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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
fast-paced
I'm still a little confused about this one. On the one hand, I loved it in the beginning for its portrayal of online friendships and the transcript style of all the electronic communication worked really well for this. On the other hand, the relationships in the book were strange and .
So three stars. It wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away. Super short read, though.
Spoiler
after the accident the relationships became even stranger. I thought this would be a romance-ish story from a review I saw, but it just ended up confusing meSo three stars. It wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away. Super short read, though.
This book surprised me. The writing was unconventional--it was told entirely though emails, text messages, online posts, letters, and journal entries-- but still produced a fully formed story and characters...and evoked quiet, gradual feels that had me softly welling up by the end.
So I wasn't entirely sure I was gonna like this book, I had a flick through the first couple of pages when I'd got it from the library and I didn't know how well I would get on with the format (the story is told through blog posts, text messages, emails and written journals).
As it turns out, I didn't need to be worried, I ended up loving it. The first few parts go along nicely, developing the friendship between the two title characters brilliantly and showing a lovely portrayal of fandom culture. I also was not expecting the twist in the story at the end of Part 2, and I love how the story then changed to be told through hand-written journals. For a Young-Adult book, it is quite hard-hitting especially when you aren't expecting it.
This book was also an interesting read for me as a British person and getting a little bit of an insight into American culture. Especially with the last part as I always forget the difference between what I'm used to (e.g. free National Health vs. the expensive American system).
Overall definitely worth a read.
As it turns out, I didn't need to be worried, I ended up loving it. The first few parts go along nicely, developing the friendship between the two title characters brilliantly and showing a lovely portrayal of fandom culture. I also was not expecting the twist in the story at the end of Part 2, and I love how the story then changed to be told through hand-written journals. For a Young-Adult book, it is quite hard-hitting especially when you aren't expecting it.
This book was also an interesting read for me as a British person and getting a little bit of an insight into American culture. Especially with the last part as I always forget the difference between what I'm used to (e.g. free National Health vs. the expensive American system).
Overall definitely worth a read.
English Review Below.
رواية للشباب فيها عنصر الميديا، فبتحكي القصة عن طريق عناصر مختلفة زي الإيميلات والشات والبلوجز والرسائل وقصص الفان فيكشن ورسومات الفان آرت وغيرها، وحسيتها تجسيد واقعي للجانب ده من ثقافة المعجبين لأنها فكرتني بنفسي في مرحلة من حياتي لما كان عندي بلوج وكنت بشارك في منتديات كتيرة كواحدة من المعجبين بمسلسل أو فرقة موسيقية ما. فكانت تجسيد واقعي. دي قصة بنتين معجبتين بمسلسل عن الشرطة (طريقة كلامهم عنه خلتني أتخيل بروكلين 9-9)، وهما جينا وهي عندها 18 سنة ولسة هتبدأ الجامعة وبتعاني من مشاكل نفسية وذهنية وبتلاقي ملاذ ليها في الإنترنت، وفين وهي بنت عندها 22 سنة تخرجت من الجامعة وحاسة بفقدان الهدف شوية وبرضة بتلاقي ملاذها في الإنترنت والكلام عن المسلسل ده.
البنتين دول بيبقوا جزء من حياة بعض وبيكونوا علاقة قوية جدا. كانت مفاجأة لما الكتاب خد منحنى مظلم شوية في الجزء التالت، فوجب التحذير أنها مش رواية خفيفة تماما بطولها، فيها بعض التفاصيل المقبضة شوية في النهاية. بتتعامل مع فكرة العائلة اللي بيكونها الفرد من الأصدقاء والمقربين بدل العائلة اللي من لحم ودم. أسلوب الكتابة كان عادي، يعني يليق على أسلوب الفان فيكشن. الرواية مش مترجمة بس أظن أنها مناسبة جدا لأي حد مبتدأ في اللغة الإنجليزية. حاسة أنها كانت هتعجبني أكتر لو كنت أصغر سنا، وجزء من المجهور المقصودة ليها، بس برضة قدرتها لكل اللي قدمته.
First of all, I loved the use of the mixed media here, and it made use of a lot of things people in fandom really did rely on, like blogs, chats, messages, fan art, fan fiction, and others. It also rang so true, because it reminded me of my intense fandom days when I had a Livejournal blog and was part of many forums, I'm still a fangirl today but not as hard as I was several years ago, and as shown in this novel.
It's a YA novel about two girls fans of a police show (it reminded me a lot of Brooklyn Nine Nine, and it's what I had in my mind every time I read the fics). Gena is an 18 years old girl about to start college, she's suffering from mental illness and neglect and finds solace in the internet world. Finn is a 22 years old woman who graduated college and is living with her boyfriend and feels aimless but feels like herself when she's online talking about the fandom. These two girls enter each other's lives and form a very strong bond.
I was surprised when it took a darker turn in the third part of the book, so that should be a warning, it's not very light-hearted all the way through. The writing was okay, it felt very YA and fit the whole fanfic, but it's not mind-blowing. It deals with mental illness, family relationships, and found family. It was emotional and I think I would've loved it more had I read it when I was 18.
