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Why “I Didn’t Know I Needed This” By Eli Rallo Needs To Be On Your 2024 TBR

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ohio U chapter.

Eli Rallo is a multi-media content creator who originally became popular on TikTok under the username @thejarr (now @elirallo) by creating different lists of rules for things such as being ghosted, Thanksgiving, and third dates. Her personality and fun little lists drew her in quite an audience, myself included of course. She’s what I would call a big sister of the internet always posting advice requests on Instagram, and being very open about her own life experiences and how she’s dealt with mental health, college, heartbreaks etc., especially on her podcast “Miss Congeniality”.

But she’s not just some TikToker who decided to ghostwrite a book. She’s an ex-theatre girly from New Jersey who got her undergrad degree at the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts, and minors in playwriting, political science, and creative writing in 2020. She then got her master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism in 2021.

Rallo’s website describes the book as “…a to-do list of self-appreciation and validation and answers to questions like “Who texts first after the first date?” “How do I ask him to go down on me during sex?” and “What the f*ck am I supposed to do with a broken heart?”, which to me sounds like the kind of book everyone needs to read. It’s a series of lists similar to her TikToks, giving advice throughout the timeline of a relationship from going from being single, to the stages of a relationship, and then back to being single.

Rallo got her book deal with Harper-Collins/Harvest Book in April of 2022 and her fans have been able to see the full process of her writing and editing. The book is already receiving plenty of positive feedback such as this quote by publisher, Harvest, in Cosmopolitan, “With touching stories of her adventures and mishaps, Eli helps you navigate dating in a way that’s frank, honest, funny, and relatable, giving the advice that you didn’t even know you needed.”

The book should be released on December 12th, 2023, and is on pre-order right now.

I really admire Eli’s openness and ability to talk about absolutely anything under the sun. I’ve been an avid listener of her podcast for about a year and a half and her advice has helped me in bettering my relationships with friends, significant others, and even myself. So this book is 100% on my TBR for December. So, you can expect to see a review from me sometime next semester.

freshman psych major at Ohio University. a cancer sun, capricorn moon, and sagittarius rising who loves matcha lattes, pop culture, reading, and music