Oh, Connor. This was... buddy, this was just not your finest work. I read A Work in Progress two years ago (or something like that), and adored how it was so authentically Connor. The tone, the wording, the pictures. It was like seeing a printed version of one of his videos. It was surprisingly touching and I got so much out of it. My copy is so sticky-noted, it isn’t even funny… so anyway, that was a sloppy segue me for to say: I adore Connor Franta (if you couldn’t already tell). His videos were not just the first videos on YouTube that I watched (although they literally were) but also the first I fell in love with. No matter what he does he always manages to make me smile and for that, I can never thank him enough.

… but Note to Self was unnecessary. I know a lot of people have problems with so-called “YouTube books” but I have always had the attitude that if they can write something worth reading than to go for it. Unfortunately, this was not worth writing. I hate having to say those words. It’s killing me to admit this but it’s true. I expected to get a lot out of this. It is meant to be a reflection on Connor’s experience with depression, anxiety and an awful breakup over the past two years (or so) and it was just… not that.

For one, the poems were cringey. I seriously hate having to write those words! When I saw his Frames video, I was so, so excited to read more of his poems. It was so beautiful but dear God, they poems were awful. I had to force myself to read them. I desperately wanted to skim them, they were that cringey. They were not poetry, they were recycled Tumblr quotes broken up or artfully arranged. They were not insightful, not touching or even enjoyable. I am so, so sad to say this but I think Connor’s thing is strictly photography. He is not a poet and it made the whole premise of this book fall apart…

The anecdotes in between the poetry were so… generic. I wanted to get an insight into Connor’s personal experiences with mental illness and the break up we have all heard about (and know really affected him) but everything he wrote so unoriginal, so unengaging. He even bastardised TFIOS at one point and I couldn't help myself literally, physically cringing. I was so uninspired by this and it makes me so, so sad to say that. I feel like this was something that Connor needed to write for himself, not for an audience.

The photography was jaw-droppingly on point as always, though, so there’s that…

Overall? Umm, not Connor’s finest moment.