Customer Reviews

Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever (100% Official)

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

The first thing you feel is its weight in your hands, which screams, "this is an important book." "First Step 2 Forever" is a hardcover, multi-colored monstrosity that clocks in at 240 pages... half of which feature full-page pictures of the 16-year-old Bieber. This should please the majority of his pint-sized fans, who are looking for nothing more than a visual companion to Bieber's equally sugar-coated albums.

There's no way to accurately convey the inherent absurdity in reading a memoir written by someone who is only 16 years old. I'm reminded of this Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "Gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." In many ways, "First Step 2 Forever" compares to Anne Frank's diary, but the comparison ends at their young ages. At least in my opinion.

Bieber spends an inordinate amount of time talking about girls. As he writes in big letters that fill an entire page: "I really like... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls..." But don't peg him as a one-trick pony: "There are lots of things I really like besides girls. Like pizza.... And CHUCK NORRIS." And boy does he ever love Chuck Norris, whose name appears in all caps every time he's mentioned.

He also likes "pranking," which, if the pictures are to be believed, consists of shooting his friends and bandmates with a giant super-soaker water gun. No, I don't get it either. One of those, "You had to be there" things. Or maybe you can be there, when Bieber takes over hosting duties on MTV's Punk'd for Ashton Kutcher.

Bieber even takes a few pages to debunk some rumors that have apparently been swirling online about him:

* Im not dead. I had to check on this one... but it turns out Im alive
* Im not Peter Pan... Im growing up and my voice will change...
* I am not 10 feet tall and I dont shoot fire balls from my a**... that was BraveHeart
* No CHUCK NORRIS is not my real father... although he did birth to Hercules

Those aren't my grammatical or spelling errors, by the way. The book simply reproduces many of Bieber's Tweets without fixing them for grammar or spelling. Will anyone really care? Doubtful.

In a few places, Bieber slows down the breakneck pace of his young life to wax poetic on the state of the North American family circa 2010. "If you feel like a freak because you don't have a normal family, I've got news for you: pretty much nobody does," he writes in one moving chapter about his own family.

In one sentence, he says pretty much what took Jonathan Franzen 576 pages to say in "The Corrections" -- more or less. Could "First Step 2 Forever" be the next Oprah Book Club pick?

If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes rock-n-roll biography, pick up Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries." If you want the world's most narcissistic high school yearbook, however, "First Step 2 Forever" is your new bicycle.

If you're a fan of Justin Bieber, you probably know there are already other books out there about him, including unauthorized biographies. This book, however, is designed and written with Bieber's cooperation and noted as being written "by Justin Bieber." There are some helpful tips about this book which you should know before you purchase it. If you collect anything and everything related to Bieber, you'll want to pay close attention to the part about maintaining the book's value.

1. First of all, the book contains exclusive photos and a free poster. But if you don't read the inside cover of the book (bottom right) carefully...you might spend time looking for that poster inside the book. But it turns out it is printed behind the cover. If you want to put up the poster, you have to remove the cover and pin up the poster which is on the back of the cover.

2. For those of you who get a FIRST edition of the book, you should know that removing the cover and pinning it to your wall could reduce the value of your book as a collectible. But if you don't care about that and want the poster pasted on a wall, inside a locker, etc....then go for it! Also, maybe it is just the first editions that have this issue but the front of the cover (the part with the words Justin Bieber on it, in bold purple letters) does show through to the back... but only if you are looking at it in bright light. It won't be visible when put on a wall. If you want to have a collectible copy, you might want to buy two books. Leave the cover on the (hopefully) FIRST edition and pin the poster from the second book on your wall or wherever you want it. It all depends on how much you want the book to retain its value (assuming Bieber retains his popularity).

INFO ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK:

1, A special DM to Bieber's fans, including info that every female fan is his "favorite girl", each for a different reason. He also lets fans know that they have a chance to connect with him on Twitter or get soaked in a water fight after a concert. The book is full-color, including photos - and there are photos on many, many pages.

2. Information about how he reached stardom, his connection with Usher and the My World Tour. He also notes that "my word got very big, very fast, and based on a lot of sad examples from the past, a lot of people expect me to get lost in it." Of course, he doesn't expect to go down that path and here's hoping he beats the odds.

3. A chapter titled "A Secret Musician" which goes into details about Justin's birth, his hometown, pride in being a Canadian and how he spent his time. Bieber opens up about his parents' divorce and how hard his parents worked to stay financially afloat. He also describes time spent with his grandparents and why Justin speaks both French and English.

