Review: “You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)” by Felicia Day

If you know anything about me, you know that I’m a huge, jaded fan of the TV series Supernatural.  Many people were aware of Felicia Day prior to Supernatural, but sadly I wasn’t.  This is just another reason I fangirl Supernatural writer Robbie Thompson incessantly. I have to forever thank him for creating Charlie Bradbury. I’ll never be over nepotism killing her off.  So, naturally when I heard that Felicia Day was writing her own book, I was very excited and knew I had to read it.  I love/hate the internet and have used it since I was 12 years old. Social media has defined a lot of my adult life. So I ended up really admiring Day.

She was not raised in the typical way and she’ll straight up tell you that her upbringing was weird.  She was homeschooled (kind of!) with a huge thirst for knowledge and interest in a variety of subjects.  Day always lived in various parts of the south, including my hometown of San Antonio, TX. Shout out!  She holds two degrees, in music (Same!) and math. (Oh heck no!)  She graduated with a 4.0 as a result of dedication and just plain being smart.

Of course the trolls on the internet would have you believe otherwise.  But, I think Day has a good approach to the internet and social media in particular: “I love the idea of breaking the system. And the beauty of the Internet is that it gives everyone, especially unrepresented voices the opportunity to do a little breaking.” And, “We need the world to hear more opinions, give glimpses into more diverse subcultures.”

What I admire about Felicia Day’s book is how honest she is.  She isn’t writing a sweet story about how awesome her life was and is.  In fact she opens up with, “I know I shouldn’t introduce my own memoir with this amount of insecurity, but my personal life philosophy is always to assume the worst then you’re never disappointed.” And she actually tells the reader to highlight that sentence!  Day truly shows you who she is and what she went through to get where she is now. And by not holding back; I mean, she does address what she went through with GamerGate and about how she went through a period of depression and anxiety that was effecting her mental health.  (Which was also why she got that pixie haircut. She was losing hair.)  Her message about acknowledging mental illness and being brave enough to seek help and to now share what she went through with the world is inspiring.

My only real complaint is that there is some back-tracking and explaining of some of the same things more than once, but they’re minor and do not detract from the story that Day is telling.  In fact, I highlighted so many great lines that I can’t quote them all in this space.  You’ll have to go out and pick up the book for yourself!  I will leave you with one last line from Felicia’s book, “Because if you can’t be your own weird self on the internet, where can you be? And what would be the point?”

Felicia Day’s memoir is available in stores and online tomorrow, go here for more information.

Author: Jessica Rae

Jessica has a BA in music with an emphasis in voice and spends her day typesetting, editing, writing, and moderating webinars. Jessica primarily reviews anime and comic book series. She also offers insights on various movies, books, games, and other geeky topics.

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