Review: Stranger Than Fanfiction

Stranger Than Fanfiction
Rating: 2/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Cash Carter is the young, world famous lead actor of the hit television Wiz Kids. When four fans jokingly invite him on a cross-country road trip, they are shocked that he actually takes them up on it. Chased by paparazzi and hounded by reporters, this unlikely crew takes off on a journey of a lifetime--but along the way they discover that the star they love has deep secrets he's been keeping. What they come to learn about the life of the mysterious person they thought they knew will teach them about the power of empathy and the unbreakable bond of true friendship. 

I'm still not really sure what to make of this book. I read Colfer's other YA book, Struck by Lightening and I loved it and the synopsis to this intrigued me. Sure it's super unrealistic but it seemed like it was going to be fun. Plus Colfer's sarcasm is always on point. 

I feel like cons where portrayed in a good light and a bad light. Some parts where realistic. Other parts I guess are realistic for actors and stuff, but I feel like it was a bit of a tarring everyone with the same brush kind of move. Not all fans are shrieky, not all fans are 'crazy' and I find the statement that a con isn't successful unless there's violence a bit suspect. Stranger Than Fanfiction is a little bit ridiculous at points, but also funny at others as well as emotional. 

I immediately understood and empathised with Cash and his anxiety. But that was kind of present at the beginning and then faded away. There's a diverse cast, we have two POC characters, one transgender character and one gay character which is fantastic, it's always fantastic to see so much representation. But at points it felt like the characters had been written that way to make it diverse, so kind of shoved in there. Don't get me wrong, there was some good dialogue about acceptance and all of the issues the various characters where dealing with. As far as I can tell, it seemed like each issue was handled in a sensitive and empathetic way, it just seemed tossed in at points. 

I read this fairly quickly and in one sitting, Colfer's usual sarcastic and witty narrative was absent and I ended up resorting to skim reading to get to the end. Cash's problem was easily predictable, I called it pretty early on. I know this is supposed to be kind of a strange fanfictiony vibe, but towards the end I did feel like it was getting a bit over the top ridiculous. Like the end was predictable and kind of unbelievable. It was supposed to be unbelievable but still. 

I enjoyed the road trip and all the random sights they wanted to see, but I was ultimately disappointed by this.