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A Sucky Love Story: Overcoming Unhappily Ever After
What if falling in love meant almost losing everything?
Where does a moderately popular internet star who never leaves her house look for potential suitors? Online. Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, OkCupid—I tried them all. My thirty-two-year-old self clicked and swiped her little heart out, leading to more dates than I could count, and more disappointment than I was prepared for.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe you know all too well the perils of modern dating. But let’s say, eventually, you meet someone. You think to yourself, “Wow, they’re perfect! Take me off the market, put a ring on it, knock me up, the whole enchilada, because they are ‘the one.’” Let’s also say that they “feel the same way” about you. Your life starts to make sense! All the pain, heartbreak, and frustration from past failed relationships was worth it. Slow clap.
That’s how I felt about Milos. He was from Europe, a doctor, wealthy, athletic. He had an accent and a dog. Milos was textbook marriage material.
For him it was “love at first sight,” but for me, it was “anxiety on every date.”
Something was telling me to run—but for two years, the only running I did was straight into his arms.
If only I would have listened.
This isn’t a love story.
It’s my story of survival.
Where does a moderately popular internet star who never leaves her house look for potential suitors? Online. Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, OkCupid—I tried them all. My thirty-two-year-old self clicked and swiped her little heart out, leading to more dates than I could count, and more disappointment than I was prepared for.
Maybe you can relate. Maybe you know all too well the perils of modern dating. But let’s say, eventually, you meet someone. You think to yourself, “Wow, they’re perfect! Take me off the market, put a ring on it, knock me up, the whole enchilada, because they are ‘the one.’” Let’s also say that they “feel the same way” about you. Your life starts to make sense! All the pain, heartbreak, and frustration from past failed relationships was worth it. Slow clap.
That’s how I felt about Milos. He was from Europe, a doctor, wealthy, athletic. He had an accent and a dog. Milos was textbook marriage material.
For him it was “love at first sight,” but for me, it was “anxiety on every date.”
Something was telling me to run—but for two years, the only running I did was straight into his arms.
If only I would have listened.
This isn’t a love story.
It’s my story of survival.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published December 4, 2018
257 people are currently reading
4537 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 622 reviews
May 8, 2019
Edit: Changed the 'Brittnai' to 'Brittani'.
Edit 23/12/18
Lowering to 3 stars. The more I sit on it, the more the writing style grates on my nerves. Again, this has nothing to do with her story of survival, just the style in which this book was written.
3.5 maybe 4?
First and foremost, it's really hard to accurately review and rate a book that details events in a persons life. I rarely leave reviews for books based on true events because it's so easy to say things like 'If that were me, this would never happen', 'how could they be so naive?' 'Red-flags!!', 'where were her friends, her parents, anybody', 'why didn't they just walk away?'. It's so easy call people out on things we would and would not do in a situation. We'd all like to be the hero, we'd all like to be 'the good guy', the person who stood up and took action. Call Brittani naive, call her out for being there only for the money, it still doesn't take away what happened and nobody deserves to go what she went through.
A Sucky Love Story basically answers every question any Brittnai fan had through the whole ordeal. How she met her abuser, how quickly their relationship moved, behind the scenes of her videos, her son's name. From the first time having sex to the final court date, Brittnai wrote about it.
I'm super glad that she wrote this book and is healing from her past trauma and her story is super important.
My only gripe really stems from the writing style itself which has nothing to do with Brittani's healing or trauma itself. There were times when the writing style just 'wasn't my thing'. The cutesy winky face asides and over describing how good looking certain guys were made me roll my eyes. It made the narrative read like immature young adult novel. I can only take so much talk about muscles and 'big blue eyes' before it became repetitive after awhile. In all fairness, the 'cutesy' writing did taper off towards the end. I also felt like there were some pretty outdated opinions on how men and women work when it comes to dating and there were some petty judgements all around involving weight and sexual experience.
With this being said, I want it to be clear my rating has nothing to do with Brittani's experience, her story or her healing, but rather the writing style. I do hope that she continues to grow as a person and a writer.
******************************
Pre Review Thoughts:
While I'm super happy that she's finding a path to healing from an abusive relationship, I'm really hoping that this book isn't as 'Click Bait' in nature as her videos have been leading up to this. There's a couple things that seem a little iffy about the publishing of this book. I kind of don't get why she's not allowed to talk about it in a video for legal reasons but is allowed to publish a book. Genuinely curious as to why one is legal and the other one isn't legal.
Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if she reconnects with Shane Dawson and he centers one of his documentaries around her.
Edit 23/12/18
Lowering to 3 stars. The more I sit on it, the more the writing style grates on my nerves. Again, this has nothing to do with her story of survival, just the style in which this book was written.
3.5 maybe 4?
First and foremost, it's really hard to accurately review and rate a book that details events in a persons life. I rarely leave reviews for books based on true events because it's so easy to say things like 'If that were me, this would never happen', 'how could they be so naive?' 'Red-flags!!', 'where were her friends, her parents, anybody', 'why didn't they just walk away?'. It's so easy call people out on things we would and would not do in a situation. We'd all like to be the hero, we'd all like to be 'the good guy', the person who stood up and took action. Call Brittani naive, call her out for being there only for the money, it still doesn't take away what happened and nobody deserves to go what she went through.
A Sucky Love Story basically answers every question any Brittnai fan had through the whole ordeal. How she met her abuser, how quickly their relationship moved, behind the scenes of her videos, her son's name. From the first time having sex to the final court date, Brittnai wrote about it.
I'm super glad that she wrote this book and is healing from her past trauma and her story is super important.
My only gripe really stems from the writing style itself which has nothing to do with Brittani's healing or trauma itself. There were times when the writing style just 'wasn't my thing'. The cutesy winky face asides and over describing how good looking certain guys were made me roll my eyes. It made the narrative read like immature young adult novel. I can only take so much talk about muscles and 'big blue eyes' before it became repetitive after awhile. In all fairness, the 'cutesy' writing did taper off towards the end. I also felt like there were some pretty outdated opinions on how men and women work when it comes to dating and there were some petty judgements all around involving weight and sexual experience.
With this being said, I want it to be clear my rating has nothing to do with Brittani's experience, her story or her healing, but rather the writing style. I do hope that she continues to grow as a person and a writer.
******************************
Pre Review Thoughts:
While I'm super happy that she's finding a path to healing from an abusive relationship, I'm really hoping that this book isn't as 'Click Bait' in nature as her videos have been leading up to this. There's a couple things that seem a little iffy about the publishing of this book. I kind of don't get why she's not allowed to talk about it in a video for legal reasons but is allowed to publish a book. Genuinely curious as to why one is legal and the other one isn't legal.
Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if she reconnects with Shane Dawson and he centers one of his documentaries around her.
February 17, 2019
Update: I still stand behind everything I said in this review, but I wholeheartedly believe that if you want to know this story, I recommend you going and watching Shane Dawson’s conspiracy YouTube video. She tells then story in its entirety and some more stuff that she may have left out but you can tell how she actually truly feels about the situation and a lot of the after math. Plus it’s just a good video. And Shane edits some of her hard proof in, with video evidence of stuff happening. It’s amazing to watch that instead, you won’t regret it. Her story is unbelievable and you should definitely listen to what she had to say, just not in book form.
Original review:
Look, I love brittani. I’ve been following her channel since I was 12 years old, I love watching videos of her son doing silly things in public, and I enjoy her creative content on the internet. Her fiancé or whatever he was always gave me weird vibes and tbh, I wasn’t surprised when she first announced that he wasn’t in the picture anymore. I empathize with her experience and am so happy that she no longer has to deal with the pain she must have been going through during this whole ordeal.
BUT: I will say a lot of the stuff that she said in this book I just cannot support. And that sucks.
1. Her writing sucks. I’m not saying that I’m the best writer in the world, but I mean her rambling on for 3 chapters about how shitty dating is doesn’t really help her explain the story of what happened to her followers (which is what this book was). There were parts where I literally was yelling “WHY DOES THIS MATTER” and it didn’t matter to the story at all. Her saying that she didn’t drink, and explaining in full detail why, the whole thing about the kid with the stickers, a lot of the side stories. I didn’t care. I just wanted to know why milos was a dick. It’s hard to believe that companies pay her to write for them when this book was hardly anything more than diary ramblings. I know that sounds harsh but seriously I couldn’t look past the writing for the story which I can typically do.
2. I cannot believe I supported someone all this time who talked about sex and porn and “sluttyness” like it was wrong and gross. I don’t care if you lost your virginity at 12 or 65, as long as you are having safe sex, your choices are valid. Period. I’m really not okay with a influencer putting these thoughts into young girls heads as if they’re facts when her conservative morals and opinions are just that: HER conservative morals. I don’t think anyone will leave this story feeling like this was a great love story (because obviously not) but let’s not put these thoughts into kids heads, okay?
