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achapterahead's review against another edition
5.0
It was complicated and it was real and I both love and hate that. On the edge between 4 and 5 stars but I think the personal connection to the end trauma is most likely what bumped it up for me.
l_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
This…was a lot.
I decided just to read this while I’m waiting for a few other books that I have on hold from the library. Can I just say that I WAS NOT expecting that.
The first two-thirds of the book were really cute and sweet. And then we have part three. I have to say, I am an angst lover. I love angst, especially in novels but this…was a lot (yes I know I already wrote that. I’ll write it again. because it’s true).
All the fandoms tidbits >>>>>>>>>
I also wasn’t expecting to read it in a day, but I got hooked.
Definitely recommend, but BEWARE THE ANGST ONLY READ IF YOU WANT ANGST
(i’m honestly being dramatic; the angst is only at the end but it is heavy)
I decided just to read this while I’m waiting for a few other books that I have on hold from the library. Can I just say that I WAS NOT expecting that.
The first two-thirds of the book were really cute and sweet. And then we have part three. I have to say, I am an angst lover. I love angst, especially in novels but this…was a lot (yes I know I already wrote that. I’ll write it again. because it’s true).
All the fandoms tidbits >>>>>>>>>
I also wasn’t expecting to read it in a day, but I got hooked.
Definitely recommend, but BEWARE THE ANGST ONLY READ IF YOU WANT ANGST
(i’m honestly being dramatic; the angst is only at the end but it is heavy)
sarahanne8382's review against another edition
This is a book for anyone who has internet friends they love as much or more than their met-in-person friends, or for anyone who's ever gotten really into fandom, or anyone who's met an unexpected best friend in an unexpected place.
Gena and Finn both love the show Up Below and are very involved in its online fandom, so eventually they meet online and start talking and keep talking, but more and more about things beside the show. Then they get a chance to meet in person and that's when their lives really start to change.
Kat Helgeson is one of my very dearest friends and old college roommate and through her I've gotten to know Hannah Moskowitz, so it just doesn't seem fair to give this a star rating. It's like I'm quantifying my friendship and that's just not how friendship works. That being said, I love the book.
Gena and Finn both love the show Up Below and are very involved in its online fandom, so eventually they meet online and start talking and keep talking, but more and more about things beside the show. Then they get a chance to meet in person and that's when their lives really start to change.
Kat Helgeson is one of my very dearest friends and old college roommate and through her I've gotten to know Hannah Moskowitz, so it just doesn't seem fair to give this a star rating. It's like I'm quantifying my friendship and that's just not how friendship works. That being said, I love the book.
carolinerosereads's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
bacchanalfrenzy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mierke's review against another edition
5.0
This completely and utterly destroyed me, in the best way possible.
joannaautumn's review against another edition
2.0
This book was written by two authors who are in their own words - fangirls.
My opinion on fandoms is mostly positive because I am a part of a few, and a few years back it was a big part of my life. I was an introvert and didn’t know how to speak with people about everyday things, and I still dislike small talk but my social skills got better, thank god. This book would have mattered to me more if I had read it during those years. Nowadays I am still part of a few fandoms but I don’t really follow any blogs or fan pages, maybe a few Pinterest funny images about the fandom but not much.
Fandom portrayal
That being said, I can say that the fandom portrayal in this book was pretty realistic, there are casual fans, fans focused on one character(Jakegirls and Tylergirls), fans with unpopular opinions like Finn, fans who draw(also Finn) and fans who write fanfiction(Gena). So every fandom has dynamics and order, we have the ones who comment and share the items that the others - the creators make. And of course, there are some ignorant or inconsiderate fans like Tylergirl93. And sometimes there are more catty fights and everlasting opinion/preference wars.
Book format
Another unique thing about this book is its format. It is made up entirely of emails, letters, diary entries, and blog posts. So I imagine it was fun for the authors to write and compose the whole layout. There is a problem with this, you can’t really connect on a deeper level to a character since most of the things you learn about them is via correspondence with somebody and using the method of unsent emails or drafts was one of the ways to see what the characters really thought at certain points of the book, but it didn’t really make me care for them in the same way or intensity I would care for a character in a regular novel. This also happens to me while reading epistolary novels so I didn’t really expect this book to blow me away in that particular aspect.
