What do you think?
Rate this book
Cyberchicks in Love: A Satire for the Star-Struck
YOU'LL SMILE, YOU'LL LAUGH, YOU'LL CRINGE, YOU'LL ESCAPE TO A WEIRD WORLD YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE WEARING SUNGLASSES* . . .
"The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets "Mills & Boon" with a dash of Discworld, a dog-eared 1998 copy of Lonely Planet and a sprinkling of The Spice Girls. "Cyberchicks in Love" is a laugh-out-loud, fast-paced romp that goes beyond "comic fantasy romance satire science fiction". The madcap adventures of a horde of beautiful young women all intent on pursuing the same movie star are woven into a spoof of fanfic, chick lit, bodice-rippers, virtual reality and travel guides. The writing is inventive and witty. The story is riddled with unfeasible stereotypes and the plot zigzags wildly.
At its heart, "Cyberchicks in Love" satirizes the adoration of ordinary fans for their idols of the silver screen. It's a rollicking read, with all the ingredients of a cult classic!
* In case the scenery is too garish.
Available in brick and online bookstores across the USA from March 1, 2024.
The CYBERCHICKS series Book 1 Cyberchicks in Love Book 2 Cyberchicks go Wild
ABOUT THE AUTHOR "Barb Dwyer" is a published author using a pseudonym, because she doesn't want to ruin her reputation as a serious writer by being associated with this fluffy book of madness. She describes herself as a "Virtual love-child of Douglas Adams, Nora Roberts, Terry Pratchett and Jane Austen, though unacknowledged due to implausible genetic mutations." "When I read, I want to laugh and feel good."
"The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets "Mills & Boon" with a dash of Discworld, a dog-eared 1998 copy of Lonely Planet and a sprinkling of The Spice Girls. "Cyberchicks in Love" is a laugh-out-loud, fast-paced romp that goes beyond "comic fantasy romance satire science fiction". The madcap adventures of a horde of beautiful young women all intent on pursuing the same movie star are woven into a spoof of fanfic, chick lit, bodice-rippers, virtual reality and travel guides. The writing is inventive and witty. The story is riddled with unfeasible stereotypes and the plot zigzags wildly.
At its heart, "Cyberchicks in Love" satirizes the adoration of ordinary fans for their idols of the silver screen. It's a rollicking read, with all the ingredients of a cult classic!
* In case the scenery is too garish.
Available in brick and online bookstores across the USA from March 1, 2024.
The CYBERCHICKS series Book 1 Cyberchicks in Love Book 2 Cyberchicks go Wild
ABOUT THE AUTHOR "Barb Dwyer" is a published author using a pseudonym, because she doesn't want to ruin her reputation as a serious writer by being associated with this fluffy book of madness. She describes herself as a "Virtual love-child of Douglas Adams, Nora Roberts, Terry Pratchett and Jane Austen, though unacknowledged due to implausible genetic mutations." "When I read, I want to laugh and feel good."
334 pages, Hardcover
Published December 12, 2023
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 19, 2025
A parody on 40+ women cyberfanning older celebs and wiriting a fanfic while they’re at it
What if your online persona led an autonomous existence in a parallel Earth? (Much like characters from books who escape and get their own life outside the author’s head.) What if you could (imaginarily) create ten clones of your fave actor so there’d be enough of him/her to go around for you AND your friends?
This book was a parody on 40+ women cyberfanning and (pretend) stalking older celebs like Fassbender, elder Fiennes and Daniel Day Lewis. If these names or Hollywood actor celebs of that generation mean nothing to you or you’re not a fan of fanfics co-written in fanpage comments - step away, this book is not for you. Throughout the novel, online friendships bloom and collaborations spring to life as these ladies spin hectic writings about imaginary meeting-the-celeb into a hilarious and unbelievable fanfic soap opera script (while they may or may not share celeb-sighting info). All while their online personas get their own lives and meddle, too.
What I didn’t like:
- There can be too much of a good thing. The style and humour of the author emulate Douglas Adams who I love, but despite the levity I couldn’t really get into it - maybe because of too much referencing.
- It wasn’t the humour (that snark I loved), but what put me off might have been the format - cyberconvos on a fandom website. I am not a fan of fanfics and I don’t get celeb fan groups; or it might have been the over-referencing (again).
