I loved this book.
I enjoyed the fact that it had something easy to relate to with today’s generation in both social media and exploring sexuality openly acspect. I found to be a very fun book to read and had a hard time putting it down as I fell in love with the characters.

Although I consider myself a geek, I've never really been a part of a fandom in the way that Claire is in this book. I like that it delves into sexuality and self discovery, but the writing is definitely for a more mature teen audience. I thought I would dislike this book at first, but I found myself wrapped up in the hopes and dreams of the characters and wanting to see it come to a happy resolution. Even when some of Claire's decisions are cringeworthy at best, and downright illegal at worst, you can't help but admire her tenacity.

My full review appears on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2320776737?book_show_action=false

It’s truly astounding to me that dozens of people read this book before it got to this final form--agents, editors, trusted friends and loved ones--and presumably not one person thought to compassionately but firmly say, “yeah, no, this probably shouldn’t be published.” The author lifts entire conversations and situations from intra-fandom drama that occurred online in the Supernatural fandom in 2013. The protagonist, Claire, is depicted as a much-maligned superfan of a TV show called Demon Heart, but in reality Claire is the cruelest bully in the story. Her behavior, which seems consistently designed to humiliate everyone around her, goes unchecked for the entirety of the book, and she is unrepentant to the final page. It's clear we are supposed to sympathize with her even though she violates the trust and privacy of every person close to her. I have nothing good to say about this book.

I didn't really vibe with this one. I love all the things it tried to do (queer romance, address queerbaiting and homophobia, fandom) but it fell short. It didn't discuss the fetishising of slash ships at all, told more than it showed, and nothing felt properly developed enough.

-A character says, unchallenged on the page, that "slash is more interesting" which in itself isn't bad but can be quite fetishising of gay pairings (this was in a section where a character was talking incest slash).
-Bisexuality and Pansexuality are discussed on página but the character says "bi means two" which is inaccurate for many people who identify as bi. It's typically two or more. (Me, as a bi person, is sick as hell of this idea that bisexuality excludes genderqueer individuals.)
-The romance could have used more bonding time (view spoiler).
-Queer baiting is mentioned but not really addressed. The book focuses so much on Claire wanting her ship to be cannon it doesn't address that the real issue is how preposterous and vehemently straight media rejects the idea of such ships in the first place! It shouldn't be so shocking! The homophobia displayed in tv is just not really called out as a whole. It's in this specific instance and this specific story where 'it just makes sense' to be the next logical step for the characters.
-None of the conflicto felt properly discussed during the make up and forgive chapters.

I had a weird experience reading this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't outright enjoy it.
I would have never thought I read enough books that set place in a Con to compare how the different authors deal with it, but while Lundin did not fail, per se, she didn't succeed in making me feel like I was there.

I liked the diversity in both race and sexual orientation, but it didn't grab me.
I'm sorry!

I love the strong LGBT characters! This book will be so relatable for so many readers. The way the author really describes and shows the love of fandoms, comic cons,, shipping and fanfic was just glorious. Everyone has something they connect to and it was so wonderful to watch how Claire’s life changed because of her connection to the show Demon Heart. Watching all the characters grow was amazing. I do think some of Claire’s actions should have been shown consequences, she did steal, blackmail and post on social media as someone else all the while trying to manipulate people to make the show the way she wanted it. This book has so many wonderful things though and I appreciate the author showing how far Claire was willing to go but for any potential younger readers this definitely sends the wrong message. Overall, absolutely fantastic. This author has a fantastic voice and I’m eager to see what else she will come up with.

Super delightful book full of fandom memories. While I can see this being a "quieter" novel, I can see it finding the right reader and going where it is supposed to go.

So i had a lot of mixed feelings reading this book. Initially, I was absolutely loving it because i felt like it really paralleled the Supernatural fandom and people who ship Dean/Crowley. And i still think that. But there were a lot of things that bothered me/made me uncomfortable. There's a lot of internalized homophobia within both MCs. Like Claire constantly thinking, will i have to cut my hair short if i'm gay, and little things like that. I get that she's a teenager and she's just trying to come to terms with who she is and what label she wants, but a lot of it just rubbed me the wrong way, though i don't doubt a lot of people coming to terms with their sexuality, especially teens, think this way.

Forest is a straight up dick for a lot of the book. Though eventually he does try and learn about what he's being ignorant about. I just think calling your fans crazy because they ship two male characters is incredibly mean, and immature.

I think the author did a great job of balancing the good and bad parts of fandom. Also, a lot of the messed up comments in the book were immediately called out. For example, Claire fighting so hard for queer rep while completely ignoring any other rep, ie: POC.

I'm interested to read a final version of this book to see if any of the things that bothered me are changed. But I still really enjoyed reading this book, and I especially loved the end.

The world of fandom, in all it's subtle - and not so subtle - glory, comes alive and real and in your face in this cute and compelling read by Riverdale's TV writer, Britta Lundin.

This book was well-written and entertaining and filled with some great, likeable characters. They progress through an engaging story that addresses issues questioning sexuality, the marginalization of women/girls, identity and representation in the media.

There were some cringe worthy moments for me though. No spoilers, but the main character, Claire, really pulled some stuff that was just NO. Brutal lack of consideration...and no, I don't care what she's going through. At sixteen, you can conjure some manners and have some sense. On the flip side I felt sorry for her several times because of the way these new-to-her-life people "knew" who and what she was questioning before she even had a chance to connect to that understanding of herself, herself!

Despite all of that, this book was an easy, enjoyable read that allowed me into the emotionally charged world of fandom, and into the minds of some thought provoking characters responsible for me becoming slightly less ignorant about quite a few things I didn't know I didn't know... mostly because I don't read fanfic. I'm not really sorry though...I've a ton of books and ARCs still TBR.

Fun with a measure of emotional growth!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this book though I do enjoy the premise. I didn't read the fan fiction part at the start and then I liked that the farm kids are popular at this school but as a vegan it made me think of how negative the dairy industry actually is even though I can easily look over food descriptions in books it was different.

Lovely novel about the tensions between creators, performers and fans. Everyone is a fan of something, be it a sci-fi show, video game, or fast food chain. Plus i am a sucker for books set at cons; queer romances; and stories that explore thorny ethical issues. Ship It check all those boxes.

Claire, fan of TV show Demon Heart is willing to go down with her ‘ship. When Claire attends a local con and asks the question that every fangirl is dying to ask, "Will this ship become canon?" she is humiliated by one of the actors.

In order to save face and fans, she is invited to come along with the group for the rest of the cons on their tour.
Overall, this was a cute story about fandom, shipping, sexuality, and figuring out who you are. While there were some aspects that I didn’t like – Claire’s overly aggressive behavior when confronting Forest, and one of the fics that result from her frustration clearly crossed a line – this was an enjoyable read.

**I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

There were a lot of things I enjoyed about Ship IT.

I liked the characterization of Tess, a queer POC teen, who is confident in her sexuality but not so confident in admitting to being part of the Demon Heart fandom. Tess makes a good foil for Claire, the main character.

Unlike Tess, Claire is not sure of her sexuality, but is totally open and committed to Demon Heart AND will go down with her Ship. When Claire attends a local con and asks the question that every fan girl is dying to ask, "Will this ship become canon?", she is humiliated by one of the actors.

In order to save face and fans, she is invited to come along with the group for the rest of the cons on their tour.

Over all this was a cute story about two girls who find each other thanks to their fandom.

However, there were also things that I took issue with.

***SPOILERS***

Claire was overly aggressive with her desire to see her ship become canon. Like...really aggressive. Even when it became very clear that Forrest was uncomfortable with the discussion, she continued to try and force the issue. Even going so far as to angrily write RPF involving some very personal things that Forrest shared with her AND making up things about abuse suffered at the hands of his father. The abuse in the story was not true, and was very upsetting for Forrest.

There is also a situation in which Tess outs Claire to her mom after Claire has told Tess's friends that she is heavily into the Demon Heart fandom. Tess and Claire later forgive each other, but it seems like Tess gets off pretty easily after what she did to Claire (which is way worse than what Claire did to Tess.)

***END SPOILERS***

Over all, this was a pretty cute story and I would recommend it to fans of books like Fangirl.

First off, this book is told in alternating points of view, so right there that is a plus for me. I initially found the book to be quite slow, but it was hilarious – particularly the character of Claire’s mom. That’s what kept me going through the initial setup of the story until the ‘action’ picked up. I also found myself changing my opinions on characters. I started out being personally offended at Forest’s dismissal of geek culture, and being 100% team Claire. I soon found myself dreading the ‘Claire parts’ however, because she turned really whiny and angsty. Yes, I get it, she’s going through a lot. Trying to figure out who she is. But she keeps pushing everyone away. God, Claire!
And although the book did get a little bit much at times, and was a little over the top and so out of the realm of being believable, I still plowed through it. In my opinion it was such an important book, with a really important lesson in self-discovery, and I cannot sing its praises enough. It was cute, it was geeky, the characters were (mostly) relatable, and I liked it.

Hey, look. It's a book about fandom. Never seen that before. Ship It is another in a long line of fandom related books, but this one had a technical aspect to it that not a lot of other books have, mostly, I assume, is because of Lundin's own background in TV. It added a lot of authenticity to the story and, set it apart from a lot of other books that focus on the same topics.

Books about fandom are all the rage and while JC Lillis' How to Repair a Mechanical Heart will always be my favorite, Ship it reads like a love child between that and Zan Romanoff's Grace and the Fever. Which is another fandom book I enjoyed, but where as both Lillis and Romanoff's stories had a lot of heart to it, Lundin's felt almost...I don't want to say preachy, because it wan't, but I won't deny that the ending drifted into soapboxing a little bit.

The book focuses on two character, Claire a teenage fangirl who's super into shipping her two favorite characters on a TV show together, and Forest, the star of Claire's favorite show and plays one half of the OTP. Both characters play their roles really well, if Claire going to extremes to make her ship canon while Forest attempts to reconcile what it's like to be ingrained in fan culture and what it means to be passionate about something.

Both characters' emotional journey's are unique, but while Claire is obviously the main character, I found Forest's growth the most interesting. Forest has to come to terms with the fact that he has become a character both on TV and outside it and that he, the actor Forest Reed, doesn't matter when it comes to the character of Smokey in regards to how fans react to him. Forest, both as the character of Smokey and the actor, are not real to the fans of his show and he has to cope with the simultaneous loss of identity and how something can be so much apart of him while not being apart of him at all.

Claire's story is a little more traditional, confused about her own sense of identity and her sexuality she approaches Demon Heart and her ship with a focus that rivals the Terminator. She focuses so much on her goal of getting her ship canon she doesn't take time for self reflection or how her actions would have consequences. Claire is a driven character, but her flaw is that she's so passionate and and cares so much, she doesn't take time to think about consequences. And I liked how she had to learn to deal with and grown from her mistakes.

This is a great book, but it did flounder at the very end of the book where both Claire and Forest give this long speech about what fandom means and how it affects individuals and I didn't think it was necessary from a character or a thematic perspective. Forest and Claire had already reconciled and learned over the course of the story and the speeches didn't feel so much as icing on the cake, but a banner behind a plane spelling out the key messages.

Ship It has a lot of good aspects to it, a great cast, an interesting writing style, and great themes regarding identity and fandom. Combined with Lundin's technical writing, Ship It becomes a book that any fan would love to have.

Going into the first couple chapters of <i>Ship It</i>, I was a little worried that the story might fetishize queer relationships, a criticism that is frequently (and often rightly) leveled at slash fanfiction written by straight, female teenagers. Thankfully, <i>Ship It</i> was so much more nuanced than that, exploring the narrator's identity was well as the ethics of fandom, the problems of queerbaiting, and the question of story "ownership." In short, I really enjoyed it. It was really clear to me that it was written by fans <i>for</i> fans.

3.5 stars. Despite some issues, this book was so stinking adorable and had me enthralled enough to read it in one sitting, powering through to finish sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

There are really a lot of great things going on here--interesting characters, a really sweet love story between two girls who meet and bond at a convention, and a lot of good commentary on fandom and fanfic that's surprisingly nuanced. It talks about all sorts of issues in media and fandom like queerbaiting, heteronormativity, representation, and the marginalization of stuff for women/teen girls, all without feeling too preachy.

At about 2/3 of the way through, though, I had a few issues. I don't love how self righteous and entitled the main character, Claire, is in regards to things like the actors' and creators' personal lives and to having a say in the direction of the show. I'm conflicted because on the one hand I like that she's tenacious and doesn't back down, but on the other hand she drove me a bit crazy for a while.

I also disliked a few things that happened in regards to Claire's sexuality, mainly how almost every other character is all smug about Claire's sexuality like they know better than she does. The way her sexuality is revealed is pretty bs, too.

Despite being a bit frustrating sometimes, though, I think it all wraps up well (not too perfect but satisfying) and generally mitigates the quibbles I had. Overall, I just really enjoyed it!

<blockquote><i>”I want you to picture something for a second. I know you feel like an underdog…But imagine if you were a teenager again, and, instead of being a scrawny, uncool, nerdy, kid, you were a scrawny, uncool, nerdy, </i>gay<i> kid. Or… what if you were all that plus black? Or disabled? Or trans? Or anything? Who would your superheroes be then? What costumes would you wear on Halloween?”</i></blockquote>

Y’all, this book was <b>freaking amazing</b>. It had good representation, and it was wholesome, and it was cute, and it dealt with tough topics, and it was so fandom-positive I want to throw this book at every person I know with a loud and proud outcrying of <i>“REEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDDDDD IIIIIIIIIITTTTTT”</i>

I mean, really, though, I have DNF’ed the past, idk, like, 5 books I’ve read? And this one hooked me from the very beginning? It’s such a gift to humanity and I’m so happy!

