No Worries If Not: A Funny(ish) Story of Growing Up Working Class and Queer by Soph Galustian (Gifted)

Hello Readers,

Thank you, Hazel, and Octopus Publishing for sending me a copy of No Worries If Not: A Funny(ish) Story of Growing Up Working Class and Queer by Soph Galustian for free in exchange for an honest review. 

Title: No Worries If Not: A Funny(ish) Story of Growing Up Working Class and Queer

Author: Soph Galustian

Genre: Memoir 

Pages: 256

Cover Image:

Synopsis: No Worries If Not is a funny, relatable coming-of-age story, that explores Soph Galustian's experiences of poverty, queerness, mental health, grief, and community. She recounts her life from childhood, to teens, into adulthood through a mixture of short stories, spoken word, illustrations, and space for the reader to reflect (or draw tits... whatever you prefer). This book is for anyone who was raised struggling, anyone who wrestled with coming out, who accidentally killed their childhood pet, who has lost the person closest to them.

Miniature Review

This is one of the best autobiographical books I have read recently. I loved the 00s/10’s nostalgia that you can't help but feel during this book.

No Worries If Not is a memoir about growing up working class and queer, dealing with grief, and finding space for love and being yourself. There are parts of the book I cannot relate to but hearing those experiences in Soph’s words you can’t help but feel like you’re right there with her.  I think this book was accurate and easy to relate to for the most part I also loved the added detail of the music recaps.

This is meant as compliment, but this is unlike any other type of memoir I’ve ever read I’ve already mentioned the music recaps, but Soph also manages to combine her memoir and life with poetry and novelty wordsearches. This is going to sound odd dear Reader, but this book didn’t feel like I was reading an memoir it felt like I was having a fun chat with a friend. The tone stays conversational all throughout the book and I laughed out loud a couple of times but there were also some heart-breaking moments.

This book covers a lot as it looks at class, womanhood, grief and queerness and the trauma of growing up queer in a 2000s secondary school. Thanks to Soph’s authenticity the bleaker moments don’t over cloud the book and are a realistic approach nothing feels over dramatised like some memoirs. I have listened to a fair few autobiographies by comedians but it was interesting to seeing Soph’s experience trying to make it as an actor and comedy writer from a working class background the only other autobiography that jumps to mind is Lee Evans.

L x

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