[Book Review] Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart

Trigger Warnings: self harm, parental neglect, mental illness (anxiety, depression, schizophrenia), child protective services.

Hannah Hart, a wildly popular YouTube personality and a New York Times bestseller of her previous book My Drunk Kitchen, is back to dig up and share old memories from her past. By combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays deliver a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she's figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship, and fame.

5 STARS 

"I'm very proud of the person I am today. I'm proud to be gay. I'm proud to be a reckless optimist. I am proud to keep learning and sharing what I've learned. I'm proud to be a work in progress." 

I have been a subscriber to Hannah's YouTube channel www.youtube.com/harto for about five years now. I love her optimism, she is like the human equivalent of sunshine, so when reading Buffering, I was honestly really shocked and awed by what Hannah went through in her lifetime. If you know Hannah Hart from social media or YouTube you can probably agree with me that she seems to be a bit of a goofball, but in the best way. To think that someone so light and happy can have gone through some heavy and sad moments is really inspiring.

"This is a message for those of you who contemplate permanent solutions to temporary problems. You never know what could be coming in the future. There is so much music you've yet to hear." 

I have read my share of YouTuber books and I think Hannah's writing is the best I've read so far. She is very poetic without coming off like she's trying hard to be. She is a great story teller, and I never felt bored while reading, which can happen for me when it comes to memoirs. There are scenes in this book where I felt like I was in Hannah's shoes. Instead of feeling like she was telling me her story it felt like she had pulled me into it and I think that is hard to do when writing a memoir. With a lot of YouTuber memoirs, it talks a lot about bullying or feeling like the writer doesn't belong, and although I am not bashing that, those feelings and experiences are valid, Hannah's childhood and experiences with her family seemed so much more impacting when you think about the person she has grown into. I cannot emphasize how impressed and inspired I am of Hannah.

  

"Dealing with depression isn't about trying to run away from the feeling; it's about learning to walk alongside it."

Hannah writes a lot about her family, and even in the moments where it may not be their best. she writes them with care and love. I honestly felt like I got to know Hannah's family through her writing, and I kind of wanted to hug them all for different reasons. She makes you genuinely care for her family's safety and well being because she writes them with such affection. She tackles her mother's mental illness (schizophrenia) and her own anxiety and depression in a very respectful and meaningful way. She brings light to mental illness by talking about it, and she writes it in a way that it can be used to inspire the reader. She offers advice along with her vulnerability. She also uses her vulnerability in a way that you have to give her credit for, which is that she talks about mistakes she made because of the prejudices she once had. She said and did problematic things, but instead of brushing it under the rug or making it seem like no big deal she opened up about them. She shows her growth and maturity, which makes her seem even more mature.

Overall, I highly recommend this book and Hannah's YouTube channel. Her My Drunk Kitchen videos are hilarious and great and she recently got an adorable sphinx cat named Charles and I am just all about that kitten. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram. If you're in the mood for a inspiring and very real memoir I highly recommend picking up Buffering by Hannah Hart.

Thanks for reading!