All the Feels by Danika Stone

Oh my goodness, what a fun book that's all about fandoms and fanfiction and cosplay! It's a fangirl's dream! I loved reading about the online forums, the conventions, and all that comes with being a devout member of a fandom. I'm not much of a fandom person myself, but I think it was so much fun to read about these parts of popular culture. I can't speak from experience, so I can only assume that Danika Stone gets it and I feel like this book will really resonate with teens who have strong feelings about characters they love.

Liv was so relatable, albeit dramatic at times. Her favorite character dies, and she shouts her displeasure all across the internet. It was supremely entertaining, and reminded me of a time when I did this on a much smaller scale. Remember that old Beauty and the Beast TV show with Ron Pearlman? I binged it after Christmas one year. The Beast's death in that made me so mad that I was online signing petitions and reading fanfiction and even connected with an older lady who re-wrote the story to bring peace to viewers. lol. So maybe I understand fandom culture more than I think I do? But the show had ended like 17 years before I joined the fandom, so it barely even counts at this point. Anyway, moving on. Liv's passion was impressive. I love, loved her friendship with Xander. It was so cute the way they were always together, and the relationship that develops between them is a young person's dream. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Swoon Reads for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide an honest review.
I've been on a contemporary kick as of late. So this book fit right in my genre feels.
Liv is a college freshman who is obsessed with fandom, particularly that of Starveil. Given the opportunity to talk about it, live it, love it, see it, you name it, she's there. Now, I will admit, this was a bit hard for me to get into. You'd think being the book nerd I am, I'd get it. But it's just not me. So I did start this book off not truly understanding how one can be so obsessed in the way she is. Thankfully, she grows in the book and realizes there are other things more important than Starveil.
I totally got the con thing, though. I've been to a few cons and, while I wasn't a dress it up and get all into it type person, I know just what it's like to be pulled into all that goes on at one. And the way the author presents it and shows it through words is perfect.
Liv's friend Xander is interesting. He's a bit quirky, with this penchant for being totally different: velvet jackets, linen shirts, shows with buckles. Not my type at all. But he pulls it off and I love that he's different and doesn't care what anyone things about him.
Of course a contemporary like this would not be complete with a love story. I'm not sure I truly understand the relationship between Liv and Xander at first, they are friends, but they act like more. By the end it makes sense.
I did like how the author allowed Liv to grow during the book. She makes mistakes but seems to eventually learn from them.
Overall this was a fun read, despite the fact that it took me a bit to get into it (maybe about 50%) through. Anyone who loves fandom and cons will enjoy this read.

DNF at page 128.

This is quite possibly one of the worst written books I've read in years, and this is coming from someone who just finished trying to remember all of the issues with Wayward Son over the past few DAYS because there were so many. At least I the writing for that one was enjoyable, I actually enjoyed reading it despite all of it's flaws.

There are a few reasons I hated this book so much, the first one being the characters. Liv was quite possibly one of the most unlikable characters I've ever read, and not in a fun way. We're supposed to sympathize with this woman, who is a college freshman but acts like she's twelve, and has literally no personality other than being obsessed with her favorite movie series, Starveil. She has literally no positive traits. She hates her BFF's girlfriend irrationally, mocks other women for wearing yoga pants and t-shirts and gets mad at the few people in her life for checking on her after she refuses to eat, sleep or function when she finds out her favorite character died. When she FINALLY talks to someone new, she is only interested in him because he looks like the main character from Starveil, and every comments about him isn't about his personality so much as his similarities to it's main character, Spartan. It's creepy as fuck and she even says she becomes obsessive with thinking about him because of it. Not only is her character creepy and pretty much completely unbelievable, but I'm guessing she's going to have all her problems solved at the end by getting a boyfriend, instead of y'know, therapy. Just like in Fangirl all over again.

Then we have Xander, her best friend/probably future boyfriend. He's certainly unique when it comes to his hobby, cosplay, specifically steampunk so he can talk like a Victorian. Except instead of it coming across as cool, it's just creepy and weird. He almost sounds like a very stereotypical theater gay crossed with a 30-something cishet predator, calling Liv a variety of pet names such as "dearest" and "darling." He also prioritizes her over his super sweet and nice girlfriend, Arden, despite Liv being a complete creep who treats him like crap and forgets their plans and his sexuality.

Arden really pissed me off. Not because of her character, she was actually really nice and the only one I didn't hate, but because of how Liv hated her irrationally. I'm assuming it was supposed to be some sort of jealousy thing because of Xander, but I am so fucking tired of girl on girl hate for no reason. Liv and Xander in general just tear other women down to make the former feel better about herself and it's terrible. At one point Stone tries to go for a "body positive" moment where Xander essentially coerces Liv into wearing a skirt she has from middle school out. She's uncomfortable but he tells her she looks great in it, so she listens since she's got no other dresses or skirts since she's 'not like other girls'. They both kept saying that she had big boobs and is curvy now, but the damn thing fits her fine too??? It makes no sense and yeah, it was pretty disappointing as an actual fat person. 

Another thing that really frustrated me was the way Liv's mother let her boyfriend treat her daughter. She seemed like she wasn't a particularly good or kind parent herself, but her boyfriend, Gary was literally just a verbally abusive asshole. It's just accepted, and Liv barely even dwells on it since she's too busy crying over her dead fictional character.

Writing wise, the characters were just caricatures of stereotypes, and paired with the third person limited view it made the book virtually unreadable. At times it almost felt as if the story was being told by an omniscient narrator because of how disjointed Liv's thoughts were compared to the rest of the story, despite her being the only narrator.

I bet you thought we were done here, but alas, we are not. Now we have to get to the creepiest part of what I read (which, keep in mind, is a little less than half the book). Liv had Xander take on a persona to help her start a project to insist her beloved Spartan isn't dead. For it, she had him dress up as an OC (original character) to request the fandom for their help, and the video goes viral. You're probably going, this doesn't sound that creepy. But just give me a moment, we'll get there. When she first saw Xander all dressed up, she immediately became enamored with him, even though she denied it, bringing us back to her obsession of comparing her love interests to the characters in Starveil. Which isn't even the bad part. Oh no, that part is when we find out a few days later that people have written NSFW fanfics of Xander's OC getting it on with Spartan, and Liv is actively READING THEM. Not only is it creepy as fuck to read a fanfic of someone you know (even if it's not under their own name), but to read porn fic of them and then casually share it with them? What the actual fuck. It also makes the whole 'I forgot you were bi' thing even weirder and brings us into M/M fetishization territory (and I'm too tired to even get into that at this point).

As someone who's been participating in online fandom for more than half her life, this is a really horrifying representation of what it's actually like. In general, this is just a really poorly written and thought out book, which is disappointing since I had been hoping for another fandom inspired read ala Geekerella or The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love. If you've read Stone's other works and loved them you might like this, but I really can't recommend it to anyone.

All the Feels is an incredibly relatable book about, you guessed it, fandoms. This book has everything from cosplay to fanfiction and a main character who leads an online rebellion. An epic friendship made the book even more enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it.

Talk about nerd love. That's the real appeal here; the absolute adoration and respect for nerd culture. Looking at the writing 100% objectively, its a tad overly dramatic. I don't respect in on a purely intellectual level. But reading this book, getting to know its characters, felt like hanging out with my friends. It acknowledges the hell pit that is high school and celebrates the freedom to be the person you want to be, to like the things that you enjoy unapologetically. The resolution is perhaps overly optimistic but an over all enjoyable read.

This book was a delight from beginning to end. A beautiful love letter to fandom, and a touching college coming of age story. Everything about conventions and fandom culture felt genuine to my experiences, and I loved every minute of it!

Liv is a fanatic of the Starveil series; so when her beloved Captain Spartan is killed off in the last film, she is inconsolable. Tired of sitting around in her room sobbing, she decides to go into action, creating vids with the help of her cosplaying BFF Xander that change the message of the last film #spartansurvived. When Liv’s videos go viral, she soon forgets about school, to the disappointment of her mother. A trip to DragonCon with Xander will help her uncover her true “feels” and show her how far her message really went.

Xander is one of the best written love interests in a book that I have read in a long while, I mean a steampunk Regency Mr. Darcy type? Gotta love him.

I had a hard time getting into All The Feels when I first started. I felt that Liv was being a bit over-dramatic over the loss of her favorite leading guy in a franchise. I’ll chalk up my feelings changing to watching a Degrassi reunion episode. As well as of course, my realization that I can totally connect with her. She comes across a bit dramatic but… I know I’ve definitely gotten that way (See any show that I’ve watched like, ever). Just yesterday I was really sad about an endgame couple in a series. I actually lose sleep over character’s deaths. I lose sleep BEFORE characters deaths. I will go into mourning, I will be angry, I will cry if I feel so compelled. Liv was a likable character even if at times I felt she was childish.

Drama_Queen

So sure, you can say Liv’s being over the top, but sometimes people just are over the top when they really love something.

I loved the idea for All The Feels. It deals with fandom which is something that I think a lot of people can relate to. It involves characters just going out and making things happen rather than just waiting for it.

I’m going to do this review in two sections:

What I Loved:

College, Yes!
I loved that Liv was a college freshman. I’ve talked about this quite a bit before, but I find college settings and classes to be so under-used. In All The Feels, Liv lives (ha) at home with her mom while taking classes at the local college.
Fandom – YES
Fandom is such a big part of so many people’s lives now. You can basically find a fandom for anything you like, it’s quite lovely. Liv is a big part of the Starveil fandom online, but she’s not huge. At least . . . not in the beginning. I really love seeing how she immersed herself into the online world. She used fandom as an outlet and I understand that in so, so many ways.
Bisexuality – Representation
There are a few conversations with one of the characters being bisexual. This was good to see as it was actually on page and discussed multiple times. As well as seen a bit.
Wish-Fulfillment
I love a good wish fulfillment story. I just do. Wish-fulfillment is basically where scenarios play out in fiction that you wish would happen in real life. I will say that All The Feels definitely has wish fulfillment moments, especially in the second half. Especially in the end.
Saving The Series
Liv dives into trying to save the franchise that she loves so much. Her first step? Putting together a video, attaching a hashtag #SpartanSurvived and posting it on a message board. Where it then goes viral! The impact of fans though, am I right? (See Veronica Mars Kickstarter / See Pretty Little Liars Petition). Fans are so passionate. I liked how she just went and did this thing after she was tired of just moping around. I felt it was really original how she did the videos. Plus, who DOESN’T want to go viral on the internet, at least sometimes? Now, having that known to the in real life masses may not be the greatest thing. . .
Xander’s Acting
I really liked seeing Xander being interested in acting. He definitely seemed like the type that would be good for that kind of thing. He ends up being in a few of Liv’s videos to save Starveil.
Acting
The Second Half
I loved the second half a lot more. It was definitely where things picked up and I liked the excitement. It takes place at Dragon Con which is an actual con, so it was really fun to read the fictional portrayal of that. Especially having come back from BEA (Book Expo America) just weeks ago, which while it isn’t a con, it gave me a sense of how Dragon Con was for Liv.
All of The Technology
I enjoyed reading the text conversations between Liv and Xander as well as the random Twitter conversations between Liv and other people in the fandom.
What I Didn’t Love:

Xander – A Bit
It was really hard to get my mind to wrap around Liv’s best friend Xander. At the beginning of All The Feels, we find out that they’ve been friends for a number of months since Liv started college. Xander had an interesting fashion choice in that it was quite Victorian and Steam-Punkish. He also talked in a flirty way to basically everyone. I felt like he was maybe a bit too larger than life.
Apparently part of his firtiness was calling Liv “Dearest” in every other sentence to her. I thought Xander and Liv spent a bit too much time together given that he has a girlfriend, but hey, that’s life for you. You can’t separate best friends just because one’s in a relationship. Still, if I’d been dating someone and this went on…I can’t say I’d be too happy.
Xander’s Girlfriend
All The Feels had one of the same minor issues that In Real Life by Jessica Love had. Xander has a girlfriend who is really nice to Liv and considers her a friend. Unfortunately, Liv says that “Sometimes she’s TOO likable.” I have a problem with this statement for a variety of reasons.
How are you going to say that someone is too likable? Why would you want to dislike someone?
Unresolved Subplots
Home Life
I felt like Liv’s home life could have been expanded on. A lot. We discover something about her dad and I wish I’d known more about that. It deals with why Liv is so into the fandom she’s into. Liv’s mom also has this awful boyfriend and I was hoping we’d get closure on that whole thing but nope.
Mental Illness
Liv has anxiety problems as well as depression, which is only touched on a little. As someone who’s definitely sought out the online world during these times, I really wished this had been expanded on a lot. I felt like I was still missing a piece of the love Liv had for the fandom by not knowing everything. I would have liked to know how she was managing (or not really managing) both of these things.
Fandom Personal Life
There was a minor plot of Liv’s mom being adamantly against fandom, yet somehow an event happens later in the book and I’m just asking myself “So how did THAT go down exactly? Did they discuss this? Was it not talked about? I don’t understand.” It was never discussed on page so I was left being a bit questioning. Part of the reason her mother is so against fandom is because of how Liv’s previously reacted with slacking off on school work and such. I really wished that had been touched on a lot more. I was just annoyed at her mom because I didn’t get the big deal.
Miscommunication
So, All The Feels had to throw in a bit of the dreaded miscommunication for good measure. This is done at the end of the book when everything is wrapping up. Why was this added in? I don’t even know. It seemed like one big “hurdle” before the big scene. I really didn’t like this at all and felt it was unnecessary. Especially given that the reason it happens doesn’t make sense because one person did the same thing the other person does previously.
~Overall~

I really liked All The Feels despite the things I didn’t like about it. It showed how much fictional death can affect people. I loved reading a book about a girl being in college while living at home. Xander was hard to swallow at times, but I really enjoyed his character too. I think it would have done better as a first person story as I could have gotten inside Liv’s head a lot more. I will read Stone’s future Young Adult books.

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes

~Who Do I Recommend It To?~

Fans of fantoms

Fans of the internet age

Anyone who’s ever felt sad over a fictional death

~Would I Buy It?~

Maybe.

~Would I Re-Read It?~

Yes.

~Other Random Notes~

Liv reminded me a lot of Cath from Fangirl.

Xander reminded me of a combination of Finch from All The Bright Places and Augustus from The Fault In Our Stars.

I loved everything about this book. Liv is quirky, fun and really grows throughout the book. The interactions between her and Xander throughout the book kept me cracking up and thinking “I can relate” constantly. She and her mom have a relationship that I found sometimes distracting, but I can also understand she’s trying to look out for her. I wish that relationship had been filled out a little more and/or we saw more of it laid out in a sequel. The only bad thing about the book is that it was so short!

There are great references for fangirls and “light” geeks alike in this one and I’d definitely recommend it. By the way, if this one sounds good, you should also look into “The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss”.

Warning: Contains some sexual references.

Who should read it? Fangirls everywhere.