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3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
Rachel isn't very active on social media. She mostly uses Flit to send goofy pictures to her best friend, Mo...but then a pic she takes of Kyle (a guy she kind of has a crush on) goes massively viral. As in, now the whole country knows her viral. Kyle gets all the benefits (a ton of new followers and basically all the compliments) and Rachel gets ripped to shreds (both online and IRL). Still, if nothing else, at least Kyle talks to her...could something maybe happen?
This book is adorable. Rachel is the kind of heroine I love: super smart, really sarcastic and, yes, insecure. (Rachel c'est moi.) And Kyle, though completely oblivious, is a total sweetheart. I picture him as a smarter but just as sweet Joey Tribbiani. He's not dumb but he's just...he's so unaware of what's going on. Because everyone's nice to him, he genuinely thinks they're nice to Rachel, too (as opposed to calling her a slut and fat and advising her to kill herself).
This book is just what I needed. It's incredibly fun and made me smile throughout. Recommended.
This book is adorable. Rachel is the kind of heroine I love: super smart, really sarcastic and, yes, insecure. (Rachel c'est moi.) And Kyle, though completely oblivious, is a total sweetheart. I picture him as a smarter but just as sweet Joey Tribbiani. He's not dumb but he's just...he's so unaware of what's going on. Because everyone's nice to him, he genuinely thinks they're nice to Rachel, too (as opposed to calling her a slut and fat and advising her to kill herself).
This book is just what I needed. It's incredibly fun and made me smile throughout. Recommended.
A cute read for when you're in the mood for something light and fluffy.
#famous is obviously based on the Alex from Target meme that had hit sometime in 2014, with the story dropped into a high school drama. Rachel, a virtual nobody at her school, has a crush on Kyle (her classmate) and one day posts his picture online a la Target style, as in when he was at work and without his knowledge. It blows up, with him becoming an overnight (actually it happened within an hour) Internet sensation. Simulataneously, though, Rachel becomes the target of internet trolls. When a TV show (obviously not Ellen's) asks him to come on national television, they both go along for the sake of the benefit being famous would have for both of them, academically. It is, besides the origin of the story, pretty much predictable after that.
The book actually shows how Rachel feels about being targeted for her figure, her looks, etc. The cyber-bullying by her classmates is, however, not addressed by the book - it is just assumed to have been misdirected by his showing an interest in her. Because once the focus comes on their romance, the story as well as the secondary characters in the book seem to forget that she was ever bullied. Granted, it was a creepy thing to do - taking someone's picture without consent and posting it online, where all can sexualize said person (it helps that Kyle is not a minor in this one) but the backlash against her was terrible. It also speaks of our Internet culture that anyone in the world can come out and attack you.
On the other side (because this is a dual POV) it shows how Kyle tires of the instant fame pretty fast. Them continuing the farce of reality TV brings them together in a way, but also brings up a wall between them. Her insecurity about her looks I could get - god knows every girl who isn't fat is made to feel fat by societal beauty standards, but I didn't get why she was so insistent on her being 'weird'. I don't know if it is me being an adult and not grasping it, but last I checked, having a sarcastic sense of humor (girl had some witty lines) did not classify you as weird. Hell, she wasn't even emo or goth or anything that I could see other kids considering her weird. She is in fact, quite entertaining and smart, definitely more interesting than he is. But no, she goes on constantly about how she was weird, and he also goes on about how adorably weird she is, how different she is from other girls (*eyeroll*), especially how different she is from his ex, that soon the novel was descending into regular teen drama. The ending was predictable, to say the least - of course the ex is going to try to drive a wedge, he will make a big gesture, etc. and they live happily ever after.
Overall, it is an okay novel, maybe for those who like something light and fluffy, and it is written pretty well. I just wish the story would have been constructed better.
Received a free galley from Katherine Tegen Books, via Edelweiss.
The book actually shows how Rachel feels about being targeted for her figure, her looks, etc. The cyber-bullying by her classmates is, however, not addressed by the book - it is just assumed to have been misdirected by his showing an interest in her. Because once the focus comes on their romance, the story as well as the secondary characters in the book seem to forget that she was ever bullied. Granted, it was a creepy thing to do - taking someone's picture without consent and posting it online, where all can sexualize said person (it helps that Kyle is not a minor in this one) but the backlash against her was terrible. It also speaks of our Internet culture that anyone in the world can come out and attack you.
