Diane Rapp's Blog: She's a Mystery and Science Fiction Writer! - Posts Tagged "coming-of-age"

All The Feels by Danika Stone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What can a fan do when her favorite character dies?

In this delightful “coming of age” story set in modern times, Liv is a fangirl hooked on a popular movie series called Starveil. Her world comes crashing down when hero, Capt. Matt Spartan, dies at the end of his latest adventure. She’s depressed. Life is not worth living without Spartan, so after reading a cryptic fortune cookie, she decides to change the ending. Of course in modern times, social media is part of Liv’s answer. She initiates a #SpartanSurvived campaign and convinces her best friend and budding actor, Xander, to perform in a clever fanvid. The vid calls for fandom to find proof that Spartan did not die.

When your favorite character gets killed, the shock can be devastating! So what can fans do? After author, Arthur Conan Doyle, killed off Sherlock Holmes, his readers shouted their displeasure in every newspaper. He finally relented and brought the character back to life. The explanation for Sherlock’s survival was hardly believable, but readers didn’t care. Sherlock lived and was all that mattered.

The only difficulty I found with this story was reading through the “social media” conversations. It got a bit confusing at times, but I eventually grew accustomed to the fandom conversations. The wacky character Xander, who dressed in Victorian garb and spoke in Steampunk vernacular, really livened up the plot. Liv’s growing crush on the guy was a natural. Of course Xander had a gorgeous girlfriend, so they could only be friends. Or can they?

There are so many levels to this story, fandom, obsession, learning to communicate in person, and a budding love story. It was a very satisfactory story, with ups and downs that kept my attention. I loved the descriptions of the DragonCon event. (As a budding sci-fi author, I once attended a similar convention and marveled at all the costumes and characters roaming the streets.) Liv matures during the course of the novel and discovers her true destiny. It was like a fortune cookie coming true, a great read!

I received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I recommend buying this one.




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