3. She flip flopped so much. “Physical attraction comes first” “I care about the heart and mind”. Just pick one okay?
4. I listened to the audio book and lord do I regret it. It’s by far the worst audiobook ever which is weird because like... she narrates it, and she wrote it. But I had to listen to it on 2x speed in order for it to not be painfully slow. And there was mistakes in the audio? Bloopers and shit where she messed up but they didn’t edit it out? Idk man weird.
Look, all in all, I’m glad I know now, as a fan of hers, and as a woman. I’m glad her and her family are safe, and that that asshole is FAR away from them for awhile, at least. But as far as YouTube books go, this is not it, my dudes. Just read a spoilery review and don’t waste your time.
I’m sorry Brittani if you ever read this. Please don’t mistake this review as a dig at your pain. It’s not. Your pain is valid and I’m so glad you spread your story to (hopefully) someone who needs to hear it. I just wish there was a *little* more effort put into the sharing of said story. I really wanted to like this. I truly did.
Original review:
Look, I love brittani. I’ve been following her channel since I was 12 years old, I love watching videos of her son doing silly things in public, and I enjoy her creative content on the internet. Her fiancé or whatever he was always gave me weird vibes and tbh, I wasn’t surprised when she first announced that he wasn’t in the picture anymore. I empathize with her experience and am so happy that she no longer has to deal with the pain she must have been going through during this whole ordeal.
BUT: I will say a lot of the stuff that she said in this book I just cannot support. And that sucks.
1. Her writing sucks. I’m not saying that I’m the best writer in the world, but I mean her rambling on for 3 chapters about how shitty dating is doesn’t really help her explain the story of what happened to her followers (which is what this book was). There were parts where I literally was yelling “WHY DOES THIS MATTER” and it didn’t matter to the story at all. Her saying that she didn’t drink, and explaining in full detail why, the whole thing about the kid with the stickers, a lot of the side stories. I didn’t care. I just wanted to know why milos was a dick. It’s hard to believe that companies pay her to write for them when this book was hardly anything more than diary ramblings. I know that sounds harsh but seriously I couldn’t look past the writing for the story which I can typically do.
2. I cannot believe I supported someone all this time who talked about sex and porn and “sluttyness” like it was wrong and gross. I don’t care if you lost your virginity at 12 or 65, as long as you are having safe sex, your choices are valid. Period. I’m really not okay with a influencer putting these thoughts into young girls heads as if they’re facts when her conservative morals and opinions are just that: HER conservative morals. I don’t think anyone will leave this story feeling like this was a great love story (because obviously not) but let’s not put these thoughts into kids heads, okay?
3. She flip flopped so much. “Physical attraction comes first” “I care about the heart and mind”. Just pick one okay?
4. I listened to the audio book and lord do I regret it. It’s by far the worst audiobook ever which is weird because like... she narrates it, and she wrote it. But I had to listen to it on 2x speed in order for it to not be painfully slow. And there was mistakes in the audio? Bloopers and shit where she messed up but they didn’t edit it out? Idk man weird.
Look, all in all, I’m glad I know now, as a fan of hers, and as a woman. I’m glad her and her family are safe, and that that asshole is FAR away from them for awhile, at least. But as far as YouTube books go, this is not it, my dudes. Just read a spoilery review and don’t waste your time.
I’m sorry Brittani if you ever read this. Please don’t mistake this review as a dig at your pain. It’s not. Your pain is valid and I’m so glad you spread your story to (hopefully) someone who needs to hear it. I just wish there was a *little* more effort put into the sharing of said story. I really wanted to like this. I truly did.
December 5, 2018
I came across this book on my Instagram feed and ended up watching some of Brittani's videos and I was just instantly curious about her story so I downloaded my first audio book. I actually did not follow Brittani on YouTube before. First of all I have to say that it is a fascinating and terrifying story. I have to commend her on being able to write this and I'm so glad that she and her son are safe.
Although the story is really interesting and worth telling, the book is just not very well written. I understand that this is her first book but it could have used some editing. The first quarter of the book kind of slogs and just isn't that interesting. There's also a lot of "cutesy winky face" asides that probably come across funnier and cuter on YouTube than in writing. With such a fascinating story to tell, I wish there was more time and effort put in before publishing. From her videos it seemed like the book was the safest way to tell her story so I can understand her wanting to put it out there as soon as possible.
Although the story is really interesting and worth telling, the book is just not very well written. I understand that this is her first book but it could have used some editing. The first quarter of the book kind of slogs and just isn't that interesting. There's also a lot of "cutesy winky face" asides that probably come across funnier and cuter on YouTube than in writing. With such a fascinating story to tell, I wish there was more time and effort put in before publishing. From her videos it seemed like the book was the safest way to tell her story so I can understand her wanting to put it out there as soon as possible.
December 26, 2018
I had to return this Kindle book. This is a rare occurrence for me. I can’t think of the last time I’ve returned one- if ever.
The writing is so poorly done; I could not finish.
I read the book gets better towards the end- but the editor should have ensured ALL the content was written well.
I will look up online what ended up happening. Maybe. I don’t care all that much, tbh.
I think I stopped caring after the comment towards clinical depression- like it’s something annoying to her. (THAT was a character flaw in one of her boyfriends.) Please.
I suffer from bipolar disorder; so I take mental health seriously. I do not tolerate anything less than respect in regards to someone suffering from depression.
Thank u, Next.
The writing is so poorly done; I could not finish.
I read the book gets better towards the end- but the editor should have ensured ALL the content was written well.
I will look up online what ended up happening. Maybe. I don’t care all that much, tbh.
I think I stopped caring after the comment towards clinical depression- like it’s something annoying to her. (THAT was a character flaw in one of her boyfriends.) Please.
I suffer from bipolar disorder; so I take mental health seriously. I do not tolerate anything less than respect in regards to someone suffering from depression.
Thank u, Next.
December 18, 2018
I want to preface this review by stating that my opinion is not a reflection of the trauma Brittani suffered or an invalidation of what she experienced. I am so glad that she was able to escape from a toxic situation and that she is now working on processing and healing and I wish her all the best.
TW: abuse, sociopathic behavior, domestic violence
This is the first time I have ever returned a Kindle book for a refund.
Although I was able to finish it in twenty-four hours, this book was difficult to read--not because of the absolutely insane events that transpired (and they are a doozy), but because this work DESPERATELY needed the hand of an editor or more experienced writer. The publishing house should be embarrassed at the number of typos and grammatical errors (usually the wrong word choice that wouldn't have been caught on spellcheck--"story" rather than "store," for instance). This was not the quality of work that I would expect to see in print and ultimately does Brittani and her tale a HUGE disservice by distracting you from the sequence of events.
Brittany is known for her YouTube videos. Film is a medium in which she is comfortable and obviously succeeds. She does not have experience in this type of writing and it shows glaringly. I don't mind a conversational style, but this work was next level. The amount. Of half-made sentences. Was enough to. Halt you through reading. The sentences that weren't chopped up were all dialogue--so much mundane and unnecessary dialogue. Honestly, it read as though she originally filmed this as a video, learned the potential legal repercussions of posting said video, and transcribed it into a Word document which Post Hill Press immediately sent to the printer without even opening it.
In addition to all of the technical issues, I was shocked to read all of Brittani's unnecessary and often times cruel commentary on other people's appearances as well as her incessant need to slut-shame every other woman in her story (except for maybe her mother). The physical descriptions didn't add to the book and honestly made Brittani look like someone she probably isn't. I had only recently gotten into watching her videos, and at this point I have no desire to watch any more. She just isn't the type of person I want to learn more about or hear from, especially if she wants to spend so much energy putting others down.
The marketing for this book was huge. And it worked. Her physical book is sold out on Amazon, so good for her. I just think that it was rushed to publish and will ultimately hurt her and her brand.
tl;dr :: this book is rife with technical issues that make it almost unreadable. Save your time and money and read a spoilery review instead.
TW: abuse, sociopathic behavior, domestic violence
This is the first time I have ever returned a Kindle book for a refund.
Although I was able to finish it in twenty-four hours, this book was difficult to read--not because of the absolutely insane events that transpired (and they are a doozy), but because this work DESPERATELY needed the hand of an editor or more experienced writer. The publishing house should be embarrassed at the number of typos and grammatical errors (usually the wrong word choice that wouldn't have been caught on spellcheck--"story" rather than "store," for instance). This was not the quality of work that I would expect to see in print and ultimately does Brittani and her tale a HUGE disservice by distracting you from the sequence of events.
