Raineedayze Reads: The Princess and the Fangirl (Spoilers Inside!)

If you've been a follower for a while, you know how much I LOVED Geekerella by Ashley Poston. So when the sequel, The Princess and the Fangirl, based on the the Princess and the Pauper (or is it prince? Who knows!) was announced, you bet I was preordering as fast as I could. 

The book came in and I devoured it within the day at work. Also, look at this beautiful cover!

The book follows geek girl Imogene, who is campaigning to save her favorite character Amara from Starfield from being "fridged" (a term used to describe a female character whose death is only used to further the male character's plot). This is the same Amara from the first book, portrayed by Jessica Stone. 

The book is told in dual perspective between Imogen and Jessica Stone, the actress portraying Amara who is very against the entirety of Starfield and wants it her character to stay "dead". 

At the beginning of the novel, I HATED Jessica and it was very different from the first book, because of how much I loved all the main characters in Geekerella. I honestly thought it would make me not love this book as much.

I was dead wrong.

Jessica's hatred of Starfield doesn't come from the actual show itself, but instead stems from the hate lobbed towards female actresses in sci-fi/fantasy (a la Kelly Marie Tran, Daisy Ridley, Brie Larson, Gal Gadot, the new Ghostbusters.....do I need to go on?)

I think in this time, this book is so impactful because it really delves into an idea of what it would be like to be a star and get all sorts of hate for not being what fans (read: angry nerd trolls) picture as the perfect princess, ghostbuster, or hero. 

This book also has so many queer relationships which I am SO here for. I'm so in love with Imogene's mom's and want an entire mini story around them and Figurine It Out. 

It also doesn't pander to geek girls. Ashley Poston herself is a geek who writes the way fangirls talk. I go more in to detail about this in my Youtube review (link TBA). But, so much of the dialogue is authentic fangirl speak and the references are hilarious and lovely. 

Also, hella throwbacks to the OG book and so much cute Dare and Elle <3

Overall, I gave this book a 5/5 and it joins Geekerella as being one of my all time favorite reads! I cannot wait to see if more comes to this series!


 Have you read this book? Let's chat about it!


 Always, Raineedayze
 

Raineedayze Reads: Ship It

One of the biggest things in my life is my love for many fandoms. I am a huge, unapologetic fangirl of many things (as if you couldn't tell) and I absolutely love reading about being a fangirl and sharing the fangirl experience with other people.

Ship It by Britta Lundin is NOT what I was expecting and unfortunately left this fangirl with a bad taste in her mouth.
  

 

Beautiful cover, not so beautiful story

The book is told in a dual-perspective, following superfan Claire, a Tumblr-famous slash-fic writer and Forest, the star of the show Demon Heart and the object of Claire's fanfics.

The fandom in this book is SUPER similar to the Supernatural fandom, and like many others have stated in their reviews, it seems like a lot of this story was lifted from a very real fan situation that happened regarding Destiel and Jensen Ackles.  (Also, let it be known that I adore Jensen Ackles and co.)

Synopsis

Essentially, Claire heads to a local convention where the stars of Demon Heart will be, and in a very "never meet your heroes" kind of way, asks a question during the panel regarding the homoerotic subtext of the main characters. Forest, denies any subtext and along with the showrunner, shoot it down. In order to fix this PR disaster, the Demon Heart publicist brings Claire along for the rest of the convention-circuit and drama ensues.

Also there is a super unhealthy love story in this book.

As always, if you have not read this book, avert your eyes for the paragraph between the lines!

__________________________________________________

Tess and Claire's relationship is ridiculously unhealthy. Tess outs Claire to multiple people and pressures her to label herself, which made me super uncomfortable. Claire and Tess also argue ALL THE TIME, so I could never really root for them. Aside from a cute scene in a diner, they were probably better off Tumblr friends.

Claire also casually KIDNAPS JAMIE. And hacks his Twitter account, but it's okay because he is queerbaiting fans. Seriously. Claire was pulling a Misery situation and threatened Jamie because he refused to make her ship canon. Jamie was NOT a good guy but kidnapping him and stalking his old photos was too much.

Claire also writes fics about Rico and Forest using personal information Forest has shared with her. One of these insinuates Forest's father abused him and all she says is "I'm sorry." Forest forgives her and all is well. DUDE NO.

I kind of get the message the book was trying to say. That representation matters and everyone's opinions are valid. However, this book used so many awful ways to get there and it was just ridiculous.

