Scan barcode
A review by ellyrarg
Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart
3.0
I did not expect this book to be what it is. I’ve seen a handful of her drunken cooking videos and thought it might be a bit of silly fun, but what came out was an intense, honest look at a truly traumatic upbringing. Woah buddy.
Weirdly, it felt like it finished too soon. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve been reading fiction, but I wanted to hear how things turned out at the end of the conservatorship with her Mama. What happened after that year?
Also, she didn’t discuss finances explicitly, but when she said she had money I was shocked to later discover her millionaire status (not because she doesn’t deserve it, she does, but more that we spent so much time reading about the poverty in which she lived, and then couch surfing or whatever, the switch - bar the fancy too big house that I stupidly assumed was affordable because of her partner- wasn’t really brought up, or it was implied/so subtle I missed it. Weird sidenote: I also watched the trailer for her show edible history and I hart food, which both rang so surface level after finishing such a vulnerable and honest book. I wish I hadn’t watched it while still processing the read).
But life is not a narrative with a tidy and complete ending and even with an intense glimpse into her life, what she chooses to share and what she doesn’t is up to her, and I imagine there is a lot more than what aspects she shared in the book (which is fine, privacy is definitely a thing people have a right to).
Overall, way more serious and insightful than I was expecting and a good (if heavy) read.
Weirdly, it felt like it finished too soon. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve been reading fiction, but I wanted to hear how things turned out at the end of the conservatorship with her Mama. What happened after that year?
Also, she didn’t discuss finances explicitly, but when she said she had money I was shocked to later discover her millionaire status (not because she doesn’t deserve it, she does, but more that we spent so much time reading about the poverty in which she lived, and then couch surfing or whatever, the switch - bar the fancy too big house that I stupidly assumed was affordable because of her partner- wasn’t really brought up, or it was implied/so subtle I missed it. Weird sidenote: I also watched the trailer for her show edible history and I hart food, which both rang so surface level after finishing such a vulnerable and honest book. I wish I hadn’t watched it while still processing the read).
But life is not a narrative with a tidy and complete ending and even with an intense glimpse into her life, what she chooses to share and what she doesn’t is up to her, and I imagine there is a lot more than what aspects she shared in the book (which is fine, privacy is definitely a thing people have a right to).
Overall, way more serious and insightful than I was expecting and a good (if heavy) read.