Hey guys,
So I am back with another book review, this time iJustine's, a.k.a Justine Ezarik's, book I, Justine. Before we get into the actual review can we please talk about the title of this book? Genius. I know Justine was having trouble with naming her book at the time but I think this title is so smart and just so...Justine.

Another thing I wanted to talk about before I get into the actual review is that Justine's book is a hardcover, and underneath the paper cover of the book it has iJustine's signature, which is also on her limited edition So So Happy hoodies. When I saw this I freaked out because I thought it was a really great addition to the book.

My iJustine Limited Edition So So Happy Hoodie

Okay, so moving onto the actual review part...
I was really surprised when I started to read this, normally when you read a YouTuber book they are written in a very casual and conversational style, however, this one was not. But I'm not saying that as a bad thing, I think that as an older YouTuber (not throwing shade, I promise, she is older than other YouTubers I watch), Justine was smart to write her book in a more formal sort of way. I know that online, Justine comes across as silly, and energetic and pretty much crazy sometimes, and that doesn't always translate over well when writing a book so I think it was better for her to write in a more formal tone. Besides, it was really nice to see another side of Justine, the side she doesn't show to the internet.
Of course, it wouldn't be iJustine without the occasional tweet thrown in there or emoji. I really liked that even though she didn't choose a casual form of writing for her book, she was still able to let her personality shine through. I would also love to know how long it took them to dig up those tweets because I know you can download your Twitter archive now but still...it must've taken forever.



Something that I really enjoyed about this book was learning about how Justine became iJustine. I mean I discovered Justine back in 2011 when she had already pretty much established herself and her brand so I had no idea how she ever came to be. And I think it's a really great story, as with most YouTubers, Justine didn't know exactly what she was doing when it came to YouTube but she did know she wanted to be involved with the internet. This is something that I really related to, because I too, love the internet and social media so reading about Justine's passion for technology and the internet I really enjoyed.
Again, with most YouTuber books this does help you understand a lot more about the person behind the camera. I know that Justine and many other content creators online often get accused of having it easy and that they don't even really work and get paid. However, if you've ever tried to make videos yourself, or read any YouTuber book then you know that is not the case. These people have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are today and I have to say that Justine is one of those people who has probably worked the hardest to establish herself in the way that she has.
In her book, she talks of how she used to work for a lot of start-up technology companies and would essentially be working for nothing because these companies couldn't afford to pay her. She also talks about how she took on lifecasting, which is the broadcasting of your life 24/7 with a camera on your head, I mean talk about commitment.
Another thing Justine talks about in her book is her love of Apple products and the time she almost met Steve Jobs. I really loved learning about how she actually came to love Apple and how it has inspired her to be the person she is today. As someone who has many obsessions, I can understand how she could come across a slightly crazed fan to Apple. I just think that it's crazy Apple has never reached out to work with Justine before, I feel like she'd be there best spokesperson, even if she is a little overly obsessed.
One thing that I think Justine talks about more than other YouTubers have is the backlash she has received online over the years and it definitely makes you more wary of the things you share with people online. As someone who had been lifecasting her life for months, Justine has come into her fair share of haters online but to read how far people have actually gone as a "prank" is really scary. I couldn't ever imagine being in that position. I think it really opens up your eyes to how terrible people can really be and that Internet hate should really be taken as a serious thing because even though people say it doesn't mean anything...it really can lead to something worse.
Overall I really enjoyed reading Justine's book because I got a sense of what the Internet used to be like, a time before YouTube was a major website and Twitter was only a start up company. It's kind of crazy to see how far we've come in such a short time. I also enjoyed reading about Justine's love of technology and how that has driven her and her career today.
I think the reason why I enjoyed Justine's book more than a lot of other YouTuber books is because I feel like I could really relate to her. I mean no, I've never coded and created a whole website in one afternoon out of hatred for someone but I also love technology and social media and I can understand the want to share that with people, even so far as to pressure people into joining social media. If you're passionate about something I feel like you just want to share it with people so that they too can also be passionate about it and maybe understand a little bit more about why you love it so much.
And if anything, I really see Justine as a huge inspiration. I think she's one of the reasons why I feel so okay with loving social media and technology. She also really inspires me to keep doing what I love even if it doesn't start to pay off immediately. I mean, this book just opened me up to a whole new understanding of how the internet used to be and where we are now, it's crazy to think that Twitch.tv, a website for streaming games started out as a lifecasting website. I had no idea...
So I would definitely recommend this book because it's so different from other YouTuber books, and it really does show you the reality of what it's like to live almost your whole life on the internet, it isn't as glamorous as most people would believe.
~ Courtney x