Author: Adam Silvera

Published: January 17, 2017

Publisher: Soho Teen

Genre: YA, GLBT, Contemporary

Author: Rainbow Rowell
Published: September 10th 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: YA/NA, Contemporary, Romance

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I bought the Exclusive Collector's edition as a birthday present to myself, and since this is the second time I've read it, I thought it was time to do proper review.

Fangirl is the socially awkward teen girl anthem. The entire time reading it, I kept thinking, "This is me. This is so me. Guys, Rowell stole my life and put it in book form, but with a lot more attractive people and romance." If you

A) are a fangirl

B) suffer from social anxiety

C) have just started or have ever attended a college in your life

D) All of the above

you will probably relate a lot to this book. This isn't the most accurate portrayal of fandoms, but I think it's pretty darn close for many young girls who decide to be a part of such a wonderful section of the internet.

Fangirl follows Cath's first year of college as she learns to juggle the booming popularity of her Simon Snow fanfic, her crippling social anxiety, her (lack) of romance, and a slew of family drama. Cath is a witty, but her social anxiety causes her to avoid people. She feels much more at home talking to online friends and writing Simon and Baz stories. Until a few months before college, she thought the same was true for her twin sister Wren. Unfortunately for Cath, Wren wants to mature and become a real college student, which apparently means leaving Simon Snow and Cath behind.

My heart ached when Cath described, "breaking up" with her sister. It's hard enough losing friends, so I can't imagine how much it would suck to drift away from your built-in-best friend. Plus, Cath isn't as outgoing as her sister, so she ends up spending most of the first semester trapped in her room eating protein bars and trying to become friends with her intimidating roommate and her roommate's not-boyfriend.

Cath's is a great main character, though there were a couple of moments where I wanted to strangle her with her own Simon Snow shirt. Mostly the scene where Cath is confronted by her fiction professor for turning in a Simon/Baz story for a writing assignment. Obviously the professor thinks it's plagiarism, but Cath doesn't understand why she shouldn't turn in other people's characters for an academic assignment.

Verdict

Bonus: Here's some pics of the collector's edition. 

Black: Name a series that’s tough to get into but has hardcore fans.

Peppermint Mocha: Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or a festive time of year.

Hot Chocolate: What is your favorite children’s book?

Double Shot of Espresso: Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

Starbucks: Name a book you see everywhere.

I tag

I think at this point, we all know why diversity is important. I don't think there's a hotter topic in the publishing world right now, and that's kind of awesome. But while reading and writing diversity is awesome, another way to be a good diversity advocate is to be aware of how you review diverse books. 

More often than not, there is a lot of microaggression in reviews of diverse books. For those of you who don't know, microaggressions, as used by Columbia professor Derald Sue, are, “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.” In other words, it's when you say things that are meant as a compliment or as an innocent question, but instead come across as insulting and hurtful toward the group you are speaking too. Microaggressions are things like:

Author: Erin Claiborne
Published: November 11th, 2014
Publisher: Big Bang Press
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Queer

Sixteen year-old Ewan Mao knows one thing for certain: according to prophecy, it's his destiny to kill the evil tyrant whose dark reign has terrorized Britain. Although he's just a normal boy, deep down Ewan is confident that he has exactly what it takes to be a hero. But when Ewan's big moment comes, he freezes. His best friend, the clever and talented Oliver Abrams, defeats the villain for him, and Ewan's bright future crumbles before his eyes.

Five years later, Oliver has a job as an Unusual in the government's Serious Magical Crimes Agency, the life he and Ewan always dreamed of. But a routine investigation leads him and his partner, Sophie Stuart, to uncover a dangerous and powerful cult... one that seems to have drawn his former best friend into a plot to end the world.

A deftly plotted, hysterically funny take on Chosen One narratives, A Hero at the End of the World expertly walks the fine line between satire and sincerity. Its sensitive depiction of a broken friendship and wry take-down of unfairly great expectations will appeal to all readers of modern fantasy.

Beautiful People hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paper Fury is an awesome monthly linkup to help writers get to know their books and character. This month's linkup is Valentine's Day themed, and you know what that means.


Jk, let's not. I'm not really a romantic person, but I try to include couples in my stories, even if they crash and burn by the halfway point. I do have a few couples who are still going strong, but it's so hard to narrow it down to one choice. Therefore, I'm going to cheat and use two.

First up is Rise and Sijak from Half Full of Water:

1. How long have they been a couple?

Rise and Sijak have been together for four years. That's like, forever in young adult world.

2. How did they first meet?

Rise was pretty much a male courtesan for rich people and enslaved to please them however they want. Then Sijak showed up, posing as a scholar and was like, "Hey, this is wrong and you're also kind of hot. I'm going to romance you illegally first, then spring you from your prison!"

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)

Rise was wondering if Sijak was another innocent, virgin scholar looking to earn some man cred.  Sijak thought Rise was beautiful in a tragic way, but it wasn't love at first sight. 

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

What don't they do? They are both masters of the sass, and we all know that never goes well. Sijak tends to be a lot more reserved than Rise, and secretive. This annoys Rise because he wants to know everything about his boyfriend, but the dude keeps stuff to himself. When he actually ponders it, he realizes he knows next to nothing about the other boy.

Rise annoys Sijak with his overt flirtiness. Rise has pretty people privileges and uses it fully to his advantage! Warning, unedited writing upahead:


“We’re the pedestrians you almost mowed down. I could be mistaken, but the way you’re driving is in violation of many traffic laws, miss.” His accent becomes thicker throughout his mini-speech, until his ending words are a bit of a lyrical mess.

The woman turns her gaze towards him, and her eyes widen in interest.

“Mother, who are you talking too?” Another voices pops in. A few other girls, much younger, peek eagerly around their mother.

All of them do a general sweep of our group before their eyes land on Rise. “Oh, he’s cute!” They break out into a fit of giggles. They continue to talk about him as though he were an attractive dress on display at one of their favorite shops.

One of them whispers, “Invite him in!” to the mother.

Sijak hovers awkwardly behind Rise. The older blonde focuses her attention on the boy. “Are you heading to Pueta?” I realize that she has the same accent as Rise, if not slightly more refined, as if she were used to speaking the language of the commoners.

“Yes,” he says.

One of the girls, a pretty one with richly colored skin and black hair, asks, “Perhaps you would like a ride? You look as though you’ve been walking for ages.”

Rise’s demeanor changes. The tense, skeptical look is replaced with a friendly, albeit, flirtatious smile. “I couldn’t accept a ride from such beautiful young ladies. What would your father think?”

There’s a smattering of whispers and giggles. Even the severe Mother cracks a smile. “Young man, I can assure you that my husband has no control over who we invite into our cart. Besides, we’re simply being good citizens, if you’re trying to imply less.”

“Melri,” he murmurs. I have no idea what it means, but it sends them into a tizzy. “But I’m traveling with friends, I couldn’t possibly abandon them.”

The mother waves this away. “If we could, we’d offer all of your companions, but as it stands, we only have one extra seat. Would you be kind enough to accept our offer?”

Rise actually looks like he’s considering it. Sijak glares at him. “Really?”

“I’m tired and these ladies are being so generous right now. How could I not?”

Charlie rolls his eyes and Sijak stands scandalized as Rise tosses his bags into the back coach.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

I think they're share more similarities than either of them realize, besides being sass masters. Rise is more impulsive and quick to jump on things, but he's just as suspicious and judgmental as Sijak.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

 Well, Rise would probably still be a sex slave to rich people, and that would just suck. Sijak. . .


Rise also wouldn't be as wild and crazy as he currently is. Before meeting Sijak, he was incredibly demure and subscribed wholeheartedly to the belief that he should be seen and not heard.

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

 They might get irritated by each others actions, but they're not embarrassed.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

 You mean besides homophobes?
Biggest person to disapprove would be Rise's old master. Jealousy ain't pretty. Some people around them disapprove because they think the relationship is unhealthy. Mostly because they view Rise's pride in Sijak as idol worship (Spoilers!), and they think that Sijak doesn't return those feelings.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

 They haven't  actually thought about marriage, but neither of them can really imagine not being together. They have come to depend on each other mentally and emotionally. Sijak doesn't want to admit it, but Rise really brightens up his day.

10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?

 Oooh, good question. Probably an extremely difficult and complicated heist complete with a moat and lake monsters. I wish they were normal sometimes. My character's idea of romance is to steal shit. :<


__________________________________________________________________________________

Now it's Mir and Kessler from Dusk before Dawn

1. How long have they been a couple?

Time travel makes everything complicated. I don't view them as becoming a couple yet, at least not in this book, but they definitely have feelings for each other.

2. How did they first meet?

Mir looked in a broken piece of mirror off of a time machine and saw Kessler's eyes looking back. On Kess' side of things, he just completed the first prototype time machine in his dorm room.

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)

Mir thought, "Oh snap, I'm really getting in trouble now." It's illegal for Vras and humans to interact, and it's grounds for an execution. Kess was too busy freaking out that his time machine sort of worked.

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?

Both of them are annoyed that the other can't understand the other's culture. Mir sometimes interacts with Kess when he's at later stages of his life, and in the middle of the first war between Vras and Humans. This version of Kess is very bitter and harbors an intense hatred of Vras. He doesn't understand how Mir could defend her own people.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?

Opposite. Kess, in the beginning, is idealistic and free-spirited. Mir is hardened and reserve. Future Kess is more like Mir though, and future Mir is more like Kess. I think this is called irony. xD

6. How would their lives be different without each other?

Mir probably wouldn't have the Vrasatii government hunting her down and threatening to kill her family. Kess probably wouldn't have thought his time machine worked, never sold it to the US government, and never caused a huge intergalactic war that killed Mir's parents and ravaged her homeland.

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?

Current Mir and Future Kess are both embarrassed to be in contact with each others species.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?

Their entire race? And Vee, because he thinks Kess is a dick and not good enough for his big sis.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?

They don't even see a relationship.

10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?

Mir told Kess about a black hole in the Amentra Galaxy (the start of Vras civilizations). I think they would view it as beautifully tragic to watch the end of an ancient civilization that is responsible for many miracles as well as tragedies in the universe.

Well, that's all I have so far! I hope you enjoyed meeting my favorite ships, and I hope you ship them at some point in the future.

This isn't about you, white people.

But Anah, why are only white people being targeted? I don't see anyone telling minorities to be more diverse and include white people?

Well actually, white people aren't being targeted, but let's continue with this thought. Who do you think controls the power in the publishing industry? Answer: White people. It's not a secret that there are more white authors, white agents, and white editors than minorities. A lot of the times, if change is to truly to happen, than we have to change the majority too. We have to get them to care about our causes. It's why a straight men has to pretend to be gay and tell other homophobes about how awful it is before anyone gets it.

Also, I think it would be pretty salty to tell people who are already underrepresented in every form of media that they need to include more of the majority.

The reason people would think an editor is racist because they told a minorities author to include a white person in their story, and not vice versa, is because there are many different forms of whitewashing that minority authors are subjected to: being told to whitewash their characters, to stop making it so ethnic, how are the white readers supposed to understand? Cue white tears.

I do agree that author's shouldn't write diversity for the sake of some political agenda, but again no one is talking about forcing diversity everywhere, only in places where it's realistic in possible. No one's going to send an author hate mail because there are no black people in 1492 China.

When it comes to fantasy, I find the lack of diversity to be more alarming. You're telling me you can create entire worlds, religions, species, and magic, but you can't create non-whites? Why is everyone in a made up world still European based. The comment argument I see is that their world isn't based on ours, therefore it wouldn't be realistic to have other races. Problem: These worlds are often based on specific European mythology and medieval culture, which is, guess what, from our world. Second problem: You're pretty much saying that white is the default race and anything else is unrealistic.

Beautiful People hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paper Fury is an awesome monthly linkup to help writers get to know their books and character. This month's linkup is a little different, because it's all about moi.

1. How many years have you been writing? When did you officially consider yourself a ‘writer’?

I've been "writing" for about six years, but I don't think I actually considered myself a real writer until two years or so ago.

2. How/why did you start writing?

FANFICTION BRUH. I use to read so much Harry Potter fanfiction that I wanted to give it a shot too. Unfortunately, I'm really bad at fanfiction, but I eventually took an interest in writing original stories. All of my first stories were Grey's Anatomy-rip offs.

3. What’s your favorite part of writing?

Coming up with the idea and building the world. I could sit around for hours daydreaming/writing extreme plots and stuffs. Also, I love it when people read my writing and it actually disturbs them on an emotional level and they don't know how to react afterwards.

4. What’s your biggest writing struggle?

Actually writing. And descriptions. I swear, most of my stories consist of characters standing around in a white room talking.

5. Do you write best at night or day?

I think I'm a night owl. During the day I get too distracted by the internet, so I never get any writing down, but by nighttime everything's kind of dead, so then I have nothing else to be distracted by.

6. What does your writing space look like? (Feel free to show us pictures!)

I create on nothing less than a throne of wood-stuffs!
My writing space is anywhere I rest my posterior. I'm not one of those writers who needs a specific "creative" spot to create. As long as I have my laptop my throne and it's semi-quiet, I'm good.

7. How long does it typically take you to write a complete draft?

Still haven't gotten there, unfortunately.

8. How many projects do you work on at once?

One. . . two . . . four. . . a lot? Jk, at most I work on two at once. I might do a few short stories in between when I lose inspiration.

9. Do you prefer writing happy endings, sad ones, or somewhere in between?

I'm a depressing writer, so all of my endings either end up sad or in between. No one's feels are safe.

10. List a few authors who’ve influenced your writing journey.

JK Rowling: This is an obvious one. If it weren't for Rowling and her fantastic series I don't know if I would have ever actually gotten up the nerve to write anything.

Christopher Pike: A lot of people might have spent their childhood reading RL Stine (I did too), I spent it reading Christopher Pike. His book, The Starlight Crystal, is still one of my favorite books of all time. I can reread it thirty times a year and never get bored of the story. Also, he deserves credit for helping me develop an interest in horror.

Stephen King: He also got me interested in the creepy and horrific, even if some of his books are a hit or miss.

Gary Paulsen: I haven't read any of his other books, but I'm going to put The Transall Saga next to Pike's book as one of my favorite of all time. I haven't read it that much (because I don't own a copy), but this story has stuck with me since elementary school, and very rarely do I remember that many books. How could I not love such a unique concept? I think this was one of the books that told me it's completely okay to have the bizzare happen.

Cassandra Clare: Yeah, I'm no longer a CC fan, but I got to give credit where credit is due. A lot of my earlier writing was influenced by Clare's in The Mortal Instruments. I developed my own comedic style thanks to her.

11. Do you let people read your writing? Why or why not?

Yeah, I'm not really that shy anymore. I've taken creative writing classes and workshopped my pieces with twenty others. I'll let my writer friends read my writing and I post some of it on wattpad.

12. What’s your ultimate writing goal or dream?

Publish a book that doesn't make people's eyes bleed.

13. If you didn’t write, what would you want to do?

Well, even though I want to be a fulltime writer, that's unlikely to happen, to I want to be an editor. Either freelance or with a publishing house.

14. Do you have a book you’d like to write one day but don’t feel you’re ready to attempt it yet?

Yes. I have a sci-fi/time travel story I came up with two years ago, and I always think about it, but I don't think I have the skill to pull it off. Tentative title is Dawn before Dusk and here's a rough pitch:
It's gonna feature time travel and war and betrayal and romance spread across time and ugh I just wanna write it so bad.

15. Which story has your heart and won’t let go?

Well, besides Dawn before Dusk, there's my NaNo story Half Full of Water that I'm in love with as well as a story I middle-grade paranormal ghost story I started writing when I was fourteen called Flicker.

Pitches for both:

Half Full of Water

Thousands of years ago, the very fabric of reality was fractured as another reality collided with ours. The result? Entire countries wiped off the map, millions dead, and a brand new system of magic users in a previously magic-less world.

Nineteen-year-old Lire is a Guardian; meaning she’s a glorified slave to a psychopathic witch with an inferiority complex. Lire would do anything for her witch – has to do anything – including sacrifice her life. But when thieves stab the Witch during a robbery, Lire breaks the rules and watches her die.

The thieves kidnap Lire, sure that her magical abilities will come in handy. Lire is thrown into a wide, tumultuous world, ravaged by disease and poison. A world she’s never known and one she’s afraid of knowing too well.

In a crowded bar, a man approaches them with a proposition for the ultimate heist: Steal into the Kings labs and revive the murdered God of Wisdom and Justice. The dead God has the ability to travel through different realities, and will be a guide for the millions of Witches and Guardians persecuted every day. The other reality is a place Lire always dreamed of going. Now she must team up and help the thieves pull off the ultimate heist, so she can find a way out of the wretched world she refuses to call home.  

Flicker

When his imaginary childhood friend appears in his bedroom, fourteen-year-old Avery Slater learns that getting rid of the dead is harder than he thought.

Ever since childhood, Avery has been forced to listen to the whining of the dead. Crazy dead cat ladies and angry hit-and-run victims just love to tell him about their undead problems. After moving to the dinky town of Gravenhague, he thought he'd finally be able to leave all of that ghostly nonsense behind. Sebastian was never one for following plans.

Fifty years old with the temper of a raging third grader, Sebastian has a task only Avery can complete: Find his killer and set his soul free. Not an easy thing when the only clues are a broken violin, a feather, and the faint smell of lilac before death.

All Avery wants is to get this mystery over with, but with a seedy cult called Blacklight working to cover up the strange happenings of Gravenhague, it's more than a headache. As he descends deeper into the mystery, he discovers this isn't your average sleuthing case. Blacklight's spies are watching, and the town's occupants are less than hospitable. With disappearances and death shadowing him, Avery has to wonder if getting rid of Sebastian is worth the hassle.

If being haunted by ghosts has taught him anything, it’s that he never wants to be one.

And that's it. Bye y'all!