On the other side (because this is a dual POV) it shows how Kyle tires of the instant fame pretty fast. Them continuing the farce of reality TV brings them together in a way, but also brings up a wall between them. Her insecurity about her looks I could get - god knows every girl who isn't fat is made to feel fat by societal beauty standards, but I didn't get why she was so insistent on her being 'weird'. I don't know if it is me being an adult and not grasping it, but last I checked, having a sarcastic sense of humor (girl had some witty lines) did not classify you as weird. Hell, she wasn't even emo or goth or anything that I could see other kids considering her weird. She is in fact, quite entertaining and smart, definitely more interesting than he is. But no, she goes on constantly about how she was weird, and he also goes on about how adorably weird she is, how different she is from other girls (*eyeroll*), especially how different she is from his ex, that soon the novel was descending into regular teen drama. The ending was predictable, to say the least - of course the ex is going to try to drive a wedge, he will make a big gesture, etc. and they live happily ever after.
Overall, it is an okay novel, maybe for those who like something light and fluffy, and it is written pretty well. I just wish the story would have been constructed better.
Received a free galley from Katherine Tegen Books, via Edelweiss.
#famous is one of those books that will you give you the best kind of toothache, because it is achingly sweet. *le sigh* I’ve been wanting to read #famous for ages, ever since it came to my attention, and it was just everything I wanted in a book. I love the whole insta-celebrity thing, and I’ve been dying for more books about that because legit anyone can become famous these days, and it couldn’t happen to two better people than Rachel and Kyle who are both so cute and adorable that I just want to smush their cheeks.
Probably the worst thing about becoming insta-famous is the whole troll thing, and that was actually the worst part for me, because seeing Rachel doubt herself, and wonder if the trolls are right made me want to find every one of them and punch them in the face until they apologised for their petty, jealous behaviour, and I liked that Gagnon included that, because it’s really important to see that girls get a pretty tough time on social media – Rachel got all of the flack, while Kyle got all of the “luv”, and that was so unfair, but very, very true to life. That’s just how it goes, and it was those little moments where Kyle tells Rachel she’s awesome that made this book for me, even if he needed a shove from best friend Ollie.
I just wanted to swallow this book whole, and eat a ton of french fries – Jilly is clearly sponsored by a fry making company, or should be, because FRIES, FRIES, FRIES. #idlikefrieswiththat #ilovefries #fries. This is genuinely one of the cutest, swooniest books I’ve ever read, the fries, the riff off Ellen (Carly, in this case!), the fries again, because they’re important, the warmth that radiates through the book is immense – except for the horrible trolls, the entire rest of the cast is like right out of casting 101. Parents who are actually there, willing to listen, and help! I know they embarrass Rachel sometimes, but they’re there, and for me that’s the most important thing. The know-it-all best friends, Monique and Ollie, who gently shoved Rachel and Kyle whenever they needed a bit of a push. Probably the only character I didn’t like was Emma, purely down to her behaviour. That was a master manipulator at work and I didn’t like it one bit.
Kyle and Rachel have the best story to tell – it’s so enticing, and to see it from both their points of view was amazing, because they really stood out as separate POVs, and to see it all coming together nearly made my heart explode with happy. I just loved Rachel so, so much. She’s the kind of positive YA character young adults need, because she doesn’t let the trolls win (yes she has self-doubt, but find me a person alive who doesn’t) but she’s mostly really positive, her body is her body, her hair is her hair, etc and I just wanted to scream with happiness for that. It’s hard to love yourself and for most of this novel, Rachel does and that’s amazing. Mind you, I think Kyle went on the bigger journey, because it’s almost like he didn’t even know who he was, except for Carter’s brother, and this helped him step out of that shadow and find out who the real Kyle Bonham was meant to be.
I freaking loved this book. #famous is one of those books you devour and adore. I will be buying myself a finished copy, to read again, to maybe take my time better because I was so excited this time around. This is a truly spectacular debut novel (hard to actually believe it’s a debut, actually – way to go Jilly!) and Jilly has her pulse on what young adults want to read about (and old adults like me). It just had it all. Fries, cupcakes, bowling, insta-fame, Ellen – eh, I mean Carly, two characters you adore, body positivity, a great supporting cast. Read it, read it, read it, read it, read it, read it.
Probably the worst thing about becoming insta-famous is the whole troll thing, and that was actually the worst part for me, because seeing Rachel doubt herself, and wonder if the trolls are right made me want to find every one of them and punch them in the face until they apologised for their petty, jealous behaviour, and I liked that Gagnon included that, because it’s really important to see that girls get a pretty tough time on social media – Rachel got all of the flack, while Kyle got all of the “luv”, and that was so unfair, but very, very true to life. That’s just how it goes, and it was those little moments where Kyle tells Rachel she’s awesome that made this book for me, even if he needed a shove from best friend Ollie.
