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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Gena and Finn are two girls two meet due to their love of the same TV show.
The first 2/3 of this book contain the single best depiction of fandom life that I've ever read. Anyone involved in a fandom will certainly relate to the girls.
The last portion of the book is... unexpected. Without giving anything away I don't want to say much, though I will say that this book is completely and totally worth the read.
The first 2/3 of this book contain the single best depiction of fandom life that I've ever read. Anyone involved in a fandom will certainly relate to the girls.
The last portion of the book is... unexpected. Without giving anything away I don't want to say much, though I will say that this book is completely and totally worth the read.
A gorgeous exploration of really complex feelings—I LOVE seeing more books about the blurry line between friendship and romance. I read this book in one sitting and enjoyed it immensely.
When this book came in at my library, I glanced at the title and thought "Huh, I must be spending too much time reading fanfiction, I read that as a relationship tag." Then I opened the cover and saw that the jacket copy reads like the front matter of a fanfiction (complete with word count, pairing, authors and summary) and I knew I had to read it. When I looked into it further still and saw that it was a book about two women forming a friendship via internet fandom, it was all I could do to wait for the actual release date so I could get my hands on it.
Well. I started reading on my lunch break, put it down for a while to go back to work, picked it up again around midnight...and couldn't put it down until 2:30 am, when it was finished. Which tells you that 1) it's not a long read, and 2) it hits a point where it's impossible to stop reading. I'm talking emotional roller coaster hurtling toward a cliff here. It's the next morning and I'm still recovering (though that might be sleep deprivation, too). I have so many feels that my feels have feels. It might not strike everyone this way, but for anyone who has ever fallen hard for a fandom (and, in my case, found unexpected friendships in fellow fans) it will probably resonate.
If the "making internet friends who are really far away but you wish you could hang out with them all the time" thing wasn't strong enough already, the tragedy that sends Gena over the edge hit me even harder due to actual life circumstances. A few weeks ago a friend I know through fandom who lives far away was in a life-threatening situation and had to evacuate from their home (along with their entire town of 80,000+ people) due to an out-of-control wildfire. Over here on the other end of the continent, I couldn't do anything other than read the news and pray and worry. So when it got to the part of the book where Finn is frantically texting Gena, not knowing if she's alive or dead, I related so strongly I could hardly breathe.
I also related pretty strongly to the "is this friendship? More than friendship?" conundrum that both Gena and Finn have to tackle. It can be easy to open up to people online because there is that safe distance, but after a while it can get to the point where it feels like online friends know a truer side than people in the real world. (Not to say that the internet isn't a real world, it's just...I lack a better name for it.) Anyway, I appreciated seeing that dilemma, and that it isn't precisely resolved at the end. Gena's trauma and mental issues not being neatly solved either was also really good to see, because usually real life doesn't go that way.
Well. I started reading on my lunch break, put it down for a while to go back to work, picked it up again around midnight...and couldn't put it down until 2:30 am, when it was finished. Which tells you that 1) it's not a long read, and 2) it hits a point where it's impossible to stop reading. I'm talking emotional roller coaster hurtling toward a cliff here. It's the next morning and I'm still recovering (though that might be sleep deprivation, too). I have so many feels that my feels have feels. It might not strike everyone this way, but for anyone who has ever fallen hard for a fandom (and, in my case, found unexpected friendships in fellow fans) it will probably resonate.
I also related pretty strongly to the "is this friendship? More than friendship?" conundrum that both Gena and Finn have to tackle. It can be easy to open up to people online because there is that safe distance, but after a while it can get to the point where it feels like online friends know a truer side than people in the real world. (Not to say that the internet isn't a real world, it's just...I lack a better name for it.) Anyway, I appreciated seeing that dilemma, and that it isn't precisely resolved at the end. Gena's trauma and mental issues not being neatly solved either was also really good to see, because usually real life doesn't go that way.
I went into this kind of knowing what happened, but I wanted to try it anyway as from the blurb it sounds like such a great representation of fandom life. Well. At least the first third of the book was. I LOVED the multimedia and the instant connection between the two. The rest of the book - not quite what I was expecting at all, classic case of "let's throw a huge plot point in" instead of letting the story be more character-driven. What a shame.
This book is like a drug. Once I started reading, it was like nothing else existed. I loved everything about it, even the twists. And holy hell, those twists.
The more I think about this book, the more it frustrates me.
Maybe I was just under the wrong impression about what this book was going to be, but I expected more of a F/F romance than what it actually was.