The only redeeming things in this book: Caty (somewhat), Rico, and Claire's parents, although they were super one-dimensional.
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Overall, this book was just so bad. I gave it 2/5 stars. The writing style was nice, but the story was just terrible. The cover is so beautiful, but this book will not be on my shelves much longer I think.


Have you read Ship It? Let's chat about it!



Always, Raineedayze

Raineedayze Reads: Leah on the Offbeat

I've spent most of this summer so far with a good book by the pool, so it was only natural that as soon as I picked up Leah on the Offbeat, I would be rushing to read it. I loved Becky Albertalli's previous books in this universe, and so I couldn't wait to immerse myself in her new book.

 
This book follows Leah, the (in my opinion), badass underrated character featured in Simon Vs. The Homosapien Agenda. First things first, Leah is a bisexual ICON. She is adorable and tough as nails, and her musings about Harry Potter, fanfic, and Tumblr were music to my very nerdy ears. 

As with all the books in this universe, there are a ton of references to fandoms, ships, and general geeky goodness.

The gang is back, now embarking on the last few months of high school and dealing with prom, dating, college preparations, and taking that scar leap into the unknown. This book was amazing in that regard and something I wish I had read in high school. 

Though I adored Leah, I do have to say her narration was probably the weakest in comparison to the previous books in the series(?). She also had more of angsty feel, very different from Molly and Simon. As a standalone, this book would have been an automatic 5 star read. However, since the book did rely on the other two books a bit more than they relied on each other, I do think it diminished it a little bit. 

The romance in this book was a bit obvious, but very adorable nonetheless, and I seriously loved the really cute moments. As always, there were a few shoutouts from the previous couples, which was always nice to see.

Overall, I gave this book 4/5 stars. It was a very cute read and Becky Albertalli has a way of writing nerdy teenagers and I could read a million books following this group.

In the spirit of it, I also made a playlist for the book! I'm getting a feel for it to see if I want to keep making these for books, so let me know if you enjoy it!

 


Have you read Leah on the Offbeat? Let's chat about it!



Always, Raineedayze

Raineedayze Reads: Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

I haven't had many 5 star books  in a while, but Autoboyography definitely deserved it.

Autoboyography follows Tanner, an openly bisexual teenager who, after his move to Mormon-filled Utah, goes back in the closet. However, when he enrolls in a class to write a novel in a semester, he ends up falling for his male TA.....who just happens to be the bishop's son.

This book was amazing. Tanner was a hilarious narrator, and I loved his wit. The Scott family was wonderful and flawed but I adored them. There were also SO many tearjerker moments. I finished this book with a huge lump in my throat but I absolutely adored it.

Sebastian's storyline of dealing with who he is and what he has always known broke my heart, and his automatic shifts to being "fine" just tore me up. I was worried this book would bash religion, but I think it dealt with it in a very real way. It managed to deal with being a good person and religion in way that wasn't mutually exclusive and how you can be a person of faith and question different parts of your beliefs.

This book dealt with so many huge and real issues for teenagers growing in conservative/religious settings. The authors (Christina Lauren is actually duo, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) did a ton of research and featured a list of LGBTQ+ sources at the end of the book. Christina was also a school counselor who saw many children coming in her office dealing with these same issues.

This book was absolutely wonderful, had incredible bi representation, and I cannot recommend it enough. Definitely 5/5 stars.


Have you read this book? Let's chat about it!


 Always, Raineedayze

Raineedayze Reads: Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

Recently, I've been on a pretty good reading kick. I read a whole bunch of books that were all fabulous, so I had pretty high expectations for this one.

Sad to say, it disappointed BIG TIME.

This book is about two best friends, Gabby and Ryan, and their relationship as it flows and changes throughout their high school years. This book was told in a top ten list, with the timelines shifting back and forth through their relationship.

The premise sounded super intriguing and since Spring is here, I was all ready for light and fluffy romance but that was not what I got at all in this book.

The timeline shifted way too much. It also didn't seem to have a reason for the shifting. One chapter focused completely on the resolution of a fight, only to have the next be the beginning of the fight. It was super hard to keep track, and since the characters fought ALL THE TIME, I never knew if they were friends or not in the current timeline.

The characters in this book were super one-dimensional, and I hated both of them. Ryan was pretty cool for a little bit but after awhile, he came off as super stubborn and defensive. Gabby was just bitter for the majority of the book, and I wasn't even really rooting for them to end up together because they both kinda sucked.  

This book had some good moments. It described anxiety attacks very well, and Ryan's enthusiasm for consent was awesome (seriously, YA authors, take note). Unfortunately, these things didn't save the book for me. 

