eARC Review: Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson

Hey everyone. Firday I did a joint post on Run by Kody Keplinger and Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson. Here is my full-length review for Gena/Finn.

Title: Gena/Finn

Author: Hannah Moskowitz, Kat Helgeson

Published: May 17th, 2016 (Chronicle Books)

Pages: 287

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Themes: Friendship, Relationships, LGBTQIA+, Mental Illness, Fanfiction, Social Media, 

Format: eARC

Source: I was provided an eARC via Chronicle Books on Netgalley,this in no way affects my review.

Rating: Four Stars

Goodreads Summary:

The story follows the unlikely friendship of two young women forged via fan fiction and message boards, and is told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts.

Gena (short for Genevieve) and Finn (short for Stephanie) have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her posh boarding school for college; down-to-earth Finn is a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in the big city. Gena’s romantic life is a series of reluctant one-night-stands; Finn is making a go of it with long-term boyfriend Charlie. But they share a passion for Up Below, a buddy cop TV show with a cult fan following. Gena is a darling of the fangirl scene, keeping a popular blog and writing fan fiction. Finn’s online life is a secret, even from Charlie. The pair spark an unlikely online friendship that deepens quickly (so quickly it scares them both), and as their individual “real” lives begin to fall apart, they increasingly seek shelter online, and with each other.

Purchase Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: This had a cover change, but while I said I liked the old cover more, I think I may actually like this a smidge more with it’s contrasting colors and more details with the internet era.

~Why I Wanted To Read~

I wanted to read Gena/Finn because it’s about fanfiction and online communities. Those are two topics that will make me read any book basically.

~Impact On Me~

I related to a lot of the things discussed in this book, primarily the relationship between the main characters, Gena and Finn. It made me almost die with a lot of feels. I did highlight a ton of passages where I was just like “YES. I KNOW WHAT THAT’S LIKE.”

First Line: Are you kidding me…?

Okay, what the shit was that episode?

~Review~

By now, you already know, but if a book involves fanfiction or a writer of fanfiction, I will eat it up. This is exactly what I did with Gena/Finn. I related to this book a ton and actually, it reminded me of a couple website (a few websites, but namely two) I used to get on quite a bit called Quizilla and Mibba. Quizilla has since been bought out (tears), but Mibba’s still around! Anyway, both of these websites are really big with fanfiction. I loved how Gena/Finn incorporated blogging in the story along with fanfiction.

Blogging, because I am a blogger, of course, but also because I could just picture the blog posts unfolding on there. Fanfiction, because I used to read Fanfiction. I will admit that I wasn’t always into all of the fanfiction in the story, but I did really love the last one. Gena/Finn did fanfiction how I wished Fangirl had. I liked how there was an on-going communication with the online community, it wasn’t just a “I’m going to write stories, you’re going to read them.” kind of thing. It was even completed with annoying characters that you encounter online and may possibly even gossip about among friends.

It. Was. Just. So. Realistic!

Realistic will my word of the post.

Gena is the fanfiction writer of the story whereas Finn tends to write blog posts and draws. I loved the two different creative arts that these characters did.

The other part that I really liked in Gena/Finn was that both characters didn’t live at home. This can annoy me, but with the way it was done, it just felt so realistic to me. Gena was away at boarding school. Finn on the other hand was actually in college, but living with a boyfriend in an apartment. While I didn’t get a big sense of the classes, it gave me a strong vibe of being at college again. So there were definite points for nostalgia there. I loved seeing how the character dealt with being away from parents and how they dealt with their parents, namely Finn.

You may be wondering what the fanfiction written is about, it’s about a TV show called Up Below. Up Below revolves around two friends, it’s a very Supernatural-esque show. There’s a part in here where one of the characters talks about how tv raised them and they mention Boy Meets World AND Degrassi. As you can imagine, my heart exploded because those are my two of my favorite shows EVER. EVER. DEGRASSI ❤ I just really really really loved that part a lot. Okay, back to the review now.

I just really need a moment because all of the blog posts about this show just hit me so hard. I get SO into the shows I watch. Like, an unbelievable amount* In an early post, there’s this quote about how the watchers didn’t see certain scenes, how unrealistic some scenes were and how it’s not good to tear shows down. I’m sure everyone has done this with a show. I have done this with SO many shows, I still do. It’s just a compulsion, we want things done how we want them. When they’re not, we (fans) can get incredibly passionate and incredibly angry, so I found a bit of this really hard-hitting.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way, what completely pulled me into this story is how these Gena and Finn met. One of them had just written a story and the other read it and messaged them. Just like that, they hit it off and began messaging back and forth totally getting each other. I loved it so much. It gave me more nostalgia. This was just a big somewhat nostalgic book for me, I liked that part.

Look, read these passages and tell me you don’t feel that.

“…That was heavy. I mean, it’s fine, but is it weird that this is getting so personal? I don’t know. I don’t make internet friends…”

“You’ve never made internet friends, though? I’ve got like ten people who know that shit about me, and most of them aren’t ones I know in real life. I don’t know, I’m not exactly close to anyone, but it feels pretty safe to open up to people when it’s just words. and i’m not usually afraid of alienating people because I’m an independent women, etc. I’m good.”

Okay, maybe you don’t feel that, I do though, so I’m silently screaming because feelings.

I really liked how the girls because close friends in a short span of time, because that can happen with people. Their friendship was just so heartwarming and I loved how they could depend on eachother. I made note of this in my other Gena/Finn post, but I loved how they understood eachother when people in their real lives didn’t. Whether this was in regards to fanfiction, the online community, their general feelings or real life struggles. And there were a quite a few real life struggles. Struggles like living with a significant other, contemplating marriage, liking two different people at the same time, finding a job and mental illness.  I liked it a lot. They connected with eachother at a time when they would both need it. What I love most is that this the majority happens over the internet and I loved how it delved into real life.This brings me to the next thing:

Gena and Finn go to a convention and it is great. I wish there had been more details about it, because it didn’t really delve into it. This is also when things begin to shift in the story, quite greatly. Especially with genre and between characters. The girls get a lot closer to each other and it begins to alarm Finn’s boyfriend, Charlie. Charlie feels that the Gena and Finn may have feelings for each other. This causes relationship problems between him and Finn. While these relationship issues are a little intense, I loved seeing a couple actually have to go through issues. I loved reading about a couple that has their issues and it causes fights because that’s real. I didn’t always like Charlie, but I knew where he was coming from. Finn definitely annoyed me at times, but I loved her as well.

