so much more.

In Part I: Life this section goes over topics such as bad hygiene, being late and more. There were times when some of the essays were so funny I couldn't stop laughing such as in "When Baehood Goes Bad". In that essay the author was describing the sad and pathetic state of her friend's relationship. For some reason her friend who has her life totally together was pretty much dating a loser and because that friend was so in love she could not see how pitiful her love life had become.

Meanwhile, in Part II: Culture this is where the essays forgoes any attempt at humor to focus on very heavy and important issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia and more. These are serious topics that require the reader to truly look within oneself and if you are not the ones spreading hate then do try to help stand up against it. These were very thought-provoking.

Part III: Social Media shifted back to a more humorous tone going over some of the whacky, weird and sometimes insensitive things people do online from people oversharing to people posting pictures of deceased love ones. When it comes to being online and using social media some seem to lack all of the good sense they should have. 

The last section Part IV: Fame goes over this new era of online celebs, reality TV stars, etc. and how some are willing to do whatever it takes to become famous or infamous including lie just to make their lives seem more exciting. It boggles the mind the strange things people are willing to do to either gain fame or trying their best to hold on to it.

This book is what I would consider to be wry yet unbelievable whip-smart as the author tries to point out our follies in hopes that we can see how we are in this world, be it from exhibiting extremely poor behavior to downright hatefulness. Don't worry she also points out her own. I like how she closes out the book with the epilogue: Do Something That Matters because it inspires hope that we can all make a difference in the world and you don't have to do something big for it to occur. The important thing is to help in whatever way you can.