Katie Cotugno's writing is fundamentally awesome, but for some reason, her stories have a way of being forgettable and having characters who are super bland. I enjoyed Fireworks, liked How To Love, and was decently into 99 Days. I won't say I will stop reading her books, but I don't know if I will be putting her much higher on my TBRs. Her plotlines are fantastic, but the execution is just done a little weak. 

Overall, I gave this book 2/5 stars.


Always, Raineedayze
 

Raineedayze Reads: Meet Cute Anthology

This month, I finally was able to get my hands on Meet Cute, a romantic anthology filled with stories about YA meet-cute themed tales.

I've been waiting forever to finally read this book, because there were so many awesome authors involved in this book.

Sadly, I was pretty disappointed. (Warning: Mild spoilers)

With anthologies, it's pretty difficult for all the stories to be 5 star reads. That being said, there were so much more hits than misses in this book.

Now, I'm not going to review each story individually, just hit the highs and lows. Let's start off with the hits.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies
Adorable. Most of the stories required a high suspension of disbelief because they were all "love at first site". This story, though unrealistic, was absolute adorableness! Plus, statistics!

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton
This story was my absolute favorite, though I have to admit it had a pretty slow start. It was based in a sort of fantasy/sci-fi world but the love story was the most realistic to me. I couldn't say much about the characters in this book, since the authors didn't have a very long time to build them up, but the love was magical. 

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan
This was a sci-fi based story (are you seeing a pattern?) and I really enjoyed the world around the story. This story didn't have a conventional ending, but I enjoyed the premise. I will say, this love story wasn't the best LOVE story but more of a good short story.

Now, let's go to the....not so great stories.

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick
One of the main issues with not only this story, but a couple of others, is that I HATE love stories that  are between someone at work and a customer. It creeps me out a bit because when you are working, you are stuck there, forced to be cordial which is often misinterpreted as flirting. Aside from that, the story had too many creepy vibes and at the same time, I had absolutely no idea what the point of this story was.

Print Shop by Nina Lacour
Another story that dealt with meeting at work, this story was also creepy for the main character using a business Twitter account to stalk the love interest. I just didn't vibe with it.

Siege Ettiquette by Katie Cotugno
I love Katie Cotugno but this story made no sense. The main character would randomly get really mean, and then quickly apologize. This story also seemed to do something a lot of the other less than stellar reads did. It seemed like the authors tried to leave a lot of unanswered questions in order to make the reader want to read more of it, therefore convincing the reader that they liked it more than they actually did. 

In all honesty, this book didn't veer too much towards really good or really bad. I rated it a 3/5 stars. It was meh, though I enjoyed the LGBTQ representation in many of the stories.

Have you read this? Let's chat about it!


Always, Raineedayze

Raineedayze Reads: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

It is only the beginning of January and I think I have found one of my favorite reads of the year.

Seriously.

Geekerella by Ashley Poston is a Cinderella-meets-Star Trek novel, published in 2017. When the book came out, so many people were in love with it and made a ton of positive reviews for it. I put it on my TBR and forgot about it. 

It luckily had no wait list this year and I managed to borrow a copy from my library, and boy that was the best thing to happen to me.

Geekerella follows a girl named Danielle, or Elle for short, who lives with her evil stepmother and two bratty stepsisters. She works in a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin (get it?) and is OBSESSED with a Star Trek-like show called Starfield. Elle runs a pretty small blog dedicated to the show and when she hears they will finally announce the man playing Carmindor (the main captain-like character), Elle is insanely excited. Only to find out teen hearthrob Darien Freeman is playing the lead role. 

Elle is NOT happy (imagine if Justin Bieber was playing Kirk?) but decides to enter the cosplay contest at ExelsiCon because of her love of the show and what it means to her.

Darien, on the other hand, is a secret Starfield nerd who is playing the role of a lifetime. However, when he is ambushed by fans who accuse him of being a "fake geek" and is roped into doing the convention, he needs to figure out how to deal with feeling like a fraud and come to terms with his life.

This book was fantastic! I am a huge Star Trek nerd myself and I saw myself in these pages so much. The author captured the feelings of being a fangirl so perfectly. This book deals with using these fandoms and other worlds as your home, your sanctuary to feel like there is something bigger than you in this universe, and it does it so wonderfully.

I loved the characters, loved the familiar feelings of excitement and passion from being a fangirl, and I also totally need Starfield to be a real show. The descriptions of the episodes were fantastic and I would bingewatch the crap out of that.