Brittany is known for her YouTube videos. Film is a medium in which she is comfortable and obviously succeeds. She does not have experience in this type of writing and it shows glaringly. I don't mind a conversational style, but this work was next level. The amount. Of half-made sentences. Was enough to. Halt you through reading. The sentences that weren't chopped up were all dialogue--so much mundane and unnecessary dialogue. Honestly, it read as though she originally filmed this as a video, learned the potential legal repercussions of posting said video, and transcribed it into a Word document which Post Hill Press immediately sent to the printer without even opening it.
In addition to all of the technical issues, I was shocked to read all of Brittani's unnecessary and often times cruel commentary on other people's appearances as well as her incessant need to slut-shame every other woman in her story (except for maybe her mother). The physical descriptions didn't add to the book and honestly made Brittani look like someone she probably isn't. I had only recently gotten into watching her videos, and at this point I have no desire to watch any more. She just isn't the type of person I want to learn more about or hear from, especially if she wants to spend so much energy putting others down.
The marketing for this book was huge. And it worked. Her physical book is sold out on Amazon, so good for her. I just think that it was rushed to publish and will ultimately hurt her and her brand.
tl;dr :: this book is rife with technical issues that make it almost unreadable. Save your time and money and read a spoilery review instead.
December 5, 2018
actual rating: 4.5
Trigger Warning: Abuse, Domestic Abuse
I've been watching Brittani since i was in high school and i've always loved her upbeat and bubbly personality and found her to be different to everyone else on youtube and still do to this day.
I remember watching each video year after year, i still remember when she started vlogging her daily life i was interested as most of her subscribers were how she lived her life in the youtube world. I also remember when she announced that she was engaged and pregnant i was so happy for her because something was going good for someone on the internet or so we all thought.
Behind closed doors and away from the camera things weren't all smiles and i'm so shocked of what Brittani went through over the next couple of years. I'm so glad that Brittani got the courage enough to sit down and write this incredible story about what she went through after meeting this man she thought she was going to spend her rest of her life with but things didn't go that way for her.
Things were seemingly going very well for her in the first stage of the relationship but soon things started to unravel and reveal themselves and Brittani just knew she had to get out of this situation but things proved to be harder for her then she expected.
The manipulation that Brittani endured was incredible and i can't even imagine what it was like for her to even go through this struggle. Things got a little more messy when Brittani found out she was pregnant with his child and now things came a fight to keep not only herself safe but also her sons safety.
I along with other people wondered what was going on with Brittani because she suddenly stopped posting weekly vlogs and was going absent for huge amounts of times, there were so many theories to what was going on. I never paid any attention to them however i knew there were plenty of gossip sits and forums talking about what they think happened and some people went as far as searching for answers.
Brittani one day announced that she would be releasing a book and will be finally telling her story and i would have never in my wildest dreams imagined this is what happened to her. Brittani should be proud about what she's written about because it gives a voice for others to speak out and for people like me to stand up and use our voices to say something if we see this happening.
Please go read this story because it's a beautifully written story about what Brittani went through and what she had to overcome to get to where she is today.
Trigger Warning: Abuse, Domestic Abuse
I've been watching Brittani since i was in high school and i've always loved her upbeat and bubbly personality and found her to be different to everyone else on youtube and still do to this day.
I remember watching each video year after year, i still remember when she started vlogging her daily life i was interested as most of her subscribers were how she lived her life in the youtube world. I also remember when she announced that she was engaged and pregnant i was so happy for her because something was going good for someone on the internet or so we all thought.
Behind closed doors and away from the camera things weren't all smiles and i'm so shocked of what Brittani went through over the next couple of years. I'm so glad that Brittani got the courage enough to sit down and write this incredible story about what she went through after meeting this man she thought she was going to spend her rest of her life with but things didn't go that way for her.
Things were seemingly going very well for her in the first stage of the relationship but soon things started to unravel and reveal themselves and Brittani just knew she had to get out of this situation but things proved to be harder for her then she expected.
The manipulation that Brittani endured was incredible and i can't even imagine what it was like for her to even go through this struggle. Things got a little more messy when Brittani found out she was pregnant with his child and now things came a fight to keep not only herself safe but also her sons safety.
I along with other people wondered what was going on with Brittani because she suddenly stopped posting weekly vlogs and was going absent for huge amounts of times, there were so many theories to what was going on. I never paid any attention to them however i knew there were plenty of gossip sits and forums talking about what they think happened and some people went as far as searching for answers.
Brittani one day announced that she would be releasing a book and will be finally telling her story and i would have never in my wildest dreams imagined this is what happened to her. Brittani should be proud about what she's written about because it gives a voice for others to speak out and for people like me to stand up and use our voices to say something if we see this happening.
Please go read this story because it's a beautifully written story about what Brittani went through and what she had to overcome to get to where she is today.
February 16, 2019
This is the writing of a 12 year old with the (emotional) intelligence of someone the same age.
Honestly, I find it kind of disturbing that it's written by a woman in her 30s.
I don't know what she went through before Milos to be so superficial and a virgin until her 30s. But it left obviously her emotionally stunted.
She falls in love with this guy solely based on his look and a fictional character she co-created with him. She constantly talks about how she doesn't like him, but continues to go out on dates with him, because his so "hot". Then when he finally starts telling her what she wants to hear she concludes: "Finally, he was genuine." What?! Also, his honestly was one of the things she fell in love with...?!
There is no deeper character description of Milos, but she keeps repeating how "sexy and hot" he is... there's video of him on youtube... the guy is in his 20s and balding! I mean...
Her believing in the pull-out method and not checking online is beyond stupid, I have no words. This is a woman in her 30s!
When it comes to the baby's name there's this:
Chapter 10: "My baby daddy also wanted his son to have a Serbian name, understandably, and I didn’t care what he was called as long as he was mine."
Chapter 18: "Milos was a controlling monster. What he said, went, or there were repercussions. He said our son was going to have a Serbian name, and that was that."
She can't keep her story straight. What was is? Did you not care or was he a controlling monster?
Honestly, when I look at the youtube videos I honestly feel like she is an inauthentic and immature person, who'd do anything for money. I honestly think that there are real victims out there and I'm not sure how much of her story is true and how much she played up to make for a better story.
And here's another nugget, her mom telling her:
"She further explained that I was so brainwashed and controlled, that she didn’t know if I would ever snap out of it. That even if she had told me he was faking his disease, I wouldn’t have believed her. Sadly, she was right."
Also, nowhere in the book does she take any responsibility or address the things she has learned from this relationship, apart from "make a background check" - really??? That's the conclusion?
I cringe at this book and the person behind it.
Honestly, I find it kind of disturbing that it's written by a woman in her 30s.
I don't know what she went through before Milos to be so superficial and a virgin until her 30s. But it left obviously her emotionally stunted.
She falls in love with this guy solely based on his look and a fictional character she co-created with him. She constantly talks about how she doesn't like him, but continues to go out on dates with him, because his so "hot". Then when he finally starts telling her what she wants to hear she concludes: "Finally, he was genuine." What?! Also, his honestly was one of the things she fell in love with...?!
There is no deeper character description of Milos, but she keeps repeating how "sexy and hot" he is... there's video of him on youtube... the guy is in his 20s and balding! I mean...
Her believing in the pull-out method and not checking online is beyond stupid, I have no words. This is a woman in her 30s!
When it comes to the baby's name there's this:
Chapter 10: "My baby daddy also wanted his son to have a Serbian name, understandably, and I didn’t care what he was called as long as he was mine."
Chapter 18: "Milos was a controlling monster. What he said, went, or there were repercussions. He said our son was going to have a Serbian name, and that was that."
She can't keep her story straight. What was is? Did you not care or was he a controlling monster?
Honestly, when I look at the youtube videos I honestly feel like she is an inauthentic and immature person, who'd do anything for money. I honestly think that there are real victims out there and I'm not sure how much of her story is true and how much she played up to make for a better story.
And here's another nugget, her mom telling her:
"She further explained that I was so brainwashed and controlled, that she didn’t know if I would ever snap out of it. That even if she had told me he was faking his disease, I wouldn’t have believed her. Sadly, she was right."
Also, nowhere in the book does she take any responsibility or address the things she has learned from this relationship, apart from "make a background check" - really??? That's the conclusion?
I cringe at this book and the person behind it.
March 4, 2019
I've never watched Brittani's videos before, but I first heard just a tiny bit about her book when she was on Meghan Rienks podcast, then a lot more about it from Shane Dawson's conspiracy video. Honestly, the Shane video pretty much tells you what you need to know, but I was just so interested that I picked up her book to see if there were some more details.
Her story is absolutely insane. I kind of hate myself for being so interested in it because it was horrible what happened to her, but a really important story to tell as we do need to look out for these kind of red flags in the world we live in. From a "plot" aspect, this book was thrilling.
The actual WRITING and execution however was a hot mess. Writing obviously isn't Brittani's career but you would think that an editor would of helped out more. I half listened, half read this. I can't speak for the full audiobook, but when I switched to reading the ebook I definitely noticed mistakes. The way she writes is very . . basic? Almost to the point where sometimes she sounds off putting. I really didn't appreciate the slut shaming that occurred in this book. You can have conservative morals for yourself without putting down others for their choices.
And oh my GOD if this book isn't the biggest example of BELIEVE WOMEN WHEN THEY SAY A MAN IS SKETCHY!!! Brittani claims to be a feminist but sis needs to do some more readings or something because she has some shit to learn still. Bunny is the MVP of this story and I stan her.
If you're really interested in her story, then this is a pretty fast, thrilling book to read, just don't expect it to be done well. If you're only a little interested, watch Shane's video and call it a day.
Her story is absolutely insane. I kind of hate myself for being so interested in it because it was horrible what happened to her, but a really important story to tell as we do need to look out for these kind of red flags in the world we live in. From a "plot" aspect, this book was thrilling.
The actual WRITING and execution however was a hot mess. Writing obviously isn't Brittani's career but you would think that an editor would of helped out more. I half listened, half read this. I can't speak for the full audiobook, but when I switched to reading the ebook I definitely noticed mistakes. The way she writes is very . . basic? Almost to the point where sometimes she sounds off putting. I really didn't appreciate the slut shaming that occurred in this book. You can have conservative morals for yourself without putting down others for their choices.
And oh my GOD if this book isn't the biggest example of BELIEVE WOMEN WHEN THEY SAY A MAN IS SKETCHY!!! Brittani claims to be a feminist but sis needs to do some more readings or something because she has some shit to learn still. Bunny is the MVP of this story and I stan her.
If you're really interested in her story, then this is a pretty fast, thrilling book to read, just don't expect it to be done well. If you're only a little interested, watch Shane's video and call it a day.
December 19, 2018
Look I don't want to downplay the fact that Brittani deserved to tell this story and I am extremely glad she got out of this situation and got to tell this story because what she details in this book is inconceivable and horrible and noone should ever have to experience it.
However, everything about this could've been done better.
The writing was, in my opinion, absolutely awful. It was entirely juvenile and the sentences ran into each other and there were grammar mistakes and hanging clauses everywhere, not to mention a lot of the stuff that she wrote about (for long periods) were completely irrelevant to the story? I can't tell you how many times I heard about an outfit unnecessarily or had inconsequential details described that just were. not. needed.
Secondly, some of the opinions expressed in this were just straight up toxic. The author's views are quite conservative and that's fine, but the way she expressed them often felt preachy and judgemental of anyone who disagreed. The way she speaks about porn and sex and alcohol and drugs (to name a few topics) was downright degrading and very polarising and I felt uncomfortable at multiple moments that she was judging anyone who felt differently to her.
I also pretty much hated any time she would describe anyone's appearance in this book, because it was in most cases completely unnecessary and was often cruel honestly, particularly the way she'd describe people's weight or small body imperfections such as body hair, appearance of teeth and height. She described Milos (the guy she was with) SO MANY TIMES in the exact same ways and often she'd be detailing how hot and sexy he was right in the middle of explaining an abuse scenario which is just confusing as a reader (although obviously far more confusing for her).
I listened to this on audiobook and I noticed that she spoke veeeeeeerrrrrry slowly so if it wasn't for Audible's x2 feature I probably wouldn't have been able to get through this book. Also, Brittani put on accents in her narration of conversations which I felt really took away from the severity and reality of the story. This book wasn't that long, but the way the chapters were split up also felt quite clunky at times? Also I definitely noticed some bloopers that just weren't removed from the book? I'm just baffled as to why this wasn't edited or produced more crisply, we shouldn't have to listen to the narrator of an audiobook mispronounce a word and re-read it.
And finally, THE COVER. While at first I thought this was maybe a satirical cover trying make fun of goofy, overly fluffy, uplifting love story covers, after finishing I don't think the team behind this book was being that clever, and I hate this cover. The colours, the styling, the font, the look on her face, it's all in stark contrast to the content of this book and it really downplays the book. This book could've had a really great cover with darker hues and only words on it and I think that would've better conveyed the seriousness of the book and the harsh content that it depicts (although I'm not in publishing or graphic design so maybe I have no idea what I'm saying).
Overall, I'm giving this book 2 stars because I do feel glad that I read and it passed quickly because I was engrossed in the story. Again, I have no hard feelings towards Brittani, I think this is ultimately a tale of a woman who was dealt a terrible hand and showed great strength in getting her and her baby out of the situation. That being said, I'm honouring Brittani's struggle with an extra star but the writing and the production of this novel gets a 1 star from me for sure.
However, everything about this could've been done better.
The writing was, in my opinion, absolutely awful. It was entirely juvenile and the sentences ran into each other and there were grammar mistakes and hanging clauses everywhere, not to mention a lot of the stuff that she wrote about (for long periods) were completely irrelevant to the story? I can't tell you how many times I heard about an outfit unnecessarily or had inconsequential details described that just were. not. needed.
Secondly, some of the opinions expressed in this were just straight up toxic. The author's views are quite conservative and that's fine, but the way she expressed them often felt preachy and judgemental of anyone who disagreed. The way she speaks about porn and sex and alcohol and drugs (to name a few topics) was downright degrading and very polarising and I felt uncomfortable at multiple moments that she was judging anyone who felt differently to her.
I also pretty much hated any time she would describe anyone's appearance in this book, because it was in most cases completely unnecessary and was often cruel honestly, particularly the way she'd describe people's weight or small body imperfections such as body hair, appearance of teeth and height. She described Milos (the guy she was with) SO MANY TIMES in the exact same ways and often she'd be detailing how hot and sexy he was right in the middle of explaining an abuse scenario which is just confusing as a reader (although obviously far more confusing for her).
I listened to this on audiobook and I noticed that she spoke veeeeeeerrrrrry slowly so if it wasn't for Audible's x2 feature I probably wouldn't have been able to get through this book. Also, Brittani put on accents in her narration of conversations which I felt really took away from the severity and reality of the story. This book wasn't that long, but the way the chapters were split up also felt quite clunky at times? Also I definitely noticed some bloopers that just weren't removed from the book? I'm just baffled as to why this wasn't edited or produced more crisply, we shouldn't have to listen to the narrator of an audiobook mispronounce a word and re-read it.
And finally, THE COVER. While at first I thought this was maybe a satirical cover trying make fun of goofy, overly fluffy, uplifting love story covers, after finishing I don't think the team behind this book was being that clever, and I hate this cover. The colours, the styling, the font, the look on her face, it's all in stark contrast to the content of this book and it really downplays the book. This book could've had a really great cover with darker hues and only words on it and I think that would've better conveyed the seriousness of the book and the harsh content that it depicts (although I'm not in publishing or graphic design so maybe I have no idea what I'm saying).
Overall, I'm giving this book 2 stars because I do feel glad that I read and it passed quickly because I was engrossed in the story. Again, I have no hard feelings towards Brittani, I think this is ultimately a tale of a woman who was dealt a terrible hand and showed great strength in getting her and her baby out of the situation. That being said, I'm honouring Brittani's struggle with an extra star but the writing and the production of this novel gets a 1 star from me for sure.
September 7, 2019
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. Although it was not perfect, I found it to be a compelling read. I picked this up because I was in a huge reading rut. I would pick up book after book, only to put it down because I got bored after the first few chapters. But I listened to this book in its entirety.
It is so hard for me to review this book because I understand Brittani was brave and vulnerable in outlining all of this. It is easy for readers to judge her or call her naïve when you have never lived through her experience.
Domestic/partner violence can be so difficult to get out of. There are tons of men and women who end up being trapped in abusive and manipulative situations. According to Brittani, her fiance was very charming, and when you get so emotionally attached to someone, it can sometimes be hard to think logically.
In this book, Taylor does not hold back. She lays it all out there for her readers. She recounts the first moment that she swiped right on her ex-fiance to their final moments seeing each other at court. This is a very intimate portrayal of domestic violence, manipulation, and abuse.
My problem with this book is the beginning of it. Pretty much until the part where she describes losing her virginity with her ex-fiance. The writing near the beginning was mediocre. It read less like a book and more like a story-time YouTube transcript or a poorly written young adult novel. I did not need to hear all the descriptions about the man she was dating having, “big blue eyes”, tan skin, and muscles. I guess when a YouTuber writes a book, I am not expecting it to have the most sophisticated prose, but still.
After the beginning, I began to enjoy this novel because Brittani lets her guard down, loses the cringe writing, and looks at matters more seriously. You witness the abuse and manipulation she encountered firsthand. The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself, this cannot be real, can it?!!!”
I was listening to each of her words attentively and felt my heart go out to her. I cannot imagine the fear or anguish she must have felt in this situation. And I am glad to know that she is now safe and sound with her family. I also hope that she could attend therapy and get help for the trauma she endured.
I enjoyed listening to this book. My only problem with it was the overly casual writing style. While it might work for an online video, it was not appropriate to use in a book. I know Brittani was trying to be her authentic self, but I still think the beginning portions of this book could have done with some serious editing.
I also wish Brittani was a bit more introspective. I think it is fine to hold certain viewpoints, but also be openminded and introspective about why people might make certain decisions. I also wish instead of just recounting what happened to her, she went into more detail about what she would say to other domestic violence survivors, how the experience influenced her long-term, and so forth.
Again, if this was a YouTube video, I would not be as critical. But when you spend so much time with a book, you want to walk away from it with something more than a story and I feel so bad even saying that. I know writing this was an emotional and difficult experience. I still feel so proud of her for being as honest as she could be.
It is so hard for me to review this book because I understand Brittani was brave and vulnerable in outlining all of this. It is easy for readers to judge her or call her naïve when you have never lived through her experience.
Domestic/partner violence can be so difficult to get out of. There are tons of men and women who end up being trapped in abusive and manipulative situations. According to Brittani, her fiance was very charming, and when you get so emotionally attached to someone, it can sometimes be hard to think logically.
In this book, Taylor does not hold back. She lays it all out there for her readers. She recounts the first moment that she swiped right on her ex-fiance to their final moments seeing each other at court. This is a very intimate portrayal of domestic violence, manipulation, and abuse.
My problem with this book is the beginning of it. Pretty much until the part where she describes losing her virginity with her ex-fiance. The writing near the beginning was mediocre. It read less like a book and more like a story-time YouTube transcript or a poorly written young adult novel. I did not need to hear all the descriptions about the man she was dating having, “big blue eyes”, tan skin, and muscles. I guess when a YouTuber writes a book, I am not expecting it to have the most sophisticated prose, but still.
After the beginning, I began to enjoy this novel because Brittani lets her guard down, loses the cringe writing, and looks at matters more seriously. You witness the abuse and manipulation she encountered firsthand. The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking to myself, this cannot be real, can it?!!!”
I was listening to each of her words attentively and felt my heart go out to her. I cannot imagine the fear or anguish she must have felt in this situation. And I am glad to know that she is now safe and sound with her family. I also hope that she could attend therapy and get help for the trauma she endured.
I enjoyed listening to this book. My only problem with it was the overly casual writing style. While it might work for an online video, it was not appropriate to use in a book. I know Brittani was trying to be her authentic self, but I still think the beginning portions of this book could have done with some serious editing.
I also wish Brittani was a bit more introspective. I think it is fine to hold certain viewpoints, but also be openminded and introspective about why people might make certain decisions. I also wish instead of just recounting what happened to her, she went into more detail about what she would say to other domestic violence survivors, how the experience influenced her long-term, and so forth.
Again, if this was a YouTube video, I would not be as critical. But when you spend so much time with a book, you want to walk away from it with something more than a story and I feel so bad even saying that. I know writing this was an emotional and difficult experience. I still feel so proud of her for being as honest as she could be.
April 30, 2020
This is worth the read!!
November 26, 2018
Finished this book in one day. It is completely insane that this story is true and there are really people that crazy in the world. I do feel like some information was glossed over but then again you are getting one side of a story. Though even with that I found the book to be impowering. All women should read this so they can know what an abusive relationship looks like and see the warning signs, know they aren't alone, or simply have empathy for those that have been in these situations.
December 5, 2018
3.5 stars
As with many memoirs, this book is difficult to review since it deals with a person’s real life trauma. I admire Brittani for writing this book, and surviving such a horrible, manipulative relationship. Unfortunately, I did find a handful of typos in the book, and the writing can oftentimes feel disjointed due to its colloquial nature. However, that doesn’t take away from Brittani’s journey. With hindsight, I often wanted to interject and tell Brittani not to believe Milos, or to leave Milos, or to stop focusing so much on his looks and realize he was creepy from the start. But, knowing that she lived this story is terrifying and sad. I’m glad Brittani was able to finally share her perspective, and I think this book is overall well done.
With that being said, I did feel very uncomfortable with some of Brittani's language in the book, and wanted to point out that no matter how horrible a person is, they shouldn't be shamed due to their weight. I can agree that Zora was mean, controlling, and manipulative, but I did not like that she was called a "cow" and a "pig" due to her weight. Brittani also states that Zora, "was a talented cook, obvious by her girth," (p.179).
In the same way, Brittani also makes, what I feel, to be damaging statements regarding women and men. On page three, she blames her past failures with love due to her "early pursuit of athletics," therefore saying that athletic women are undesirable to men because they may be "overly aggressive." Despite claiming that she is "a feminist at heart," Brittani describes men as "hunters," and that women need to allow the "male species" to play "mind games" if they want to find a partner, (pp. 3-4). It makes me sad to think that young women will read this book and think they need to play into a specific role of "what a woman is" in order to find love.
Nonetheless, I am glad Brittani wrote this book. I do think it will cause people to be more cautious when online dating, and I hope it will give others the courage to leave similar situations. I hope that Brittani can continue to heal from this traumatic ordeal, and that she and Rex will have a happy and safe future.
As with many memoirs, this book is difficult to review since it deals with a person’s real life trauma. I admire Brittani for writing this book, and surviving such a horrible, manipulative relationship. Unfortunately, I did find a handful of typos in the book, and the writing can oftentimes feel disjointed due to its colloquial nature. However, that doesn’t take away from Brittani’s journey. With hindsight, I often wanted to interject and tell Brittani not to believe Milos, or to leave Milos, or to stop focusing so much on his looks and realize he was creepy from the start. But, knowing that she lived this story is terrifying and sad. I’m glad Brittani was able to finally share her perspective, and I think this book is overall well done.
With that being said, I did feel very uncomfortable with some of Brittani's language in the book, and wanted to point out that no matter how horrible a person is, they shouldn't be shamed due to their weight. I can agree that Zora was mean, controlling, and manipulative, but I did not like that she was called a "cow" and a "pig" due to her weight. Brittani also states that Zora, "was a talented cook, obvious by her girth," (p.179).
In the same way, Brittani also makes, what I feel, to be damaging statements regarding women and men. On page three, she blames her past failures with love due to her "early pursuit of athletics," therefore saying that athletic women are undesirable to men because they may be "overly aggressive." Despite claiming that she is "a feminist at heart," Brittani describes men as "hunters," and that women need to allow the "male species" to play "mind games" if they want to find a partner, (pp. 3-4). It makes me sad to think that young women will read this book and think they need to play into a specific role of "what a woman is" in order to find love.
Nonetheless, I am glad Brittani wrote this book. I do think it will cause people to be more cautious when online dating, and I hope it will give others the courage to leave similar situations. I hope that Brittani can continue to heal from this traumatic ordeal, and that she and Rex will have a happy and safe future.
Read
July 21, 2019[I am not going to put a rating on this. It just feels weird to do when this is a book about someone’s trauma and their abusive relationship. That being said there are two points which you can make of as you please: ]
1) This is intense. I can’t even imagine going through this. It’s almost hard to believe that this was something that actually happened. There were moments that were heartbreaking especially that last chapter. I think there is a lot to take away from this
2) This is a fast read. I listened to it on audiobook and because of how it was written I think that might have been best. I wasn’t totally about the writing style and found some bits really cringe-y in the way they were written. It was more fit to being spoken (if that makes sense).
1) This is intense. I can’t even imagine going through this. It’s almost hard to believe that this was something that actually happened. There were moments that were heartbreaking especially that last chapter. I think there is a lot to take away from this
2) This is a fast read. I listened to it on audiobook and because of how it was written I think that might have been best. I wasn’t totally about the writing style and found some bits really cringe-y in the way they were written. It was more fit to being spoken (if that makes sense).
December 4, 2018
Wow. Listened to this on Audible and I believe it made the story even more impactful. Hearing Brittani recount the terrible and unbelievable things she went through with this man was difficult but moving. She is so brave for having gone through everything that she has and continuing to charge forward in life, not allowing her struggles to hold her or her son back. An incredible cautionary tale in this time when so many connections are made online, and a reminder to always make sure that you know exactly who you're talking to.
March 28, 2019
(lowered my rating from 2.5 to 2).
i have a lot of thoughts, i am a little scared of sharing some because they will sound very harsh but i really feel like getting them out of my system so, i'll take criticism. just know that my opinions are not fixed, and i am very open to discussion. alrighty now that i got this out of the way, let's actually review the book.
