Gena/Finn

by Kat Helgeson and Hannah Moskowitz

Gena and Finn would have never met, but for their mutual love for the hit TV show, Up Below. Regardless of their differences—Gena is a recent high school graduate whose social interactions largely take place online, while Finn is in her early twenties, encountering the difficulties of job hunting in a poor economy and contemplating marriage with her longtime boyfriend—the two girls realise that the bond between them is more than fan fiction. But when disaster strikes and Gena's world turns upside down, only Finn can save her, and that, too, comes with a price. Told through e-mails, text messages, journal entries, and blog posts, Your Machine Anatomy is a story of friendship and love through social media in the digital age.

• ISBN13: 9781452138398
• Publish Date: 24 May 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Chronicle Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://abramsandchronicle.co.uk/book/9781452138398-gena-finn/

Reviews

[lindsey]

According to the reviews on Goodreads, this book is quite polarizing, with some people loving it and others hating it. I can almost understand the dislike. Almost. The book did make it seem like it was going to go in a different direction at the beginning. It was pretty blatant. But, much like real life, things don't always happen like we hope they will.

In this case, I was a little disappointed in how it turned out, but I still really enjoyed the book. I read it all in one day, almost in one sitting, which hasn't happened in a long time, so I was pretty invested in the story and these characters.

I related to Gena and Finn so much. It was unbelievable just how much. The authors are clearly familiar with the world of fandom, and it felt so immersive.

The story is told through LiveJournal-type journal entries, Tumblr posts, texts, emails, and notebook entries, and while it took a couple of minutes to get used to it, it added so much to the story. One thing I would suggest, though, is to read a physical copy, if possible, because I read the Kindle version, and the formatting was a little messed up at times. But that was a minor problem that didn't take away from the story.

Though it starts off light-hearted enough, with the girls fangirling together, it does take a dark turn about 60% into the story. I wasn't expecting it to get quite so dark, and while I thought it added a deeper element to the story, I feel like it's important to note in case anyone needs to be warned about it.

One of the girls is a fanfic writer, and all good fic writers know that you should properly tag your fics with any warnings that apply to the fic, and this story would need quite a few warning tags. The cover and blurb would make you think it was going to stay fairly light, but there is an element of danger and death, and mental health issues play an important role throughout the book, with the last quarter of the book focusing on it pretty closely.

I really thought the story was going to go in a different direction, and, like I said earlier, I am a little disappointed that it didn't, but I still thought it worked out okay. I don't want to post any spoilers in this review, so I won't get into what I'd hoped would happen, and instead I'll just say that I really enjoyed the book.

Immersive, unique, and well-written, I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a quick and interesting read, especially those who enjoy participating in fandom.

[readingwithwrin]

“I’ve always had a fandom. I’ve always had characters who live in my head and mess with my heart and tell me stories, and I love it.”


Gena and Finn is one of those books that I picked up because it's supposed to be about college and switching from Highschool to college, which is something that I've been looking for more. Don't get me wrong I still love my YA, but I want college books now too, ones that don't involve sex all the time.

This book did that, we get to see Gena go from a boarding school to a college setting where she struggles to cope with multiple things. We see her struggle to make ends meet and her parents being absent, all while she's in this fandom and is pretty well known in it. Then we have Finn who is a recent college graduate looking for a job, and trying to decide if she wants to be with her boyfriend forever or not. She is also in the same fandom as Gena but isn't as well known and Finn does some pretty nice fan art as well.

Gena and Finn are two unlikely characters who probably wouldn't have ever met if it hadn't been for fandom. With this fandom, they slowly become friends and start to tell each other everything. Things that they haven't ever told anyone else. We get to see them fall in a type of love, and friendship where the lines blur and your not really sure if they're a thing or not. Which makes things extremely complicated considering Finn has a boyfriend who wants to marry her.
Besides the romance part of this book, though we get to see a condition where Gena sees's things that aren't really there and even though she is on medicine for it, it has greatly made her question everything she see's because of that.

Overall I really liked this story. Not only was it a nice college-aged book that shows freshman year and what happens after graduating. It dealt with internet friendships and how fandoms can make some of the best bonds between people. It dealt with what happens when your alone and have no one really to talk to about things. Gena/Finn also deals with so much more.

If you want a college-aged book that shows the reality of and fandom as well, then this book is for you!

"You didn't get to choose what happened to you.
You don't get to choose if it still hurts you.
You get to choose if you put it in your sentence about yourself."