There is one thing I want to mention but it is a pretty big spoiler so, if you have not read this book, avert your eyes for the paragraph between the lines!

_____________________________________________

Can we just talk about how when the cosplayers all helped Elle and mentioned how much the convention meant to them? That entire section of cosplayers helping a fellow fan out, while talking about how the show and the convention gave them a home and a community and a place to be themselves?? I sobbed so hard. That feeling of community hit so close to home for me. I love being a fan of things and to see the community come together, it was amazing.
_____________________________________________

I gave Geekerella 5/5 stars because it was just that fantastic. I plan on picking up a physical copy soon enough because I definitely will be re-reading this when I need that fandom hug.


Always, Raineedayze 

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Dream Reading Spaces

Oh, reading spaces. 

We all have our own little nooks where we prefer to read. My preference is a little corner next to my bedroom window that I have piled huge teddy bears into as makeshift pillows. 

Regardless of your current reading spaces, I'm pretty sure we all have a few dream spaces that we would LOVE to curl up in with nice cup of tea. Here are mine!

 *Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah from Bionic Book Worm! Make sure to check out her blog for more bookish awesomeness!*



5. The Gryffindor Common Room 

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I would love the chance to sit in front of the crackling fire and read a book. The trio spent so much time here planning, doing homework (or copying Hermione's), and it was my favorite setting in the books. As for now, there is this website   that allows you to listen to the sounds of the common room.



4.Asuna and Kirito's cabin (Sword Art Online)

I know this is kind of a weird place, but I loved how serene this area was. It looked so peaceful and I would love to just  relax here on the lake and read a book. Although, I would like to eventually leave the game!


3. Belle's Library

ALL THE BOOKS! I feel like there are so many reading nooks in her library and I would love to sit there and pore over every title.  


2. Christian Grey's Apartment

Hear me out. I thought the movies were awful and the books were problematic BUT I loved his apartment. I'm a sucker for huge windows and I can only imagine how amazing they would look on a rainy day while I curl up with a book. Plus, his kitchen is huge and I could have so many reading snacks! I could do without the guy though.


1.  Arcadia Bay (Life is Strange)

Specifically, this area where Max runs into the deer. Obviously could do without the storm, but look at how gorgeous this view is!! 


Those are my dream reading spaces! What are some of yours? Leave a link to your #T5T posts below so I can check them out! 


Always, Raineedayze

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Book Recommendations For Non-Readers

Happy Tuesday!

This week we are talking about 5 books we would recommend to non-readers. 

*Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah from Bionic Book Worm! Make sure to check out her blog for more bookish awesomeness!*

This topic was kind of hard for me because I grew up surrounded by readers and so when I heard that there were people who didn't enjoy reading, I was kind of taken aback.

"What do you mean you don't really read? What do you do with your time???"

I love reading and since it has been such a huge part of my life, I had to think about what would I recommend to someone who wasn't the biggest reader. In no particular order...


5.  The Babysitter's Club series by Ann M. Martin

Starting it off ambitious with a series sounds crazy, but one thing I liked about these books is that they are great standalone books by themselves. Not only are the stories fun, and dealt with real topics, the characters were likeable and make you want to connect with them. Plus, it's middle-grade that doesn't feel like middle-grade.


4. All- American Girl by Meg Cabot

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I think the premise is interesting, the characters are well-written and the writing style is phenomenal. I also think that because this book is written like a chick flick comedy. this would definitely appeal to  people who may prefer movies to books. The premise isn't too far out there and the book is easy to follow along.


3.  Daphne's Book by Mary Downing Hahn

While writing this list, I went back to my favorite books that I read growing up and remembered why I liked them. I loved these books because they were easy to follow but weren't ridiculously simple. This is another one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors growing up. The storyline is a little darker than the other choices on here, but I think this book would appeal to someone who wanted depth but in a format that wasn't too hard to follow.


2. Wolf Boy by Evan Kuhlman

I loved this book. I bought this book at a convention where the seller was probably just getting rid of extra things he had lying around. But when I read it, I fell in love with the plot and I really liked the way the story tied in a comic element to it. I think this book is great because it's fun, sad, and provides a deep plot.


1. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

I am a huge Sarah Dessen fan and throughout middle school and high school, I wasn't reading as many books as I used to. One of the only authors that I did read a lot from was Sarah Dessen because her books were contemporary, and emotional and basically super mega teen girl lit. I love her books, I adore her writing style, and I think her books make you want to continue reading her work.


