Review: All the Feels by Danika Stone

All the Feels

Author: Danika Stone
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Pages: Paperback, 336 pages
Genre: YA
Release Date: June 7th 2016

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.

Review:

I am quite saddened that I didn't like this more. Because I loved the storyline
I loved the whole fandom scene- I really like the idea behind this.
BUT- and yes there is a big but- I didn't really like the writing style.

In fact in the beginning I couldn't put my finger onto why I was dragging my feet when it came to reading All the Feels... I ended up setting it aside about a quarter in and reading a different book, when I went back to it, I realised that while I don't think it's horrid or anything I just didn't enjoy the way this was written much.
I found the third person POV made it hard for me to connect to the characters. While I did kinda like Liv and I did love Xander, I found it hard to overlook their flaws. Liv is at times overly melodramatic and Xander seemed way too cliche, even if he is quirky and cute. It feel too constructed. Again, I think it's connected to the way it was written.

I found myself laughing at their banter, loved the shenanigans of the fandom and even loved Livs and Xanders connection- even if the romance was awkward at times and some of the side cast was super uber-typical YA. Oh I really didn't like Livs attitude towards Arden. She is pretty and she got the boy you want, doesn't make her horrid, in fact Arden always seemed to try to be nice to Liv... It was annoying
The dramas between Liv and her mother - were justified but in my opinion superfluous, it distracted from the story.

Stones humor had me laugh out loud on many occasions. And while I kinda grew out of the fandom thing in my teens, I totally could relate to that part of the book.

Yet, I think if you like this scene it's a book you need to read.
As I said, I totally adore the storyline, I love all the fandom bits and Stone got that just right.
I think it's a book for all geeks and nerds out there!


Rating: 


ARC was provided by Publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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