That being said, this book wasn’t without its faults, but before I talk about those I just want to rant about everything that I adored!

First off, the characters were all so gorgeously flawed and nuanced and I want to know them! I want to be friends with all of them (except Jamie)! Everyone was likable and wonderful and gorgeous. Claire was the perfect protagonist, all full of passionate love for fandom and insecurities and awkwardness. There were moments when I envied her and moments when I wanted to be like “Claire,,,,,,, no,,,,,,,” but that made her super real!

I wasn’t a fan of Forest for a while, but he grew on me and his issues with internalized homophobia were written really well. It made me uncomfortable at times, but never because I didn’t agree with what I was reading (okay, maybe sometimes) but more because I feel as though a lot of people can relate to Forest’s journey (Claire’s as well!) when it comes to discovering who you are and where you stand in the world. Forest’s inner journey redeemed him in my eyes.

The secondary characters, though definitely not as dynamic as Forest and Claire, also warmed my heart. Rico was funny and sweet, and I felt as though this passage described him nicely, <i>”[He was] a warm, gentle, thoughtful, ridiculously obnoxious, funloving weirdo who wants to make sure everyone feels heard and has a good time.”</i> Because honestly?? Big mood right there.

Tess was another amazing fave, and was by far the <b>most nuanced of the non-narrator characters</b>. It was interesting and relatable to read about she and Claire’s issues with confidence and how they differed from one another.

Jamie was a jerk and I hate him, end of story.

But back to my faves! Caty was another one of the good secondary characters – I loved her spunky style and that she made fandom and social media her career, and that she was as passionate about representation as the fans of the show. It was refreshing and hopeful to see a canon, successful queer character in a position that helped her make a difference.

And that brings me to my next point! I <i>love</i> positive portrayals of fandom in literature, and this one is <b>one of the best</b>. It’s not one hundred percent positive – though not in a bad way. Rather, it acknowledges when fandom and fans can get <i>way</i> too personal with actors, authors, and other real human beings. However, the way fandom is shown is generally, and overwhelmingly, positive. It describes the joy of going to your first Con, the wonder of realizing that real actual people are as passionate about your favorite things as you are, and the power that fans can have. You also got to see people that made fandom their career – like Caty, and a cameo character whose career was collecting and selling vintage posters of her favorite movies. It was hopeful and beautiful and lovely.

The story was also super original for a contemporary, and I enjoyed the plot almost as much as I enjoyed the characters, and I think it’s because the story, for the most part, is largely character-driven. A lot of the action, persay, happens in Claire and Forest’s heads. I am <b>physically incapable</b> of giving character-driven books less than three stars, and this one was just so realistic and wonderful!

This book was <b>hella hilarious</b>. It gave me some awesome new terms like “gay panic” and “hetero brodudery,” and I had so much fun reading this! I don’t want to spoil anything by listing any of the jokes, but <b>this was a book written by a fandom person for fandom people</b>, and if you spend any inkling of time on the internet, you will surely find it as funny as I did.

But now, listen. I wish this book had been perfect. I wish this had been an easy five stars right off the bat, but it <b>wasn’t</b>. And that makes me so sad you wouldn’t believe! No doubt that with some improvements, <b>you will have to pry this book out of my cold, dead, hands</b>, but right now, with this unfinished copy, there are just some things I can’t ignore!!

First, I want to applaud this book for its examination of the lack of diversity in TV and movies, but for such an amazing and needed message, the actual representation in this book <b>didn’t live up to the message.</b> By no means do I want to take away from the representation in the book, because we have pan rep, and both of the narrators are questioning, buuuuut the main cast of the novel is overwhelmingly cis and white.

We have two side characters who are POC – Rico and Tess – but both of the narrators are white. And while the book acknowledges racism in both the entertainment industry (<i>”You know how many black characters have been on </i>Demon Heart?<i> Like two, and they were both demons. Now they’re dead.”</i>), and fandom/the LGBT community (<i>”You’re not pushing for more black characters, are you? You only care about one thing.”</i>), the fact that there are only two POC characters with speaking lines rubs me entirely the wrong way. It was mostly talk with very little action when it came to POC rep.

