Book Review: Make Your Mind Up

Author: Bethany Mota
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Publisher: Gallery Books

From tips on life, love, and everything in between; to original DIYs, recipes, and style hacks; to the incredible story of a girl next door turned Internet sensation, Make Your Mind Up is the ultimate guide to rocking your look and ruling your world—from inspirational YouTuber, designer, entrepreneur, and digital influencer, Bethany Mota.

When Bethany first propped her camera on a stack of books and pressed record on her family’s handheld camera in 2009, she didn't realize her life was about to change—forever. After uploading her first video to YouTube at just thirteen years old, Bethany quickly became one of the Internet’s go-to beauty, style, and lifestyle vloggers. Since then, she has filmed countless room tours and tutorials, traveled the world, experimented with hundreds of DIYs, designed her own clothing line, gone on an international tour, competed on Dancing with the Stars, and created health, beauty, and wellness content for multiple platforms.

But before Bethany found her #MotaFam online, life wasn’t looking so great: After being intensely bullied in school, the already shy Bethany retreated further into her shell, suffering from crippling anxiety and a lack of self-confidence she just couldn’t shake. From growing up on a dairy farm in small-town Los Banos, California, to figuring out how to overcome anxiety and find her voice, to finally breaking out of her shell and learning to forge her own positive path, Make Your Mind Up is more than just a heartwarming memoir or lifestyle guide—this is a portrait of Bethany’s life, exactly how she lives it.

Each time we bravely express a new side of ourselves, we reach a whole new level of confidence.

You can face what’s freezing you, push past it, and create something great.

I’m embracing the body I have, and it feels so good.

I have a theory now: If you include activities in your life that work your whole body – whether it’s yoga, aerial, rock climbing, or dancing – you’ll feel gratitude for what your body is capable of – and when you realize how much you need all your muscles for everything you do, you will be proud of the strong body you have.

This lifestyle guide absolutely blew me off my feet. From the amazing graphics, recipes, graphics and all the way to the organization of it all, this memoir was so well-written and so inspiring. Bethany is so transparent as she shares her fears, her most nervous moments, and how she has learned to stay so confident. Reading this memoir took me no time at all because of the sheer pace and flow of her words – reading this is just like having a conversation with your best friend. This book is filled with healthy, clean eating recipes, fitness tips and routines, style tips, and several amazing beauty looks from hair to makeup. I loved the headings of each section in her book – things like “We’re the boss of our emotions” and “Trends are for setting.” She put so much of her personality in this memoir and that is what makes it worth the 5 star, or cupcake, rating!

What I loved most about reading this book was the fact that in the midst of giving advice on several different topics, Bethany also shares her own funny, practical life stories as well. She even shares a few embarrassing stories which I really loved because it allowed me to see all sides of her. I hate when celebrities want people to think they live the perfect lives and never have an off day. She really approaches this as a down to earth person and not some famous person who is better than her readers. She is so realistic with all of her tips and really tries to relate to readers. The book itself is very neatly organized and the graphics and color schemes used are very appealing to the eye. I loved every single thing about this!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Gallery Books in exchange for my honest review***