4. A section called "Big Family Christmas" which focuses on all the details about how Justin spent each Christmas, with his family, including a gift exchange tradition that included rolling dice (yes, rolling dice) as a part of the gift exchange. He explains how the dice action ties into exchanging presents.

5. Another chapter about his family and how his mother made mistakes and admitted them... but changed after she went to church. Not surprisingly, Bieber notes how important God is to him.

There are also details about YouTube (of course, since Bieber reached his first fans there) and very detailed information from Bieber about how he went from YouTube to stardom...step by step. On many of the pages are actual tweets which were sent by Bieber, revealing his popularity on Twitter as well as YouTube. Of course, the book is filled with tons of photos, many noted to be exclusive. There are shots of Bieber leaping onto the stage, talking to his mother, hanging out with Usher and his manager, etc. Of course, for those fans who just want to see Justin alone, in close-up photos, there are plenty of those, including that poster. Only dedicated fans, those who search for every photo of Justin out there, are likely to know which photos in the book have never been published before.

About that poster: don't expect the poster to be huge. It is a little over 22 inches long (as best I could measure it, since it included folds and I couldn't get it completely flat). The good news about the poster? It is a life-size head shot of Justin, focusing primarily on his face but revealing a bit of his V-neck shirt or sweater as well as the gold chain around his neck. The bad news about the poster? You'll have to live with the creases that were created when it was folded around the book. You might be able to get rid of them but you'd probably damage the poster or risk tearing it to get rid of those creases. Even so, the life-sized face, showing every one of Bieber's eyelashes, freckles and distinctive hairstyle, should have fans swooning.

My 15-yr. old daughter is JB obsessed, although she calls it dedicated. This book was awesome. She read it in one sitting (took a few hours) and as a bonus, the cover has a large poster of J. Beibs on the back that she promptly hung on her door. Although, she knew most of the facts in the book because she follows him on Twitter and owns the movie, some of the pictures of him and his family and/or crew were new, so she was thrilled. Worth every penny for the delight it brought her.

I love Justin Bieber, and the reason for that is either this book or the movie!! This book tells every detail about him and he wrote it which is even more exciting! I read it and I feel like I'm one of his friends!! It was so close and personal and also it showed his funny side and real personality!! It's like JB as a book, because it is himself! So if you're a fan, this will easily become your favorite book.....he's amazing!!

i have read all the reviews in the kindle store so let me just tell you what they all say.Get the book if you are a jb fan,but be aware that the sentances are short and choppy. If you do not like him don`t get it.

this book is good because it is of his ife and he is an awesome person and thhis is how he became to be one of the biggest pop stars in the world and this might give us the chance to become a star and be known for something!!!!!!!

you guys all love justin and so do i. everyone at my school hates justin so i am on my own. one girl said he was a girl.(why must everyone asume that he is of a different gender than said to be because he is high pitched?) i said to her that she was just jealous because SHE didnt go on a tour to Asia. After that i screamed at recess on a dare for my friends that he was a comepletly darling young seventeen year old with deep eyes. my main reason for loving him. so.... yeah. plus i loved the book!

This book is more or less a "thank you" to his fans. He did this book so that they can know his whole story without having to rely on internet sources and it's also intended to get them to kind of "back off" the insane amount of personal life invasion by providing what he is comfortable in sharing.
It's mostly about his life and interests. Despite other reviewers: I don't think the entire focus was Chuck Norris and girls. He talks about his friendships and relationships with his family. He expresses his spiritual and emotional beliefs. He shows people that he can laugh at himself and that he's a normal teenage boy who likes to play pranks and be a weirdo. He admits to being an ordinary guy and doesn't really feel that he's what the fans make him out to be but likes to entertain people and give them what they ask.
I have to say that it's a shame that he gets hated on so much because he seems really strong in a sense of knowing who he is and a lot of people can't say that. This book doesn't fan out his ENTIRE being for you but gives you a sense of his ability to be a Human and take the love he gets and put it back where he got it from.
In conclusion I can say that it's a good book for a Bieber fan or anyone who can respect him enough and are just curious about the book.
Please, if you hate the kid: don't bother.
Haters gonna hate.

I couldn't wait for this book and it was well worth the wait! As I was reading Justin's book, I felt like he was sitting next to me reading me the book! It was so life like. I got to really feel what it was like for Justin through his journey and how he is dealing with life today. I hav read it 3 times already, very inspiring!

This is a must buy for all Justin fans! It has tons of great never before seen photos and a poster (the bookcover). Justin tells his story of how he got discovered and his life up till now. I read the whole book in one sitting. It's a very interesting book so go get it!