Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5 ⭐️ I listened to this book in 1 day! I waited to post this review since it was so personal to me and because it took a while for me to get the library ebook copy. I NEEDED to see the photos included in this book and I was not disappointed. I can’t even begin to write into words the impact Blink had on my life since middle school (1997), it seems silly to say that now since a lot of people only know Blink when they “sold out” and became “pop” but I don’t really care about other people’s opinions. I was there for this band since the beginning (even if Mark bags on Cheshire Cat, which I still love) and through every single time Tom quit and when Matt entered in his place. I will say California is one of my favorite blink albums because Alkaline Trio made an even LARGER impact on my life than Blink, it was like 2 of my loves colliding and finding one another. I can still remember where I was and who I was talking to when I found out about this new collab.
Ok now for the book, Mark is every bit as narcissistic as you’d expect a popular punk band lead singer to be… but he’s also honest, riddled with anxiety/fear and does take some humble responsibility for his failures (be it small ones). There isn’t much in this book that was new to me, as I mentioned, I always closely followed Blink through their ups, downs and tours. What I loved was the personal nostalgia it brought me, I went to Warped Tour, Pop Disaster with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, then the tour with Weezer. I was there for it all from a fan perspective. I loved hearing it from his point of view. While I didn’t think it was written amazingly well, I am reading another memoir from a comedian right now and it’s making Mark’s book look like a Shakespearean novel, so maybe I can be too harsh. If you were a fan of punk and pop punk in the 90s and 00s, pick this up and prepare yourself for a fun ride down memory lane. You get glimpses of so many other bands and venues, it truly made my heart happy.
I highly recommend listening but making sure you have a PDF or the book to see the pics. I am so glad I own this because I can see myself going back and listening to this again. While I may not love their new music like I used to, I will always have a special place in my heart for Mark, Tom, Trav and Matt… and even Scott.
This was my 37th book of 2025.
Format: Audible and Libby ebook for the photos.
Ok now for the book, Mark is every bit as narcissistic as you’d expect a popular punk band lead singer to be… but he’s also honest, riddled with anxiety/fear and does take some humble responsibility for his failures (be it small ones). There isn’t much in this book that was new to me, as I mentioned, I always closely followed Blink through their ups, downs and tours. What I loved was the personal nostalgia it brought me, I went to Warped Tour, Pop Disaster with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, then the tour with Weezer. I was there for it all from a fan perspective. I loved hearing it from his point of view. While I didn’t think it was written amazingly well, I am reading another memoir from a comedian right now and it’s making Mark’s book look like a Shakespearean novel, so maybe I can be too harsh. If you were a fan of punk and pop punk in the 90s and 00s, pick this up and prepare yourself for a fun ride down memory lane. You get glimpses of so many other bands and venues, it truly made my heart happy.
I highly recommend listening but making sure you have a PDF or the book to see the pics. I am so glad I own this because I can see myself going back and listening to this again. While I may not love their new music like I used to, I will always have a special place in my heart for Mark, Tom, Trav and Matt… and even Scott.
This was my 37th book of 2025.
Format: Audible and Libby ebook for the photos.
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
funny
informative
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
The life of Mark Hoppus is truly a roller coaster! Listening to him narrating this book made it that much more special when the emotion was clear in his voice. Also, the way that he structured this book is quite well done, linearly but also referencing things that would happen in the future and building that anticipation for those events. All in all, it made me appreciate blink-182 more and just be a fan of his in general.