How to murder your life Book Review
If ever there was a book I couldn’t put down, How to Murder your Life takes the cake. I heard about this book when doing some research online, in search of memoirs with grit and glamour. While writing my own memoir, I was in search of writers with wit and Cat Marnell soon came to the top of that list.
Cat’s recount of her life as a “blonde media dahling with an out of control drug habit” is the kind of book you won’t be able to stop reading. At times shocking and at times heartbreaking, this story is the kind of real and raw answer to The Devil Wears Prada. It is a more fascinating tale of how a young Cat moves to New York in an effort to make a life for herself, which she does, and then some!
Cat works her way up in the publishing world, back in the day of print magazines in their prime. She reluctantly makes the move toward online, accepting a position at (now defunct) xoJane as Beauty Editor. All of this occurs alongside Cat’s insatiable drug habit, which follows her in waves much like her troublesome friendship with the elusive Marco.
The book explores many of Cat’s turbulent friendships and family relations, growing up in a life of privilege but determined to make a name for herself in the world of print media. Determined just enough shall we say, as Cat continues to rely on her family’s support to pay her way in New York City. Relatable for anyone who has ever lived or visited, that city is damn expensive!
You will love this book if…
If you’ve devoured the tv series Younger, the party-girl character Jade Winslow was inspired by Cat Marnell.
For readers that have ever seen hit show The Bold Type, you might recognise the xoJane narrative.
And if you love this book as much as I do, you’ll be delighted to learn Cat is working on a mini-series with Sony Tri-Star. We’re placing bets that Zoey Deutch is playing the starring role. There is currently no update for when the series will air.
Star Rating
I gave this book a 10/10! Not many books slip into this category but this is the kind of memoir we all need to read. It is real, honest, and best of all it is raw. It doesn’t gloss over the bad bits, which of course become the good bits as you follow Cat’s journey toward writing this book. Cat doesn’t completely overcome her drug addiction, but rather settles for having it under control. Later she goes on to explore Europe and records an original work with Audible, titled “Self-tanner for the soul”.
Brooke Saward founded World of Wanderlust as a place to share inspiration from her travels and to inspire others to see our world. She now divides her time between adventures abroad and adventures in the kitchen, with a particular weakness for French pastries.