I want to start by saying, what Brittani went through is terrible. i have so much empathy for her and her family, and i hope this experience could be one where she learns and prosper from despite how hard it was. however, being someone who did not know Brittani before reading this book, she made it really hard for me to like her.
why? well, let's start with some basic stuff that were passively mentioned by her throughout the book. her views on sex shocked me, while it's up to her to decided wether she wants to have sex or not it was very hard for me to find out that she wanted to wait till marriage, i question where that belief stemmed for as to me, it feels very oppressing. especially the way she said it, it really didn't help her case.
another questionable mention of sex is when her ex and herself didn't use protection and she brushed it off because he told her that he can pull out and all is good, and she trusted that because he's a "doctor"... like i don't know HOW that made sense, but the lack of responsibility towards her body was disappointing, especially since she was so keen on waiting till marriage for sex. you'd think that minimal sex ed awareness would be there, it's your responsibility as a women to know these things just as much it is for the man. this is not about her trusting him (which even that i don't understand because he sounded very shady from the beginning), it's about her not having awareness for herself.
the way she spoke about sex was very childish, not even teenagers would speak about sex like this. her views are backward, and so very disappointing. she blabbered about losing her virginity to him, which don't get me wrong no matter what your age is, it's vulnerable. but to shame him for watching porn... like listen... i sincerely don't know if this is just me but EVERYONE watches porn, it's normal. it's so normal to masturbate too, regardless if you're in a relationship or not. i get that some people are sensitive about this but she made me feel like she's degrading porn, which like there are sex workers in the world and i felt like some of the things she said about porn could be offensive and i didn't appreciate it at all.
she spoke of abortion like it was a sin... well, not exactly but she sure made it sound like her putting it as an option was a sin. i don't know, her tone was just off. i completely understand if abortion is not something she wanted to do, but i felt like it was important for her to mention that it IS an option, and one that is valid and one that you shouldn't be demonized for, not even by yourself.
gender roles are wack, but Brittani really thought it's okay to justify somethings by using them... like WHYYY. i HATE it when gender roles are normalized, they were so passively mentioned (same as everything) which made it more infuriating that she's very unaware of these things. this book was published in 2018, so just educate yourself it really doesn't take much.
and finally, Brittani sounded like a very sheltered human. i don't know HOW but damn, this really made it hard for me to care for her. the writing was childish, with many chapters unnecessary but even that didn't bother me as much as her character did. i wished she had provided the reader with something they can take from this, but even at the very end i felt like she didn't. i just believe that everyone has a responsibility that they have to be held to, and i don't think Brittani knows what hers is... still... even after everything horrible that happened to her...
so kids, be informed. don't trust weird men easily, and use protection. if you ever find yourself in an abusive relationship, don't be afraid to seek help. someone WILL be there for you.
i have a lot of thoughts, i am a little scared of sharing some because they will sound very harsh but i really feel like getting them out of my system so, i'll take criticism. just know that my opinions are not fixed, and i am very open to discussion. alrighty now that i got this out of the way, let's actually review the book.
I want to start by saying, what Brittani went through is terrible. i have so much empathy for her and her family, and i hope this experience could be one where she learns and prosper from despite how hard it was. however, being someone who did not know Brittani before reading this book, she made it really hard for me to like her.
why? well, let's start with some basic stuff that were passively mentioned by her throughout the book. her views on sex shocked me, while it's up to her to decided wether she wants to have sex or not it was very hard for me to find out that she wanted to wait till marriage, i question where that belief stemmed for as to me, it feels very oppressing. especially the way she said it, it really didn't help her case.
another questionable mention of sex is when her ex and herself didn't use protection and she brushed it off because he told her that he can pull out and all is good, and she trusted that because he's a "doctor"... like i don't know HOW that made sense, but the lack of responsibility towards her body was disappointing, especially since she was so keen on waiting till marriage for sex. you'd think that minimal sex ed awareness would be there, it's your responsibility as a women to know these things just as much it is for the man. this is not about her trusting him (which even that i don't understand because he sounded very shady from the beginning), it's about her not having awareness for herself.
the way she spoke about sex was very childish, not even teenagers would speak about sex like this. her views are backward, and so very disappointing. she blabbered about losing her virginity to him, which don't get me wrong no matter what your age is, it's vulnerable. but to shame him for watching porn... like listen... i sincerely don't know if this is just me but EVERYONE watches porn, it's normal. it's so normal to masturbate too, regardless if you're in a relationship or not. i get that some people are sensitive about this but she made me feel like she's degrading porn, which like there are sex workers in the world and i felt like some of the things she said about porn could be offensive and i didn't appreciate it at all.
she spoke of abortion like it was a sin... well, not exactly but she sure made it sound like her putting it as an option was a sin. i don't know, her tone was just off. i completely understand if abortion is not something she wanted to do, but i felt like it was important for her to mention that it IS an option, and one that is valid and one that you shouldn't be demonized for, not even by yourself.
gender roles are wack, but Brittani really thought it's okay to justify somethings by using them... like WHYYY. i HATE it when gender roles are normalized, they were so passively mentioned (same as everything) which made it more infuriating that she's very unaware of these things. this book was published in 2018, so just educate yourself it really doesn't take much.
and finally, Brittani sounded like a very sheltered human. i don't know HOW but damn, this really made it hard for me to care for her. the writing was childish, with many chapters unnecessary but even that didn't bother me as much as her character did. i wished she had provided the reader with something they can take from this, but even at the very end i felt like she didn't. i just believe that everyone has a responsibility that they have to be held to, and i don't think Brittani knows what hers is... still... even after everything horrible that happened to her...
so kids, be informed. don't trust weird men easily, and use protection. if you ever find yourself in an abusive relationship, don't be afraid to seek help. someone WILL be there for you.
December 9, 2018
*2.5
I want to start this off by saying that this story is completely insane, and it is a story that absolutely needs to be told. My issues with this book lie solely with the writing.
A Sucky Love Story is the true story of Brittani Louise Taylor, who is a vlogger on youtube, and it tells the story of her abusive relationship. I became familiar with Brittani when she posted her video "I'm Pregnant and Engaged" which was about the man who abused her, but none of us viewers knew anything was wrong. From there, I continued to watch their relationship through her videos until he disappeared, she changed her babies name, and she said she couldn't talk about it.
If I'm being honest, this was a book I did not intend to read. I stopped watching Brittani a while ago when she started using clickbate titles to get more views. However, my curiosity got the best of me. I knew her ex had been bad to her, but I didn't know the extent of which it went.
This book was pretty poorly written, and I do hate to say that as I think her story is important. However, it's hard to look past the things that got on my nerves. I found the first half of this to be very hard to get through, as it was incredibly slow. Brittani also rambles... a lot. I could tell that this was her first book, and she made a number of rookie mistakes like using the line "I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding." Also, having watched Brittani for a while I knew her brand of humor could be a lot, but it just really did not translate well in print. Most of her jokes were just plain bad at their worst or cringy at their best.
I honestly think this would have been better in a film format, as that is what Brittani excels at. I do still think that this is worth reading because as I stated earlier this story is insane. It's so insane that it's crazy to believe it was ever someone's real existence. Anyways, I hope Brittani is doing better now, and I wish her and her son the best.
I want to start this off by saying that this story is completely insane, and it is a story that absolutely needs to be told. My issues with this book lie solely with the writing.
A Sucky Love Story is the true story of Brittani Louise Taylor, who is a vlogger on youtube, and it tells the story of her abusive relationship. I became familiar with Brittani when she posted her video "I'm Pregnant and Engaged" which was about the man who abused her, but none of us viewers knew anything was wrong. From there, I continued to watch their relationship through her videos until he disappeared, she changed her babies name, and she said she couldn't talk about it.
If I'm being honest, this was a book I did not intend to read. I stopped watching Brittani a while ago when she started using clickbate titles to get more views. However, my curiosity got the best of me. I knew her ex had been bad to her, but I didn't know the extent of which it went.
This book was pretty poorly written, and I do hate to say that as I think her story is important. However, it's hard to look past the things that got on my nerves. I found the first half of this to be very hard to get through, as it was incredibly slow. Brittani also rambles... a lot. I could tell that this was her first book, and she made a number of rookie mistakes like using the line "I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding." Also, having watched Brittani for a while I knew her brand of humor could be a lot, but it just really did not translate well in print. Most of her jokes were just plain bad at their worst or cringy at their best.
I honestly think this would have been better in a film format, as that is what Brittani excels at. I do still think that this is worth reading because as I stated earlier this story is insane. It's so insane that it's crazy to believe it was ever someone's real existence. Anyways, I hope Brittani is doing better now, and I wish her and her son the best.
December 5, 2018
Love a good survivors story... this ain't it
June 17, 2019
So I want to start off by stating abuse is abuse and what happened to Brittani is not excusable. That being said I am very disappointed in her for a whole other slew of reasons.
