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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was amazing! I loved that the TV star meet the fans and that the star is shown to be a real normal everyday person, who has been thrust into this role of stardom. That ending though definitely brought tears to my eyes!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-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
I picked this up after a recent Glee binge watching session (how did I miss this show back in 2010?! Idk) and learning that the Glee actor who plays the character Kurt (Chris Colfer) is a well known middle grade fantasy author I had to check his work out! Stranger Than Fanfiction is one of his YA works.
This novel was just like reading a season of Glee. You have a diverse set of geeky teens about to head off to college (this time they ‘gleek’ out over a TV show and not music), and each has their own story line and issues to overcome yet despite their diversity they still are BFFs. Speaking of diversity it abounds not just with race but with each character’s secrets: being gay, transgendered, a repressed Asian, etc (again: just like Glee!). And just like the TV show we know and love there’s a few tear jerker moments, heaps of pop culture mentions, plenty of stereotypes, and so much more to make this a fun read.
This novel was just like reading a season of Glee. You have a diverse set of geeky teens about to head off to college (this time they ‘gleek’ out over a TV show and not music), and each has their own story line and issues to overcome yet despite their diversity they still are BFFs. Speaking of diversity it abounds not just with race but with each character’s secrets: being gay, transgendered, a repressed Asian, etc (again: just like Glee!). And just like the TV show we know and love there’s a few tear jerker moments, heaps of pop culture mentions, plenty of stereotypes, and so much more to make this a fun read.
It's interesting to have the cognitive dissonance of reading a book about the intrusion of celebrity whilst reading every moment of that and thinking "does that come from Chris Colfer's own experience? Is he talking about himself?" and trying to tamper that down.
That said, whether any of this is true to Chris's own experience or that of those around him, no one can deny that he has a unique, real, and believable view on fame that most other author's don't have to grapple with. So it was really interesting hearing about Cash's side of the industry. And despite how largely unpleasant Cash was as a character, I can't help but read a Chris Colfer book with the charm that I glean from everything he does. In that way, I was largely charmed by this book.
That said, I do think it was middle of the road in a lot of ways. The ending had me rolling my eyes through most of it. I hate getting mad at tropes for the mere reason that they're tropes, butAnd of course I hate to bring up Glee, so sorry, but that show handled Santana's forced outing in a similar "It's all okay!" manner that feels strangely repeated here.
Then there's the fanfiction aspect. When a book has 'fanfiction' in the title, I expect it to have a little more of a fanfic skew. It doesn't have to be as involved as as Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, but this book didn't show a lot of literacy in fanfic. First of all, calling them 'fanfiction novels' instead of fanfics just felt hilariously out of touch. And I might have expected, idk, clips from Mo's fanfics to be read or for, idk, Cash to tweet a link to her page and her to suddenly get a bunch of followers or something. That said, in the author's note, Chris mentioned that he was grateful to those who wrote fanfiction about his likeness and himself and...honestly that touched me a lot. I could totally see him being so weirded out by it, especially since he and Darren Criss continue to be harassed by people who think that they should be together in real life to this day, and, well, he probably is weirded out. But despite that, he still wanted to offer his thanks? That was really humble and sweet and, even though I've never written Klaine fanfic, I do write fanfic and words of affirmation like that were amazing to read.
I am glad that I read this book. I think that a book like this could really be good for a lot of teens to read, that they'd likely find at least one of the four teen characters relatable. Ultimately, I'm probably a little aged out for this book, which is why I rated it more middle of the road. But I still enjoyed it, was still sucked in for most of it. As I read it on the train, I'd always leave off at a point where I'd be like "I can't wait to get back and read about this thing that's coming next!" It was fun. No word on how well it'll age, already some of the things about gender are starting to age out, but I think Chris did a pretty good job. So glad that he's a writer now.
That said, whether any of this is true to Chris's own experience or that of those around him, no one can deny that he has a unique, real, and believable view on fame that most other author's don't have to grapple with. So it was really interesting hearing about Cash's side of the industry. And despite how largely unpleasant Cash was as a character, I can't help but read a Chris Colfer book with the charm that I glean from everything he does. In that way, I was largely charmed by this book.
