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A review by amyreadsbooks917
Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz, Kat Helgeson
3.0
3.5 stars
This book, this book, this book… I’ll put it this way, this is the first book in a looong time that I’ve had to physically put down and walk out of the room because I couldn’t handle it. I have a complete love/hate relationship with this book because of how it made me feel. And, upon reflection, it felt more like emotional manipulation than actual cathartic emotional response, so. I still don’t fully know how I feel. :)
I will say that this is THE BEST and most accurate text/blog/email book I’ve ever read. The voices of the characters are perfect in this format, and it felt like I was truly reading something written by real people in a real fandom. It was just spot on. I also loved the small plot twists and character reveals in the first half of the book. I felt very attached to Gena and Finn.
On the back of the book, Adele Griffin says “I had such a huge fondness for Gena and Finn that I think about them still. You will, too.” I think this perfectly summarizes how I felt about them.
Things I didn’t love (I don’t know how to say any of this stuff without spoiling everything, so… everything after this is a spoiler):
— THE SHIFT IN TONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK. It took me off guard and made me mad. The “plot twist” was totally realistic and fit well, but I just didn’t want to read about that.
— I don’t think the authors have ever been through major grief? Or if they have then the pacing of their writing was off? Something about it felt a little glossy but I can’t put my finger on it. Possibly how Gena did a 180 from shock and despair into a “well here’s how I processed everything. Here’s the answer.” type of a tone so quickly?
— The “romance” or “we’re more than friends” feelings were not very well explained? I didn’t pick up any romantic feelings from the characters until they were in the middle of fighting about feelings and then all of that also got brushed under the rug. It may have just been because of the format of the book since we didn’t really get to see many of the characters’ interior thoughts unless they were talking to one another about them.
This book, this book, this book… I’ll put it this way, this is the first book in a looong time that I’ve had to physically put down and walk out of the room because I couldn’t handle it. I have a complete love/hate relationship with this book because of how it made me feel. And, upon reflection, it felt more like emotional manipulation than actual cathartic emotional response, so. I still don’t fully know how I feel. :)
I will say that this is THE BEST and most accurate text/blog/email book I’ve ever read. The voices of the characters are perfect in this format, and it felt like I was truly reading something written by real people in a real fandom. It was just spot on. I also loved the small plot twists and character reveals in the first half of the book. I felt very attached to Gena and Finn.
On the back of the book, Adele Griffin says “I had such a huge fondness for Gena and Finn that I think about them still. You will, too.” I think this perfectly summarizes how I felt about them.
Things I didn’t love (I don’t know how to say any of this stuff without spoiling everything, so… everything after this is a spoiler):
Spoiler
— THE SHIFT IN TONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK. It took me off guard and made me mad. The “plot twist” was totally realistic and fit well, but I just didn’t want to read about that.
— I don’t think the authors have ever been through major grief? Or if they have then the pacing of their writing was off? Something about it felt a little glossy but I can’t put my finger on it. Possibly how Gena did a 180 from shock and despair into a “well here’s how I processed everything. Here’s the answer.” type of a tone so quickly?
— The “romance” or “we’re more than friends” feelings were not very well explained? I didn’t pick up any romantic feelings from the characters until they were in the middle of fighting about feelings and then all of that also got brushed under the rug. It may have just been because of the format of the book since we didn’t really get to see many of the characters’ interior thoughts unless they were talking to one another about them.