Anna Day

Violet's in her element - cosplay at the ready, she can't wait to feel part of her favourite fandom: 'The Gallows Dance', a mega book and movie franchise. But when a freak accident transports her into the story for real, can Violet play out the plot the way it was written?

The Fandom

Cosplay ready, Violet and her friends are at Comic Con. They cant wait to meet the fandom of mega-movie, The Gallows Dance. What theyre not expecting is to be catapulted by freak accident into their favourite worldfor real. Fuelled by love, guilt and fear, can the friends put the plot back on track and get out? The fate of the story is in their hands.

Meagan Fischer 

This book was really a mix. Sometimes it felt cheesy, cliche or repetitive, as with the phrase, "In _ days, I will hang," that the protagonist comes back to over and over again. I also thought parts were a bit unrealistic in terms of how little the protagonist seems to use her knowledge of the canon to her advantage. This and other elements left me feeling like the author had a great idea but struggled to execute it.

However, at other times I was actually amazed by the depth of reflection and profundity, and the significance of certain metaphors that are used. it was a strange contradiction. The story went a lot of places, most of which I couldn't have predicted, and some of which I would have done differently. People might say it is derivative, but I think that's the point, and sometimes it succeeds in making smart and interesting commentary on the modern phenomenon of fandoms and their subculture.

One thing I can say for it is that once I started, I wanted to keep going, even signing up for a trial membership of Scribd to listen to the audiobook,which I did in between classes and while going to bed for two days, until I finished.

Addie 🌻

Paula

Elaine

I liked this, but it was nothing special. Especially the ending was extremely convenient, the characters were okay, but all in all it felt like something was missing throughout the whole book.

Charlot van Dijk

Het idee van dit boek sprak me gigantisch aan. Het doet me denken aan wat sommige mensen wel eens zeggen: "Als je een boek niet kan vinden, schrijf het dan zelf." Dit boek is op zich goed geschreven, het verhaal is interessant genoeg om verder te lezen. Natuurlijk wil je weten wat er allemaal zou gebeuren als je in een fictionele wereld gezogen wordt. De schrijfster maakt heel goed duidelijk wat het verschil is tussen wat Violet meemaakt en wat er eigenlijk in het boek zou gebeuren (of in de film). Ik zou graag de boeken willen lezen/ de film willen zien, maar helaas gaat dat niet. Ik weet nog niet zo goed hoe ik mij voel over dit boek en of ik daadwerkelijk een deel 2 zou gaan lezen, mocht die er komen. De cover en het verhaal idee zijn in ieder geval prachtig!

Lisa Beasley

Overall I was a little disappointed with this book. It had a great premise and some of the concepts were good but it was just a little too predictable and formulaic. The conclusion was also a big let down and resolutions too meh for me.

Beth Bartholomew

I picked up a proof of this superb book up at YALC because I thought the plot looked absolutely fantastic and I was not wrong. If you don't know what this is about, it follows a group of friends on their way to ComicCon to meet the cast of their favourite film/book (think Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter style fandom). Instead of their day going as planned, they get thrown into the world of the book and have to fight to survive and get back to the world they know. They have to navigate the world of The Gallows Dance, where anyone considered not perfect is threatened to hang and all who are perfect live a life of luxury, sound familiar? So not only did Anna Day write The Fandom, she also wrote The Gallows Dance, the story they get trapped in. This book must have taken so much creativity and I am in awe of the storytelling.

This plot was intricate, intruding and complex, with twists and turns the whole way through. I couldn't put this down and that isn't a regular occurrence at the moment. I was constantly questioning every character we met along the way, but that went with the nature of the chopping and changing plot, I never knew who to trust. The main characters are each very different and have interesting relationships together. Violet is the protagonist for this book and she has many doubts in herself along the way of this story, as it's up to her to save herself and her friends. Initially I was doubtful at the plot of The Gallows Dance and the division between Imps and Gems; a plot line I would compare to the contrast of those in the capital and those in the districts in The Hunger Games series. But I soon chose my side in the battle between imps (imperfect people with flaws) and gems (genetically modified people with zero physical flaws).

If you're any kind of fangirl you will love all of the references dropped into this book. I love how many lines were included that linked back to a popular series. Some lines were cleverly hidden in the writing and I took pride in spotting them and also wondering if they were deliberate or not. I definitely felt myself sounding a successful cheer whenever a favourite fandom of mine was mentioned.

I don't think I can keep this spoiler free any longer, so here we go for me blabbing every spoilery thing I loved in this book! If you like the sound of this book then it's coming our January 2018 so go and preorder your copy now!

Ash. I want an Ash in my life. I usually say I want someone to love me like Rory loves Amy, but I'd also like to add that I'd like someone to love me like Ash loves Violet. He is just so kind and caring to her and there's no stupid falling outs between them that hold up the plot, I hate those kinds of things so I'm glad they're being eased out of YA. I think I can say that I liked Ash as a character as soon as we met him, he was confident and knew what he was doing, he felt like someone who could keep you safe. He maintains this position throughout the book and it kills me that we don't entirely get a resolution from him. Yes he is the lead in the next book, but we don't know yet if he is happy or if he will ever see Violet again. Surely there has to be a sequel, right Anna Day...?!

Violet's relationship with Nate is my favourite of all. When they're at ComicCon you get the impression he can be the annoying little brother, but once they're thrown into the world of The Gallows Dance Nate comes into his own. Violet relies on him to support her and coach her through the plot she needs to follow. The two become inseparable, Violet is protective over Nate and Nate just has this strong hope he puts into Violet. It's a brilliant example of a sibling relationship that I think I would have liked myself.

Katie and Alice were both interesting characters in very different ways. Katie was always consulting the words of Shakespeare and I'm sure if I was better at analysing literature I'd pull a lot of information about that. But I did think it was interesting to see how relevant these quotes became to helping Violet piece together what to do. Usually we think of Shakespeare as a wonderful play-write, but in this case the words come across as more of a motivational speech. When it comes to Alice I'm still lost as to whether we are meant to like her or not? Obviously she does some very crappy things, that seem to somehow get resolved by her last minute declaration of love for Violet. I don't know about you, but I don't suddenly forgive her! She forgot her friend far too easily, unless it was all a hoax to get the Gems on her side, but I feel again this was left open.

If you've read this book, please share your thoughts with me! I am preaching about it to everyone with a pulse and I need to know if there's a sequel! However judging by the fact that the first book isn't technically published yet, I doubt it. All in all a brilliant read and now one of my new favourites!

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The Fandom

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