It's Not What It Looks Like

This Audible Original, narrated by the author, is a brief look into the life of Molly Burke, a young Canadian blind woman who's casual, perky vibe has made her a popular YouTuber to her almost 2 million subscribers. Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at a young age, she lost her sight in her early teens and in this book she shares her experiences with her vision loss, her mental health and living independently as a one-woman perky powerhouse from her beginnings in Toronto to her work as a motivational speaker/model in Los Angeles.

This memoir has a light feel and I enjoyed learning about her early life in Toronto, her work experiences and how she educates her listeners on misconceptions about blind people. But this audiobook had a scattered feel with Burke jumping from topic to topic without going into enough detail or emotion - particularly when she lost her sight and her struggle with mental health. It felt like a missed opportunity to share that part of herself with her listeners. A can-do attitude (and a quick shopping trip to Paris) doesn't always resolve mental heath struggles.

This is a cute but brief glimpse into the life of this YouTuber who has made a name for herself as a petit and plucky force. I appreciate Molly's positive attitude and her work in disability advocacy, but this book was a bit too perky/self-help for my tastes and I wasn't a fan of her scattered writing style or how she narrated her book (which felt like she was talking on her YouTube channel). I'm not the target audience so take my harumph of a review with a grain of salt.

Final Thoughts: Motivational, perky and positive without enough substance.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Molly Burke

Genre: Memoir, Canadian

Type and Source: eAudiobook

Narrator: Molly Burke

Run Time: 3 hours, 5 minutes

Publisher: Audible Original

First Published: August 1, 2019

Book Description from GoodReads: In an audiobook like none you’ve ever heard before, blind YouTube star Molly Burke speaks with authenticity and candor about being a purple-haired, pink-loving fashion and makeup lover in a seeing world.

Diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, Burke has been legally blind since age five, and became completely sightless as a teenager. Here, she tackles the preconceived notions we have around blindness, her struggles with bullying and anxiety, inclusivity, how she built her successful influencer business (with over 1.8 million followers), and what it’s really like to travel the globe with her service dog, Gallop, now that everyone has an emotional support animal. (Hint: Really hard!)

This is a beautifully voiced, honest, and rousing journey of a young woman who has made it her mission to make us see her and the disability community in a totally new way.