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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
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
More like 4.5. I loved the character development it has and how there's still a little angst mixed in. I love how fast paced this read is and that it has some smut in it.
emotional
I loved absolutely loved this!! This book was ‘You’ve Got Mail’ meets comic con. Plus the fat girl representation was giving me life! Oh and I loved that April is 36. We also need more heroines that are older than the standard 19-23.
I don't want to give this book 2 stars because there isn't really anything wrong with it, there just isn't that much right either. But just because it isn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it won't be someone else's!
Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor on Gods of the Gates (think Game of Thrones) and has three secrets: 1) He is dyslexic, 2) he isn't really a musclehead golden retriever, despite the persona he pretends to have, and 3) he writes fix-it fanfiction under another persona, known as BAWN. April Whittier is a plus size geologist who works on remediation projects, and who also writes fanficton for Gods of the Gates. When someone insults April's appearance online, the celebrity-Marcus jumps in to ask her on a date. Little do they both know that they have been long-time friends - with crushes on each other - for years on their fanfiction site and server.
I think the story itself is a cute idea and I love body positivity. The main characters themselves are anything but problematic: April is a strong woman who knows her boundaries and Marcus is a respectful and hardworking man who is trying to overcome insecurities from his learning disability. The writing style is okay, it reads like a standard romantic "comedy" with fanfiction undertones. The dual perspective is nice and the inserts of movie scripts and fanfiction chapters are a unique and creative inclusion!
Like I said, there's nothing really wrong with this book. I just wanted it to be over. While there was an attempt to make the characters more rounded, I still felt they were pretty flat and dependent on the cause of their trauma. For April, that was her weight and appearance. For Marcus, it was his dyslexia and need for a fake persona to hide his dyslexia. While I love the representation, plus size people and people with disabilities are much more than their weight and disability. Yet, I felt like for all they said about "being more than my weight/disability," there was so much inner dialogue and assumptions of others actions (mostly on April's part) about being fat or dyslexic that it felt like a limitation on their character. As I am someone with a BMI considered obese (bleh, we hate the BMI system), it made me feel like I had to be accepted for my inner beauty instead of just being beautiful, even with my weight. Plus size women deserve to read romance novels about plus size women with dreamy love interests without weight being at the center of every conversation. We want the romances that cover the shelves, just with a woman who looks like us. Books with more conventionally attractive body types don't hyperfixate on the main character's body type, so why should ours? It is only a small piece of who we are. As an example, April went into grave detail about how she no longer cared what people thought and that she loved her body. But as soon as Marcus talked about his own workouts and what he eats, she immediately took it as him trying to change her and that he didn't find her beautiful as is. I understand fat shaming and the longevity of the trauma it leaves, but it's just frustrating projecting that onto other people who have shown no other red flags at the time. The whole plot should have revolved around the fanfiction, but I felt like it revolved around one facet of their character respectively instead. I really love reading about plus size heroines who can be fat and beautiful and badass without having to continuously convince themselves and the reader they are beautiful and badass "despite" being fat. That being said, some readers might appreciate the thorough inner and outer dialogue as a form of healing, and that is totally valid.
The writing style and narrator were okay, but to me, everything felt so cringey. From the over-dramatic metaphors, to how the whole story felt like invasive fanfiction about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, to April's strange righteousness and do-no-wrong attitude, to even Marcus's plot driver. Marcus was in touch with his feelings, which I loved. Why did he feel like revealing his true persona would ruin him? I get the fanfiction piece was a problem for his career, but the reason for him hiding his real self from his fans for so long - his parents - for fear of losing everything, fell a bit flat again. People love the idea of "real" celebrities, they would love a "realer" Marcus.
I don't want to dis the author because a lot of thought and effort went into this book. Just for me, it felt like the same thing over and over again, and it wasn't that great the first time. There was a lot of untapped potential here.
Marcus Caster-Rupp is an actor on Gods of the Gates (think Game of Thrones) and has three secrets: 1) He is dyslexic, 2) he isn't really a musclehead golden retriever, despite the persona he pretends to have, and 3) he writes fix-it fanfiction under another persona, known as BAWN. April Whittier is a plus size geologist who works on remediation projects, and who also writes fanficton for Gods of the Gates. When someone insults April's appearance online, the celebrity-Marcus jumps in to ask her on a date. Little do they both know that they have been long-time friends - with crushes on each other - for years on their fanfiction site and server.
