Rosie Waterland is frank, fearless and very, very funny. Reading her memoir, The Anti-Cool Girl, feels in many ways like sitting down to chat with a complete over-sharer (a no-holds barred, here’s-my-entire-life-story-so-far kind of conversation that takes place over a bottle or more of wine, and ends at dawn with emotional declarations of life-long friendship). At 28-years old, Waterland is known to many for her hugely successful, laugh-out-loud funny recaps of The Bachelor on Mamamia. But in focusing on her own chaotic upbringing in The Anti-Cool Girl, Waterland proves that she’s more than just a talented comedy writer.

The blurb for The Anti-Cool Girl reads like a checklist for a soap opera: addict parents, overdoses, butchers’ knife attacks, rehab stints, eating disorders, schoolyard bullying, abusive foster parents, suicide attempts and living in the shadow of a near-perfect, beautiful older sister. It would be easy to dismiss a list like this as stranger than fiction. But, like Augusten Burroughs’ Running with Scissors, Waterland’s skill lies in retelling her life events in a blackly funny way that keeps the reader giggling and engrossed throughout.

In turn, when she steps away from the jokes to talk honestly about her experiences, Waterland’s writing is unfussy and raw. Reading these passages feels like being hit straight in the gut. Scenes such as coming to terms with her father’s death, or descriptions of the moments that her mother demonstrated real, tender love, are powerful because Waterland proves that she doesn’t always need to lace every story with her trademark wit.

Waterland has packed a lot into 28 years, and her experiences as a child and teenager encompass many of the toughest things life can throw at a person. While The Anti-Cool Girl does not shy away from tackling some heavy issues, Waterland’s strength as a storyteller allows the reader to trust that a sense of humour (and bucket loads of resilience) can take you all the way – and it makes for riveting reading.

Stella Charls is the marketing and events coordinator for Readings