Stranger Than Fanfiction

there was a very obvious life lesson written into this but in such a cute way!

4.5⭐️

wow… just WOW. that ending just killed me :(

this is definitely a book I would reread, there were so many important life lessons in it and so many raw emotions 🥺

taking away half a star cuz I didn’t vibe with Cash and his actions at certain points in the novel and also kinda disliked the long unnecessary descriptions at certain portions in the book.

overall though this was such an insightful and mindblowing read… it’ll forever be on my mind.

~liyA💗

I was expecting a lot more from this book, honestly. Okay, getting this out of the way now: I used to be a total Gleek. So when I saw that Chris Colfer had written a book about being a TV star, I was like, Gee, I need to pick this up. I think the one big thing that this book really has going for it is that you don't often get a TV star who writes fiction about being a TV star himself, no ghost writers, so it was interesting to see what that was like from that side of the perspective. (I chuckled at the author's note because gosh, I used to read a shitton of fanfiction about Kurt Hummel.) Otherwise, it was't really my thing. I didn't like his writing style at all. I haven't read his other series in ages, but god, it's so juvenile. There are whole paragraphs in italics that are supposed to be characters wailing or yelling but it didn't quite get the effect that I think it wanted. Also. So many exclamation marks. There was a diverse cast of characters but they weren't really in-depth? The omniscent narrator worked better than having five entire POVs, I have to say, but still - it was too short of a book to really flesh them out. The road trip was short, because the first half of the book was spent talking about the characters' backstories. Furthermore, I wasn't really fond of the portrayal of fandom and fanfiction that he shows and it's kind of disheartening to read that he sees it that way. Nothing but violence and screaming girls, really. And yeah. I know how rabid and awful Glee fandom was. I was in it. But I have read wonderful fanfiction that was fleshed out and beautiful and better than published stories, in Glee fandom, in Harry Potter fandom, in every fandom. (view spoiler)[I also felt like the ending was a cop out - seriously, Chris, STOP KILLING YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS? I didn't see it coming and it seemed really unnecessary so I felt kind of robbed by any character development in the story. (hide spoiler)]

i actually liked this book a lot more than i thought i would. it was a tad painfully cheesy or campy at times, but reading it gave me something to do for a few days and the time i dedicated to reading was time well spent.

real rating: 2.5 stars

5★ Imagine the DCOM Starstruck meets the Brady Bunch, but make it a teenage rebellion, and a novel. At first, I thought the book was a bit predictable... but it wasn't until the very end that I realized that had already read this book a few years ago, so that's probably why I thought it was predictable. That being said I still absolutely adored this book. The humor was just absolutely perfect and I loved all of the characters so so so much (especially Cash, who I consider my personal spirit animal). "you've been my hero as much as i've been yours" I was really excited to see a known celebrity's POV on this, and it did not disappoint. It definitely changed my view on the life of celebrities, and I will cherish this book for years (but I will never forgive it for the heartbreak that ending caused) <333

I'm not going to lie... I almost stopped reading this book. I was halfway through and was fairly underwhelmed. Until the last 20 pages of this book, it was just a more adult version of a Disney Channel Original Movie. Then I came to the end and I started crying in my college dorm's lounge. People were concerned. The ending was beautiful, and I truly cried and could not stop for a solid five minutes. I loved it. However, the first 250-ish pages of the book were just okay and a little TOO extra (view spoiler)[ (Like, really? The World's Largest Rubberband Ball rolled away and the media was more concerned with Cash than that? Like, what happened to it? Why did no one care?) (hide spoiler)] so I gave this book 4 stars. I loved the characters and their individual stories. I think this book tells many stories that need to be told, most of which are addressed in the better fanfiction floating around the internet, but not actual published books. As the title implies, this book is very much stranger than fanfiction. It's outlandish in the way only real life can be. This book is witty, funny, a little raunchy, and heartbreakingly real. And, it's now one of my many favorites. So glad someone is telling the stories that need to be told. Well done, Chris Colfer! This book is wonderful.

This was an okay book. I liked that the cast of characters were really diverse.

So cheesy but the ending and the happiness and the wholesomeness made it all worth it. Yes. I’m a sucker for the cheesy endings.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS I read every book out so far from Colfer. He always write with a bright imagination and such a nice funny tone. So of course I preordered this piece as well and couldn't wait to read it. The book is like i imaginate it. Funny, great adventure and a story which inspires. But it wasn't until the end that the story takes a complete change. Through the whole book you get to know every character and get to know their secrets which they are afraid to tell one another. You should think that when 4 friends are making a road trip they would know each other pretty good, but they are in fact not really do. The last 2 chapters caught me off guard. I didn't expect such a up side down turn in the story. This book feels like Glee in book form and I absolutly love it. Just without the singing and dancing. However, I can't stop wonder if Colfer tried to process Corys death through this book. So I think this fiction story may contain some real facts or at least some thoughts that Colfer needed to put on paper.

holy f**kballs, as Joey would say.