“This Will Only Hurt a Little” by Busy Philipps • Book Review

Published: Oct 16, 2018 by Simon & Schuster
Format: Audiobook (unabridged), 8 hours, Narrated by the author, Busy Philipps

​“I’ve determined that just about everyone feels left out; it just comes down to how you handle it.”

​★★★★ (4 / 5 stars) ​Right from the start, Busy proclaims for herself that she is an excellent storyteller, and let me tell you, it's the truth. And her no-nonsense candor doesn't end there. While Busy is hilarious with on-point voices for every "character" and comic relief moments, this book felt like a hulking iceberg of emotion you didn't would sink you when you hit the surface. The only deception she might have given the reader is the title because it did hurt. And it hurt a lot.

!! WARNING !! There are spoilers ahead!

It hurt hearing about the chaotic, violent home life that Busy powered through in her childhood. It hurt knowing how desperate she was for love that she suffered terrible relationships and took less than she deserved. It hurt listening to Busy dislocate her knee THREE SEPARATE TIMES and get taken to the hospital. It hurt hearing how a boy she loved for years throw her name off a script like she was a piece of trash herself—and made her feel like it was her fault. It hurt listening to stories of men treat this beautiful, talented woman like an object who was 'too desperate for fame,' or 'laughed too loud in restaurants,' or 'hadn't lost enough weight after having a baby,' or 'wasn't f*ckable enough.'

It hurt...but it was worth it.

Sure, you could say Busy's narrative is biased and one-sided, but so is yours. And so is mine. And so is the next person's. But that doesn't make her narrative (or yours or mine) any less valid and valuable. Her experiences and the lessons she's learned so far in life teach us resilience and independence. She preaches the truth (from her perspective) about the world (in Hollywood and beyond) and why you can say, “F*ck it” when people don't like the way you are.

She proves that vulnerability is not a weakness, but that it can control your thoughts and decisions in the worst way if you're not careful. And most importantly, she is a pillar of self-imbued power. No one empowered her to overcome what she did, or earn the spots she did, or grow the way she did. She simply did it, and she simply is who she is. And that is special and that is #goals.

To get to the point of the matter, I really enjoyed this book. Busy did an amazing job narrating her own audiobook, and I loved that this "celebrity autobiography" went beyond the inside scoop on Freaks and Geeks and Dawson's Creek. Because that wasn't really the draw for me. I loved that we got to know her as a person, and while I docked 1 star for a few loose ends and missing pieces, this book was well worth the read. I hope you enjoy(ed) it as much as I did.