Quirky Reads: All I Know Now, Wonderings And Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully.

Rachie's Musings on: All I Know Now, Wonderings And Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully. 

Before I start with my thoughts and musings, I'm gonna put it out there - I quite like Carrie Hope Fletcher!
Well, I don't know Carrie, but I like the bits of her personality I've seen in her YouTube videos and in her writing. 

Carrie and I share a few similarities, we both have naturally curly hair that is prone to doing it's own thing, we both like musicals, we both like to read and we both have a massive place in our hearts for all things Disney. Unfortunately I am neither a West End actress or a published author so that's possibly where our similarities end :-) 

If you aren't familiar with Carrie, she's pretty cool! Primarily an actress, currently appearing as Eponine in London's West End production of Les Miserables, Carrie is also a singer, a writer, a YouTuber and honorary big sister to her 500,000 plus subscribers
'The Hopefuls' 

Carrie, albeit unintentionally, has become a role model/big sister to so many young people who look to her for advice and help. This is a responsibility she takes very seriously - so much so that she wrote a book offering advice and insight (and some hilarious personal stories & tongue in cheek musings) from her teenage years and some of the life lessons she has learned along the way. 

At 26, I have a few years on Carrie (four to be precise) and I probably have more than a few years on the vast majority of her primarily teenage audience, so I was initially concerned that I sat outside the targeted demographic for the book. 
I needn't have worried.

I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil something for anyone who hasn't read it yet but to give an idea -
Carrie's book 'All I Know Now, Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully' covers many topics and issues such as bullying, body image, consent, how to apologise, hindsight, relationships - to name but a few and there's even a section on navigating the scary world of the internet!

Yes, there are some topics that are especially apt for teenagers but adults can learn many lessons from All I Know Now as well. 
Bullies, insecurities, making mistakes and relationship worries don't disappear into the distance when you stop being a teenager. They can linger on for many years to come and in some cases, forever.
I know a fair few adults, myself included, who could do with mastering the art of apologising :-) 

I found myself nodding along in agreement with Carrie throughout the book when I read things that I too have come to realise over the years and had a few moments when I came across something that never occurred to me before!  Carrie doesn't claim to be a professional in any area of her advice - in fact, there is an entire section of the book that signposts to organisations and helplines in various parts of the world. 

What Carrie has created in All I Know Now is not only a fantastic  manual for navigating your way through the teenage years,  but also a friendly and reassuring voice when you need reminding that it's okay to be human and more importantly - you. 

Whether you are 13 or 30 or 102, I'd recommend having a read, not just for advice but as a reminder that there is always someone you can turn to.

Thumbs up from Rachie! :-)