You're Gonna Die Alone (& Other Excellent News)

by Devrie Brynn Donalson

Overview

A refreshingly honest, wonderfully humorous, and entirely inspiring exploration of change, fear, and what it really means to be alone, from everyone’s favorite TikTok oracle, Devrie Donalson.

Dear Reader Just Doing Your Best,

Give me a minute, and I’ll tell you a story.

I’ll tell you about my junior high soulmate, my haunted house, and running away to Scotland to lose my virginity. I’ll tell you about my ardent belief in the power of cheese and the goodness of pigeons, the rules for attending my funeral, and my struggle to reconcile feminism with Brazilian bikini waxes. I’ll tell you about my greatest failures and the many ways I have suffered because of my fear. I’ll tell you about my greatest triumphs and exactly how I figured out how to be a person I’m proud of.

If you’ve ever felt the visceral fear of being abandoned or the anxious anticipation of change, you might find something here like hope or validation. If you’ve ever wondered if you had it in you to start over, or if you’ve found yourself questioning what you’ve always believed, you might find a road map to navigating both.

I can’t say I know a lot, but my life has been one of many lessons. The wisdom I have managed to collect while the universe desperately chased me down, clobbering me with things to learn while I scurried around like an oblivious rat in search of abandoned street pizza, I happily share with you now.

What I hope you find in these pages is a little laughter, a little healing, and permission to be okay. I hope you find the courage to embrace change and the sudden joy of believing you have always, always been enough. Above all and against all odds, from one pizza rat to another, I hope you feel seen.

Sincerely,
DD

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212186452
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	47,270
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Devrie Brynn Donalson is storyteller and social media fast-talker best known for her witty, relatable tales that are equal parts humor and heart. She has developed a huge global following who appreciates her off-beat funny bone and unbridled authenticity as she chronicles her pursuit of a life well-lived, her undying commitment to a good snack, and her best attempts to figure it all out. Devrie’s adventures and stories have been covered by dozens of news outlets, and you can find her online at www.DevrieWrites.com and as @devriebrynn on TikTok, Instagram, and Threads. You can find her in real life haunting a place with free Wi-Fi somewhere between the UK, New York, and LA.

Editorial Reviews

11/13/2023

Viral TikToker Donalson’s compassionate debut is a reflection on a wayward journey of self-discovery, a coming of age imbued with Y2K-era nostalgia, AIM courtships, and a horrifying evening with a Furby. Juxtaposing poems and essays that range in subject from the death of her grandfather to the feminist implications of waxing pubic hair to her fervent wish for attendees to sing karaoke at her funeral, Donalson’s raunchy, no-holds-barred collection attains a cringing brilliance as a result of its fearless vulnerability and offering of grace for the idiosyncrasies, regrets, and faults that make the author, and readers, decadently human.

Spiky and surprising, Donalson’s collection reads like a non-chronological quasi-memoir, dipping into her childhood as a kid raised in the Evangelical Church, along with major life events that include the ending of decades-long friendships, career changes precipitated by a spontaneous journey to Scotland, and losing her virginity at twenty-nine. The topics are weighty, and the quips witty. For example, in her list-essay titled “Affirmations for People Doing Their Best,” she rejects routine unrealistic affirmations in favor of achievable ones, like number 18: “I am good at my job and I’ve never been fired for forgetting my pants at home.”

Interwoven between Donalson’s essays are intimate poems that offer an enriching contrast to her verbose essays with their brevity and slowness. “How many versions of me have I buried on a hilltop // in the sun somewhere?” Donalson writes in “Flowers to the Hilltop,” distilling the themes in her essays to an inward, serene space of self-acknowledgement that allows readers to engage with her message with a layered depth. Though Donalson’s collection is a fierce declaration of self, it is also a map of the metamorphoses required for that self to exist. Readers seeking a relatable confession of self-discovery will find ample wisdom and laughs in Donalson’s debut.

Takeaway: TikToker shares fiery essays and poems of her journey of self-discovery

Comparable Titles: Olivia Gatwood’s Life of the Party, Amy Jones’s The To-Do List and Other Debacles.

Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

Witty, hilarious, and thought-provoking. Devrie Donalson is a natural-born storyteller and one to watch.”

New York Times bestselling author Jeneva Rose

The wisdom of Bird by Bird meets a fresh wit reminiscent of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in You’re Gonna Die Alone—a triumphant debut overflowing with courage, humor, and kindness. I want to give a copy to every person I love.”

author of Gutsy Natalie Franke

An incredible comfort and a stunning debut, You’re Gonna Die Alone is hope for the hopeless romantics and the cheese-loving darlings…Hilarious, heartbreaking, and hopeful. Just like life should be.”

BookToker Alicia Ross

Devrie reaches across time and space to grab the hand of the scared and ashamed thirteen-year-old that lives within each of us and firmly but tenderly declare: life is too short to play small. Equal parts time capsule, love letter, and permission slip, Devrie’s story is delightfully funny and profoundly liberating.”

Eliza Day

Witty, hilarious, and thought-provoking. Devrie Donalson is a natural-born storyteller and one to watch.”

Jeneva Rose

A collection of delicate and complex emotions shown under the softest of lights, handled with care, all while allowing you room to laugh and smile.”

Naina Singh

I’ve never read a book like this before. It flowed like a deep conversation with Devrie; the kind where you wrap up in your favorite blanket by the bonfire with your girlfriends and recount soul-crushing AIM convos in middle school, the hell we put our bodies through in the name of beauty, and the devastating losses that we used as fuel to build ourselves back up. Every sentence is in Devrie’s quick, assured voice we’ve come to know and love. She just GETS IT.”

Jessy Parr

Relatable, real, and a heart song for those of us who dream big, love hard, and want to be our best while fighting against all the voices that tell us who we are supposed to be. Devrie makes you cry, laugh, and critically think about who you were and who you want to be. Do yourself a favor—read this!”

Barrett Pall

If you need an exhale and a laugh at the same time, read this book.”

author of Chasing the Bright Side Jess Ekstrom

Trying your best and just want someone to notice? This book was written for you.”

Anna Przy

The wisdom of Bird by Bird meets a fresh wit reminiscent of Phoebe Waller-Bridge in You’re Gonna Die Alone—a triumphant debut overflowing with courage, humor, and kindness. I want to give a copy to every person I love.”

bestselling author of Gutsy Natalie Franke

You’re Gonna Die Alone is a perfect companion for anyone who needs a belly laugh, a good cry, and a freaking break.”

Abby Jimenez

I found myself laughing out loud, then crying tears I didn’t know I had in me, then crying from hysterically laughing again, all while feeling fully seen. This is the book I needed to navigate growing up, the book I didn’t know I needed at thirty years old, and the book I would gift to every woman in my life.”

Brianna McDonnell

This book made me heartily laugh out loud! Devrie’s humor is woven so stunningly and naturally throughout every chapter, even in the most devastating and crushing moments. It is full of sage advice and hard truths, but never pretentious or all-knowing, it is gentle and loving and cozy. I want to give this to my mom, my sister, and my girlfriends. This book made me hopeful for the future of writing and proud to be a woman living in this time.”

Mary Elizabeth Kelly

In a market flooded with self-help books, Devrie Donalson’s excellently titled You’re Gonna Die Alone (& Other Excellent News) stands out…From Tinder and tattoos to rejection and healing, Donalson’s remarkable journey of discovery reveals a woman who has broken free of the baggage that had been weighing her down for so long.”

New York Post

You’re Gonna Die Alone is a perfect companion for anyone who needs a belly laugh, a good cry, and a freaking break.”

New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly Abby Jimenez