Characters
This book has characters with flaws. And I liked that. What I didn’t like was the way their relationship was developing from a friendship to an attraction to friendship again. I could see they liked each other from about 40% in when their emails became more emotional, both of them don’t share deeper aspects of their life with any partner or friend they had so when they found a person they felt comfortable around to share that information It was obvious. I have nothing against LGBT+, it was not that aspect that didn’t go well with me I assure you. I did, however, had an issue with a bit of emotional manipulation coming from Gena towards Finn and then that same manipulation passed onto Charlie. Charlie did a large leap towards marriage, a step for which Finn was not yet ready so I don’t know if that really triggered her to latch onto Gena as an escape and later developed feelings.
All in all, the characters are not very likable, I don't see people loving them all that much.
Plot
Stars out cute and relatable and then at 70% the drama kicks in.
Though both girls are detached from their families but still, this was too much. Also, the chances that an actor you filmed a show with a decade ago to recognize you and want to be friendly and brotherly with you is so unlikely.
Final thoughts
This book was an easy and light read until the 2/3 rd of the book, where it gets tiring to read. I would recommend this to a beginner reader since the format makes it accessible to a wider audience. I will probably never reread this book again, 2/5.
My opinion on fandoms is mostly positive because I am a part of a few, and a few years back it was a big part of my life. I was an introvert and didn’t know how to speak with people about everyday things, and I still dislike small talk but my social skills got better, thank god. This book would have mattered to me more if I had read it during those years. Nowadays I am still part of a few fandoms but I don’t really follow any blogs or fan pages, maybe a few Pinterest funny images about the fandom but not much.
Fandom portrayal
That being said, I can say that the fandom portrayal in this book was pretty realistic, there are casual fans, fans focused on one character(Jakegirls and Tylergirls), fans with unpopular opinions like Finn, fans who draw(also Finn) and fans who write fanfiction(Gena). So every fandom has dynamics and order, we have the ones who comment and share the items that the others - the creators make. And of course, there are some ignorant or inconsiderate fans like Tylergirl93. And sometimes there are more catty fights and everlasting opinion/preference wars.
Book format
Another unique thing about this book is its format. It is made up entirely of emails, letters, diary entries, and blog posts. So I imagine it was fun for the authors to write and compose the whole layout. There is a problem with this, you can’t really connect on a deeper level to a character since most of the things you learn about them is via correspondence with somebody and using the method of unsent emails or drafts was one of the ways to see what the characters really thought at certain points of the book, but it didn’t really make me care for them in the same way or intensity I would care for a character in a regular novel. This also happens to me while reading epistolary novels so I didn’t really expect this book to blow me away in that particular aspect.
Characters
This book has characters with flaws. And I liked that. What I didn’t like was the way their relationship was developing from a friendship to an attraction to friendship again. I could see they liked each other from about 40% in when their emails became more emotional, both of them don’t share deeper aspects of their life with any partner or friend they had so when they found a person they felt comfortable around to share that information It was obvious. I have nothing against LGBT+, it was not that aspect that didn’t go well with me I assure you. I did, however, had an issue with a bit of emotional manipulation coming from Gena towards Finn and then that same manipulation passed onto Charlie. Charlie did a large leap towards marriage, a step for which Finn was not yet ready so I don’t know if that really triggered her to latch onto Gena as an escape and later developed feelings.
All in all, the characters are not very likable, I don't see people loving them all that much.
Plot
Stars out cute and relatable and then at 70% the drama kicks in
Spoiler
. and the foreshadowing was there all along with Gena hallucinating fires and all. And I kinda had a feeling Zack/Zach would die. Gena gets traumatic stress, which is understandable. The plot got a bit tougher to read near the end because I hoped the drama would stop and they would all get to some kind of closure. The ending was weak, I also thought her parents would maybe come back and see their hospitalized child or maybe send money for her meds, they do have the money to go to exotic trips but not the meds or clothes for their daughter? She did have hallucinations so I thought maybe they would be more concerned that their only daughter is a trauma survivor. Obviously not.Though both girls are detached from their families but still, this was too much. Also, the chances that an actor you filmed a show with a decade ago to recognize you and want to be friendly and brotherly with you is so unlikely.
