Review: 'Yes Please' by Amy Poehler

Hey everyone!

I hope you’re enjoying my brand new look, I know I am! I’ve decided that the first post to grace the pages of my swanky new blog is going to be a review of Amy Poehler’s ‘Yes Please’.

Amy’s book covers her life told in no real chronological order. She covers all aspects of her life and experiences. It’s a really no holds barred look through Amy’s eyes. She’s brutally honest about everything including herself, while retaining the sense of humour that has taken her so far in her career.

First let’s talk about the style that the book was printed in. It’s big and glossy. It’s got lots of photos and other things from Amy’s life. She has added two-page spread colourful pages with quotes to break up the sections in the book, which I find really cool. It’s a nice way of seguing into the next part. My personal favourite is “Short people do not like to be picked up”, which immediately precedes the chapter ‘The Russians are Coming’. And for those of you who are wondering, yes it’s true, we do not like to be picked up.

I cannot tell a lie, I almost judged this book by its cover. It’s so big and glossy that I was worried that it might lack substance. I love Amy Poehler, but I was worried about how her talent and sense of humour would translate into a memoir of sorts. I am the first to admit how wrong I was. Although this might not be perfectly written it is by no means a difficult read. She’s witty, honest funny and serious, sometimes all at once. I especially loved reading about her early comedy days, when she was discovering her footing and testing the waters.

Amy makes herself so relatable throughout the book. I love that her stories aren’t chronological order, but rather are told as they relate to the previous one. They’re funny but each one comes with a message of its own that you can take and do what you will with. She’s inspiring in a real way, not in an unattainable way like so many others we have come across.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I’ve been really in to reading memoirs from funny smart women lately and this definitely fits that bill. Next book review should be ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed so stayed tuned!