رواية للشباب فيها عنصر الميديا، فبتحكي القصة عن طريق عناصر مختلفة زي الإيميلات والشات والبلوجز والرسائل وقصص الفان فيكشن ورسومات الفان آرت وغيرها، وحسيتها تجسيد واقعي للجانب ده من ثقافة المعجبين لأنها فكرتني بنفسي في مرحلة من حياتي لما كان عندي بلوج وكنت بشارك في منتديات كتيرة كواحدة من المعجبين بمسلسل أو فرقة موسيقية ما. فكانت تجسيد واقعي. دي قصة بنتين معجبتين بمسلسل عن الشرطة (طريقة كلامهم عنه خلتني أتخيل بروكلين 9-9)، وهما جينا وهي عندها 18 سنة ولسة هتبدأ الجامعة وبتعاني من مشاكل نفسية وذهنية وبتلاقي ملاذ ليها في الإنترنت، وفين وهي بنت عندها 22 سنة تخرجت من الجامعة وحاسة بفقدان الهدف شوية وبرضة بتلاقي ملاذها في الإنترنت والكلام عن المسلسل ده.
البنتين دول بيبقوا جزء من حياة بعض وبيكونوا علاقة قوية جدا. كانت مفاجأة لما الكتاب خد منحنى مظلم شوية في الجزء التالت، فوجب التحذير أنها مش رواية خفيفة تماما بطولها، فيها بعض التفاصيل المقبضة شوية في النهاية. بتتعامل مع فكرة العائلة اللي بيكونها الفرد من الأصدقاء والمقربين بدل العائلة اللي من لحم ودم. أسلوب الكتابة كان عادي، يعني يليق على أسلوب الفان فيكشن. الرواية مش مترجمة بس أظن أنها مناسبة جدا لأي حد مبتدأ في اللغة الإنجليزية. حاسة أنها كانت هتعجبني أكتر لو كنت أصغر سنا، وجزء من المجهور المقصودة ليها، بس برضة قدرتها لكل اللي قدمته.
First of all, I loved the use of the mixed media here, and it made use of a lot of things people in fandom really did rely on, like blogs, chats, messages, fan art, fan fiction, and others. It also rang so true, because it reminded me of my intense fandom days when I had a Livejournal blog and was part of many forums, I'm still a fangirl today but not as hard as I was several years ago, and as shown in this novel.
It's a YA novel about two girls fans of a police show (it reminded me a lot of Brooklyn Nine Nine, and it's what I had in my mind every time I read the fics). Gena is an 18 years old girl about to start college, she's suffering from mental illness and neglect and finds solace in the internet world. Finn is a 22 years old woman who graduated college and is living with her boyfriend and feels aimless but feels like herself when she's online talking about the fandom. These two girls enter each other's lives and form a very strong bond.
I was surprised when it took a darker turn in the third part of the book, so that should be a warning, it's not very light-hearted all the way through. The writing was okay, it felt very YA and fit the whole fanfic, but it's not mind-blowing. It deals with mental illness, family relationships, and found family. It was emotional and I think I would've loved it more had I read it when I was 18.
For an epistolary work, it's pretty good. If they'd kept this level of detail in the regular format, though, I'd have had to knock it down to three stars. A lot of people really didn't care much for the plot twist from nowhere, but I like when a book can surprise me. There aren't a lot of books in the world that can do that. I even knew there was a twist out of left field, and as I was reading it, I thought I knew what it was going to be. The thing I thought was the twist everyone was talking about wasn't THE twist, though. I wish it had been longer and non-epistolary, but with some letters and sketches thrown in for good measure instead.
I'm convinced there must be another five pages of the ending missing. I'm so not okay with how this ended, but I still love the book, and may grow to love the ending.
I gave this book three out of five stars because I enjoyed reading it but I will not read it again or recommend it to any of my friends.
This is a story about two people who are in the same fandom. In some ways, it is the story of love through the internet, but it also delves into the life of acting and growing up. Gena and Finn learn to love each other while managing their lives, and they talk both in real life and through technology.
This is a good book to read if you're looking to think about what it really means to love someone, and if love has to exclusive or if you can love many people at once, in the same way, and if it makes you a bad person to do so.
This is a story about two people who are in the same fandom. In some ways, it is the story of love through the internet, but it also delves into the life of acting and growing up. Gena and Finn learn to love each other while managing their lives, and they talk both in real life and through technology.
This is a good book to read if you're looking to think about what it really means to love someone, and if love has to exclusive or if you can love many people at once, in the same way, and if it makes you a bad person to do so.
I will be thinking about this book for weeks. Female friendship---as many of the book reviews and essays and other longform stuff I read will tell you---is sort of the final frontier in Life and Literature. I am grateful for this book for a framework for discussing the blurred lines between platonic friendships and romance. This book is absolutely nothing like I expected and I am very grateful for that. I would've liked a bit more development between G & F towards the beginning of their friendship, but that's my only complaint at this point. But I finished this book less than 20 minutes ago, so processing is still happening, I guess.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated