When I saw All I Known Now in Big W one faithful day I screamed – abandoned my journey to get a PS4 (on sale) and ran to the book section. I looked at its yellow cover, picked it up, flicked through the pages and very soon it was sitting on top of my PS4 at the counter. This, however, didn’t prevent me from actually starting reading it like 10+ months later. University and laziness, it happens.
But it’s all okay now because I have read it. All it took was a holiday to Perth (throughout which I spent a considerable amount of time in my room, with my head firmly stuck in the pages of this book) As you can imagine what I class as a ‘considerable’ amount of time probably wasn’t much in the long run because this book barely left my hands, in fact, I think it spent more time in my reading embrace than it ever spent on the bedside table on that trip. I’m not sure you really even read this book because it didn’t feel like reading to me. It felt like sitting down to a cup of tea with a friend, and this friend just so happens to be Carrie Hope Fletcher.
My Carrie Hope Fletcher backstory: So, the first time I heard about the internet’s big sister was actually a collaboration with Danisnotonfire, the YouTube clicking maze began and I was on her channel within seconds. That’s where I found it. The song that played on repeat on my iPod for months on end. What I still class to this day as my song. Boys in Books are Better.
So yes, I am a fan of Carrie’s, hence the screaming and running to her book in my local Big W. (I wonder if any of the staff would still recognise me?) Which is why the language used in this book feel so much like a conversation to me. The references, the side commentary, right down to the words she uses. It’s all just so Carrie. I read a majority (if not all) of the book in her voice. As I smiled and laughed and occasionally muttered things such as ‘oh no’ under my breath.
But this in no way means that if you aren’t a fan of Carrie’s you won’t enjoy this book. The advice in this book is not only given out to those in the confines of Hopefuls. It is open to anyone in need of it.
Trust me, the advice in this book, I sure needed it a couple of years ago. Not that I haven’t been using the advice now, because I have already started my new outlook on admitting I am wrong (which is hard, I must say) and trying to be the bigger person, but some of this stuff would have been great a few years in advance. Do you think I can send this book back in time? Maybe I should just tell every teenager I know to read it instead. Because hey guess what guys, I was the shy, kinda awkward, nerdy girl who wanted people to like me and so much of what Carrie has poured into this book just resonates with me. Do you know what helps it resonate even more? Musical theatre and Doctor Who references.
For one, All I Know Now isn’t sectioned off into parts but Acts – it may be a small detail but from the moment your eyes hit that contents page it’s so Carrie-esque. The tributes to the theatrical parts of her life don’t stop there.
Yes, there was a particular chapter of this book that had me singing Wicked songs for a whole day. I kid you not. I will admit that I even put the book down (GASP!) to grab my iPod and listen to Thank Goodness a couple hundred times. Then of course, there’s the Les Mis, gosh this book made me want to go see Les Mis again every day until I die of Musical Theatre exhaustion. Musical Theatre fangirl aside, Carrie knows how to connect with an audience, she does this with her acting, she does this with her music and she most certainly does this with her writing.
With her words of wisdom delivered through a collection of fun, amusing and a little too relatable stories, Carrie has written a book that can help and put a smile on the face of anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hopeful or Musical Theatre geek. A teenager or a child at heart. Human, wizard, Time Lord. Whether you’re reading this book in your room, dorm, car waiting to pick up your kids, TARDIS or even Hogwarts – this novel with its bright yellow cover and girl with the Hermione-level frizzy hair is sure to brighten your day. You know what’s even better? You’ll also learn a lot on the way.
The Same 26 Letters 