What 5 books would you recommend? Have you read any of my choices? Leave a link to your #T5T posts below and I will definitely check them out!



Always, Raineedayze

Review: One Of Us Is Lying + Video

So, if you've been a recurring reader of the blog, you probably know that I have been super hyped for this book to come out. 

One Of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus follows a group of 5 students in detention and during detention, one of the students dies. Now the 4 remaining students are under investigation as murder suspects while they fight to figure out the truth of what happened. 

*Spoilers Ahead* 

This book was kind of disappointing to me. I found myself having to constantly re-read passages, and I wasn't really invested in the individual characters, Plus I kind of felt like their storylines were super convoluted and overwhelmed the plot.  Here are more of my thoughts, in video form!

 Sorry for my awkwardness, but hey it's my first video!

Did you enjoy the video format? Let me know and I might make some more!

Always, Raineedayze

The TBR Tag

I'm so excited to be tagged in things! I am horrible at keeping a TBR but I was tagged by my BFF Becca from My Life As A Sports Fangirl. I'm tagging every reader of this post so....get to it!

1. How Do You Keep Track Of Your TBR Pile?

I am horrible at keeping track of my TBR. The closest thing I have to it is my Goodreads Want to Read shelf and my wish list I hold on the local library's website. I really need to move it to my planner but I get so caught up in books on a whim that I add to it frequently. 

2. Is Your TBR Mostly Print or E-Book?

E-book! I have a Kindle Fire Tablet and I read so many books on there. Most of the books I get are from the local library and I can check them out online and download them to my tablet. Plus they auto-return and I can do it all from the comfort of my own home. Plus it makes it so much easier to read at school without having to carry more books. 

3. How Do You Determine Which Book From Your TBR to Read Next?

My library site has a "Wish List" area that I can put all the books I want to read on. I usually decide after I finish whatever book I was reading. I go by my mood at the time so it changes frequently.

4. A Book That's Been on Your TBR The Longest

 Hmm.....The Lord of the Rings series is probably the longest. I read The Hobbit and another book in the series when I was younger but I haven't revisited the series as a whole and I really want to! Also the Game of Thrones/ASOIAF books. On my library TBR, it would be The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. Not sure why, but I haven't gotten around to reading it.

5. A Book That You Recently Added to Your TBR

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. I really REALLY want to read this (and I know Becca does) and it is also the Iggle Bookclub pick of the month so maybe I will finally get to read it this month!

6.  A Book On Your TBR Strictly Because of its Beautiful Cover

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. Maybe not a beautiful cover but it's so cool and I adore the 80's VHS feel! Plus it reminds me of the creepy Goosebumps books and teen slasher books I used to read as a kid.

7.  A Book On Your TBR That You Never Plan On Actually Reading

This is a hard one for me because I hate leaving lists unfinished. After debating though, probably Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I've heard it wasn't very good and slightly problematic but the truth is, the plot isn't super interesting to me. I dunno what it is but I can't see myself falling in love the way I did with Carry On.

8. An Unpublished Book on Your TBR That You're Excited For

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. This book doesn't come out until 2018 (WHY???) but as a lover of all things fairies and Holly Black, I need this so much in my life!!

9. A Book on Your TBR That Basically Everyone Has Read Except You

I was about to write The Book Thief and then I saw Becca put it as her answer so I guess I'm not the only one! Other than that, The Lunar Chronicles series is a book series I've wanted to read forever and I feel that everyone else has already read it! But I have always been fascinated with it.

10. A Book On Your TBR That Everyone Recommend to You

The Gentlemen's Guide To Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. I have heard so much about this book and it is all over Booktube. I'm not sure when I'll get to it but it looks pretty good.

11. A Book on Your TBR That You're Just Dying To Read

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Even though I have heard mixed reviews about it, I am so stoked to read it because I absolutely fell in love with the plot. I am currently on the waitlist at my library for it and am dying of anticipation!!

12. The Number of Books on Your Goodreads TBR Shelf

78 because I have no control of my life. Since I tend to update my Library wish list more frequently, I thought I'd share that here as well. On my library shelf I have 48. And the weird thing is, most of the books on both these lists differ so it's like a combined total of 126. What is my life?


Thanks Becca so much for tagging me and I'm so excited to see what's on all of your shelves!! 



Always, Raineedayze

 

Top 5 Tuesday: 5 Books I Consider Modern Classics

Hello all you lovely people!

I found this tag by browsing Becca's blog and I love the idea. I haven't blogged a lot about books lately even though I have been reading and I really wanted to go back to writing about books since they are such a huge part of my life!

Top 5 Tuesdays were started by Shanah from Bionic Book Worm. Definitely check out her blog because it is fabulous! 

In no particular order, here are my 5 books that I consider modern classics.



5. The Harry Potter series. 

I feel like this is a given because Harry Potter was (and still is) a cultural phenomenon. Many book bloggers and booktubers cite Harry Potter as being their gateway into this world and it is one of the biggest fandoms inspiring movies, toys, games, plays, music, and so much more. This is definitely something that I am glad I was able to experience as it came out and forsee it being a force for a very long time.



4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Hear me out. I liked this book. I cried at this book. But this book is by no means my favorite. I think this book did bridge a gap between readers and non-readers and I think it helped steamroll the popularity of YA to a larger community. I don't think this book is award-winning, but I think it adds an important note in history.



3. To All The Boys I've Loved Before series by Jenny Han

I loved these books so much. I adored the characters, the feel, the story. Everything about these books was fabulous. While reading these books, I definitely got some Jane Austen vibes. I really think this series was positive, fun, but not too fluffy. 


2. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

I loved this book tremendously so. I feel this book is something that really brought a good LGBTQ storyline to life without it being cheesy or weird and I adored the writing style.


1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I loved this book. I don't know if it was my favorite, but I feel it was necessary reading because of how much it has influenced the book community. I enjoyed the storyline, I liked the characters, and I love Rainbow Rowell's writing. I feel like this book was a narrative that brought fun into YA drama and blended it so well. 

Those are my 5 modern classics. Do you agree with my choices? Let's chat in the comments!


Always, Raineedayze

Online Tea Party: Eliza and Her Monsters

It's time for the tea!



For the month of August, Becca and I chose Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia as our Online Tea Party pick. 

If you are new to Online Tea Party, it is a monthly book club held by Becca and I! Each month we announce a new book and come up with a few questions to discuss it, usually while drinking tea. We have tons of fun and usually end up spending all month fangirling and screaming "FEELS" to each other (okay, mostly me...) We then post our discussion on our respective blogs.



Becca and I had both been looking forward to this book because we heard so many good things about it! I am also an aspiring comic artist and so reading a book that dealt with a protagonist who runs her own webcomic sounded AWESOME!

Well.....the book was way different than I thought. Let's discuss it. 



                                        ***Spoilers Ahead***


1. Did you like Eliza as the protagonist? Why or Why Not?

Um.....I hate to say this but.....no. I thought Eliza was kind of rude, ungrateful, and really ostracized herself. A lot of her problems were her own doing, in my opinion. One example was how she always thought her brothers hated her, even though they had kept her secret for years, without her even asking. It seemed like any time she got some sass from them, she automatically went to "they hate me so much". Wallace touched on it by telling her that's how siblings are, and she doesn't seem to believe it. She also was kind of a really crappy friend. While her friends were going through their own rough times, she was bemoaning about a guy who really liked her!

2. What part did you like the least?

I really got disliked the camping trip scene. I thought it was kind of sad that the family is bonding and she refuses to join them. I understand she was hurt, and her parents weren't completely clear of blame, but it seemed like she pushed them away a lot during this scene. Plus, she didn't even join in on the food!!!

Also, I had a huge issue with suicide scene, where Eliza nearly attempts suicide at the turn. It seemed all of a sudden and way out of pace for the rest of the book.

3. Have you ever felt completely consumed by a fandom and its community? 

Yes! I'm a huge fangirl of so many things. It hink most prominently, Harry Potter. I attended all the midnight releases, owned every bit of memorabilia I could get my hands on, and it was my home during a difficult time in my life. It still is a place I go to when I need comfort. Plus, it was my first venture into fanfic (bad, self insert stuff, ughhh....). I think I tend to always jump full force into my fandoms and it makes me feel connected to this fantastic universe, especially on when days feel lonely. 

4. Did you go into the book thinking it would take a dark turn in the second half?

I don't think so. Honestly, I had no idea what I expected to find in this book. I expected the book to focus more on her inner demons, or "monsters", but I don't think I saw the book panning out the way it did.

5. Was it worth the hype?

Sorry, Eliza...not really. I found the pacing kind of off, the characters kind of insufferable, and really wasn't feeling it.





Overall, I was not a huge fan of this book. I received the copy in an Owlcrate, but it's not something I would have bought for myself. I give it a 2.5/5 star rating



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Always, Raineedayze