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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
So...I binge-read this book, which I haven't done in a while and it was beautiful. I love the world of Gena and Finn. My nerdy Fandom self was so happy to read all of the fandom-related awesomeness and the authors portrayed it really well. I liked the multimedia format of the book and that their stories were told through posts, messages, tests, journals, poems, press releases, etc. It felt authentic in a way because so much of fandom life is lived out online that way. It did have the downside of making me miss the conversations that would have happened between Gena and Finn in real life, but it stayed true to its format.
This reminded me so much of my Brainmate (best friend from college) and all of our witty and nerdy conversations. It felt natural and authentic and heartbreaking in its reality of hard times.
I didn't want to leave this world, and Gena and Finn are going to stay with me for a long time.
This reminded me so much of my Brainmate (best friend from college) and all of our witty and nerdy conversations. It felt natural and authentic and heartbreaking in its reality of hard times.
I didn't want to leave this world, and Gena and Finn are going to stay with me for a long time.
(I wrote this review back in June, but didn't post it at the time, and then I forgot about it because the past two months have been very odd. I can only assume that I wrote everything I wanted to say about this book? Oh well. I'm posting this mostly as-is. I GUESS THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. But it's stuff that I would have wanted to know before reading...)
The only thing I really knew about this book before reading it was that it was about an online friendship. That caught my attention immediately, because I've developed several important online friendships over the years. Even though I've never been a part of a fanfic community or interested in Supernatural (which I'm pretty sure is what the fictional show in this book was based on), but everything still felt so familiar. I was loving it! I couldn't put it down. And then...... revelations (of Gena being a child star) and tragedy. Which, you know, that's fine... It felt a little inconsistent with the beginning of the book, but nothing too off-putting.
But as for what WAS off-putting....
I didn't even know this book would potentially have queer content. Even with the slash in the title, and the fact I'd read Hannah Moskowitz's previous book, which had a bi main character. But even not expecting anything gay didn't save me from disappointment, because for a while the book seriously started to go that direction. Like SERIOUSLY. And I fell for it!!! Because hope springs eternal in my gay heart!
But sadly it ended extremely unsatisfactorily in the regard... Like "Oh we were like in love and basically admitted it but let's just go on and have a slightly alienated friendship now and be with these nice lame dudes."
Like.... I'm kind of in denial about it. This book could've been so good, but instead it just made me feel kind of sad. The only thing worse than unfulfilled femslash ships, are the consistency with which 1/2 of femslash ships are killed off in media. *cough* But that is another whole can of worms. And also why I don't have time for this half-assed shit.
The only thing I really knew about this book before reading it was that it was about an online friendship. That caught my attention immediately, because I've developed several important online friendships over the years. Even though I've never been a part of a fanfic community or interested in Supernatural (which I'm pretty sure is what the fictional show in this book was based on), but everything still felt so familiar. I was loving it! I couldn't put it down. And then...... revelations (of Gena being a child star) and tragedy. Which, you know, that's fine... It felt a little inconsistent with the beginning of the book, but nothing too off-putting.
But as for what WAS off-putting....
I didn't even know this book would potentially have queer content. Even with the slash in the title, and the fact I'd read Hannah Moskowitz's previous book, which had a bi main character. But even not expecting anything gay didn't save me from disappointment, because for a while the book seriously started to go that direction. Like SERIOUSLY. And I fell for it!!! Because hope springs eternal in my gay heart!
But sadly it ended extremely unsatisfactorily in the regard... Like "Oh we were like in love and basically admitted it but let's just go on and have a slightly alienated friendship now and be with these nice lame dudes."
Like.... I'm kind of in denial about it. This book could've been so good, but instead it just made me feel kind of sad. The only thing worse than unfulfilled femslash ships, are the consistency with which 1/2 of femslash ships are killed off in media. *cough* But that is another whole can of worms. And also why I don't have time for this half-assed shit.
This book captured what fandom is, very well. I felt like I was reliving my fandom experience all over again. And had the book stayed the course, I really think I would’ve enjoyed it more.
If I could’ve reviewed the two first parts only, I would’ve given this 5 stars. Part three was excessive drama to me, and was like I was reading a completely different book.
If I could’ve reviewed the two first parts only, I would’ve given this 5 stars. Part three was excessive drama to me, and was like I was reading a completely different book.
I honestly don't have a clear idea of how I feel about this one yet. Need to think about it more!
Both of these characters were terrible. They were extremely lacking in both depth and maturity and the format is not one that aids their development. I think that I was most disappointed in Finn, because at 22 I expect her to be more mature and provide advice to Gena who is only 18, yet they both behave so immaturely that I cannot believe this is a realistic depiction of young adults.
As an aside, I don't understand why Finn thinks that she needs to keep her interests from Charlie, who is great and clearly loves her, because he doesn't seem like he would judge or think less of her because of her fanfic interests.
As an aside, I don't understand why Finn thinks that she needs to keep her interests from Charlie, who is great and clearly loves her, because he doesn't seem like he would judge or think less of her because of her fanfic interests.
Well. I enjoyed the first half of this book, but then it got all dramatic and it just bummed me out. Not what I wanted to happen at all. :(
“I’ve always had a fandom. I’ve always had characters who live in my head and mess with my heart and tell me stories, and I love it.”
Gena and Finn is one of those books that I picked up because it's supposed to be about college and switching from Highschool to college, which is something that I've been looking for more. Don't get me wrong I still love my YA, but I want college books now too, ones that don't involve sex all the time.
This book did that, we get to see Gena go from a boarding school to a college setting where she struggles to cope with multiple things. We see her struggle to make ends meet and her parents being absent, all while she's in this fandom and is pretty well known in it. Then we have Finn who is a recent college graduate looking for a job, and trying to decide if she wants to be with her boyfriend forever or not. She is also in the same fandom as Gena but isn't as well known and Finn does some pretty nice fan art as well.
Gena and Finn are two unlikely characters who probably wouldn't have ever met if it hadn't been for fandom. With this fandom, they slowly become friends and start to tell each other everything. Things that they haven't ever told anyone else. We get to see them fall in a type of love, and friendship where the lines blur and your not really sure if they're a thing or not. Which makes things extremely complicated considering Finn has a boyfriend who wants to marry her.
Besides the romance part of this book, though we get to see a condition where Gena sees's things that aren't really there and even though she is on medicine for it, it has greatly made her question everything she see's because of that.
Overall I really liked this story. Not only was it a nice college-aged book that shows freshman year and what happens after graduating. It dealt with internet friendships and how fandoms can make some of the best bonds between people. It dealt with what happens when your alone and have no one really to talk to about things. Gena/Finn also deals with so much more.
If you want a college-aged book that shows the reality of and fandom as well, then this book is for you!
"You didn't get to choose what happened to you.
You don't get to choose if it still hurts you.
You get to choose if you put it in your sentence about yourself."
Gena and Finn is one of those books that I picked up because it's supposed to be about college and switching from Highschool to college, which is something that I've been looking for more. Don't get me wrong I still love my YA, but I want college books now too, ones that don't involve sex all the time.
This book did that, we get to see Gena go from a boarding school to a college setting where she struggles to cope with multiple things. We see her struggle to make ends meet and her parents being absent, all while she's in this fandom and is pretty well known in it. Then we have Finn who is a recent college graduate looking for a job, and trying to decide if she wants to be with her boyfriend forever or not. She is also in the same fandom as Gena but isn't as well known and Finn does some pretty nice fan art as well.
Gena and Finn are two unlikely characters who probably wouldn't have ever met if it hadn't been for fandom. With this fandom, they slowly become friends and start to tell each other everything. Things that they haven't ever told anyone else. We get to see them fall in a type of love, and friendship where the lines blur and your not really sure if they're a thing or not. Which makes things extremely complicated considering Finn has a boyfriend who wants to marry her.
Besides the romance part of this book, though we get to see a condition where Gena sees's things that aren't really there and even though she is on medicine for it, it has greatly made her question everything she see's because of that.
Overall I really liked this story. Not only was it a nice college-aged book that shows freshman year and what happens after graduating. It dealt with internet friendships and how fandoms can make some of the best bonds between people. It dealt with what happens when your alone and have no one really to talk to about things. Gena/Finn also deals with so much more.
If you want a college-aged book that shows the reality of and fandom as well, then this book is for you!
"You didn't get to choose what happened to you.
You don't get to choose if it still hurts you.
You get to choose if you put it in your sentence about yourself."
This was.... not what I expected at all. And not in a good way.
The first half or so went how I wanted to read a book about online friends and their relationships formed over fandom and how it affects their real lives. And then suddenly? I was reading a trauma story? Which by itself wouldn't be so bad. I liked the use of poems, I liked the representation of mental illnesses. But it did not work in a book like this.
The first half or so went how I wanted to read a book about online friends and their relationships formed over fandom and how it affects their real lives. And then suddenly? I was reading a trauma story? Which by itself wouldn't be so bad. I liked the use of poems, I liked the representation of mental illnesses. But it did not work in a book like this.
Spoiler
I was fine with Zack dying but then suddenly Gena was so broken and the whole story broke with it. It was not pleasing to read in the least. The conclusion was also kind of weak and, yes, trauma, PTSD, all of that is a long, long process. But in the fiction I'm reading, this was too real. Much too real. It left me with a bitter aftertaste and I don't like it.
2.5 stars.
I wanted to like this book. And the first 1/3 of it was pretty great. Lots of fandom stuff + Internet friendship. What could go wrong?
As it turns out, a lot, actually.
If someone had told me the ending of this book after I had read, say, the first three chapter, I would have thought they were joking. The change of tone from the beginning to the end is extreme, to put it mildly.
This book goes from a nice, happy contemporary to an EXTREMELY dark and emotional contemporary in the blink of an eye.
I guess that would be okay for some people, but it was definitely not my cup of tea.
I wanted to like this book. And the first 1/3 of it was pretty great. Lots of fandom stuff + Internet friendship. What could go wrong?
As it turns out, a lot, actually.
If someone had told me the ending of this book after I had read, say, the first three chapter, I would have thought they were joking. The change of tone from the beginning to the end is extreme, to put it mildly.
This book goes from a nice, happy contemporary to an EXTREMELY dark and emotional contemporary in the blink of an eye.
I guess that would be okay for some people, but it was definitely not my cup of tea.