Stranger Than Fanfiction

by Chris Colfer

Cash Carter is the young, world famous lead actor of the hit television show 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.

• ISBN10: 0316383414
• ISBN13: 9780316383417
• Publish Date: 28 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[anastasia]

Full Review on my blog!

Stranger Than Fanfiction is a lot of fun, there’s geeking out for the fictional show Wiz Kids, an abundance of lame roadside attractions across the country, and a dozen new life experiences for these small-town teenagers getting ready to enter the next stage of their life. As secrets are divulged and relationships tested, these close friends and almost-has-been celebrity learn the importance of their friendship and the power of fandom.

The writing style of the book felt very movie-like. Each chapter focused on one character’s inner feelings, which gave a unique narration that makes the reader both an observer of the storyline, as well as a participant.

I love Chris’ writing style. His other books are really good too, which is why I wanted to read this one so bad! I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it!

Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook | Store

[justine_manzano]

I really wanted to like this book, as I love Chris Colfer, and I won this book for free, so I wanted to be able to give him a nice review. But…damn.

Stranger Than Fanfiction is an interesting concept. Four super fans go for a road trip at the end of their senior year of high school and their favorite actor decides to go along with them. 

Unfortunately, it is in the execution where this fails. While Colfer is often clever in his narration, his writing is relatively bland. We are told many things about the characters, but we are rarely shown them and when we are, the showing is very heavy-handed. The road trip sounds like it should be a fun story conceit, but it actually just feels like a series of episodes this group goes through, and an excuse for every character to confide their secrets in the actor.

The characters read as being very immature. They are also a diversity smorgasbord, which would be awesome, if they didn’t feel so flat and like such stereotypes. There’s Topher, the straight cis white guy, who serves as a savior to his disabled brother who really doesn’t even have a character. There’s Joey who is black and gay, and whose journey is reduced to a PSA on why you shouldn’t have casual sex. There’s Sam, assigned female, but a transgender male, whose journey is reduced as a comparison to Cash, the actor, who feels like he’s always acting. Also, Sam serves as a vehicle to inform people about being transgender and we only really get the feeling of his story in the chapter that introduces him, which is actually a strong chapter. If the author had spent more time telling the rest of the story the way he did that chapter, he might have had something. And then there’s Mo, an Asian-American girl whose father is super strict, which is…WOW…such a stereotype.

As a member of a few fandoms, this book paints fandom in such a negative light, and Cash serves solely as a way for Colfer to express his displeasure with fandom and with fame-culture. This is pretty annoying given the fact that he has profited so completely off this culture.

The whole story leads up to a twist that I guessed before the end of Chapter 1. In the end, this was a huge let down. Two stars just for the humorous situations, but this isn’t the kind of story that stays with you.