Final thoughts
This book was an easy and light read until the 2/3 rd of the book, where it gets tiring to read. I would recommend this to a beginner reader since the format makes it accessible to a wider audience. I will probably never reread this book again, 2/5.
inkstndfngrs's review against another edition
3.0
So, allow me a moment of reflection. I used to be a fangirl. Not as entrenched as these ladies and their internet friends, but I wasn't uninvolved. I wrote a lot of fan fiction (NSYNC before it was no longer cool to write stories featuring real actual people, and later Harry Potter). It's books like this that remind me why I got out of Fandom and moved on to writing original fiction. Fandom can $&@! up people's lives if they let it.
But the book. What to say? It was...fine. I'm not really sure about the appeal of a cop drama to teen girls other than the young and attractive police officers. I liked Finn; she seemed very grounded. I always enjoy a good alternative narrative. But it does make me wonder how the story could have been different if it had been told more traditionally.
I can't say that I found myself actually LIKING these characters (except Charlie, maybe). I may be a few years older than them, but there was more than once I wanted to give them a swift kick in the rear and tell them to grow the hell up. Also lost in the narrative choice was: did something actually end up happening between them? Finn says she wants to marry Charlie and Gena obviously had some kind of relationship with Alanah previously. It's just frustrating that even when you're with people you're supposed to be able to be yourself with -and a story told from their paper trail, we still don't get any real closure.
The end was...lackluster. So TylerGirl93 never changes. lol. What a waste of a morning ('cause that was its one solid good point --it literally only took me 3 hours to read).
But the book. What to say? It was...fine. I'm not really sure about the appeal of a cop drama to teen girls other than the young and attractive police officers. I liked Finn; she seemed very grounded. I always enjoy a good alternative narrative. But it does make me wonder how the story could have been different if it had been told more traditionally.
I can't say that I found myself actually LIKING these characters (except Charlie, maybe). I may be a few years older than them, but there was more than once I wanted to give them a swift kick in the rear and tell them to grow the hell up. Also lost in the narrative choice was: did something actually end up happening between them? Finn says she wants to marry Charlie and Gena obviously had some kind of relationship with Alanah previously. It's just frustrating that even when you're with people you're supposed to be able to be yourself with -and a story told from their paper trail, we still don't get any real closure.
The end was...lackluster. So TylerGirl93 never changes. lol. What a waste of a morning ('cause that was its one solid good point --it literally only took me 3 hours to read).
iddylu's review against another edition
4.0
I had some trouble deciding how to rate this one! It was weird, but I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. Not every part of the sharp narrative turn towards the end worked for me - - but I don't object to it having happened overall. I also didn't feel queerbaited by the book - probably in part because I didn't go into it with the assumption that we were meant to think Finn and Gena would end up together, but also in large part because I'm a sucker for blurry, confusing, indefinable relationships, and the two of them being unsure whether their relationship was romantic or platonic felt very genuine and realistic.
Spoiler
Gena going to live with Finn and Charlie felt very offmisguidedghvst's review against another edition
3.0
this book read like a fanfiction but not in a this book was amazing and i couldn’t put it down way, in a this book is only something that would happen in a fanfiction this is so unrealistic and out of character why am i still reading this way.
the first part of this book was pretty good, not amazing, but still good. the second part of this book was so good. the third part of this book was so bad.
this book appeared to be a cool book about fandom culture and for the first two parts it was. then the third part happened. what the hell were those poems evie was writing they were some of the worst things i have ever forced myself to read. what was that weird dynamic evie and charlie had? why did the romantic tension seemingly come out of nowhere? why did it end like that?
the first part of this book was pretty good, not amazing, but still good. the second part of this book was so good. the third part of this book was so bad.
this book appeared to be a cool book about fandom culture and for the first two parts it was. then the third part happened. what the hell were those poems evie was writing they were some of the worst things i have ever forced myself to read. what was that weird dynamic evie and charlie had? why did the romantic tension seemingly come out of nowhere? why did it end like that?