The leap between friendship and feelings happened so suddenly, and then ended as quickly as it happened. It just felt... really strange. I didn't think either Gena or Finn knew what they actually wanted from each other and that just left me feeling confused about what I wanted from it.
It almost felt like two books; a fandom novel, and a F/F romance had kinda been diluted and mixed together. It left it being overly dramatic with weird payoffs. There were definitely unexpected twists and turns but I'm not sure that's a good thing.
The fandom elements of this book were great in the first half, but then it just got incredibly unrealistic and weird and kinda like a runaway train.
Maybe I was just under the wrong impression about what this book was going to be, but I expected more of a F/F romance than what it actually was.
The leap between friendship and feelings happened so suddenly, and then ended as quickly as it happened. It just felt... really strange. I didn't think either Gena or Finn knew what they actually wanted from each other and that just left me feeling confused about what I wanted from it.
It almost felt like two books; a fandom novel, and a F/F romance had kinda been diluted and mixed together. It left it being overly dramatic with weird payoffs. There were definitely unexpected twists and turns but I'm not sure that's a good thing.
The fandom elements of this book were great in the first half, but then it just got incredibly unrealistic and weird and kinda like a runaway train.
Conflicted on this one. It felt relatable at times and then so disparate at others. Tragedy to advance a plot is not my favorite. It didn’t feel like this book had a conclusion either. My ebook actually repeated Gena’s final journal entry twice which is not the author’s fault by any means but I hope I didn’t miss out on anything, not that a few pages more would really serve to tie up the faulty ending.
It was a quick, easy read. The LGBTQIA+ elements were not ultimately meaningful. I did like the characters but did not find some of their quick turnarounds in attitude especially realistic? Maybe I misunderstood the time frame however and they had the time to adjust. Who knows.
It wasn’t bad but I have to imagine that readers of the first half of the book will be disappointed by the second half and vice versa. Just lost track of where we were going by the end.
As a fangirl myself, I could see bits and pieces of me in these girls. Fanfiction, mental health issues, rough college experience, my maid of honor was this beautiful gal I met online who I am lucky to have a great relationship with after all this time! So I won’t act like the first half of the book wasn’t my bread and butter.
There were things that I thought could be handled better and things I absolutely would not change. I love a platform for my world of fandom and I have to recommend titles that lend a voice to the world that invited me in. Enjoy these girls but go into it with an open mind and expect a bumpy ride, particularly at the end.
It was a quick, easy read. The LGBTQIA+ elements were not ultimately meaningful. I did like the characters but did not find some of their quick turnarounds in attitude especially realistic? Maybe I misunderstood the time frame however and they had the time to adjust. Who knows.
It wasn’t bad but I have to imagine that readers of the first half of the book will be disappointed by the second half and vice versa. Just lost track of where we were going by the end.
As a fangirl myself, I could see bits and pieces of me in these girls. Fanfiction, mental health issues, rough college experience, my maid of honor was this beautiful gal I met online who I am lucky to have a great relationship with after all this time! So I won’t act like the first half of the book wasn’t my bread and butter.
There were things that I thought could be handled better and things I absolutely would not change. I love a platform for my world of fandom and I have to recommend titles that lend a voice to the world that invited me in. Enjoy these girls but go into it with an open mind and expect a bumpy ride, particularly at the end.
It was okay but it was lacking something I couldn't connect to. The ending just seemed to drop off...
This was a truly heartbreaking, touching read. I honestly think you’re better off going into this one knowing next to nothing about it. I went into it knowing nothing about the plot and I’m so glad I did because it really drew out the story and made it so intensely emotional. I think if I’d have known the basis of the synopsis it wouldn’t have been as raw because each of the events that took place seriously took me off guard.
The writing is fantastic, the characters are lovable, the fandom aspect was done brilliantly... in fact it took me back to my fandom/fanfic days! I think it takes a really good book to be able to rewind memories that far, so it definitely scored some massive points there.
Would definitely recommend this one if you fancy a quick (it’s told in emails and texts), touching read about friendship, love, college and a few other bits and pieces that I don’t want to divulge lest I mildly spoil a couple of plot points.
The writing is fantastic, the characters are lovable, the fandom aspect was done brilliantly... in fact it took me back to my fandom/fanfic days! I think it takes a really good book to be able to rewind memories that far, so it definitely scored some massive points there.
Would definitely recommend this one if you fancy a quick (it’s told in emails and texts), touching read about friendship, love, college and a few other bits and pieces that I don’t want to divulge lest I mildly spoil a couple of plot points.