Bwogbooks – Eli Rallo’s I Didn’t Know I Need This

Desperate for dating advice? In need of a light beach read? Searching for some friendship advice? Well, then Eli Rallo’s (JRN ‘21) I Didn’t Know I Needed This is MAYBE for you (depending on your patience levels).

While I desperately want to say that I absolutely loved School of Journalism grad Eli Rallo’s debut book, I Didn’t Know I Needed This, I would be lying if I said so. As a huge fan of Rallo, whose TikTok and Instagram never fail to make me laugh, I patiently awaited the publication of I Didn’t Know I Needed This because I thought her book would be just like her personality—light-hearted and fun! But, for I Didn’t Know I Needed This, neither of these traits was fully the case.

Typically, I am the type of person who blows through books in two to three days. However, I am not kidding when I tell you it took me almost six months to finish this book because of how frustrated I would get while reading it. It even reached a certain point where I would force myself to sit down and get through a chapter or two because I refused to let my Kindle purchase go to waste.

Rallo’s book borders on memoir with twinges of self-help. For me, I found the organization of the book into three parts helpful when it came to grouping her topics, which ranged from “Rules for the ‘Talking Stage’” to “Rules for Honoring Your Life.” Each chapter was focused on a “set of rules” that were listed at the start and then delved deeper into the following pages.

Though I do find Rallo charming, I found the book to be way too long. It often felt like she would share the same story or lesson from a previous chapter two or three more times when trying to get a different point across. Often, Rallo would jump from one point to another without much clarity on how the two related to one another within the chapter.

While there is nothing cooler than being a young, mid-twenties accomplished writer, I think I would be remiss if I said I learned any extremely valuable lessons from I Didn’t Know I Needed This. Though Rallo’s tone was fun and her anecdotes often laugh-out-loud, I Didn’t Know I Needed This fell flat for me.

Image credit via Author & Alma

The post BwogBooks – Eli Rallo’s I Didn’t Know I Need This first appeared on Bwog.

The post BwogBooks – Eli Rallo’s I Didn’t Know I Need This appeared first on Bwog.