Review: Mind = Blown: Amazing Facts About This Weird, Hilarious, Insane World by Matthew Santoro

Mind = Blown: Amazing Facts About This Weird, Hilarious, Insane World by Matthew Santoro

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Publisher
Publication Date: August 9th 2016
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Point of View: /
Recommended Age: 13+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Non Fiction, Humor, Culture

---

BLURB:

Matthew Santoro’s originality and humour has attracted millions of fans, making him a beloved YouTube star. His weekly videos on amazing and little-known facts are eagerly anticipated by his many subscribers and followers around the world. In his first-ever book, Matthew’s love of weird and wacky knowledge explodes with new facts and stories from around the planet, and beyond. Surprising, and always entertaining, Mind = Blown offers even more of Matthew’s unique take on this hilarious, crazy world:

The most ridiculous laws from past and present
Crazy doppelgangers of people, places, and unexpected things
Historical wizards who actually lived
Real-life animal avengers
And a special section: Japan Blows My Mind!

From shin-kicking competitions and beer pong-playing robots, to enormous fire-balls shooting through space, you won’t believe what you’ll discover in Mind = Blown. But beware: there is too much astounding trivia for any one mind to contain!

‘‘Mind = Blown’’ is my first non-fiction book read in… years. Actually, I honestly don’t remember the last time I read something that wasn’t fictive or at least ‘‘based on true events.’’

I wasn’t expecting much out of this. I requested it because the cover is cool, shiny and I genuinely like learning things about the world.

But I didn’t know who Matthew Santoro was, and still don’t, although he does share bits of info about himself that aren’t YouTube-related.

This guy has a fun sense of humour though, one that very rarely borders on judgemental or ‘‘wtf, don’t say that.’’ Plus he’s always enthusiastic about what he talks about and makes everything seem much more interesting than it is (or probably is) in reality.

For instance, the way he spoke about the roller coast in Japan that goes underwater made me immediately want to check it out for myself, and so I went on the internet, and viewed a video demoing the ride itself and… wasn’t impressed anymore.

However, it’s still something curious and that’s exactly how I felt throughout my reading of this book – curious. Some things I knew by word of mouth or by checking out one of his videos in the past and then forgetting about it, others I knew but never realized (such as the fact that the money currency in Romania is ‘‘leu’’ which means ‘‘lion’’) but most of the info in this is original and captivating.

And mind-blowing. I mean, I had no idea animals could be so … well, human. Compassionate. Adorable. And good. Even wild ones. That chapter definitely made me clutch a hand against my heart.

This book is divided in 5 parts: 1) Rules of Amazement, 2) Who Came Up with That?, 3) That Can’t Be True, Can It?, 4) No Freakin’ Way! and 5) Fact Favorites.

But those parts are also divided in different chapters. And I enjoyed every one of them. Except for one: ‘‘The Wackiest Mascots on Earth’’ list. But that’s because I seriously don’t care about people who wear costumes and weird things that aren’t my type of funny or impressive.

This is a book I strongly recommend to the curious readers out there who want to take a three-hour break from fiction or are simply in need of some mind-blowing time!

Follow me on:

Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Google+ | Goodreads | Bloglovin’

Advertisement