I think the story itself is a cute idea and I love body positivity. The main characters themselves are anything but problematic: April is a strong woman who knows her boundaries and Marcus is a respectful and hardworking man who is trying to overcome insecurities from his learning disability. The writing style is okay, it reads like a standard romantic "comedy" with fanfiction undertones. The dual perspective is nice and the inserts of movie scripts and fanfiction chapters are a unique and creative inclusion!
Like I said, there's nothing really wrong with this book. I just wanted it to be over. While there was an attempt to make the characters more rounded, I still felt they were pretty flat and dependent on the cause of their trauma. For April, that was her weight and appearance. For Marcus, it was his dyslexia and need for a fake persona to hide his dyslexia. While I love the representation, plus size people and people with disabilities are much more than their weight and disability. Yet, I felt like for all they said about "being more than my weight/disability," there was so much inner dialogue and assumptions of others actions (mostly on April's part) about being fat or dyslexic that it felt like a limitation on their character. As I am someone with a BMI considered obese (bleh, we hate the BMI system), it made me feel like I had to be accepted for my inner beauty instead of just being beautiful, even with my weight. Plus size women deserve to read romance novels about plus size women with dreamy love interests without weight being at the center of every conversation. We want the romances that cover the shelves, just with a woman who looks like us. Books with more conventionally attractive body types don't hyperfixate on the main character's body type, so why should ours? It is only a small piece of who we are. As an example, April went into grave detail about how she no longer cared what people thought and that she loved her body. But as soon as Marcus talked about his own workouts and what he eats, she immediately took it as him trying to change her and that he didn't find her beautiful as is. I understand fat shaming and the longevity of the trauma it leaves, but it's just frustrating projecting that onto other people who have shown no other red flags at the time. The whole plot should have revolved around the fanfiction, but I felt like it revolved around one facet of their character respectively instead. I really love reading about plus size heroines who can be fat and beautiful and badass without having to continuously convince themselves and the reader they are beautiful and badass "despite" being fat. That being said, some readers might appreciate the thorough inner and outer dialogue as a form of healing, and that is totally valid.
The writing style and narrator were okay, but to me, everything felt so cringey. From the over-dramatic metaphors, to how the whole story felt like invasive fanfiction about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, to April's strange righteousness and do-no-wrong attitude, to even Marcus's plot driver. Marcus was in touch with his feelings, which I loved. Why did he feel like revealing his true persona would ruin him? I get the fanfiction piece was a problem for his career, but the reason for him hiding his real self from his fans for so long - his parents - for fear of losing everything, fell a bit flat again. People love the idea of "real" celebrities, they would love a "realer" Marcus.
I don't want to dis the author because a lot of thought and effort went into this book. Just for me, it felt like the same thing over and over again, and it wasn't that great the first time. There was a lot of untapped potential here.
I liked the characters and their real-world stories, but I found myself not really invested in the TV show/book world that the male lead inhabited and that the female lead was so invested in that she was in online groups and wrote fanfic about. It didn't sound like a tv show I would watch, which may have been the roadblock. I'm also not generally a fan of the public declaration.
I did honestly like Marcus and April and found their stories very compelling. I also liked Ulsie and BAWN (iykyk). I thought the story ably navigated some tough familial relationships and illustrated how things are not always as they seem and people are not always what they appear. I was a huge fan of the body positivity and April's confidence despite her past.
I will be interested to read the other books in this series, despite them being set in the same world.
I did honestly like Marcus and April and found their stories very compelling. I also liked Ulsie and BAWN (iykyk). I thought the story ably navigated some tough familial relationships and illustrated how things are not always as they seem and people are not always what they appear. I was a huge fan of the body positivity and April's confidence despite her past.
I will be interested to read the other books in this series, despite them being set in the same world.
I would say this book moves slowly to the climax and the ending was a little rushed in my opinion. Definitely enjoyable book to read in private. I would actually say it’s a 3.5 stars but it’s seems like you cannot do half stars on this app.
Blehhhhh. This book has a great premise and Olivia Dade is a decent writer. BUT, this book is just so boring and the two main characters are soooooo dull. Ah, well, onto the next.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
A SPICY holiday romance about a fan of a popular fantasy show who also participated in writing fan fic forming a connection with one of the show runners. This is a story of mistaken identity which is not my favorite trope, however I felt the author did a good job with the trope and I was cheering for the two main characters. I enjoyed how the author did the past/present split, dual POV and the honest conversations between the two characters.
This novel does address some heavy topics such as bullying, belittling from parents and body shaming. However the author was respectful and I felt she did a beautiful job addressing these important topics.
This novel does address some heavy topics such as bullying, belittling from parents and body shaming. However the author was respectful and I felt she did a beautiful job addressing these important topics.
funny
hopeful
slow-paced