Back to Gena and Finn’s possible feelings for each other.

As for the genre switch, now that I think about it, it reminds me a lot about TV. You watch tv and everything’s great and you’re loving it, it’s exactly what you’re expecting and then an episode happens and you’re like, “What is this?”. Cue Demons from The 100. Am I right?

Actually, it reminds me of the last season of Boy Meets World, if you’ve watched that show (as Gena has), you may have noticed the huge genre switch in it. In the beginning it was very light hearted and then towards the end, while there were still a lot of light heartedness, it definitely went off the deep in in dramatics.

This was where Gena/Finn lost me a bit, while I loved the change in genre, it was very sudden. I didn’t feel like it was expanded on enough, but then again, that just relates back to a passage before in the book. I wish we had gotten more details about things. I wanted more conversations between a few people. This was pretty much the only thing I didn’t love in Gena/Finn. Everything else was great, the characters, the plot, the various issues.

There is a bit of group therapy done in here which I liked a lot. We only read from the character’s point of view and don’t experience many actual sessions, but it was interesting to read about.

A thing that I especially liked was the format of the book. I was reading an eARC, so I didn’t get the full affect, but there are Fanfics, blog posts, text messages, story comments, journal writings, and poetry in here. I liked seeing so many different aspects in it.

One thing I haven’t touched on yet:

Gena deals with a mental illness that I don’t believe is mentioned by name exactly, but I could be wrong. I liked seeing a character have a mental illness that didn’t rule her life, but it was mentioned in the day to day life. I do wish it had been talked about a lot more vividly because I didn’t exactly understand what she was diagnosed with or the medication she was taking. Speaking of which, that brought up a little part in the story where Gena has to worry about paying for her meeds. Once again, so realistic. Meds can be so expensive.

Some Things I Did Not Like:

Although I really liked Gena/Finn, there were some things I didn’t care too much for.

The girls relationships were really complicated to me and I never really understood what was going on. However, I do like that it was messy because feelings aren’t always clear cut.

I felt like Charlie did a 180 in part of the book which just left me wonder “What just happened?”. It seemed to be a really drastic change that I wasn’t super into.  I would have known exactly what changed him because i did not understand.

There’s also a somewhat change of scenery for Gena later in Gena/Finn which I just didn’t find very realistic. I didn’t think it would go down like that, I don’t even think it’s really allowed what happened.

There was at least one definite convenient moment that was only used for plot purposes and I was like “What? No, really, what?” It was so bizarre to me.

I do like that we hear about Gena and Finn’s parents throughout the book, but Gena’s seemed really out of touch. Literally. There was a time I felt like they would want to contact Gena, and as far as I remember, they didn’t, but other relatives did. It was still short lived though. I didn’t like this section at all. There should have been a lot more concern and hesitance than I saw portrayed.

~Final Thoughts~

The two perspectives of Gena and Finn were done so well, I thought they blended together good. I loved the writing of both of them, so the authors did a fantastic job there. Gena and Finn both had distinct personalities. If you like female friendships, online communities, Fanfiction and complicated relationships, Gena/Finn is for you. I really liked Gena/Finn overall despite some things I didn’t like or understand. I loved the natural friendship of the girls and their interactions with each other. I enjoyed reading about how they didn’t live at home because for once an absence of parents made some sense. This book is full of emotional feels for sure. 

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes

~Who Do I Recommend It To?~

• Fans of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowelll
• Fans of Fanfiction or online related books
• Fans of strong female friendships
• Fans of complicated relationships

~Would I Buy It?~

Yes

~Would I Re-Read It?~

Yes

Not Quite Reviews: Gena/Finn (Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson) & Run (Kody Keplinger)

Guess who’s got a new feature? I do! Ignore the lack of graphic for now.

I actually planned for this feature to start like, months ago, but I never got around to it. So…I had a little intro written out and everything but it’s not exactly suitable for what I’m going to talk about.

Sad face.

Not Quite Reviews is exactly what it sounds like. Maybe. I am going to discuss books I read a while ago but never reviewed. Generally in this feature, I’ll be going on my overall thoughts about the books since I feel like you can’t exactly “review” something you read a year and a half ago.

Since I take forever to review some books, I will just going to be discussing my general thoughts and feelings on books, what stuck out to me, what I liked, etc., hence the title “Not Quite Reviews“. Luckily, I almost always take notes, which are a Godsend. I’m going to make this a sporadic feature as I slowly make my way through talking about books that I read a million years ago.

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I guess you probably want to know what I’ll be talking about today, unless you read the title. Bonus points and kudos if you did (which, I assume you did). I had planned to do a joint review for Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson and Run by Kody Keplinger, but it got too long. I’m actually in the process of finishing my review for Gena/Finn. It’s very long.

Anyway, I still wanted to connect the two books somehow because of their subject matter, so I’m going to do a Not Quite Reviews teaser, similar to my feature, One Day More.

I’ll list out different aspects that the books have in common and talk a little about them.

 

Female Friendship:

Female friendship is one of my favorite things, especially in fiction. Both of these books do such a lovely job at showing this friendship and closeness. Gena and Finn become friends over a site for fanfiction and blogging, as you know, these are two of my favorite things ever. I love it. Bo and Agnes are two girls who are nothing alike. They run in different circles as you do in high school. Over time though, they become friends. I was really able to believe the girls friendships even though they happen somewhat at a faster pace. That was fine with me since that is how some friendships form.

Connection With Others:

An interesting thing that I noticed is that the characters aren’t always understood by their friends or family. In Gena/Finn, Finn had an online life that her boyfriend just didn’t understand. He didn’t understand why she would go meet online people in real life. This was something that I understood quite a bit. Run dealt with this in that for Agnes and Bo, they were both quite misunderstood but in different ways. Bo was a “wrong side of the tracks” kind of girl who had rumors for hours whereas Bo was limited by others because of her disability. I loved how these girls were able to meet someone that actually saw the real them when no one else did.

Interesting Settings:

While these are both Contemporary and that’s enough to make me love them, they also feature some interesting settings that I could relate to. The characters in Gena/Finn don’t live at home and are a bit more independent than the characters in Run. In some ways. As for Bo and Agnes, they’re both from the same small, conservative town where everyone basically knows everyone. I haven’t read many books that went as descriptive as Run did and I really loved it.

LGBT Characters:

Both of these books have characters that aren’t heterosexual.  In Run it’s much more cut and dry as far as relationships go, but Gena/Finn was definitely on the more complicated side. I liked seeing it displayed in female fronted books with dual characters at that.

Difficulties:

In Gena/Finn and Run, one of the main characters in each book has a mental or physical disability. Gena has a mental illness which was interesting.  Agnes has Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis which makes her legally blind, though she still has some sight. I liked reading about characters who faced different struggles.

Unique Narratives:

What really stuck out to me about both of these books were the unique narrative choice the authors went with. Gena/Finn is told mostly through prose, but there are also blog posts, text messages, drawings and fanfic stories scattered about. It really threw me into the story. Run is told in two alternating viewpoints between Agnes and Bo which was really unique and something I hadn’t seen before.

Feels:

Both of these stories gave me serious feels, whether it was because of the lightheartedness or the more darker aspects. By the end of both books I was happy and sad and I did understand why. I think these are really feelsy books, they definitely have their moments throughout their pages.

Cover Change:

Another thing these books have in common is that they both went through cover changes. One was a slightly more drastic. The previous covers:

 

I have to say that I may like the previous covers a bit more. I like the super simplicity of Gena/Finn and the gritty location of Run.

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And that’s it! Have you read Gena/Finn or Run? Do you think you may now? Are there any of these aspects you’re looking forward to most? Let me know in the comments!

Photographic Covers – Wondrous Covers Wednesday (#52)

Wondrous Covers Wednesday is a weekly feature where I choose to showcase three covers with similar attributes and themes. To see past editions, you can check out my page for them here. 

Hey everyone. It’s unfortunately been forever since I did Wondrous Covers Wednesday. Oops. 😦 To be honest, I don’t really have a reason why I haven’t done it, other than lack of motivation, which accounts for basically the lack of posts I’ve done. 

I really love photography even though I don’t do much (read: any) anymore. This reminds me that I need to look at more photography, find some blogs to follow and maybe buy a camera or something.

I’ll be focusing on photography on book covers.  I’ve also decided that when possible, I’ll showcase a music video that goes along with the theme because that’s kind of fun.

I also had the most perfect video in mind as well.

~One~

Autofocus by Lauren Gibaldi

I love how the cover is broken into various photographs, but pieces of hair still escape the frames. I like how they all make up a whole picture. It showcases the whole longing that the main character has in finding her birth mother.

I like the muted background given how vivid the foreground is, it makes it looks really soft.

As for the book, I love that this involves a photography assignment, focuses on family, involves a road trip.

~Two~

Unscripted Joss Byrd by Lygia Day Penaflor

The cover of Unscripted Joss Byrd really just reminds me of a Pinterest board and I want to go to wherever those pictures were taken. I think it’s actually a bulletin board, which is interesting. I really like the font and colors of it. It’s really summery.

I like how the cover is layered with the photography in the background, followed by a sheet of paper, then there’s the little post it on top. I like the added depth. Overall, this cover is just really pretty.

I’m not sure how to connect the plot to the cover, other than it looks glamorous and this book deals with a young actress.

~Three~

A Week of Mondays by Jessica Brody

This reminds me of a school locker. I like how the pictures are the snapshots you would get from a photo-booth.  I like how there are bits of other snapshots in it as well. The position of the A sort of bothers me a little because it blends a little into the girl’s shirt, I would have it a little more to the right. Once again, I love the background of this cover too.

Given the fact that this is about a girl who relives the same day for seven days, I find it really interesting that there are photos on the cover. This is just because when I think of pictures, I think of memories and reliving the same day over and over, well, makes memories important.

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So, what do you guys think of the covers? Which one is your favorite? Have you read any of these amazing sounding titles?

I’m Joining The Make Me Read It Read-A-Thon

Hi! So, I am going to try this Make Me Read It Read-A-Thon again.

Anyway, I see that a ton of people have signed up, that’s really great! The Make Me Read It Read-A-Thon is hosted by Val @ The Innocent Smiley and Ely @ Tea and Titles. It runs from July 9th to July 16th.

Here is a little poll for you to vote on. My target is to read three books, so you’ll be able to select three options. Since I really struggle with reading fantasy on my own and I actually want to be able to participate in a discussion about a fantasy book every once in a while, this will be a mostly fantasy edition! With a couple Contemporaries thrown in the mix.

Don’t ask me why, but I thought this event already happened this past month. I even had it in my iCal as happening this past week. Oops. I did not do very well last year at all. Hopefully that will change this time around. I’m hoping that by reading fantasy, I’ll read them faster given that they’re generally fast-paced and very action-y which will lead to an interested Amber unable to put them down.

If you want to join this event, as you should, you can check it out here. and link up! The linky does end on June 29th though so do hurry. 😉

Hello By Liza Wiemer Book Deal

(P.S. just to give a disclaimer: Although I would have shared this regardless, I do have the chance to win one of two $15 Amazon Gift cards by posting about today’s deal.)

Hi everyone. I’m a big Contemporary fan, as has been noted before. So today I’m going to share a Kindle deal.

Hello? by Liza Wiemer is one of today’s Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deals today for $.99. I’ve heard really good things about it. I bought this book a number of months ago when it was on sale. I’m looking forward to reading it because one of the characters writes poetry and another writes screenplays. There’s secrets and brokeness and it sounds right up my alley. For the day I read it. 😉 So many books, so little time.

Here’s some information about it:

Hello by Liza Wiemer

Published By: Spencer Hill Press (November 10th, 2015)

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Friendship, Romance

Themes: Loss, Death, Mental Illness

Pages: 443

Goodreads Summary:

One HELLO can change a life. One HELLO can save a life.

Tricia: A girl struggling to find her way after her beloved grandma’s death.
Emerson: A guy who lives his life to fulfill promises, real and hypothetical.
Angie: A girl with secrets she can only express through poetry.
Brenda: An actress and screenplay writer afraid to confront her past.
Brian: A potter who sets aside his life for Tricia, to the detriment of both.

Linked and transformed by one phone call, Hello? weaves together these five Wisconsin teens’ stories into a compelling narrative of friendship and family, loss and love, heartbreak and healing, serendipity, and ultimately hope.

Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian).

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If you’ve already purchased it, you could also gift it to a friend or hold a giveaway for a copy if you wanted. Anyway, have you read Hello?? What did you think about it?

 

Interview with Kody Keplinger + Giveaway

Hey everyone. I am so thrilled to have Kody on my blog for the blog tour. I fell in love with her books after reading A Midsummer’s Nightmare and The Duff. I read Run and really loved it as well, unsurprisingly. If you’re unfamiliar with Run, here is some information about it:

Run by Kody Keplinger

Published By: Scholastic Press (June 28th, 2016)

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporry, LGBT

Themes: Friendship, Family, Coming-of-Age, Disability

Pages: 288

Goodreads Summary:

Bo Dickinson is a girl with a wild reputation, a deadbeat dad, and a mama who’s not exactly sober most of the time. Everyone in town knows the Dickinsons are a bad lot, but Bo doesn’t care what anyone thinks.

Agnes Atwood has never gone on a date, never even stayed out past ten, and never broken any of her parents’ overbearing rules. Rules that are meant to protect their legally blind daughter — protect her from what, Agnes isn’t quite sure.

Despite everything, Bo and Agnes become best friends. And it’s the sort of friendship that runs truer and deeper than anything else.

So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, with police sirens wailing in the distance, desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn’t hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo’s dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and — worst of all — confronting some ugly secrets.

At the end, you can enter a giveaway for one of three finished copies. This giveaway is U.S. Only. 🙂 There will also be information about Kody and social media links to follow her with.

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~Interview~

I adored The Duff and A Midsummer’s Nightmare, why did you decide to move away from the Hamilton High series of sorts? Do you think you’re done with the setting or may you go back to it?

I had been writing about the Hamilton High setting – mostly romantic comedies – since I was seventeen.  I love those books and those characters, but I knew eventually I’d want to move on to something new. So when I wrote Lying Out Loud, I intended to sort of close up that series there by showing all the characters from previous books to see where they are now.  Then, with Run, I wanted to start fresh.  I wanted to write about a very different story in a very different place.  I don’t know if I’ll go back to Hamilton. There are no plans to at the moment.  But for now, I want to focus on a few things that are a little different from the books I wrote in my late teens and early twenties. And I hope other readers will like these new stories just as much!

Run is such a departure from your previous books, it seems much grittier and darker with the setting and police, were any of these grittier aspects based on your life?

They weren’t based on my life, but they were based on the realities of places like the one where I grew up.  I grew up poor in a small town in Kentucky, where there was definitely a drug problem (one I only became aware of as an teenager) and where poverty was the norm. It wasn’t a huge deal to me as a teenager – it was just part of my reality, of my hometown.  So I wanted to write a story for kids like me, who never see their own not-so-pristine hometowns in fiction. I wanted to show both the good and the bad of places like where I lived without sensationalizing it.  So while the things that happen to Bo and Agnes are not autobiographical, I do think they are somewhat relatable and realistic to teens growing up in these tiny rural towns.

In Run, one of the main characters, Agnes has a condition called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, which you also have. Did you see parts of yourself in Agnes?

I see parts of myself in all of my characters. It’s how I am able to dig into them and really put them on the page. I find the parts of them that are like me and use that as an anchor.  While Agnes and I both have LCA (and are thus both legally blind) I actually relate more to Bo, the other MC.  Like Bo, I grew up poor, and while my home life was not nearly as troubled, I felt more of a kindred spirit with her. Bo is bisexual, and I identify as queer (as did most of my friends in high school).  So there are definitely parts of me in both characters.

Agnes’ parents are very over protective because she has Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis and restrict her from things. In addition, Agnes’ best friend treats her as something to take care of. Were your parents or friends the same way as you were growing up? How did this affect your daily life?

Like I said, I actually relate more to Bo than to Agnes.  My parents weren’t remotely restrictive or overprotective.  I don’t think I ever even had a curfew. My mom was very liberal and flexible and raised me to be as independent as possible.  As for my friends, sure, some did treat me like a burden.  I actually think that’s something most disabled people can relate to. I’m an adult and still get treated that way by friends who don’t realize what they’re doing sometimes. Even wonderful, good people can sometimes be insensitive.  So while elements of Agnes’s experience are pulled from my own, she lives a very, very different life from me in many ways.

Run is told in both Agnes and Bo’s perspectives and told during different periods of time. I really enjoy seeing who Agnes is through in the beginning and then discovering who she becomes in Bo’s perspective in “current” time. Why did you decide to do the two perspectives this way?

I love stories that are non-linear. I love when a writer makes me think. And when the idea for Run first came to me, I immediately knew how I wanted to structure the story.  I wanted the reader to see the girls running away even as their trying to piece together why they’re running away. I wanted to show Bo and Agnes both as they are and as they were.  Something about it just made sense to me, even though it wasn’t something I’d tried before.  It was tricky at times, but I just knew that Agnes and Bo would just tell different parts of this story.

Is there anything you really loved that you had to cut from Run that you can share?

So, I actually very rarely cut full scenes from my books. Typically, it’s the opposite. My drafts are often very short. Like, twenty thousand words less than where they end up. I write sort of the bare bones version of the book first, and then I add in later drafts.  So usually I don’t have to cut full scenes – just sentences and small sections – but I have to add lots and lots to flesh the book out and make it all make sense.  With Run, I added quite a bit.  Whole chapters and scenes.  For example, there is a scene at a street fair that was not in the first drafts of the book.

I’ve discovered Disability In Kid Lit this past year, I love that you co-founded it! What moved you to create this resource? What has been your favorite part in being a part of Disability In Lit?

Disability in Kidlit came out of the diversity movement. I was so thrilled to see so many authors pushing for more diversity, but I rarely saw disability discussed. So I reached out to Corinne Duyvis, an author and friend of mine who often discussed disability with me, and we decided to do a short series about disability on a blog.  That series turned into a long term resource now nearing its third anniversary.   Corinne and Kayla Whaley, another amazing writer, are really the ones running the show over there.  My official title is “Fairy Godmother” because I help out when I can and try to spread the word about the site.  And I’m so proud of how many people the site has reached and the resource it has become. I hope that it’s helpful both for disabled readers and the teachers and librarians that work with them. If you’re looking for reviews and resources about books featuring characters with disabilities, it’s a great place to check out.

If you’re currently writing anything, can you tell us anything about your current work in progress?

This is the part where I admit that I’m a little superstitious. I am always nervous to talk about projects too early. So what I will say is that I have a next project in mind, and I’m really excited about it!  Hopefully, once it’s done and I think it’s safe to talk about it, you guys will be, too!!!

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ABOUT KODY KEPLINGER:

Kody Keplinger was born and raised in small town western Kentucky, where she began her writing career after penning the New York Times and USA Today bestseller, The DUFF, at age seventeen.The DUFF, now a major motion picture, was chosen as an YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers and a Romantic Times Top Pick. Kody has since written other books for both young adult and middle grade readers. When she isn’t writing, Kody is posting about fashion and body positivity on her Instagram, chatting about her favorite TV shows on Twitter, or making videos for her YouTube account. Kody is also the co-founder of Disability in KidLit and a teacher at the Gotham Writers Workshops in NYC.

Kody is active on social media, so feel free to reach out to her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

Here is the giveaway,as promised. Good luck! 🙂

My Super Late May Recap!

Monthly Recap is basically a post where I recap my life, my blog, entertainment things, etc. 🙂 It will occasionally be joined with my other feature, Looking Forward To (LFT), where I discuss things I’m looking forward to. This post will not include LFT.

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Oh my gosh, this is so, so overdue. I got really caught up in May between BEA and well, post BEA, plus dealing with home and such. It was a really long month. BEA was great! I meant to do all of my BEA post last month but…what can I say? I haven’t had the energy or motivation to write them. Plus I’m kind of going in sane over my mini notebook that I lost, then found, then lost again. It had my BEA panel notes in it, not to mention a ton of other writing and omg. Pray I find it, okay guys? Or send positive vibes. ❤

The first part of the month was really full posts. All pertaining to BEA because that was the highlight of my month. I also put in two job applications on the last couple days of May. I’ve heard back from both since then. I was hired at one job, not in the section of the store I wanted, but I was hired. I am the utility clerk at the grocery store.

If you’re wondering What the heck is a utility clerk? then just think about it for a second. 😉

I basically clean floors, dust mop, vacuum, pick up messes if people drop stuff, greet people, take groceries to people’s cars if they so choose, and do bagging sometimes. Oh. And there’s that whole thing about cleaning restrooms. That’s bound to be fun! It’s okay, I’ve got experience there from being at college. That was fun to do every month. It’s only a part time job though, so I don’t think I’ll have to do any super intense cleaning, like mopping the entire floor, unless I’m there until closing or something. Not sure how utility clerks work, but yeah!

I applied at a bank as well which I heard back about yesterday. They scheduled me for an interview for this Monday! That’s exciting. It would be for the mailroom position, FULL TIME (it’s a big deal to me), from 7:30-4:00. I really, really hope I get it.

I bet you’re wondering about the first job, well, since that’s only a part-time position, I’m considering this one. If I were to get the bank job (knock on wood, pray, send positive vibes/thoughts, cross everything), I would decline the grocery store job because…

Let’s face it. The bank is just a better fit for me. It’s full time, which I need and will probably have a higher salary.

So nothing’s guaranteed with that yet, but I’m really hoping I get it.

Oh. There were also a few tornado scares last month. You may have seem me freak out a ton on Twitter. I get really, really freaked out about tornadoes. And storms. Lightning, thunder, wind, rain, dark skies. . .

I am just seriously living in the wrong state.

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~Stats~

WordPress Followers:  210

BlogLovin’ Followers: 149

# of Views/Visitors: 2,540/1,830

# of Blog Posts: 12

# of Reviews:

# of Likes: 30

# of Comments: 30 

Most Viewed Post: Interview with Leah Thomas (50)

Most Viewed Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman (551)

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~Book Stats~

# of Books Read:

I finished Run by Kody Keplinger.

# of Books Started:

I started Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven.

# of Books Bought:

Kindle Freebie:

Kahayatle (Apocalypsis Book 1) by Elle Casey

# of Books For Review: 2

You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

American Girls by Allison Uminger

VIA Griffin Teen and Flatiron Books on Netgalley.

# of Books Won: 

Phantom Limbs from Rachel.

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~What I Posted~

Wow. May was just “Do all the blog tours and all of the BEA posts”. Haha. There was practically nothing else really done.

Blog Tour:

Interview with Roshani Chokshi (Author of The Star-Touched Queen)

Summer Days and Summer Nights – Questionnaire with Stephanie Perkins

Interview with Shari Goldhagen (Author of 100 Days of Cake) + Giveaway

Other Posts:

• All The Fears About BEA
• Benefits To Rooming Alone
• BEA Books I’d Love To Obtain
• Books I Really Hope Will Be At BEA
• My Goals For BEA
• My BEA Schedule + My Face
• Before BEA-ing
• Pre BEA: Day Zero
• Day One – BEA Begins

~Favorite Post~

I liked my interview with Shari Goldhagen a lot. And My Goals For BEA post.

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~Favorite Album~

~Fantastic Videos~

 Gwen Stefani Carpool Karaoke (w/ George Clooney and Julia Roberts) 

~Interesting Articles~

#MHYALit: Ill Enough, a guest post by Nita Tyndall – 

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~Music Purchases~

Third Eye Blind self-titled

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~What I’ve Been Watching~

I started re-watching Degrassi The Next Generation before BEA.

I started re-watching Veronica Mars on the way to BEA. In Chicago.  At BEA, from BEA…

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How was everyone else’s month? Did you do anything exciting? Did you go to BEA and I missed you somehow? Did you participate in Armchair BEA? Do you have anything coming up this month? Are you excited for Summer?

Why I Love Contemporary

Wow, it has been a super long time since I’ve done Top Ten Tuesday. I couldn’t pass up today’s chance though to talk about my favorite genre of…well, everything. 🙂 Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created and hosted at The Broke and The Bookish. Every week there’s a new bookish list for the blogosphere to do.

I’m sure you can probably guess my favorite genre, if not from title, ha, then by being familiar with my blog already. It’s Contemporary! I just love it a lot. I love Contemporary books, movies and TV shows. It’s all so great.

I’ll be including links later today! Until then, you can try to find everything in Goodreads. 😉

~*~Top Ten Reasons I Love Contemporary-Everything~*~

Relatable

I can relate to it more than I can fantasy. I love how it’s grounded in reality because it makes it seem like anything’s possible. I mean, okay, chances are you won’t find out you’re a vampire slayer and you may not run into the drama of Grey’s Anatomy every day, but those emotions characters feel are real. I love reading Contemporary because I can really get inside a character’s head and find out their motives.

Wide Range of Subgenres

There’s a wide range of Contemporary. There’s regular realistic fiction, then there’s also mystery, drama, comedy, memoirs and even paranormal romance.

Wide Range of Topics

This goes hand in hand with reason #2, but I love how you can basically find a Contemporary book/show on almost anything you want. Torn from the headline stories, happily ever afters, second chance love, family dynamic fiction, stories that end in sadness, etc. You want to see something about a virgin who ends up pregnant? Boom, there’s Jane The Virgin. You want a mystery? Check out Veronica Mars. In the mood for something family dynamic related? Gilmore Girls is calling. I think there’s a great deal of diversity as well, you can find different races, disabilities, religions, etc. in Contemporary.

It’s What I Know

A big reason why I love Contemporary is because it’s what I know. I grew up reading it and watching it. I’m very grounded in reality as well so it is “what I know”. I know what real life is like.

Escapism

Contemporary is just as much an escape for me as fantasy is for some people. I prefer it to any other genre because like #1 said, it’s relatable. I can escape into a character’s problems and see how they face them. It gets me out of my head and life.

Drama

Contemporary can be full of a ton of drama and as a fan of Degrassi, I love my drama. Although, i am a bit particular about my drama. I don’t like drama for the sake of drama and I don’t like drama piled on to more drama (see Anna and The French Kiss). I don’t like a lot of over-done tropes, including miscommunication which is one of my biggest annoyances (All The Feels deals with this a little).

Inspiring

I find a lot of Contemporary inspiring. I like seeing what other characters do and thinking I can do the same. I like reading about how people overcome things or even just going after something they want.

Educating

I think one of Contemporary’s biggest pros is that it can be really educational. Contemporary can talk about a lot of subjects that people may not get exposure from. It also helps people form or alter opinions about various things. I think a few of these topics are police violence (All American Boys, How It Went Down, school shootings (Violent Ends, This Is Where It Ends) and rape culture (What We Saw, Asking For It, All The Rage and Wrecked). I love how by reading these books I can get a more thorough look up close and change my opinion about something. Or even just see it shared there on the page.

Easier To Swallow

Now, this isn’t because it’s “less than” other genres, it’s because of the cast! A big reason why I’m not big on fantasy is because of the big casts. I am terrible at anything with more than 8 people. Unless it’s Les Miserables. Or Hamilton. Okay, neither of those are Contemporary! Moving on. I love Contemporary because there’s generally a small cast of main characters. Therefore it’s much easier for me to follow along with. 🙂

Diversion

So, this isn’t true just for Contemporary, but it mostly is? It’s also mostly book related. I love having a book to steer people away from me. This doesn’t always work because, you know, people are curious and want to know what you’re reading, if it’s good, if you like it, etc. Then they’ll probably say  “Oh, I liked The Hunger Games/I wish I had time to read/Oh, I don’t read YA”, but that is a whole other topic that I’m not discussing today. 🙂 Basically, it’s a great way to steer people’s attention from me. Or my attention from others. It’s kind of like how people will take out their phone and pretend to text if they’re in a group or an awkward situation (generally involving a group). Or is that just me?

~Bonus~

Feels

I love my feels. Anger, happiness, sadness. I love feeling something inside my heart that makes me react. I love the emotions that Contemporary bring me. Again, this goes back to Contemporary being relatable, having a range of topics and educating. I think it gives me the most emotion because I relate to it most and it could happen to me. Some of the books, movies and shows that have given me the most feels:

Books: More Happy Than Not, I’ll Meet You There, and Because You’ll Never Meet Me

Movies: A Walk To Remember, Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, Listen To Your Heart

TV Shows: Degrassi, Veronica Mars, Boy Meets World

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Ah, and with that, I leave you with my top ten reasons why I love Contemporary! What is your favorite genre? Why do you love it?

What I Want To See More Of In YA

I’m getting back into the swinging of blogging again, so I thought I’d do an easier post. This will be in my Amber’s Rambles feature! For the first time in forever.

I love how wide the Young Adult genre there is, there’s contemporary, historical, fantasy, science fiction, romance, etc. Sometimes though, I wish there were more widespread aspects. Therefore, here are some things I would love to see more of in Young Adult Fiction.

~Social Class~

I want to see more lower income characters and I want to see how that affects their life. I’ve been in some interesting positions where at times, I was at a higher social class than my peers. Though during this time, I had no idea we were “high” lower class because I thought we were middle class. Imagine that for a second. Then there have been times when my family was at a lower economic class than some of my peers, but still have money for things such as books, albums, etc.

Money is an interesting thing. It’s even more interesting to see how it does or doesn’t affect people. In a lot of Young Adult books, I’ve noticed that at least one character lives in a wealthy area, this character is generally pretty popular, but generally doesn’t have the happiest home life. Money doesn’t buy happiness, of course.

I’d love to see how money can affect a teen’s day to day life. How they interact with friends, if they can go on field trips, if they buy that CD that all their friends are listening to, how often do they go out, do they go out, are their friends knowledgeable about the MC’s financial condition? (Replace Condition).

Or even, did they eat this week? Do they have their electricity on? What do they have to go without? Do they buy new clothes for school every year or do they generally wear the same thing every week?

I want to see all of this.

A great book that dealt with a lower income class was I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios and it was so lovely. It was the first time I actually saw a book that dealt with a family in a non-middle or high class setting regularly in the book. Another book I read was Eleanor and Park which was the actual first book to see poverty in but it didn’t go as deep into as I wish it had.

Backlist:

  

Frontlist:

 

~Racial Diversity~

This is really picking up in YA the last couple of years, but it’s mostly in fantasy. For some strange reason. And deals with retellings. I’d love to see more racial and ethnic diversity in a Contemporary novel.

Specifically, I would love to see more multi-racial main characters. I’m half white, 1/4th Native American (Potawatomi Prairie Band Nation, to be exact) and 1/4th Puerto-Rican. As someone who is mixed, I hardly ever see that portrayed in fiction. Characters are generally only one race or biracial, but never mixed races. I think it opens up a lot of stories for identity and how others see you. It can have a big affect on how you view the world too. (Neither example is mult-racial).

Backlist:

 

~College Setting YA~

And I don’t mean what New Adult is right now, which is all about sex and relationships.

There’s a ton of fantasy in YA and that is what a lot of people read because they seek that adventure, excitement and the way it just takes them out of the world. Well, for some people, like me, college is their fantasy, it is their escape. Usually though, there’s only the Senior year of high school or the summer before college covered.

Frontlist: 

    

Backlist:

~Religion~

I’m a Christian and as a Christian, I would love to read a novel that had a Christian as a main character. A main character where Christ actually ruled their life and who they were. If this were a “mainstream” book, that would be nice too. As in it has an author that doesn’t write categorical, genre “Christian Fiction”.

I’m into reading about other religions too, so I’d like to read books with characters that follow Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc. I think it’s interesting to see how your beliefs affect your actions or how you deal with things.

I’d love to see a character discovering their religion or what their belief system too since I think that’s incredibly rare in Young Adult, from what I’ve read.

~Intersectionality~

I’d love to see the intersectionality of various marginalization. For instance, a character of a marginalized race who also has a disability. A character with a disability who lives in a lower income area. A story about a Muslim who isn’t CISHet and how that would impact them. I would like to see this in fantasy as well.

Frontlist:

Backlist:

       

~Sports~

I would love to see more girls in sports, specifically “solo” sports like snow boarding or drag racing.

As well as gymnastics, ballet, dance, ice skating, track, cheerleading, tennis, surfing, swimming. . .

Frontlist:

  

Backlist:

   

~Daydreaming~

I daydreamed a ton in school, especially middle school. That is all I ever did at lunch. I never find any real daydreamers in YA at all. It makes me sad.

~Female and Platonic Friendships~

I would like some that don’t deal with trios (such as The Night We Said Yes and Emmy and Oliver) with one of the characters not being gay. Because guys and girls can really just be friends.

I’m always up for more friendship heavy books with girls as well.

Frontlist:

  

Backlist: 

    

~Family Driven Fiction~

Something in the vein of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Next To Normal and Our Town in particular.

Dark, dysfunctional and a bit sad.

I like twisted family backgrounds and home lives that aren’t exactly the greatest.

Oh, I would also love something like the child/parent relationships in Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars!

Frontlist:

     

Backlist: 

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So, what are some the things you would like to see in YA? Do you know any books that deal with these topics that I didn’t mention?

SST Review: All The Feels by Danika Stone

Let me first say that I am so happy I was able to read this book for the Sunday Street Team (created by Nori).

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Title: All The Feels

Author: Danike Stone

Published: June 7th, 2016 (Swoon Reads)

Pages: 336

Genres: Contemporary

Themes: Fandom, Internet

Format: eARC

Source: Provided by Swoon Reads VIA Netgalley due to being on the Sunday Street Team

Rating: Three Stars

Goodreads Summary:

College freshman Liv is more than just a fangirl: The Starveil movies are her life… So, when her favorite character, Captain Matt Spartan, is killed off at the end of the last movie, Liv Just. Can’t. Deal.

Tired of sitting in her room sobbing, Liv decides to launch an online campaign to bring her beloved hero back to life. With the help of her best friend, Xander, actor and steampunk cosplayer extraordinaire, she creates #SpartanSurvived, a campaign to ignite the fandom. But as her online life succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, Liv is forced to balance that with the pressures of school, her mother’s disapproval, and her (mostly nonexistent and entirely traumatic) romantic life. A trip to DragonCon with Xander might be exactly what she needs to figure out what she really wants.

Barnes and Noble / Amazon / The Book Depository

~Review~

I had a hard time getting into All The Feels when I first started. I felt that Liv was being a bit over-dramatic over the loss of her favorite leading guy in a franchise. I’ll chalk up my feelings changing to watching a Degrassi reunion episode. As well as of course, my realization that I can totally connect with her. She comes across a bit dramatic but… I know I’ve definitely gotten that way (See any show that I’ve watched like, ever). Just yesterday I was really sad about an endgame couple in a series. I actually lose sleep over character’s deaths. I lose sleep BEFORE characters deaths. I will go into mourning, I will be angry, I will cry if I feel so compelled. Liv was a likable character even if at times I felt she was childish.

So sure, you can say Liv’s being over the top, but sometimes people just are over the top when they really love something.

I loved the idea for All The Feels. It deals with fandom which is something that I think a lot of people can relate to. It involves characters just going out and making things happen rather than just waiting for it.

I’m going to do this review in two sections:

What I Loved:

• College, Yes!
  • I loved that Liv was a college freshman. I’ve talked about this quite a bit before, but I find college settings and classes to be so under-used. In All The Feels, Liv lives (ha) at home with her mom while taking classes at the local college.
• Fandom – YES
  • Fandom is such a big part of so many people’s lives now. You can basically find a fandom for anything you like, it’s quite lovely. Liv is a big part of the Starveil fandom online, but she’s not huge. At least . . . not in the beginning. I really love seeing how she immersed herself into the online world. She used fandom as an outlet and I understand that in so, so many ways.
• Bisexuality – Representation
  • There are a few conversations with one of the characters being bisexual. This was good to see as it was actually on page and discussed multiple times. As well as seen a bit.
• Wish-Fulfillment
  • I love a good wish fulfillment story. I just do. Wish-fulfillment is basically where scenarios play out in fiction that you wish would happen in real life. I will say that All The Feels definitely has wish fulfillment moments, especially in the second half. Especially in the end.
• Saving The Series
  • Liv dives into trying to save the franchise that she loves so much. Her first step? Putting together a video, attaching a hashtag #SpartanSurvived and posting it on a message board. Where it then goes viral! The impact of fans though, am I right? (See Veronica Mars Kickstarter / See Pretty Little Liars Petition). Fans are so passionate. I liked how she just went and did this thing after she was tired of just moping around. I felt it was really original how she did the videos. Plus, who DOESN’T want to go viral on the internet, at least sometimes? Now, having that known to the in real life masses may not be the greatest thing. . .
• Xander’s Acting
  • I really liked seeing Xander being interested in acting. He definitely seemed like the type that would be good for that kind of thing. He ends up being in a few of Liv’s videos to save Starveil.
  • 
• The Second Half
  • I loved the second half a lot more. It was definitely where things picked up and I liked the excitement. It takes place at Dragon Con which is an actual con, so it was really fun to read the fictional portrayal of that. Especially having come back from BEA (Book Expo America) just weeks ago, which while it isn’t a con, it gave me a sense of how Dragon Con was for Liv.
• All of The Technology
  • I enjoyed reading the text conversations between Liv and Xander as well as the random Twitter conversations between Liv and other people in the fandom.

What I Didn’t Love:

• Xander – A Bit
  • It was really hard to get my mind to wrap around Liv’s best friend Xander. At the beginning of All The Feels, we find out that they’ve been friends for a number of months since Liv started college. Xander had an interesting fashion choice in that it was quite Victorian and Steam-Punkish. He also talked in a flirty way to basically everyone. I felt like he was maybe a bit too larger than life.
    • Apparently part of his firtiness was calling Liv “Dearest” in every other sentence to her. I thought Xander and Liv spent a bit too much time together given that he has a girlfriend, but hey, that’s life for you. You can’t separate best friends just because one’s in a relationship. Still, if I’d been dating someone and this went on…I can’t say I’d be too happy.
• Xander’s Girlfriend
  • All The Feels had one of the same minor issues that In Real Life by Jessica Love had. Xander has a girlfriend who is really nice to Liv and considers her a friend. Unfortunately, Liv says that “Sometimes she’s TOO likable.” I have a problem with this statement for a variety of reasons.
    • How are you going to say that someone is too likable? Why would you want to dislike someone?
• Unresolved Subplots
  • Home Life
    • I felt like Liv’s home life could have been expanded on. A lot. We discover something about her dad and I wish I’d known more about that. It deals with why Liv is so into the fandom she’s into. Liv’s mom also has this awful boyfriend and I was hoping we’d get closure on that whole thing but nope.
  • Mental Illness
    • Liv has anxiety problems as well as depression, which is only touched on a little. As someone who’s definitely sought out the online world during these times, I really wished this had been expanded on a lot. I felt like I was still missing a piece of the love Liv had for the fandom by not knowing everything. I would have liked to know how she was managing (or not really managing) both of these things.
  • Fandom Personal Life
    • There was a minor plot of Liv’s mom being adamantly against fandom, yet somehow an event happens later in the book and I’m just asking myself “So how did THAT go down exactly? Did they discuss this? Was it not talked about? I don’t understand.” It was never discussed on page so I was left being a bit questioning. Part of the reason her mother is so against fandom is because of how Liv’s previously reacted with slacking off on school work and such. I really wished that had been touched on a lot more. I was just annoyed at her mom because I didn’t get the big deal.
• Miscommunication
  • So, All The Feels had to throw in a bit of the dreaded miscommunication for good measure. This is done at the end of the book when everything is wrapping up. Why was this added in? I don’t even know. It seemed like one big “hurdle” before the big scene. I really didn’t like this at all and felt it was unnecessary. Especially given that the reason it happens doesn’t make sense because one person did the same thing the other person does previously.

~Overall~

I really liked All The Feels despite the things I didn’t like about it. It showed how much fictional death can affect people. I loved reading a book about a girl being in college while living at home. Xander was hard to swallow at times, but I really enjoyed his character too. I think it would have done better as a first person story as I could have gotten inside Liv’s head a lot more. I will read Stone’s future Young Adult books.

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~Do I Recommend?~

Yes

~Who Do I Recommend It To?~

Fans of fantoms

Fans of the internet age

Anyone who’s ever felt sad over a fictional death

~Would I Buy It?~

Maybe.

~Would I Re-Read It?~

Yes.

~Other Random Notes~

Liv reminded me a lot of Cath from Fangirl.

Xander reminded me of a combination of Finch from All The Bright Places and Augustus from The Fault In Our Stars.