When I do my cardio at the gym I typically watch YouTube videos. Quite honestly it is a way to help kill the time faster and distract me in a way. I am so deep into the YouTube world it is honestly a little embarrassing to admit. I watch so many different types of videos and so many different creators. Makeup tutorials, haul videos, video game playthroughs (usually because I am too lazy to play games myself), and even some "drama" videos from time to time. I still watch those here and there of course, but for months now I have been loving Shane Dawson's videos. I especially love when he releases videos that are around thirty minutes since they take up my full cardio.

Now you are probably wondering why I am bringing this up. Well I am finally writing my next book review for this page that I have been hinting about for a while now. Shane Dawson has two books that are both collections of essays about his life. I was going to read them both and do one big review, but decided after finishing the first I didn't want to wait to do that. I have been so eager to write about this book for my blog that I am so happy I can finally do it today.

Before I get into the book too much I wanted to talk about Shane very briefly. Shane Dawson has been on YouTube for ten years now and has well over thirteen million subscribers (getting very close to fourteen). Surprisingly, I really only started watching him in January of this year. When I came across him on YouTube, I knew his name sounded familiar and he looked familiar but I never really watched him before that. I think it is safe to say I absolutely adore him now. Anyone that knows me will probably agree with that. His story is so relatable to me and so similar to things I have gone through in the past, but I will get more into that in the review. I love watching his videos and especially love watching them at the gym to help me push through the workout as I mentioned. Honestly, I probably look crazy laughing out loud on the treadmill or even in some cases (like during his series with Grav3yardgirl) cried while on a machine. I even make what I'm sure are some pretty humorous faces during his conspiracy theory videos. I honestly just love his videos so much and am always so excited for the next.

Now that I have spent three paragraphs gushing about the author, lets get into the book. I Hate Myselfie by Shane Dawson is a collection of essays all written by Shane himself. All of the essays are stories from his past and experiences he has had in his life. If you are someone who reads my posts frequently I am sure you are confused by the title of this book since I am always writing about positivity and self-love and reviewing books that help us achieve that, but I will get there I promise. If you are someone that has struggled with their weight and body image like I have and write about here often, I know you will be able to relate to this book. This book actually came out in 2015, but I thought it would be such a good fit to write about on my page here.

I found almost every story in this book relatable in some way. The many mentions of being overweight as a kid and teen completely hit home to me in a way I never really expected. I read the pages of this book and laughed a lot, and all the while thought of so many similarities to our stories. Now, I am sure not every one will be able to relate almost fully the way I did, but I am sure there are bits and pieces in there for you as well. So many of the stories ended on such a positive spin as well that honestly truly show what kind of person Shane is. One example that stands out in my mind is *spoiler alert* when he is working at a weight-loss center after losing a lot of weight himself. He realizes that a customer is someone he went to high school with that was more or less a bully to him. He sees that she has gained a lot of weight and the idea is presented to him to sell her into joining the center only to be sabotaged to gain more weight. He decides not to do this and instead gets her the help she truly needs with her weight. Be kind to people always, even when you are tempted the other way. There were a lot of examples of this, and even if it is disguised in a way, the message in a lot of his stories are pretty positive. Whether or not this was intentional I am not sure, but that is what I took out of it.

Just one example of the chapter artwork. This is on  page 93 of the book, and the artist is Sophie Lubos.