Reflective, Refreshing, Remarkable 

/5

Ah !! This book could have been another 200 pages longer and I would’ve happily kept reading it for April and Marcus. With a dyslexic male character and a fat ( yes, fat and not plus sized) female lead, this book is a gem. I love love every page and dialogue in this book.  Marcus may just be my most favorite book boyfriend. The steaminess in the book is a major plus to Marcus and April’s beautiful story.

SYNOPSIS (from Goodreads)->

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he’s known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster.  Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet’s favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he’d be fired. Immediately. April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her “real life” for years—but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus, one half of her OTP, sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realizes life is really stranger than fanfiction. Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realizes that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she’s actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her. With love and Marcus’s career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled? 

REVIEW->

The Plot ->

The plot is a delicate piece of work –an ambitious storyline that could have easily gone wrong and be offensive. But Olivia has done a remarkable job with every scene and dialogue. Her thoughtfulness and sensitivity behind writing Marcus and Aprils inner thoughts is evident on every page. They are filled with empathy and maturity to the brim.

The Characters->

April and Marcus are the definition of respectful, righteous, caring, wonderful, brave, sensitive individuals and I can’t think of a better pairing for a romcom. April deals with fat shaming in her own brave manner and refuses to put up with anyone who tries to change or insult her. Despite that, her patience and ability to forgive are infinite. April is definitely someone you would want in your life. 

Marcus is a super famous actor and yet his insecurities over being dyslexic tower over him. He takes several pages from Aprils book and learns to stand up for himself. Marcus is a character that only a woman could have written up. A woman as talented and fearless as Olivia Dade.

My Valuable Learning->

April is fat. I have often wondered if fat people have a problem being called fat and if “plus sized” is the term they prefer. We don’t call thin people minus sized. We say you’re too thin and sometimes that flies as a compliment too. April and Olivia say – I am fat! Like you are thin, blonde, short – it is a description and you shying away from it only shows the emotion and value you associate with it. What do you think about this ?

The Writing ->

The book has a lot of fan fiction from the show Marcus is working on and it takes a while to get the flow of the chapters. But the fanfictions are actually in parallel to the actual storyline and a very steamy one too. So it’s a hot addition to an already wonderful story.

The plot seems to have some inspirations from the Game of Thrones world, of book to TV adaptation, so that is an easy scenario to imagine. The book cover is just gorgeous and I kept looking back at the cover every time April’s red hair was mentioned or a kiss came up. I highly recommend you treat yourself to this book.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this wonderful book !

Favorite quotes from the book->

“No, he wasn’t going anywhere near that misogynistic train wreck of a movie, or that genial predator of a director.”

“Instead of waiting 84 years, maybe she should’ve moved her butt a bit to the side and shared the damn board with him in the first place” – Context – Titanic