As someone brought up with similar values and had similar timeline in going all the way in dating I can honestly say, honey no matter if you are waiting till marriage or going out on the town and hooking up every night it is YOUR JOB to be educated on birth control. Waiting till marriage is not an excuse. What pacing pregnancies for the health of your children (because yes spacing it out is good for your kids)? What if you get extremely sick and it just isn't the right time? If she had instead explained this as "hey girls I made a mistake, please don't do the same, there is information at ____ so you don't have the same problems I did." I would then respect her.
Next, although her mom may seem like a good person, especially compared to her ex-boyfriends, I am not convinced she is a good mom. That whole "buy the cow if you already have the milk" is disgusting, damaging and sexist. I don't care what age or community you were brought up in have some respect for the women around you, especially your daughter. And NEVER make excuses for a guy being abusive, even only verbally. This whole "guys will charge up a mountain" no questions crap is hurtful to women and her mom clearly does not love women. No matter your age you NEVER get a free pass to keep questioning what you've been taught and learning new things. Neuro-plasticity can happen at any age, look it up. At very least you could say you disagree with her views on this now.
Clearly, her mothers slut shaming was passed onto her. And girl quit it. You were a victim of a terrible situation, doesn't matter you don't slut shame. At one point, when I was almost her age, I too wanted to wait until marriage. But I had all the information, I knew that if I was making that choice I would be fully informed, regardless, because to me if I make a decision, I don't do it by sticking my head in the sand and making it my only option. You only make a real decision when you make a fully informed decision, otherwise you are willfully ignorant.
My last problem with this book is girl STOP BEING SHALLOW. She keeps saying "Oh I go first for looks--don't think I'm shallow." Well honey you are. Let me clear I AM NOT attributing that to why she was abused. But if the whole point in waiting till marriage is about respecting your partner and valuing them for more than their looks, going after them for their looks is hypocritical as h***.
If you want to go and hook up with people for their looks, have fun, but you can't base a relationship on looks alone.
My advise to this girl would be this:
1. Background check, background check, background check. Use whitepages, background check your dates before it gets serious (Note: both me and my boyfriend did this too each other early on (not knowing the other person was doing this) and we meet on tinder also, our relationship is strong, happy and healthy and there were no games getting together)
2. If you are swiping on tinder or any other website and see a thirst trap pic DUCK AND COVER! Swipe left immediately. Also if someone doesn't look kind in the eyes, also pass. But mostly go off of conversation. Remember the block button is your friend.
3. You need to question the values you were taught growing up, if they were the right ones you will come back to them, but if you never question them you never actually made the decision to follow them. You can love your parents but not agree with their values, it's ok, it's normal (I do it every day).
4. If a guys blows you off block his butt immediately. Girl you are worth more than being stood up. There is no need to leave the door open. Always.
5. Learn to love other women, regardless of their decisions with their bodies. And understand that sex isn't just to please men. If you want to hold out for your own choices that's fine but don't pretend it's because all women are asexual and give it up to men in exchange for marriage. I know plenty of girls who slept with their guys in the first month and now are happily married and their husbands NEVER questioned wanting to be with them (hint these ladies look for personality first, looks second, it still matters but it has to come second).
6. Your notions of gender roles are outdated and already proven wrong. Get your butt into a classroom if you need to, or buy some books. Explore the spectrum of opinions and check everyone's resources. Don't take my word for it. Do your homework! Never stop learning!
That being said I hope no one every abuses this poor girl ever again and I hope she and her son are doing well.
As someone brought up with similar values and had similar timeline in going all the way in dating I can honestly say, honey no matter if you are waiting till marriage or going out on the town and hooking up every night it is YOUR JOB to be educated on birth control. Waiting till marriage is not an excuse. What pacing pregnancies for the health of your children (because yes spacing it out is good for your kids)? What if you get extremely sick and it just isn't the right time? If she had instead explained this as "hey girls I made a mistake, please don't do the same, there is information at ____ so you don't have the same problems I did." I would then respect her.
Next, although her mom may seem like a good person, especially compared to her ex-boyfriends, I am not convinced she is a good mom. That whole "buy the cow if you already have the milk" is disgusting, damaging and sexist. I don't care what age or community you were brought up in have some respect for the women around you, especially your daughter. And NEVER make excuses for a guy being abusive, even only verbally. This whole "guys will charge up a mountain" no questions crap is hurtful to women and her mom clearly does not love women. No matter your age you NEVER get a free pass to keep questioning what you've been taught and learning new things. Neuro-plasticity can happen at any age, look it up. At very least you could say you disagree with her views on this now.
Clearly, her mothers slut shaming was passed onto her. And girl quit it. You were a victim of a terrible situation, doesn't matter you don't slut shame. At one point, when I was almost her age, I too wanted to wait until marriage. But I had all the information, I knew that if I was making that choice I would be fully informed, regardless, because to me if I make a decision, I don't do it by sticking my head in the sand and making it my only option. You only make a real decision when you make a fully informed decision, otherwise you are willfully ignorant.
My last problem with this book is girl STOP BEING SHALLOW. She keeps saying "Oh I go first for looks--don't think I'm shallow." Well honey you are. Let me clear I AM NOT attributing that to why she was abused. But if the whole point in waiting till marriage is about respecting your partner and valuing them for more than their looks, going after them for their looks is hypocritical as h***.
If you want to go and hook up with people for their looks, have fun, but you can't base a relationship on looks alone.
My advise to this girl would be this:
1. Background check, background check, background check. Use whitepages, background check your dates before it gets serious (Note: both me and my boyfriend did this too each other early on (not knowing the other person was doing this) and we meet on tinder also, our relationship is strong, happy and healthy and there were no games getting together)
2. If you are swiping on tinder or any other website and see a thirst trap pic DUCK AND COVER! Swipe left immediately. Also if someone doesn't look kind in the eyes, also pass. But mostly go off of conversation. Remember the block button is your friend.
3. You need to question the values you were taught growing up, if they were the right ones you will come back to them, but if you never question them you never actually made the decision to follow them. You can love your parents but not agree with their values, it's ok, it's normal (I do it every day).
4. If a guys blows you off block his butt immediately. Girl you are worth more than being stood up. There is no need to leave the door open. Always.
5. Learn to love other women, regardless of their decisions with their bodies. And understand that sex isn't just to please men. If you want to hold out for your own choices that's fine but don't pretend it's because all women are asexual and give it up to men in exchange for marriage. I know plenty of girls who slept with their guys in the first month and now are happily married and their husbands NEVER questioned wanting to be with them (hint these ladies look for personality first, looks second, it still matters but it has to come second).
6. Your notions of gender roles are outdated and already proven wrong. Get your butt into a classroom if you need to, or buy some books. Explore the spectrum of opinions and check everyone's resources. Don't take my word for it. Do your homework! Never stop learning!
That being said I hope no one every abuses this poor girl ever again and I hope she and her son are doing well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2022
The writing itself may not be otherwordly, but this was a book I couldn't put down. I stayed up until 5 am, reading it in one sitting. The story is shocking, with so many turns that keep you wanting to know more. I feel for Brittani immensely. One of my most memorable non-fiction reads.
February 19, 2019
The only reasons I am giving this book a single star:
• 0 stars isn’t an option.
• I learned that Rex is her sons actual name and not just a strange nickname like I thought it was.
This book was a disappointment. It was poorly thrown together, riddled with typos and full of annoying tangents that had nothing to do with the actual story line. Apart from that this book also shined an unpleasant light on Brittani. I’ve been following her YouTube channel for several years and if I were younger I would probably tell you she was someone I looked up to. After finishing her story in which she claims to be a feminist “at heart” but who actually constantly slut shamed (both herself and other women), talked about how men are “hardwired to be warriors” and “women to be nurturers”, fat shamed Zora any and every time she was mentioned and just at times made herself sound and look utterly ridiculous.
Now I’m not saying at all in any way, shape, or form that what she went through wasn’t a big deal or that she deserved her trauma. But I guess I’m just saying it wasn’t book worthy. It might have made a decent book, if it were better written.. it would definitely make a great lifetime movie - i would watch the heck out of it. But someone along the line of this books development should have done a better job in cutting through her nonsense.. although I guess she would probably have a word/page count to meet and thus just filled the pages with crap to take up space.
In conclusion this book is not worth your money - anything of value can be found in her Shane Dawson interview or probably in a far better worded review than mine.
• 0 stars isn’t an option.
• I learned that Rex is her sons actual name and not just a strange nickname like I thought it was.
This book was a disappointment. It was poorly thrown together, riddled with typos and full of annoying tangents that had nothing to do with the actual story line. Apart from that this book also shined an unpleasant light on Brittani. I’ve been following her YouTube channel for several years and if I were younger I would probably tell you she was someone I looked up to. After finishing her story in which she claims to be a feminist “at heart” but who actually constantly slut shamed (both herself and other women), talked about how men are “hardwired to be warriors” and “women to be nurturers”, fat shamed Zora any and every time she was mentioned and just at times made herself sound and look utterly ridiculous.
