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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
WOW. I thought I was picking up a fun, goofy, somewhat light-hearted book about fandom and love and friendship. What an extreme, unusually cruel and dark pivot towards a completely unnecessary plot twist! What a way to fucking destroy a character's soul after setting up the story and the audience to believe this is a goofy cute fandom book. I've never read a book take such a dramatically dark turn in the third act. That plot twist was unrealistic and uncalled for. And the wild part is I loved this book up until Part 3. I was hooked. I was all about Gena and Finn and this impossible situation they got themselves into and I was shocked in a bad way to see this book go left field and never come back to the original tone the authors spent the first 2 parts of the story building. I cannot recommend. I hated this. Dreadful. Awful. Ugh.
Wow. What a beautiful book about friendship, love, and fandom! I've never read a book that really captures what it's like to be part of an online community before, but Gena/Finn does it spectacularly. Definitely recommend!
I read this in a few hours, it's definitely a very easy read. Starts off all cute and then bam, tragedy happens and it gets all deep and shit. It sorta expected more, especially since I could really see Stephanie and Genevieve becoming a couple and but OKAY, it was still a good-ish way to spend my afternoon.
Spoiler
Finn confessed how badly in love she was with her
It's 4 am.
I read the last 230 pages in one fell swoop.
I cried about 4 times over the course of those pages because shit got too real and I wasn't ready.
Its weird. But please read it.
I read the last 230 pages in one fell swoop.
I cried about 4 times over the course of those pages because shit got too real and I wasn't ready.
Its weird. But please read it.
Albeit a bit hesitant at first, I was excited to delve into the fangirl world of Gena/Finn and was certainly not disappointed. This story follows high school senior Gena and twenty-something Finn as they connect on an online fan-fiction forum for their favorite telephone show, Up Below. I was immediately drawn in by the very realistic relationship created between the two-- the honesty they shared and the unique nature of an online friendship.
That being said, I was a bit thrown off by a curveball thrown into the plot. I will not go too in-depth because of spoilers, but I was not a fan of the sudden shift as a whole. That being said, I found the writing to be consistently stellar, tackling the truths of identity and trauma in a beautiful light.
3.5 STARS!
That being said, I was a bit thrown off by a curveball thrown into the plot. I will not go too in-depth because of spoilers, but I was not a fan of the sudden shift as a whole. That being said, I found the writing to be consistently stellar, tackling the truths of identity and trauma in a beautiful light.
3.5 STARS!
In the beginning this book felt like it was trying to copy Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. I don't still feel that, but still gave only three stars. The build up to the meaningful portion was slow for me. Then it ended without resolving some of the relationships I wanted resolved. So, perhaps it is selfishness that drives this review.
Quick read, and ended up being much more than it seemed so I was pleasantly surprised. If you can get past the first 50-60 pages of slow and boring nonsense (admittedly I just about gave up and was going to pick up something else instead), the middle and ending are worth it.
This was a surprise! I actually had very little idea of what it was about going in.
This book definitely has strengths. The epistolary style is well applied to an online/fandom friendship and the authors definitely understand fan experiences. Honestly, finding someone who sails your ship? The incredible toxicity of a Big Name Fan? Valid. So valid. The last quarter or so of the book, though, is just a mess. Everything feels unresolved. I disliked Gena's poetry so it felt like her voice disappeared from that part of the story when it was most needed.
Overall a solid beginning that fumbled when it attempted to tackle too many major issues and ended up feeling rushed and incomplete. That said, I adore epistolary novels and appreciated the good representation of fandom experiences, so I'm biased and giving it three stars.
Overall a solid beginning that fumbled when it attempted to tackle too many major issues and ended up feeling rushed and incomplete. That said, I adore epistolary novels and appreciated the good representation of fandom experiences, so I'm biased and giving it three stars.