We Should Hang Out Sometime || Review

"Rejection is just pure pain, and fighting emotion with logic is like bringing a calculator to a knife fight. You're going to get stabbed in the heart, and there's nothing your precious numbers can do to protect you."

Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5

'We Should Hang Out Sometime' is a memoir written by Youtuber, Josh Sundquist. When Josh was twenty-five years old he came to the realisation that he has never had a girlfriend. He proceeded to recall his almost relationships and talked to each girl to try to figure out what went wrong and why his almost relationships never became actual relationships, and wrote about it. The result was a hilariously awkward and honest memoir that was a really quick, fun and entertaining read.

Firstly, I love the book simply because it is so funny! The book is funny because a) the stories that Josh tells are so awkward you can't help but laugh. I believe there are two types of funny stories in this world, the ones that makes you cringe, and the ones where you can't help but laugh at because it's not just embarrassing but because it's also so relatable. His stories where definitely the latter. And b) Josh's writing was so quirky and so funny. Exhibit A: "So now I was taking the Whole Foods approach to finding a girlfriend: I was going to let it happen organically." I actually remember reading this line at the train station and I'm usually good at keeping a straight face when reading in public to avoid any embarrassment but this line did make me giggle.

Secondly, Josh's writing made reading the book just an overall pleasant experience. I've already touched on the quirkiness of his writing which makes the book such a fun read, but Josh writes in a way that makes you feel as though he is simply talking to you, telling you about all these stories. In a way, the book felt like a written and elongated form a Youtube video with hints of Math Nerd graphs (which I thought was a nice little tough) spread throughout. Josh's writing also made the book so easy to speed through and I could have, and would have, read this book in one sitting if only I had the time.

My only real complaint with this book is that the ending could have been a little stronger. Now, Josh did touch on some pretty important themes in the end, with regards to self-acceptance and confidence so I think the ending was okay in the "impacting" front. However, in terms of writing, the ending could have had a bit more "oomph". I can understand how difficult it can get to write a big ending for a memoir because how can you write a grand finale when you're still in the middle of your life, right? Maybe the ending could have been better with a longer Ashley chapter, but I understand that it's an extremely personal thing and thus is difficult to write about, so it's hard to be critical at this point.

Overall, I think this book was a fantastic read. It's a very funny, honest, and embarrassingly relatable read that I highly recommend you pick up. If you're a fan of Josh's Youtube videos like I am, I think you would enjoy Josh's storytelling through a different medium (and the Math Nerd graphs were definitely a plus). If you haven't seen Josh's videos, (which you should check out here) I still recommend you pick up this book if you want an easy, fast and humorous read.