Now I’m not saying at all in any way, shape, or form that what she went through wasn’t a big deal or that she deserved her trauma. But I guess I’m just saying it wasn’t book worthy. It might have made a decent book, if it were better written.. it would definitely make a great lifetime movie - i would watch the heck out of it. But someone along the line of this books development should have done a better job in cutting through her nonsense.. although I guess she would probably have a word/page count to meet and thus just filled the pages with crap to take up space.
In conclusion this book is not worth your money - anything of value can be found in her Shane Dawson interview or probably in a far better worded review than mine.
December 10, 2018
This memoir took me on the emotional roller coaster that was Brittani's life during her time with Milos. Like many other readers, there were multiple times I had to remind myself "this is real" "this really happened" "this is a memoir, not fiction." Once you read Brittani's story, you will completely understand what I mean.
I had no idea who Brittani Louise Taylor was before I started her memoir. I saw the cover somewhere on instagram and thought it looked cute. It was difficult at first to truly get into the writing because it is very informal, but I assume that is what Brittani is like in her videos/real life. This is her memoir, and as a reader I got to know her better through her writing style. The memoir itself is very, very organized, down to having exact dates of "important" events. The chapter titles also really helped organize what was coming in that chapter.
Like I previously said, this memoir was an emotional roller coaster. It introduced Brittani's "Unhappily Ever After" in the realest way possible, not shying away from the pain it caused her and those around her.
I had no idea who Brittani Louise Taylor was before I started her memoir. I saw the cover somewhere on instagram and thought it looked cute. It was difficult at first to truly get into the writing because it is very informal, but I assume that is what Brittani is like in her videos/real life. This is her memoir, and as a reader I got to know her better through her writing style. The memoir itself is very, very organized, down to having exact dates of "important" events. The chapter titles also really helped organize what was coming in that chapter.
Like I previously said, this memoir was an emotional roller coaster. It introduced Brittani's "Unhappily Ever After" in the realest way possible, not shying away from the pain it caused her and those around her.
March 9, 2019
One star was given for the importance of speaking about and out against domestic violence and the author’s insistence that those dealing with to get help any way they can.
The second star was given for the author’s mom, Barbara. I feel she was the key reason her daughter was able to have the strength to get away from such a horrible situation.
I listened to this via audiobook. Excruciating. I suffered through the author’s lackadaisical prose for one-third of the book. The remainder of it was listened to in 2x speed. Thank you, Audible.
This was a bookclub choice. I’ve never heard of this person, blogger, influencer. Whatever you want to call her. I was a bit judgmental in my thoughts when I heard we were reading about a story written by a famous “YouTuber” that I had never heard of. My skepticism was validated. In my most humble opinion, of course.
The second star was given for the author’s mom, Barbara. I feel she was the key reason her daughter was able to have the strength to get away from such a horrible situation.
I listened to this via audiobook. Excruciating. I suffered through the author’s lackadaisical prose for one-third of the book. The remainder of it was listened to in 2x speed. Thank you, Audible.
This was a bookclub choice. I’ve never heard of this person, blogger, influencer. Whatever you want to call her. I was a bit judgmental in my thoughts when I heard we were reading about a story written by a famous “YouTuber” that I had never heard of. My skepticism was validated. In my most humble opinion, of course.
December 10, 2018
How this book got over four stars is beyond me. I've followed Brittani since she announced she was pregnant and I'm honestly shocked that she's kind of a terrible person. I don't want to discredit her "story of survival" but I just find some details hard to believe. I feel as if she blew tons of things out of proportion and ended up making herself look like an oblivious ass. The book, in general, is just terribly written, I understand it's her first book but at least TRY and catch spelling mistakes before it's published. She hyped this book up way too much, in my eyes this was nothing more than a cash grab.
February 21, 2019
It's Shane Dawson's fault that I picked up this book. A lot was covered in his conspiracy video, but I was intrigued to read it all. It was her first book, and a true story, so naturally it wasn't a literature miracle. She writes the way she speaks, and if you ever seen any of her videos, you know what I mean.
It was like catching up on some sweet and yet disturbing gossip. I kind of knew what happened, just needed to fill some gaps. Also it is funny, how sometimes, when she makes a video about her family - it's all loving and lovely and great, but when the camera is off, it's all 360°. As I already said, I did have a hunch about this relationship from the beginning.
It was like catching up on some sweet and yet disturbing gossip. I kind of knew what happened, just needed to fill some gaps. Also it is funny, how sometimes, when she makes a video about her family - it's all loving and lovely and great, but when the camera is off, it's all 360°. As I already said, I did have a hunch about this relationship from the beginning.
May 3, 2019
I think I can summarize the writing style of this book by simply saying at one point, the author tells us, "I know the last chapter was titled X, and X didn't happen in the last chapter, but it got so long I just decided to start a new chapter."
December 5, 2018
I’ve never wanted to give an author a hug so much in my life. I cried at work. Thank you for writing this down.
July 1, 2019
In the middle of an awful reading dry spell, I stumbled upon this book on my Goodreads newsfeed. The synopsis sparked my interest enough that I googled Brittani Louise Taylor and was surprised to find out she is a popular YouTuber. After seeing videos featuring her fiancé and son, my curiosity was piqued enough that I decided to check out her book.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Brittani is not an overly profound writer. Her writing style is conversational, with a heavy dose of I-speak-like-a-woke-millennial-and-it’s-lit-fam.
However, even though I wanted to be above enjoying this memoir of her dating life, I definitely got sucked into the story. It was also the perfect poolside read for my book-burnt brain.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Brittani was colourblind for all the red flags she didn’t see. Kudos to her for surviving, leaving the situation behind, and having a crazy story to tell afterwards.
If you want a non-challenging, minimally-stimulating but drama-filled casual read, consider picking up Brittani’s story of love gone wrong.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Brittani is not an overly profound writer. Her writing style is conversational, with a heavy dose of I-speak-like-a-woke-millennial-and-it’s-lit-fam.
However, even though I wanted to be above enjoying this memoir of her dating life, I definitely got sucked into the story. It was also the perfect poolside read for my book-burnt brain.
I couldn’t help but wonder if Brittani was colourblind for all the red flags she didn’t see. Kudos to her for surviving, leaving the situation behind, and having a crazy story to tell afterwards.
If you want a non-challenging, minimally-stimulating but drama-filled casual read, consider picking up Brittani’s story of love gone wrong.
February 15, 2019
t/w: domestic violence, verbal abuse, manipulation, slut shaming, cheating
it’s usually me recommending books to my best friend carla but this time it was the other way around
this story was honestly slightly similar to what my mum went through with my biological father. not on such a large scale but my bio father and his family were ready to kidnap my sister and i and take us back to Russia. my bio father tried to kill me due to jealously. it’s all a mess and i felt for Brittani as a young first time mum like i feel for my own whenever i think of what she went through.
the writing in this was mediocre honestly but it was told in a way that left me shaking and triggered in periods. i don’t even know how to rate this but i feel 4 is good. this is a cautionary tale and one that shows how easy it can be sucked in by someone - abusers are usually charming
it’s usually me recommending books to my best friend carla but this time it was the other way around
this story was honestly slightly similar to what my mum went through with my biological father. not on such a large scale but my bio father and his family were ready to kidnap my sister and i and take us back to Russia. my bio father tried to kill me due to jealously. it’s all a mess and i felt for Brittani as a young first time mum like i feel for my own whenever i think of what she went through.
the writing in this was mediocre honestly but it was told in a way that left me shaking and triggered in periods. i don’t even know how to rate this but i feel 4 is good. this is a cautionary tale and one that shows how easy it can be sucked in by someone - abusers are usually charming
January 20, 2021
First read of the year... and it’s almost February! 😬
Since I learned that my place of business is closing its doors earlier this month, I haven’t been in the mood to listen to audiobooks. In order to fix that, I picked up this quick listen while I ran errands!
Brittani’s story is that of movies. Think of the Netflix adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ YOU. The handsome man she met on Tinder was definitely more than he seemed.
I enjoyed listening to all the little bits in between that the author didn’t share in her video with Shane Dawson a few years ago. Although, I felt there was more emotion in the video that really set the scene.
Overall, the writing was fine and the story unbelievable.
Since I learned that my place of business is closing its doors earlier this month, I haven’t been in the mood to listen to audiobooks. In order to fix that, I picked up this quick listen while I ran errands!
Brittani’s story is that of movies. Think of the Netflix adaptation of Caroline Kepnes’ YOU. The handsome man she met on Tinder was definitely more than he seemed.
I enjoyed listening to all the little bits in between that the author didn’t share in her video with Shane Dawson a few years ago. Although, I felt there was more emotion in the video that really set the scene.
Overall, the writing was fine and the story unbelievable.
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