Title: Internet Famous
Author: Danika Stone
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: June 6th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Can an online romance survive in real life?
Internet sensation Madison Nakama has it all! Her pop-culture rewatch site has a massive following, and fans across the world wait on her every post and tweet. Even Madi’s dismal romantic life seems ready to take off as Laurent, a fellow geek (and unfairly HOT French exchange student!) starts flirting with her in the comments section of her blog. But Laurent’s not the only one watching for Madi’s replies.
Internet fame has a price, and their online romance sparks the unwanted attention of a troll. When Madi’s “real life” hits a rough patch, she feels her whole world crumbling. With Laurent’s support, can Madi rally her friends across the globe to beat the troll, or will he succeed in driving her away from everything―and everyone―she loves?
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In Internet Famous, Danika Stone has created a literary world fit for bloggers, fans, and basically anyone who loves fandoms. This book is fast-paced and filled with a roller coaster of emotions mainly centering on falling in love, time crunching, graduating high school, and dreadfully dealing with trolls and cyberbulling. With a realistic approach, Stone has allowed her characters, especially Madi and Laurent, to explore a world that suggests that true friendships can develop even if it’s through the mutual love of fandom, movies, memes, and art.
As the main character, Madi has a lot on her plate. Not only is she finishing up her high school career by completing online classes, she is also running a highly praised blog. Additionally, she is also trying to make sure her sister, Sarah, who is on the autism spectrum, lives a life of routine and comfort. I’m a huge fan when sibling relationships are explored in literature, and I adored Madi and Sarah’s interactions–even when they were fighting. Madi and Sarah may have their differences, but they find common ground in movie nights, and their interactions also show how much they love and dearly care for each other.
As previously stated, Madi runs a blog dedicated to her love for fandoms and reliving them. She allows her fans to vote for the fandoms that they would like her to live blog, watch/rewatch, or even read/reread. I loved how active Madi is with her fans and she gives them an outlet to interact and voice their opinions too. I’m not going to lie, although I loved when Internet Famous focused on rewatching 80s movies, I was crossing my fingers for a Buffy rewatch. But overall, I felt that as a blogger with such a huge fan base, Madi did not allow her fame overshadow the reasons why she blogged: it’s fun, enjoyable, and it let her be herself while globally interacting with people who also love fandoms.
Internet Famous also contains one of the best developing relationship stories I have read in a long time. Madi and Laurent’s relationship slowly develops and burns throughout the pages. I like that they take the time to get to know each other. This is not an instant-love relationship, but instead a romance that develops through online interaction, real-life interaction, the exchange of swoony texts, and coffee dates. Both characters communicate really well with each other, and I loved how honest and straightforward they often were with each other. The swoony relationship in this book was definitely my favorite part; it’s as sweet and ooey and gooey as a warm cinnamon roll.
In Internet Famous, one of the subject matters that made my stomach twist in knots was the focus on trolls and cyberbullying. The truth of bullying makes my stomach ache, and a lot of this book focuses on the negative outcomes that come from putting your opinions and life online. Danika Stone captures the realistic negativity that internet trolls add to people’s lives, especially the hate that Madi receives from one of her online fans. Although I was not a fan of cyberbullying pumping up Madi’s angst, I think Stone handles this topic very well.
Overall, Internet Famous is the perfect book to curl up with this summer. Through a unique writing style of memes, texts, Tweets, and picture posts, this book blends together laugh-out-loud moments, great friendships, and swoons. But it also focuses on maturity, facing negative feedback from the real world, and finding the perfect balance of what should and should not be put out in the cyber world. Definitely give this fun, fast-paced book a chance, especially if you are dedicated blogger, a blogger follower, or a fandom lover.
Danika Stone is an author, artist, and educator who discovered a passion for writing fiction while in the throes of her Masters thesis. A self-declared bibliophile, Danika now writes novels for both adults (The Intaglio Series and Ctrl Z) and teens (Icarus and All the Feels). When not writing, Danika can be found hiking in the Rockies, planning grand adventures, and spending far too much time online. She lives with her husband, three sons, and a houseful of imaginary characters in a windy corner of Alberta, Canada.
The first book in Danika’s upcoming Tathagata series (Edge of Wild) was selected as a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel of the Year Award (2013). Edge of Wild (Stonehouse CA) will be released March 2016. Danika’s YA novel, All the Feels (Macmillan US), will be released June 2016.
Ms. Stone is represented by Morty Mint of Mint Literary Agency.
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rants and raves of a bibliophile 
Ha! I wanted a Buffy re-watch too. I so enjoyed the commentary on the other re-watches, I wanted to know what they would say about Buffy. Stone is so good at this type of book. I look forward to reading more of her books. Great review!
Sam @ WLABB
Stone definitely has a unique and creative way of writing. I love how interactive her style is with the reader.
Great review! This sounds like a sweet ,entertaining read! I love how emotionally crafted it seems, and Madi sounds like an easy to like character! 🙂
Thank you, Giselle. And thanks for having me as a host today. You can never go wrong with Danika Stone and her lively and well-developed characters.
Lovely review! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed that one – I need to add it to my TBR! 🙂 I haven’t read any book by this author yet, but I feel like I could really love that one – I like how it focuses on blogging AND with siblings relationships ❤
I’m always a fan of sibling relationships too. If you love reading about fandoms and blogging, this book is for you!