[Angie]

Dang. Gena/Finn kind of broke my heart. I was expecting a tale of friendship created by the internet, but what I got was so much more than that! Gena and Finn are both part of the fandom for cop show and start chatting a bit. Then they both go to a convention and find that they hit it off in real life too. They quickly become best friends and it couldn't come at a better time as both girls' lives are falling apart. Gena is having trouble settling into college and managing her mental health while Finn can't get a job and is worried about what the future means for her and her boyfriend.

Gena/Finn was so cute and fun in the beginning. I couldn't help but get swept up in their enthusiasm for their favorite show and their blossoming friendship. The inclusion of fan fiction and summary posts of the show that brought them together was also a nice touch. However, it's when the book takes a darker turn that really got me hooked. I was very emotionally invested in this. Gena and Finn are going through some intense stuff and it just hurt my heart, but also warmed my heart at how Finn took care of Gena during this time.

I really do not want to spoil anything about Gena/Finn. You really have to read this one to get it. The relationship between Gena and Finn is wonderful! It gets pretty deep at points and I wasn't sure which way I wanted it to go, but I am satisfied with how it all turned out. Just be warned that this is not a very upbeat book once things start going, but it does end on a hopeful note.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
3.5*
My fangirl heart could not get enough of this book. I was so invested, because I could relate to so many of the things that Gena and Finn talked about and went through. Fandoms, balancing real life with an internet-based hobby that takes up tons of time, befriending other fabulous people who love the same stuff you do- it was not only fun to read about, it was a scarily accurate portrayal! I feel like it's some combination of my actual blogging life mixed with all the Tumblr blogs for The 100. And those are my favorite things!
So I liked Gena and Finn as characters quite a bit. The whole story was told via emails, texts, blog posts, even journal entries, and I loved it. Sometimes it is hard for me to connect to characters in this type of book, but not so in this case. I felt a definite connection to them both, but especially Finn. I found that I related to her on a lot of levels, and both characters really felt authentic. I also enjoyed the dynamics of Gena and Finn's relationship, both online and then when they meet in person. The story flowed well, and since I definitely enjoyed the whole online friends/convention aspect of it, I was hooked on the plot.

So, what went wrong? The ending. Yeah, the thing I cannot talk about. Well, I can a little I guess, right? So I just felt like it didn't fit with the story, nor was it realistic. I felt like it basically negated the point of the book, and frankly I felt let down by it for a lot of reasons.

Bottom Line: If I was reviewing the first ninety percent of this book, it would be 5 stars for awesome characters and a plot that any fanperson would appreciate. But I can't ignore the last ten percent, and the disappointment it left me with.

**Copy provided for review

[Leah]

My first thoughts on finishing this book? Wow. I've seen this book around the interwebs, featured on people's WoW posts, etc, and I've had it to read for a little while, but finally decided to jump in and what a freaking read. Epistolary novels are rare, and very hard to get right, but Gena/Finn is almost perfect in every way. It had it all. The fandom (which I suspect is based on Supernatural, not that Hannah would tell me when I asked), two AMAZING characters, and some pretty heart-wrenching scenes and secrets.

I'll get the not so good out the way first - the ending. Like 80% into the book there's this entire twist, something happens, and while it was horrifying and had me staring at my screen to see if it was correct, it also left me with tons of questions and a rather unexciting ending. This book was light & fun for sooooo long, and then it all of a sudden got very serious, and I would have just gone in a different direction, because I wasn't honestly sure what it was supposed to accomplish.

Now, the good stuff, and there's a lot of good stuff. I've genuinely got no idea if this was supposed to be a F/F romance with Gena & Finn, BUT that's what I was shipping. From when Gena and Finn first meet each other, they just click. And to be able to bring that across in blog posts/emails/text messages is something not many authors can pull off but the pairing of Moskowitz and Helgeson pull it off effortlessly. I was flipping the pages, desperate to read more, more, more. It was intoxicating, like being pulled into your favourite TV show. It's the kind of friendship I would love to have, to be able to talk about anything with somebody, any time of day, no matter what. Even better was when they DO meet IRL, it was so not weird, I've never genuinely read a book with two characters who just clicked like Gena and Finn.

Their relationship went from like 0 to 100 superfast, but it never felt forced. It just seemed natural, and sometimes it is so much easier to talk to someone behind a laptop than it is someone face to face. It's the kind of relationship you can't get enough of, and I never knew where it was going, but I wanted to be along for the whole ride. It's a book you literally devour, I carried it everywhere with me and read it in one sitting, because I just wanted more, more, more, more, more. It was so intense, so all-consuming. I can't WAIT to get a physical copy of this, to read it again, and see the artwork. See how it was supposed to be formatted all good and proper, because I am so buying myself a copy of this book. Maybe the ending let me down a little bit, but a lot of this book is amazing. This is a special book, and I loved it.