That said, I do think it was middle of the road in a lot of ways. The ending had me rolling my eyes through most of it. I hate getting mad at tropes for the mere reason that they're tropes, but
Spoiler
finding out at the end that a character is terminally ill has deus ex machina vibes. It suddenly retcons the whole story, glazes everything with this "It's all okay now!" sauce, and, you know, cheapens it a bit. Additionally, this is all coming very shortly after Cash has outted two people who explicitly told him that they weren't ready to come out. And the book takes very little time with how not okay that is. It covers the characters' discomfort reasonably, but not the gravity of what was done.Then there's the fanfiction aspect. When a book has 'fanfiction' in the title, I expect it to have a little more of a fanfic skew. It doesn't have to be as involved as as Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, but this book didn't show a lot of literacy in fanfic. First of all, calling them 'fanfiction novels' instead of fanfics just felt hilariously out of touch. And I might have expected, idk, clips from Mo's fanfics to be read or for, idk, Cash to tweet a link to her page and her to suddenly get a bunch of followers or something. That said, in the author's note, Chris mentioned that he was grateful to those who wrote fanfiction about his likeness and himself and...honestly that touched me a lot. I could totally see him being so weirded out by it, especially since he and Darren Criss continue to be harassed by people who think that they should be together in real life to this day, and, well, he probably is weirded out. But despite that, he still wanted to offer his thanks? That was really humble and sweet and, even though I've never written Klaine fanfic, I do write fanfic and words of affirmation like that were amazing to read.
I am glad that I read this book. I think that a book like this could really be good for a lot of teens to read, that they'd likely find at least one of the four teen characters relatable. Ultimately, I'm probably a little aged out for this book, which is why I rated it more middle of the road. But I still enjoyed it, was still sucked in for most of it. As I read it on the train, I'd always leave off at a point where I'd be like "I can't wait to get back and read about this thing that's coming next!" It was fun. No word on how well it'll age, already some of the things about gender are starting to age out, but I think Chris did a pretty good job. So glad that he's a writer now.
i really like the land of stories series and couldn’t wait to read this book when it was out. i thought it will be sweet and cute and a strict about friendship and road trip, it wasn’t all of these things, which was okay.
(i’m writing the review a few weeks after reading it so i don’t remember all the names, sorry)
i liked that the famous person just join their travel, and i liked the friendship that the group have. that they met because of a series and it thanks to that they meet people from all around the world.
however, the book just wasn’t good, at least not for me. the start was so slow, i wanted them to start the trip but the first few chapters just explained about the life of the main characters. also, i didn’t like the bad influence the famous dude had on them, it is nice to try new things while in safe environment, but it was a bit too much?? and the ending felt like it was written just to have a justification for the entire plot. it didn’t feel connected and it didn’t really make sense.
the book wasn’t as good as i thought it will be, i had high expectations, but it didn’t even met the minimum. i hope others will love it better than i did.
(i’m writing the review a few weeks after reading it so i don’t remember all the names, sorry)
i liked that the famous person just join their travel, and i liked the friendship that the group have. that they met because of a series and it thanks to that they meet people from all around the world.
however, the book just wasn’t good, at least not for me. the start was so slow, i wanted them to start the trip but the first few chapters just explained about the life of the main characters. also, i didn’t like the bad influence the famous dude had on them, it is nice to try new things while in safe environment, but it was a bit too much?? and the ending felt like it was written just to have a justification for the entire plot. it didn’t feel connected and it didn’t really make sense.
the book wasn’t as good as i thought it will be, i had high expectations, but it didn’t even met the minimum. i hope others will love it better than i did.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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
This book was in the BLK Book Pool
I chose it because I liked the title & cover - & because I haven't read much YA this year. Although I had heard of the TV programme Glee, I've never watched it, so I hadn't heard of Chris Colfer.
I liked the book. It was written in the flat style, so typical of a lot of modern YA writing - but every now & again, Colfer would show some genuine insight & compassion. The book rarely dragged & I missed all the clues leading up to The Big Scene. This was genuinely moving.
Unfortunately I had to knock half a ★off for an ending that was just too trite & ... well, Hollywood for me.
Colfer has promise. I look forward to his future works.
I chose it because I liked the title & cover - & because I haven't read much YA this year. Although I had heard of the TV programme Glee, I've never watched it, so I hadn't heard of Chris Colfer.
I liked the book. It was written in the flat style, so typical of a lot of modern YA writing - but every now & again, Colfer would show some genuine insight & compassion. The book rarely dragged & I missed all the clues leading up to The Big Scene. This was genuinely moving.
Unfortunately I had to knock half a ★off for an ending that was just too trite & ... well, Hollywood for me.
Colfer has promise. I look forward to his future works.