Author: Danika Stone
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Source: ARC received from Publisher in exchange of an honest review (thanks Swoon Reads!!)
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
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
What I enjoyed most about All the Feels was the fandom premise. This is the book's most obvious draw in my opinion. As avid readers, we all likely belong to several fandoms and we GET it. We've waited hours for our favorite books or to meet our favorite authors. We've suffered those book hangovers. We've cried over those soul-crushing deaths, or breakups or whatever. And we've fangirled and vented with our friends via text and over the internet. SO much about this book was relatable. AND geek-tastic. Especially the Dragon-Con experience during the last third of the book. It was fun reading a book that really speaks to readers.
BUT.... it felt a little too over-the-top. Liv grieved for her fictional hero like I might grieve for one of my closest family members and that felt a little wrong to me. I've shed many a tear for some of my favorite characters and yes, at times it might've feel like there was a Dementor sucking away all of my happiness but I moved on because it is fiction and I am a sane and functioning human being. Whereas, Liv basically let her entire world crumble. But if I overlook that, I enjoyed Liv's passion for vidding and being a part of the Starveil community. The cosplay and SpartanSurvived movement was fun.
My second favorite part of the story was Xander. He was such a unique character with his steampunk obsession and old-world demeanor. And he was SO SWEET.. I have a pretty good picture in my head of that boy and YUM. I loved Liv and Xander's easy way with one another and the slowly building attraction between them. Their happy ending was well worth the wait.
Other than that, there was an even balance of nice-touches that I appreciated and things I that I thought were unnecessary and only added for dramatic effect. For a little bit I was even leaning towards a 2-2.5 star rating because the scales were tipping towards the unnecessary but the ending made up for it. So we get a nice even 3 stars. I don't think this book is a MUST read but it had it's merits and is a pretty quick one if you are looking for some geeky relatable fun.
BUT.... it felt a little too over-the-top. Liv grieved for her fictional hero like I might grieve for one of my closest family members and that felt a little wrong to me. I've shed many a tear for some of my favorite characters and yes, at times it might've feel like there was a Dementor sucking away all of my happiness but I moved on because it is fiction and I am a sane and functioning human being. Whereas, Liv basically let her entire world crumble. But if I overlook that, I enjoyed Liv's passion for vidding and being a part of the Starveil community. The cosplay and SpartanSurvived movement was fun.
My second favorite part of the story was Xander. He was such a unique character with his steampunk obsession and old-world demeanor. And he was SO SWEET.. I have a pretty good picture in my head of that boy and YUM. I loved Liv and Xander's easy way with one another and the slowly building attraction between them. Their happy ending was well worth the wait.
Other than that, there was an even balance of nice-touches that I appreciated and things I that I thought were unnecessary and only added for dramatic effect. For a little bit I was even leaning towards a 2-2.5 star rating because the scales were tipping towards the unnecessary but the ending made up for it. So we get a nice even 3 stars. I don't think this book is a MUST read but it had it's merits and is a pretty quick one if you are looking for some geeky relatable fun.
