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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such an unexpected find when you're just doing your weekly shopping and decide "why not" take a gander down the book aisle. What luck that this book caught my eye!
It was just the light-hearted sweet love story I needed to turn a stressful work week around. Did I have other books on my TBR that I could have read? Yes. Did that matter once I read the back of this book? No. I knew I had to buy it then. And I also knew that I would have to read it ASAP. I was not disappointed.
How fun to watch as a plus-size super-fan meet an actor from her fandom after he becomes her knight in shining armor on social media. Just one of the ways this book was super relevant to today. Social media, trolls (online not fantasy), fandom, fanfiction, conventions, cosplay, etc. It was all there. Then cue the chemistry and the romance. This couple was adorable and made for each other.
But don't get me wrong, this book wasn't just fluff. It focused on issues that many of us face. From the weight of parental expectations to the realization that sometimes the people you love most aren't the healthiest for you to be around mentally and emotionally. From overcoming self-consciousness about dyslexia and previous learning difficulties, to facing down criticism and judgement based on appearance. From learning to shed the armor of attractiveness to show the real person beneath, to embracing and showing the world that being "fat" doesn't make you unworthy of love. So much good and self-affirming stuff going on on practically every page of this book. A beautiful couple who support each other and protect each other and bolster each other as needed. What could be better?
When I first read the back, I saw a lot of myself in the female protagonist. Having been plus-size for the majority of my life and having faced a lot of criticism over the years from people I barely knew as well as those closest to me, I immediately bonded with her. Didn't hurt that she was a nerd and dedicated to a fandom. It didn't really matter that she writes fanfictions and cosplays and I don't or that she's a lot more confident overall in her skin than I am. April still resonated on a deep level with the person I have always been. A person who wants to be comfortable sharing their passions, but who has feared the censure of others. A person who has been hurt by the words of others, but hasn't allowed that to fully deflate her love of herself. I was rooting for her from page 1 and I'm so glad that that feeling continued to the very last page of the epilogue.
Would recommend. Would read again.
It was just the light-hearted sweet love story I needed to turn a stressful work week around. Did I have other books on my TBR that I could have read? Yes. Did that matter once I read the back of this book? No. I knew I had to buy it then. And I also knew that I would have to read it ASAP. I was not disappointed.
How fun to watch as a plus-size super-fan meet an actor from her fandom after he becomes her knight in shining armor on social media. Just one of the ways this book was super relevant to today. Social media, trolls (online not fantasy), fandom, fanfiction, conventions, cosplay, etc. It was all there. Then cue the chemistry and the romance. This couple was adorable and made for each other.
But don't get me wrong, this book wasn't just fluff. It focused on issues that many of us face. From the weight of parental expectations to the realization that sometimes the people you love most aren't the healthiest for you to be around mentally and emotionally. From overcoming self-consciousness about dyslexia and previous learning difficulties, to facing down criticism and judgement based on appearance. From learning to shed the armor of attractiveness to show the real person beneath, to embracing and showing the world that being "fat" doesn't make you unworthy of love. So much good and self-affirming stuff going on on practically every page of this book. A beautiful couple who support each other and protect each other and bolster each other as needed. What could be better?
When I first read the back, I saw a lot of myself in the female protagonist. Having been plus-size for the majority of my life and having faced a lot of criticism over the years from people I barely knew as well as those closest to me, I immediately bonded with her. Didn't hurt that she was a nerd and dedicated to a fandom. It didn't really matter that she writes fanfictions and cosplays and I don't or that she's a lot more confident overall in her skin than I am. April still resonated on a deep level with the person I have always been. A person who wants to be comfortable sharing their passions, but who has feared the censure of others. A person who has been hurt by the words of others, but hasn't allowed that to fully deflate her love of herself. I was rooting for her from page 1 and I'm so glad that that feeling continued to the very last page of the epilogue.
Would recommend. Would read again.
English Review Below.
