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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Solid read, especially if you have ever dealt with mental illness. This book isn't so much about Mara as a famous person, but rather Mara, the normal person...growing pains and all. Her description of OCD was funny/witty without taking away from the seriousness of the disease. Not quite up to 4 stars, but 3 seemed unfair. Mara is a gifted writer with a flair for telling a story. She's relatable, intelligent, and funny. Can't ask for much more.
Former child actress Mara Wilson's memoir gives a look in to her life after fame. She tells stories about the beginnings of her career, including her roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Mathilda, and how she got roles because she was an average relatable looking kid. Roles began to slow down after the death of her mother and she tells about how much of an impact it had on her mental health.
This isn't your average celebrity memoir. There's no downward spiral. There's no substance abuse. There's no criminal activity. This is about growing up after fame and dealing with real world issues like bulling, anxiety, and love. She is an excellent story teller that you can't help but relate to.
This isn't your average celebrity memoir. There's no downward spiral. There's no substance abuse. There's no criminal activity. This is about growing up after fame and dealing with real world issues like bulling, anxiety, and love. She is an excellent story teller that you can't help but relate to.
A thoroughly engrossing read! I couldn't put it down. I just wish there were more of it!
So interesting to know more about her life, especially what none of us knew what she was going through during Matilda. I teared up and I laughed out old. Great in audiobook.
A very interesting look into Mara Wilson's life. Despite her childhood fame, I related to a lot of things in this book.
2016 PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge - 24/41
*An autobiography*
3.75/5
I really love Mara Wilson -- her storytelling shows are incredible, not to mention her perpetually wonderful web presence, especially on Twitter. I really look up her, as a woman, as a writer, as a really candid voice in many conversations.
I started reading this about a month ago, put it down, then picked it back up again a little under halfway and read the remaining half in about a day -- I think this speaks to a bit of an unevenness with the distribution of the stories. The second half had the hilarious choir pieces, Mara's musings on OCD and anxiety, the Matilda-Whore complex, and generally felt more engaging than the first few essays.
For some reason, I felt like Mara's truly biting wit was a bit absent in this collection. That's not to say that it wasn't a great read, but maybe I'm so used to her scathing Tweets that I expected every single line of every single chapter to be a zinger. Maybe that's a failing on my part. But there were enough moments of pure recognition, moments where she wrote something so on-the-nose that I was a bit taken aback, to balance this out in my eyes.
I think Mara really nailed the tone and approach of this book -- there are no trashy blind items or eye-rolling name drops. It's a great mix of anecdotes that incorporate her acting career, totally innocuous high school dramas that anyone could relate to, and really moving tributes to her mother, to Robin, to herself. She's humble and self-aware enough to wink and nudge at her past without ever veering into cringe-y territory (except some of those school-time memories. Oof, can I relate.) Her voice is warm and relatable, like you can hear her telling them to you, but still feels substantial enough to carry the book.
Very excited to see where Mara's writing goes next. She's talked about doing a novel on various platforms, and I'd really love to see if/when/where she goes with that!
*An autobiography*
3.75/5
I really love Mara Wilson -- her storytelling shows are incredible, not to mention her perpetually wonderful web presence, especially on Twitter. I really look up her, as a woman, as a writer, as a really candid voice in many conversations.
I started reading this about a month ago, put it down, then picked it back up again a little under halfway and read the remaining half in about a day -- I think this speaks to a bit of an unevenness with the distribution of the stories. The second half had the hilarious choir pieces, Mara's musings on OCD and anxiety, the Matilda-Whore complex, and generally felt more engaging than the first few essays.
For some reason, I felt like Mara's truly biting wit was a bit absent in this collection. That's not to say that it wasn't a great read, but maybe I'm so used to her scathing Tweets that I expected every single line of every single chapter to be a zinger. Maybe that's a failing on my part. But there were enough moments of pure recognition, moments where she wrote something so on-the-nose that I was a bit taken aback, to balance this out in my eyes.
I think Mara really nailed the tone and approach of this book -- there are no trashy blind items or eye-rolling name drops. It's a great mix of anecdotes that incorporate her acting career, totally innocuous high school dramas that anyone could relate to, and really moving tributes to her mother, to Robin, to herself. She's humble and self-aware enough to wink and nudge at her past without ever veering into cringe-y territory (except some of those school-time memories. Oof, can I relate.) Her voice is warm and relatable, like you can hear her telling them to you, but still feels substantial enough to carry the book.
Very excited to see where Mara's writing goes next. She's talked about doing a novel on various platforms, and I'd really love to see if/when/where she goes with that!
Solid 3.5 stars. There were lines that made me literally LOL, which was appreciated. Wilson has definitely led an interesting life, and I particularly liked her memories of filming Matilda.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
It's difficult to criticize the content of a memoir without feeling unnecessarily mean, so I'll just say that I really, really appreciate Mara Wilson on Twitter and look forward to continuing to enjoy her voice there!