The 31-year-old actress and singer is forthright about the fact that this isn't a tell-all but a curated collection of stories intended to entertain ... Where Scrappy Little Nobody really shines — and goes well beyond Liz Lemon-y tales of misadventure — is in Kendrick's frank musings on fame ... Kendrick's storytelling style is quippy, but it's vulnerable, too. She may not dish much about fellow actors, but she comes clean about her own persistent feelings of fraudulency and inability to do laundry on a schedule. In an era of manufactured authenticity, it's honestly impressive.
...[a] witty and frank memoir ... Kendrick continually acknowledges the gap between how others see her and how she views herself—and has tried to put that self-awareness to good use in delivering her personal story honestly and humorously, while still breezing through any potentially painful memories ... moments of postmodern fourth-wall-breaking end up being the most relatable parts of the whole book ... The overwhelming majority of the book is the tale of an unusual life and oddball persona rising to fame, and it’s a damn entertaining one.
You can almost hear Anna Kendrick’s bubbly voice as she exudes humble self-awareness and details the socially awkward moments of her normal/abnormal upbringing in her new memoir ... Kendrick’s on-the-nose relatable when discussing her personal life in her early adult years ... While Kendrick admits she has zero advice for aspiring young actresses, she does give a realistic peek into what happens when you opt out of college and instead fully commit to pursuing performance.
