I really loved this honest book about mental health, comparison, brokenness and alcoholism. It is so refreshing to see an author who is totally real and honest and not hiding behind the dark topics. I really enjoyed Emily's writing and I hope that she writes something else soon.

Thank you so much for letting me read and review this ARC.

An emotionally raw and earnest look at how the difference between perception and reality can tear a family apart. Paulson's memoir focuses on her life of hiding trauma and self medication behind perfectly curated social media posts. From the title and information I expected this to be more of a commentary and examination of social media culture, but it is a straight memoir, which is told with brutal honesty. It didn't hold my attention as much, but I can see this resonating with many readers.

The title of this book is pretty misleading. I expected this to be more of a non-fiction book discussing the importance of authenticity and how social media hinders that. This book is essentially the life story of the author. As much as I appreciate her honesty and vulnerability, I wish I would have known that was the entirety of the book before reading it.

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free,it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
Our lives and families are not always as they appear on the outside. This author writes an honest and insightful book about how a family can seem perfect and beautiful from the outside but on the inside, be full of addiction and trauma. I highly recommend this book.

This was one of the most honest books I have ever read in the addiction and recovery genre. Whenever I see books on NetGalley that intrigue me but I haven't heard a lot about them, I immediately look up the reviews on Goodreads. After I read the raving reviews I downloaded Highlight Real right away. Emily Paulson shares vulnerability about her struggles and also her triumphs with substance abuse.

I am a huge fan of memoirs and it impressed me how easy to read this book was, as painful at the topic could be at times. Paulson traced a lot of this back to a traumatic childhood event that affected her through the rest of her life. I appreciated so much her introspection and willingness to share her journey. Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Paulson, and Light Hustle Publishing for an advanced copy.