I just wanted to swallow this book whole, and eat a ton of french fries – Jilly is clearly sponsored by a fry making company, or should be, because FRIES, FRIES, FRIES. #idlikefrieswiththat #ilovefries #fries. This is genuinely one of the cutest, swooniest books I’ve ever read, the fries, the riff off Ellen (Carly, in this case!), the fries again, because they’re important, the warmth that radiates through the book is immense – except for the horrible trolls, the entire rest of the cast is like right out of casting 101. Parents who are actually there, willing to listen, and help! I know they embarrass Rachel sometimes, but they’re there, and for me that’s the most important thing. The know-it-all best friends, Monique and Ollie, who gently shoved Rachel and Kyle whenever they needed a bit of a push. Probably the only character I didn’t like was Emma, purely down to her behaviour. That was a master manipulator at work and I didn’t like it one bit.
Kyle and Rachel have the best story to tell – it’s so enticing, and to see it from both their points of view was amazing, because they really stood out as separate POVs, and to see it all coming together nearly made my heart explode with happy. I just loved Rachel so, so much. She’s the kind of positive YA character young adults need, because she doesn’t let the trolls win (yes she has self-doubt, but find me a person alive who doesn’t) but she’s mostly really positive, her body is her body, her hair is her hair, etc and I just wanted to scream with happiness for that. It’s hard to love yourself and for most of this novel, Rachel does and that’s amazing. Mind you, I think Kyle went on the bigger journey, because it’s almost like he didn’t even know who he was, except for Carter’s brother, and this helped him step out of that shadow and find out who the real Kyle Bonham was meant to be.
I freaking loved this book. #famous is one of those books you devour and adore. I will be buying myself a finished copy, to read again, to maybe take my time better because I was so excited this time around. This is a truly spectacular debut novel (hard to actually believe it’s a debut, actually – way to go Jilly!) and Jilly has her pulse on what young adults want to read about (and old adults like me). It just had it all. Fries, cupcakes, bowling, insta-fame, Ellen – eh, I mean Carly, two characters you adore, body positivity, a great supporting cast. Read it, read it, read it, read it, read it, read it.
3.5 stars. This was cute, but wrapped up a little too quickly and easily for me. I kind of hated Rachel's best friend Monique. I get that it was an "I love you, so I'm pushing you out of your comfort zone" thing but it read more as "I'm pushy and don't worry about your feelings" thing for me. I think it would pair well w stories about lottery winners. Fame: so fascinating, but so different from what we think it'll be like!
This was obviously inspired by Alex from Target. Rachel, a junior in high school playwriting weirdo nerd, takes a picture of her crush Kyle, a senior lacrosse player working at burger stand, and sends it to her friend via flit (which is basically a tweet in this universe). The hashtag goes viral, Kyle becomes a hot new trend, and things keep spiraling from there.
I wanted a cute, fluffy read and this was pretty cute. I liked how true-to-life the fallout felt (Rachel is told she's pathetic, ugly, and gets hate tweets while Kyle is held up to a new golden boy standard). The thing is, the mean girls at the school went from feeling nuanced to becoming cliches at the end. Which I did not like.
I wanted a cute, fluffy read and this was pretty cute. I liked how true-to-life the fallout felt (Rachel is told she's pathetic, ugly, and gets hate tweets while Kyle is held up to a new golden boy standard). The thing is, the mean girls at the school went from feeling nuanced to becoming cliches at the end. Which I did not like.
This was exactly the funny and fluffy I was in the mood for. Definitely all that I needed to bring me out of my contemp slump. Real review to come!
You can find more of my reviews at my blog: Take Me Away...
To be 100% honest, the only reason I added this to my TBR was because I liked the title. I could tell it was going to be something about social media and although I thought it was going to be supremely "dated" later, I knew it would be intersting.
Rachel and her friend play a game on a social media site all the time where someone takes a picture and tags the other in it. So it's just a routine thing when Rachel does it again, taking a picture of a really cute guy. But the this time everything is different. Mo "re-Flits" it and people begin "re-Flitting" it like crazy. And by crazy I mean like 30,000+ people. Told in the alternating points of view of Rachel and Kyle, you get to see what it feels like to be "Flit" Famous.
I really loved the way it was centered on social media . I know I said it would date it, but that's only because I didn't know what it was about. This one isn't actually about any specific site, but rather one Gagnon made up. To me, this makes it easy to be relevant, without having to make sure that site stays around. The inclusion of social media and the hastag in the title will bring teens (or big kids at heart like me) to this book.
However, I wasn't a fan of the characters. They were of course good enough to keep me wanting to read the story, but I didn't like them. Which is weird because I'm normally a character driven reader, but for some reason I didn't mind with this one. Anyways, I wasn't fan of them because I just don't believe that ANYONE is as oblivious as Kyle and NO ONE is as judgey as Rachel. (Especially when she doesn't like that she's being judged.)
As for the plot, it was entirely predictible. And by entirely, I mean everything. I knew what was coming and I was from the outside looking in. I'm not sure how the characters didn't lol But I was ok with that because that's what I wanted at that time. I was in the mood for a light and fluffy contemporary romance and it delivered that for me.
And last, *SPOILER* I could have dealt with a little more of them together since it was a contemporary romance. They were either against each other, fighting, or not together. It would have been nice to see them get a "5 months later" or something. Anything to show that they may have worked.
I'm a huge mood reader and this was exactly what I was in the mood for for Valentine's Day. I needed something cute and adorable and this fit the bill. Thank you Gagnon for being just what I needed.
You can find more of my reviews at my blog: Take Me Away...
To be 100% honest, the only reason I added this to my TBR was because I liked the title. I could tell it was going to be something about social media and although I thought it was going to be supremely "dated" later, I knew it would be intersting.
Rachel and her friend play a game on a social media site all the time where someone takes a picture and tags the other in it. So it's just a routine thing when Rachel does it again, taking a picture of a really cute guy. But the this time everything is different. Mo "re-Flits" it and people begin "re-Flitting" it like crazy. And by crazy I mean like 30,000+ people. Told in the alternating points of view of Rachel and Kyle, you get to see what it feels like to be "Flit" Famous.
I really loved the way it was centered on social media . I know I said it would date it, but that's only because I didn't know what it was about. This one isn't actually about any specific site, but rather one Gagnon made up. To me, this makes it easy to be relevant, without having to make sure that site stays around. The inclusion of social media and the hastag in the title will bring teens (or big kids at heart like me) to this book.
However, I wasn't a fan of the characters. They were of course good enough to keep me wanting to read the story, but I didn't like them. Which is weird because I'm normally a character driven reader, but for some reason I didn't mind with this one. Anyways, I wasn't fan of them because I just don't believe that ANYONE is as oblivious as Kyle and NO ONE is as judgey as Rachel. (Especially when she doesn't like that she's being judged.)
As for the plot, it was entirely predictible. And by entirely, I mean everything. I knew what was coming and I was from the outside looking in. I'm not sure how the characters didn't lol But I was ok with that because that's what I wanted at that time. I was in the mood for a light and fluffy contemporary romance and it delivered that for me.
And last, *SPOILER* I could have dealt with a little more of them together since it was a contemporary romance. They were either against each other, fighting, or not together. It would have been nice to see them get a "5 months later" or something. Anything to show that they may have worked.
I'm a huge mood reader and this was exactly what I was in the mood for for Valentine's Day. I needed something cute and adorable and this fit the bill. Thank you Gagnon for being just what I needed.
YMMV hugely on this one. I think the writing quality is more like 4 stars but there were a couple things I as a reader wanted to see that I then didn't get to see and so for me personally it wasn't 4 stars.
Much much much better then the previous debut I finished and honestly much deeper than I had assumed based on the premise. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.
I loved the way the dual perspective added not just to our understanding of the characters or their love interest(s) but to our understanding of the different experiences this one event caused in their lives and the ways that people treated them differently and also they perceived the same events differently.
And because I promise this in my video review, early in this book I got it into my head thatRachel and Kyle wouldn't be the romantic pair in this book, rather, Kyle would learn that relationships are hard but worth it and reconcile with his girlfriend while Rachel would learn that the person we imagine someone to be isn't who they really are and instead might develop something with Kyle' much more sensitive and perceptive bff. Alas, that was not how the book went and we got what felt like much more conventional pairing between Rachel, the silently pining, and Kyle the oblivious, nice, popular guy. It was a disappointment to me but not one I should hold against the author as I was never promised anything different than what I got in the book.
Much much much better then the previous debut I finished and honestly much deeper than I had assumed based on the premise. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.
I loved the way the dual perspective added not just to our understanding of the characters or their love interest(s) but to our understanding of the different experiences this one event caused in their lives and the ways that people treated them differently and also they perceived the same events differently.
And because I promise this in my video review, early in this book I got it into my head that
Me agarro la etapa contemporaneos, lo cual mientras este leyendo no me molesta. Estoy contenta de que por ahora parece que supere mi reading slump, me tengo que empezar a lanzar a libros más extensos y estilo fantasía que quiero terminar de leer hace un montón.
Ahora sobre el libro, me pareció tierno y tenía sus momentos de gracia pero tampoco es uno de mis favoritos, lo que sí se lee de un tirón, es re breve y fluye rapidamente la historia.
Ahora sobre el libro, me pareció tierno y tenía sus momentos de gracia pero tampoco es uno de mis favoritos, lo que sí se lee de un tirón, es re breve y fluye rapidamente la historia.
• A sweet story with a unique premise but it lacked heart
• The writing style was a tad too simplistic
• I liked Rachel, the protagonist, and that Gagnon gave her authentic teen voice
• The plus-sized rep. was also fantastic; it is always heart-warming to see body positivity in ya
• I was less of a Kyle fan
• His voice was incredibly bland and I... well, I honestly just disliked him on every level.
• He thought he was funny and a ‘nice guy’ but said and did things that were more dickheaded than he realised; even the moments that were meant to be him acting sweet - like in the limo - felt… ordinarily polite.
• Rachel's best friend was another sore spot. She was selfish and never seemed to actually support Rachel unless it served her own interests.
• The standout character was - by far - Oliver. He looked out for Kyle and Rachel. He was the only one that realised that Kyle was being a douche and tried to steer him on the right path. He was a literal teddy bear.
• Kyle and Rachel's relationship felt very forced. I know that they were technically pushed together by practically everyone but it made their relationship less organic.
• Building an unlikely friendship throughout the bizarre experience would have worked so much better imo
• What let the story down, most of all, however, was the girl hate
• I know that bullying was a key theme in this book but there is a difference between that situation - which should have been explored - and needless, pointless, substanceless girl hate.
• Blind hatred, slut-shaming and stereotypical cheerleader mean girls with paper plate personalities are not okay; not without substance or nuance
• The fact that Rachel is shown to be different - and therefore better - than the other girls because she ate fries/was arty/not a cheerleader/whatever else they said was obviously frustrating. We do not need this sort of thing in 2017
• I did also have problems with many of the sweeping, generalised statements Kyle made about how girls act or what girls do or do not like.
Overall? #famous was mostly a cute contemporary romance with a decent cast. I liked the protagonist, Rachel, and Oliver but Kyle rubbed me the wrong way. The portrayal of the secondary female characters was also irritating. With that being said, I’ll definitely be giving Gagnon a second chance to surprise me.
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
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• The writing style was a tad too simplistic
• I liked Rachel, the protagonist, and that Gagnon gave her authentic teen voice
• The plus-sized rep. was also fantastic; it is always heart-warming to see body positivity in ya
• I was less of a Kyle fan
• His voice was incredibly bland and I... well, I honestly just disliked him on every level.
• He thought he was funny and a ‘nice guy’ but said and did things that were more dickheaded than he realised; even the moments that were meant to be him acting sweet - like in the limo - felt… ordinarily polite.
• Rachel's best friend was another sore spot. She was selfish and never seemed to actually support Rachel unless it served her own interests.
• The standout character was - by far - Oliver. He looked out for Kyle and Rachel. He was the only one that realised that Kyle was being a douche and tried to steer him on the right path. He was a literal teddy bear.
• Kyle and Rachel's relationship felt very forced. I know that they were technically pushed together by practically everyone but it made their relationship less organic.
• Building an unlikely friendship throughout the bizarre experience would have worked so much better imo
• What let the story down, most of all, however, was the girl hate
• I know that bullying was a key theme in this book but there is a difference between that situation - which should have been explored - and needless, pointless, substanceless girl hate.
• Blind hatred, slut-shaming and stereotypical cheerleader mean girls with paper plate personalities are not okay; not without substance or nuance
• The fact that Rachel is shown to be different - and therefore better - than the other girls because she ate fries/was arty/not a cheerleader/whatever else they said was obviously frustrating. We do not need this sort of thing in 2017
• I did also have problems with many of the sweeping, generalised statements Kyle made about how girls act or what girls do or do not like.
Overall? #famous was mostly a cute contemporary romance with a decent cast. I liked the protagonist, Rachel, and Oliver but Kyle rubbed me the wrong way. The portrayal of the secondary female characters was also irritating. With that being said, I’ll definitely be giving Gagnon a second chance to surprise me.
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
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