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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
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:
Complicated
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weirdly judgey characters who dislike being judged? idk it was wild and like not in a good way. also breaking the fourth wall in the way it was done was hella creepy to me.
This was a great read! Parts of it felt a little pointed re: GOT similarities. BUT! I really loved both characters, I really loved the part where each of them realized the damage their parents had done to them (in the name of love but still hurtful) and were able to set boundaries. There was a little bit of groaning about keeping things secret but the characters were able to recognize that it was harmful pretty quickly. I loved the fat acceptance thread that wound through it and the calling out of the assumptions and "helpful" comments that are really hurtful. And I enjoyed the snippets of fan fic and movie scripts (particularly the one in which the Manic Pixie Dream Girl is ACTUALLY named Pixie and says that her name or motivations mean nothing compared to the male love interests!). Delightful reading overall.
This is actually really good! An inviting fandom setting, great chemistry between leading characters, and a good balance between humour, romance and emotional growth.
This was a honestly a refreshing premise for a book, but the author lost me more than once on a few things.
Honestly I can fully remove my brain and just enjoy the celeb/normie trope relatively easy, no issues in that.
Spoilers below:
April writes fanfic, she has a successful career as a geologist and from the start seems kind, confident, and easy going. Except half way through the book she stops being those things. She stops talking about work, her life becomes Marcus, she still writes fan fiction but it seems to be used as a way to fill gaps in a story. And finally sheâs not confident at all, about her body, about her worth, any of it. The books first fore ray into miscommunication tropes (thereâs multiple) is about Marcus asking her to work out with him. Something he enjoys to do and wants to share it with her, she takes this as fat shaming and refuses to see him again.
April is presented as someone confident and still navigating a fat phobic world, she doesnât cover herself up, but is still very reactive. A story that was not supposed to be centred about a characterâs weight from the summary, entirely centred on her weight. Can we just have actually confident fat rep?
Secondly April treats her fanfic writing g with the same severity of âcoming out.â In fact coming out is literally used to describe her talking about fandom to her colleagues. I shouldnât have to say this but coming out to your colleagues is not comparable to saying you write/consume fandom and it was a bit jarring to see an author equate the two.
Honestly the characters left little to really care about, I like Marcus but I didnât think for all the worth the author did in giving him layersâŚ.he didnât feel real or fleshed out in any way other than to be angsty like his writing. It was fluffy it was there, I might read the others but I have little hope for this.
I just want to say fat representation does not have to rely on pain every time, it would be nice if people who were ashamed of themselves didnât think we all had to be.
Honestly I can fully remove my brain and just enjoy the celeb/normie trope relatively easy, no issues in that.
Spoilers below:
April writes fanfic, she has a successful career as a geologist and from the start seems kind, confident, and easy going. Except half way through the book she stops being those things. She stops talking about work, her life becomes Marcus, she still writes fan fiction but it seems to be used as a way to fill gaps in a story. And finally sheâs not confident at all, about her body, about her worth, any of it. The books first fore ray into miscommunication tropes (thereâs multiple) is about Marcus asking her to work out with him. Something he enjoys to do and wants to share it with her, she takes this as fat shaming and refuses to see him again.
April is presented as someone confident and still navigating a fat phobic world, she doesnât cover herself up, but is still very reactive. A story that was not supposed to be centred about a characterâs weight from the summary, entirely centred on her weight. Can we just have actually confident fat rep?
Secondly April treats her fanfic writing g with the same severity of âcoming out.â In fact coming out is literally used to describe her talking about fandom to her colleagues. I shouldnât have to say this but coming out to your colleagues is not comparable to saying you write/consume fandom and it was a bit jarring to see an author equate the two.
Honestly the characters left little to really care about, I like Marcus but I didnât think for all the worth the author did in giving him layersâŚ.he didnât feel real or fleshed out in any way other than to be angsty like his writing. It was fluffy it was there, I might read the others but I have little hope for this.
I just want to say fat representation does not have to rely on pain every time, it would be nice if people who were ashamed of themselves didnât think we all had to be.
First of all, I want to say that my rating in no way reflects my excitement around a romantic book like this featuring a fat protagonist. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. But it was just too much of a GoT parallel for me (still bitter) and I honestly didnât think the story building of the actual relationship felt deep enough to be believableâŚand also didnât love the snippets of fan fic throughout the book.
Just not my style.
Just not my style.
I actually really enjoyed this little romcom and didn't mind the internet mentions as much as I thought I would. The inclusion of AO3 really did feel like the Spider-man meme where they're all pointing at each other, feeling like 'what are you doing here?'
I really enjoyed the romance between Marcus and April, I found them to be so cute and the diversity in bodies that wasn't shameful was such a breath of fresh air. Them flirting, both in real life and over AO3 was so cute. Genuinely such an enjoyable start to a little series that I'm definitely continuing.
I really enjoyed the romance between Marcus and April, I found them to be so cute and the diversity in bodies that wasn't shameful was such a breath of fresh air. Them flirting, both in real life and over AO3 was so cute. Genuinely such an enjoyable start to a little series that I'm definitely continuing.
Spoiler Alert reads like the author has spent some time imagining herself with a particular actor and wrote a story about how she'd want things to go down (often literally, and far too frequently). Maybe I'm just cranky, but this book screamed "wish fulfillment" to me, rather than "great story with compelling characters." Also, why would a 40-year-old man pretend to be dumb? It just...no.
As for that "going down" thing that I mentioned above: I just can't with the amount of smut. With the sheer number of times Marcus had his face between Olivia's legs (which we got to read about in graphic detail), I'm surprised they ever spoke at all.
As for that "going down" thing that I mentioned above: I just can't with the amount of smut. With the sheer number of times Marcus had his face between Olivia's legs (which we got to read about in graphic detail), I'm surprised they ever spoke at all.
Oh boy, where to start?!
Okay so I did enjoy the book enough to finish it in 2 days but I do have a few complaints. Right away I could tell this had to be alluding to GoT and Braime. Like no doubt about it, however I couldnât help but think this was like watered down. I didnât get a good discussion on what happened in the end!! I would have loved to read April apologizing to Marcus for honestly not believing his âexcuse.â
Like girly pop, him outing his fanfic writing would definitely ruin his career. Like, I understand, he lied and you feel like itâs because he doesnât trust you thus making you spiral but hear the man out.
Iâm also upset that we didnât get a bit of the exclusive interview!!! I would have loved to hear more of his actual thoughts and from Vika and omg, learning more about how he know visits his parents. That would have been an additional topic I would have loved to read.
Overall, good book but still left me needing more. It seems like a one read through and done, kind of book to me. 3.5/5
Okay so I did enjoy the book enough to finish it in 2 days but I do have a few complaints. Right away I could tell this had to be alluding to GoT and Braime. Like no doubt about it, however I couldnât help but think this was like watered down. I didnât get a good discussion on what happened in the end!! I would have loved to read April apologizing to Marcus for honestly not believing his âexcuse.â
Like girly pop, him outing his fanfic writing would definitely ruin his career. Like, I understand, he lied and you feel like itâs because he doesnât trust you thus making you spiral but hear the man out.
Iâm also upset that we didnât get a bit of the exclusive interview!!! I would have loved to hear more of his actual thoughts and from Vika and omg, learning more about how he know visits his parents. That would have been an additional topic I would have loved to read.
Overall, good book but still left me needing more. It seems like a one read through and done, kind of book to me. 3.5/5