رواية رومانسية للبالغين تدور حول شخصيتين رئيسيتين يشكلان رابطًا بفضل كتابة روايات المعجبين لمسلسلهم المفضل (زي غيم أوف ثرونز - الملاحظات والتشابهات غريبة ، وصولاً إلى كاتبين المسلسل!). لكن في حين أن بطلتنا الرئيسية أبريل هي امرأة عادية ، وجيولوجية سمينة وجميلة ، فإن ماركوس هي أحد الممثلين الرئيسيين والشخصيات الرئيسية في المسلسل، وبطل العلاقة الرئيسية التي يكتبون عنها! ففي جانب منهم شبه فيلم "يوف غوت ميل" بالإضافة إلى علاقة معجبة وممثل مشهور. واحدة من قصص المشاهير القليلة جدًا التي أحببتها بالفعل.
من خلال وسائل الإعلام ، يلتقي الاثنان وجهًا لوجه ، دون أن يعلما أن الآخر هو صديقهما من موقع قصص المعجبين. كلاهما يحمل أعباءه العاطفية الخاصة بسبب عائلاتهما: يعاني ماركوس من عسر القراءة مما جعل والديه يرفضانه طوال حياته ، وأبريل سمينة ولا يتوافق شكلها مع الصورة النمطية التي يفرضها والديها ومعظم الأشخاص من حولها عليها. لكنهم يجدون العزاء والأمان والشجاعة في بعضهم البعض. تتضمن الرواية أيضًا في نهاية كل فصل: مقتطفات من قصص المعجبين - الدردشات - أجزاء من سيناريوهات أفلام ماركوس السابقة (معظمها كانت مبتذلة) - مقتطفات من الكتب التي يستند إليها المسلسل، والمزيد. وقد أحببت هذا الجانب من الرواية أيضًا.
بالإضافة إلى أي قصة حب ، لن أحبها بنسبة 100٪ ، لكنني أحببت الطريقة التي تعاملت بها مع مشكلاتهم وعلاقتهم والجاذبية بينهم والشخصيات الجانبية بالذات أليكس وأنا متحمس للكتاب التاني عنه، وشخصية ماركوس الرقيقة جدا وثقة أبريل معه ، كانت علاقتهما الحميمة مثيرة فعلا.
This is such a good romance, with the good mix of fluffiness and smuttiness that I need.
A novel about two main characters who form a bond over writing fanfiction for their favourite show (think: Game of Thrones - the remarks and resemblances are uncanny, down to the show-runners! :D). But the catch is that while our main heroine April is a regular woman, a fat and beautiful geologist, the other one Marcus is one of the main leads of the show, and one half of the main relationship they write about! You've got it right, it has a bit of a resemblance to "You've Got Mail" as well as fan and celebrity relationship. It's one of the very few celebrity-with-regular-person stories I actually liked.
Through media, the two of them meet face-to-face, not knowing that the other is their friend from the fanfictions website. They both come with their own emotional baggage because of their families: Marcus has dyslexia which made his parents disapprove of him all of his life, April is fat and not conforming to the standard image her parents and most of the people around her want her to fit. But they find solace and home and bravery in each other. The novel also includes at the end of each chapter: fanfiction snippets - chats - parts of Marcus' past film scripts (most of them were cheesy) - snippets of the books the show is based on, and more. and I really loved that aspect of the novel as well.
As well as with any romance, I won't love it 100%, but I loved how it tackled their issues, their chemistry, the side characters esp. Alex and I'm excited the next book is about him, how much of a cinnamon bun Marcus is and April's confidence with him, their intimacy was really steamy.
Olivia Dade is officially one of my fav romance writers now!
رواية رومانسية للبالغين تدور حول شخصيتين رئيسيتين يشكلان رابطًا بفضل كتابة روايات المعجبين لمسلسلهم المفضل (زي غيم أوف ثرونز - الملاحظات والتشابهات غريبة ، وصولاً إلى كاتبين المسلسل!). لكن في حين أن بطلتنا الرئيسية أبريل هي امرأة عادية ، وجيولوجية سمينة وجميلة ، فإن ماركوس هي أحد الممثلين الرئيسيين والشخصيات الرئيسية في المسلسل، وبطل العلاقة الرئيسية التي يكتبون عنها! ففي جانب منهم شبه فيلم "يوف غوت ميل" بالإضافة إلى علاقة معجبة وممثل مشهور. واحدة من قصص المشاهير القليلة جدًا التي أحببتها بالفعل.
من خلال وسائل الإعلام ، يلتقي الاثنان وجهًا لوجه ، دون أن يعلما أن الآخر هو صديقهما من موقع قصص المعجبين. كلاهما يحمل أعباءه العاطفية الخاصة بسبب عائلاتهما: يعاني ماركوس من عسر القراءة مما جعل والديه يرفضانه طوال حياته ، وأبريل سمينة ولا يتوافق شكلها مع الصورة النمطية التي يفرضها والديها ومعظم الأشخاص من حولها عليها. لكنهم يجدون العزاء والأمان والشجاعة في بعضهم البعض. تتضمن الرواية أيضًا في نهاية كل فصل: مقتطفات من قصص المعجبين - الدردشات - أجزاء من سيناريوهات أفلام ماركوس السابقة (معظمها كانت مبتذلة) - مقتطفات من الكتب التي يستند إليها المسلسل، والمزيد. وقد أحببت هذا الجانب من الرواية أيضًا.
بالإضافة إلى أي قصة حب ، لن أحبها بنسبة 100٪ ، لكنني أحببت الطريقة التي تعاملت بها مع مشكلاتهم وعلاقتهم والجاذبية بينهم والشخصيات الجانبية بالذات أليكس وأنا متحمس للكتاب التاني عنه، وشخصية ماركوس الرقيقة جدا وثقة أبريل معه ، كانت علاقتهما الحميمة مثيرة فعلا.
This is such a good romance, with the good mix of fluffiness and smuttiness that I need.
A novel about two main characters who form a bond over writing fanfiction for their favourite show (think: Game of Thrones - the remarks and resemblances are uncanny, down to the show-runners! :D). But the catch is that while our main heroine April is a regular woman, a fat and beautiful geologist, the other one Marcus is one of the main leads of the show, and one half of the main relationship they write about! You've got it right, it has a bit of a resemblance to "You've Got Mail" as well as fan and celebrity relationship. It's one of the very few celebrity-with-regular-person stories I actually liked.
Through media, the two of them meet face-to-face, not knowing that the other is their friend from the fanfictions website. They both come with their own emotional baggage because of their families: Marcus has dyslexia which made his parents disapprove of him all of his life, April is fat and not conforming to the standard image her parents and most of the people around her want her to fit. But they find solace and home and bravery in each other. The novel also includes at the end of each chapter: fanfiction snippets - chats - parts of Marcus' past film scripts (most of them were cheesy) - snippets of the books the show is based on, and more. and I really loved that aspect of the novel as well.
As well as with any romance, I won't love it 100%, but I loved how it tackled their issues, their chemistry, the side characters esp. Alex and I'm excited the next book is about him, how much of a cinnamon bun Marcus is and April's confidence with him, their intimacy was really steamy.
Olivia Dade is officially one of my fav romance writers now!
3.5/5
Spoiler Alert is Olivia Dade's love letter to ao3 and everything fan fiction and no one can tell me different.
April Whittier is a geologist on the weekdays, and a giant fandom nerd on the weekends. After a move to San Francisco, where her new co-workers aren't so stiff with their alternative hobbies - she posts a picture of herself in cosplay. And. It. Goes. Viral. Next thing she knows, April is being asked out by Marcus - the fandom's pretty male lead.
I looked at the cover of this book and saw a plus-sized girl and I said, "Yep". I then saw the tall blond dude and I said, "Meh"....we only like tall, dark and fictional here sweetie.
Spoiler Alert is Olivia Dade's love letter to ao3 and everything fan fiction and no one can tell me different.
April Whittier is a geologist on the weekdays, and a giant fandom nerd on the weekends. After a move to San Francisco, where her new co-workers aren't so stiff with their alternative hobbies - she posts a picture of herself in cosplay. And. It. Goes. Viral. Next thing she knows, April is being asked out by Marcus - the fandom's pretty male lead.
I looked at the cover of this book and saw a plus-sized girl and I said, "Yep". I then saw the tall blond dude and I said, "Meh"....we only like tall, dark and fictional here sweetie.
lighthearted
fast-paced
I had to ponder over this one for a bit and finally landed on a solid 2.5.
Pros: It’s refreshing to have a confident, fat, female main character get the “hot” actor guy without making her “fatness” the only sole quality about her. I think often times plus-size characters lack depth and dimension, but we got more of April so I appreciated that. Honestly that type of representation is important so for that alone it gets a few stars. ((Not to say April didn’t get on my nerves, but I’d rather take an annoying character than one with the personality of a wet sock.)) There were also some touching moments of representation for other types of characters as well so I appreciated that (even if it all felt far fetched at times).
This also was a nice, quick easy read that helped me regain some happiness after diving into A Little Life so props to them.
Cons: I had a hard time believing the “believability” of this story. I’m not sure if it has to do with my unfamiliarity of the fanfic world, or if it’s just because I cannot wrap my head around a guy like Marcus (dyslexic golden retriever famous actor turned secret writer) ever feeling the need to defend a random fat woman’s honor on twitter. Maybe I’m just a pessimist in that sense but the overall set-up just bothered me. I think a more organic meeting (even by chance) would have been more believable over a viral tweet turning into a date.
There were also some major plot holes or other things added that just felt rushed and not wrapped up nicely.
Lastly, I just couldn’t get over the random fanfic and movie scripts added in at the end of every chapter. There was maybe one that shed some actual insight to their character’s real life, but overall it just felt weird. Again - could totally be because I’m not familiar with that type of writing.
Overall: read it if you want to hit your yearly goal and need something easy to follow and want to see some positive fat female representation - don’t expect anything groundbreaking though.
Okay, this was cute. Really really cute, and funny, and surprisingly sexy, with some real depth and great discussions of fat phobia, parental emotional abuse, and dyslexia. It takes a lot of elements from You’ve Got Mail and gives them the emotional depth and complexity they deserve. One star off for some of the spec movie scripts, which felt absurdly over the top and a little too parodic to not take me out of the story, and for a few too many repetitive geology metaphors. Four stars for representation, great longing and slow burn, sexy and swoony romance, and a pretty spot on treatment of fandom and fan fiction.
I wonder if people tagged this as YA cause of the colorful cover. Since the characters are closing in on 40, I would not consider this YA, although the You've Got Mail mixed with fandom culture plot points do remind me of [b:Geekerella|30724132|Geekerella (Once Upon a Con, #1)|Ashley Poston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476734515l/30724132._SY75_.jpg|50652411], which is a YA.
I really appreciate the characters' forthrightness. The snippets of fan-fic interspersed between chapters are unique touches. An enjoyable read.
I really appreciate the characters' forthrightness. The snippets of fan-fic interspersed between chapters are unique touches. An enjoyable read.
I was struggling too much with how "round" was the only descriptive word for our FMC. And I just realized that it's don't actually care what happens.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Frankly, I loved the story and the plot idea was amazing for someone reading and writing fanfics. Also, great to read a story about a plus size woman who is not miserabilist but incoherent on some levels (she has no issues with her body but most of the plot is about how she has difficulty with fatphobia. It is fair, and totally legitimate, but sometimes felt inconsistent)
I can't put on a 4 bc I read the French translation and it felt bad sometimes. Otherwise, the story is great, tho the end could have come slowier and maybe a little bit less cliché.I am just very confused about the Little red riding hood part at the end - bc why is he the granny and she's little red riding hood? That was so weird to finish on. Maybe it's the french translation that is that bad?
I can't put on a 4 bc I read the French translation and it felt bad sometimes. Otherwise, the story is great, tho the end could have come slowier and maybe a little bit less cliché.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes