Hello! Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last post. Your feedback means a lot to me, and it makes me happy to know many of you will be fine with whatever I post here. That really means a lot. So, thank you all! I’ve decided to start posting some bookish things here, at least for the time being. One thing I’m learning about blogging is that you can be flexible with it. 🙂

I also want to apologize for being so behind on comments. I try to refrain from Unnecessary Apologies here, but I do want to reply to comments and visit your lovely blogs on a regular basis, and I haven’t been able to do that lately. I’m trying to establish a better blogging schedule, so I hope to catch up soon. Thank you for being so patient! 🙂

And now for today’s post (which is a re-post from my book blog, The Bookish Orca. There will be a few of these.)

About the Book

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Reese Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Goodreads | 288 pages | Where I got it – purchased at Powell’s.

This review will have mild spoilers.

I loved the characters. Taylor and Charlie are vastly different, and I liked having chapters from each of their perspectives. Sometimes I find it hard to tell characters apart when authors do this, but I didn’t have much of a problem in this book.

The diversity in this book is fantastic. Taylor has Asperger’s and is extremely socially anxious, and Charlie is Asian-Australian and bisexual. I liked how the author didn’t skirt over their diversity, but this isn’t an “issue book” either. There’s one instance where Charlie is trying to explain bisexuality to her boyfriend, who “doesn’t believe in it,” and I thought that was nicely done. I also like how she’s so confident in her own sexuality (without going over-the-top). It’s nice to read about a character who is comfortable in her own skin.

I could really relate to Taylor with the anxiety end of things. I’m quick to criticize books that paint a rosy picture of anxiety, or worse, shame people with anxiety. This book did neither of those things; it’s one of the best portrayals I’ve read to date (reminds me of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell). It’s ridiculously hard for someone with social anxiety to do something like Comic Con, and you can tell how hard it is for Taylor. She also has one very realistic panic attack in the bathroom.

“That’s what we do. We walk a tightrope every day. Getting out the door is a tightrope. Going grocery shopping is a tightrope. Socializing is a tightrope. Things that most people consider to be normal, daily parts of life are the very things we fear and struggle with the most.”

I liked that the whole book was set at Comic Con! I always think it’s fascinating when books take place over a two- or three-day period. You have to cram so much character development in there, and work in the backstory without info-dumping… which is hard to pull off, but this book did!

Some other things I liked:

• Taylor’s love for Queen Firestone! I think the parallel would be Harry Potter, with Skyler Atkins being J. K. Rowling. 🙂
• Taylor’s social anxiety and being on the Autism spectrum. I haven’t read about that much in books, so it was really interesting and awesome to find a character like her!
• (spoiler) Charlie’s crush on Alyssa. I have a new OTP, and I don’t say that lightly. They are ridiculously cute together, and I like how they discuss their relationship seriously… so many YA relationships don’t involve any communication, just two people lusting after each other, and this book does it right. (end spoiler)
• I loved reading about Charlie’s life as a vlogger and indie movie star!
• Pink hair.
• Going off that last point, the cover is ridiculously adorable.
• It’s fairly short – 288 pages – which is just my speed as of late. It’s pretty quick to read, which also makes it wonderful to reread. I’m starting my third read of it now. 🙂

Sensitive Reader Advisory

Lots of swearing, including the F-word. Romance, as you can tell from the back cover (including some PG-13 stuff, but off-page). Definitely for the YA audience.

In Short…

An adorable, diverse, thoroughly enjoyable ode to fandom.

Rating: 5 stars *****