But that didn't stop me having a read! Hello Life* navigates you through healthy living, the dating game, friends & family, and how to get the life you want. Naturally if you ignore the constant reminder that 'I'm not a professional or an expert, I'm just a guy with a video camera' then you actually find there's some good tips in here. Where with Carrie's book I felt like I was slightly older than the target audience, with Marcus' I feel like it has a much broader target market. I don't want to compare the two but I'm just going off my previous knowledge of advice books and apart from 'the girl guide' I got from a car boot sale when I was like 8 these are the only two that I remember.
I'm doing pretty well in the dating game and friends and family, having a lovely long term boyfriend, amazing family, and great friends. I guess the healthy living section should be useful but maybe in the future cough cough, although I'm loving the smoothie recipes! However, it was the last section, how to get the life you want, I found the most useful. Marcus aims more at those choosing their path in life at GSCE (NCEA 1), A Level (NCEA 2 & 3), and choosing whether or not to go to University. While this isn't me, 21 year old 3rd year University student, a lot of the tips and advice works well in my situation at the moment. Currently with fourth year and internships looming I'm getting more and more worked up about whether or not I'm good enough and the pressures to succeed. I won't spoil it all for you but a main point Marcus makes is that we'll always have pressure throughout our life so the sooner we get into dealing with it the better. He also has some great tips for those of you (me) who struggle with public speaking!
Basically most of this is just common sense but sometimes it takes reading it to stick it in your brain and act on it, otherwise he does cover some good topics that a lot of advice type books stray away from, including divorce, eating disorders, and family death. All these struggles Marcus has personally dealt with, so there's not just your basic shrink 'it all gets better in the end' mumbo jumbo. It's out now so if it feels like your kind of book, or a kind of book to be gifted to someone else, go and get it!
* I was kindly given this book to review by Hachette NZ but all opinions are completely my own thoughts and feelings!