And also!! This book had literally no trans characters. None. Zip. Zero. It had all that LGB rep but where was the T? Where was it??<i>???????</i>???<blockquote><img src="https://i.imgur.com/okTU2zS.gif" width="300" height="230" alt="description"/></blockquote>
Okay – I’ll say this. There was 1 (one) (<b><i>ONE</i></b>) cameo androgynous character who is a server when Claire and Tess go to a gay café, and, Claire, upon not knowing what gender the character is, uses they/them pronouns, but this character is in the story for a paragraph, tops, and it wasn’t enough!! Why couldn’t a main, side, or tertiary character have been trans? There were so many possibilities, but this book didn’t take them.

<b>trigger warning // mild transphobia</b>

There is another moment when Forest is talking to Tess and she explains the difference between pan and bi, and he laughs it off and says <i>”’Wait, how many genders </i>are<i> there?’”</i> and Tess patiently explains about the gender spectrum, but Forest’s transphobia in the moment is nowhere near as challenged as his homophobia, and that was so disappointing for so many reasons.

<b>end trigger warning</b>

Another thing I had a problem with was the positive portrayal of straight slash shippers. And while this book didn’t, to me, fetishize mlm in the media like I was fearing it would, it didn’t explicitly call out the straight women who <i>do</i> fetishize gay men. I wish that had been acknowledged.

However, even though this book <b>definitely had its issues</b>, this was honestly just a <b>cute and wholesome book</b>! I would still recommend it to others, especially because of the three-dimensional characters and issues that it addresses. It was overall a cute read that was somehow quaint and larger-than-life at the same time. So wonderful!

<i>I was provided an eARC copy by NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review. All quotes and opinions are taken from an unfinished copy.</i>

This book was SO fun! I know nothing of cons and intense fandoms, but that didn't matter. I still went along for the ride with a wonderful main character who was grappling with who she was, learning about herself along the way, but still fighting hard for what she knew she believed in. The book also includes the main character's fan fiction, and I often end up skimming those sections in similar books - in Fangirl, for example - but here, I really enjoyed the fan fiction a lot too! Overall a really, really fun book! I can't wait to read more from this author.

It all starts when Claire stands up in a Comic-Con panel and asks the creators of Demon Heart, her favorite show, about her ship—in this particular case, she "ships" the two main characters, and wants to know if the show will take their friendship to a romantic level. The question might not be seen as unusual, except that both of the characters included are male.

The response to Claire’s question isn’t good. The showrunner gives her a vague non-answer, one of the actors involved recoils with a sneer, and not only is it a huge embarrassment to Claire, it’s a public-relations disaster for a show on the verge of being canceled.

So suddenly Claire is ‘randomly chosen’ to join the publicity tour around conventions in the Pacific Northwest. She rides on the bus with the actors and the creator, she gets to sit in the front row on all of the panels, and by the end of the week, she’s determined: She WILL see her ship become canon.

With its insightful depiction of fan communities and their sometimes messy interactions with each other and with the source material, Ship It was a book that I wanted to love without reservation. And I did love the idea of a small show, perpetually on the bubble, supported by fans that the creators don’t always understand. That part of the book was masterfully done, including the not-so-perfect ending.

But I struggled with the fact that most of the characters act like they know Claire's sexuality better than she does. everyone from Forest, the star of Demon Heart, to Claire's maybe-sort-of girlfriend Tess, seems to be pushing Claire to define her sexuality rather than allowing her to discover it herself. From the actors to the showrunner to her own girlfriend, everyone seems to have a better idea of Claire’s sexuality than she does. But, although Claire’s discomfort with the pushing is clear, it’s not clear whether any of the characters are ever made aware of why their intrusiveness is a problem.

And then there’s Tess. I would have loved, frankly, for the story to have been about her: A woman of color who loves this television show, but still views it with a critical eye due to the lack of female characters and characters of color, she would have made an excellent point of view character. But after Claire and Tess argue (about these very things, among other topics), Tess:

a) Decides Claire’s sexuality for her
b) Outs Claire as gay...TO CLAIRE'S MOTHER.

And although Claire eventually forgives Tess, I couldn’t do it. This potentially harmful, dangerous action is played off as an argument that got out of hand, rather than something that could have resulted in Claire losing her home and her family. Tess barely knew Claire’s parents, and regardless of that, had no business taking away Claire’s agency by outing her without her permission. The entire story crumbled for me after that point, and I couldn’t enjoy it after that moment.

For that reason, Ship It doesn’t quite make the grade for me. Well, that, and the mention of Jonas Brothers incest fic. It was jarring, irrelevant, and clearly only included for gross-out shock factor.