- Titling the online fanclub “the SPH fanclub” by itself was either coded snark or a quirky mishap.
What I loved:
- Fansite (cybertwin) user bios were an OTT parody on some of the “funny” author bios I’ve read in real life - that was enjoyable and made me chuckle.
- Loved the avatars of original and UnEarthly cyberchicks - those were gorgeous!
- laughed at the fake movie names;
- loved the twisted reworked new names of (copyrighted) products - genious!
- Loved the friendships and collab building of the ladies over online convos and there wasn’t much catfight drama (what a relief) - girls were happy to share their ideal man.
- Loved how a few days (or months) away resulted in withdrawal and seeing the “ideal” man as quite average; too bad fans succumbed to their addiction regardless;
- I can totally see this being made into a movie similar to the Bridget Jones franchise.
While this wasn’t one for me, I wish the author best of luck as there’s certainly a niche for fanfic-loving dry humour adoring readers out there. Recommended for 40+ female cheeky UK and Aussie audiences as the 20-somethings might not get most references & US audience might be too sensitive to ridiculing stalking.
What if your online persona led an autonomous existence in a parallel Earth? (Much like characters from books who escape and get their own life outside the author’s head.) What if you could (imaginarily) create ten clones of your fave actor so there’d be enough of him/her to go around for you AND your friends?
This book was a parody on 40+ women cyberfanning and (pretend) stalking older celebs like Fassbender, elder Fiennes and Daniel Day Lewis. If these names or Hollywood actor celebs of that generation mean nothing to you or you’re not a fan of fanfics co-written in fanpage comments - step away, this book is not for you. Throughout the novel, online friendships bloom and collaborations spring to life as these ladies spin hectic writings about imaginary meeting-the-celeb into a hilarious and unbelievable fanfic soap opera script (while they may or may not share celeb-sighting info). All while their online personas get their own lives and meddle, too.
What I didn’t like:
- There can be too much of a good thing. The style and humour of the author emulate Douglas Adams who I love, but despite the levity I couldn’t really get into it - maybe because of too much referencing.
- It wasn’t the humour (that snark I loved), but what put me off might have been the format - cyberconvos on a fandom website. I am not a fan of fanfics and I don’t get celeb fan groups; or it might have been the over-referencing (again).
- Titling the online fanclub “the SPH fanclub” by itself was either coded snark or a quirky mishap.
What I loved:
- Fansite (cybertwin) user bios were an OTT parody on some of the “funny” author bios I’ve read in real life - that was enjoyable and made me chuckle.
- Loved the avatars of original and UnEarthly cyberchicks - those were gorgeous!
- laughed at the fake movie names;
- loved the twisted reworked new names of (copyrighted) products - genious!
- Loved the friendships and collab building of the ladies over online convos and there wasn’t much catfight drama (what a relief) - girls were happy to share their ideal man.
- Loved how a few days (or months) away resulted in withdrawal and seeing the “ideal” man as quite average; too bad fans succumbed to their addiction regardless;
- I can totally see this being made into a movie similar to the Bridget Jones franchise.
While this wasn’t one for me, I wish the author best of luck as there’s certainly a niche for fanfic-loving dry humour adoring readers out there. Recommended for 40+ female cheeky UK and Aussie audiences as the 20-somethings might not get most references & US audience might be too sensitive to ridiculing stalking.
December 26, 2023
This book is really funny, in an off-beat way I've not encountered before. The writing is fresh and spontaneous (though sometimes the quality is variable), the humor is lively and sharp. The plot races along, driven by the hormones of a group of young women who are besotted with a movie actor, and who blink in and out of a virtual world where apparently anything is possible. It's wacky and silly, but very entertaining. I recommend it!
November 20, 2025
Great book. I really enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Humorous with great characters as well. I'd definitely read more like this from the author.
December 11, 2025
Cyberchicks in Love: A Satire for the Star-Struck, my first read from author Barb Dwyer. Amazon categorizes it as "Humorous Science Fiction". I found nothing humerous about it. A review compared it to fanfic, maybe that's why I don't read fanfic. I though long & hard about how I'd review it, I don't think I've ever left a 1-star review but I though about it with this book. I finish what I start when reading a book but I struggled with this book. This book wasn’t for me yet I can't do better than a 1-star review yet Goodread. “I received a complementary Kindle copy of this book today and am voluntarily reading it & leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews