Spoiler Alert

Probably 3.5, rounding up. Loved the fat representation - numbers aren't given (yay), but it's pretty clear that April is definitely fat, not just a little chubby, which is refreshing. I enjoyed the excerpts from chat logs and fics between chapters as well, but the main conflicts here were from people just not telling each other things, which is my least favorite type of dramatic tension. Still love Olivia Dade and I'm excited for the next one in this series!

April is a wonderful fat main character!! I don't think I've ever read a romance that celebrates self-love while addressing the trauma that comes with being a fat woman while ALSO having delightful fanfiction and fandom references all the live long day!

There is so much love and honesty and communication and drama and rated E (for explicit, not for everyone!) content wrapped up in a niche interest I instantly devoured. April is smart and sexy and Marcus is layered and also sexy and I mean, what's not to love here?

This is basically a GOT fanfic. The male lead's name is like ~barely~ changed from the actual actor's name. I don't even really have an opinion about that, just making a statement.

This was ✨ok✨.
I'm annoyed because some parts of it were cute and made me want to like it. Unfortunately, most it was cheesy and cringey and over dramatic. Like, the characters are almost 40 and upset and worried about SILLY things. Adults acting like teenagers. The entire plot could've been avoided with a simple NDA.
And I'm all here for body neutrality and the like, but some of this felt a lot like, as another reviewer mentioned, getting “woke points” online.

It was also one of those books, like most romances to be honest, where you absolutely know exactly how the conflict/climax of the story is going to go. So you're basically just waiting the entire book for it to happen and hoping there's some decent dialogue or spice along the way.

I just wish it was more cute, less try-hard.
I'm not ready to give up on cartoon cover romances entirely yet. It took me too long to force myself to even try one. But I need recommendations for the BEST ones. If I don't like those, I'm just not the intended audience.

★★★★☆✵
Nem vou fingir que não estou 100% apaixonada.

⚠️ Fat shame, self-conscious body, unnecessary drama, problematic parents. Truly problematic.

Resume of what I thought:
That book is one of those which make us believe in strange (or uncommon) love attraction despite social convention.
And everything that resembles, even in the slightest, of You've Got Mail, the chances to become a favourite are high.
And that what happened here. Although I was a little disappointed once I realized that Marcus wasn't following Joe Fox's woo path.

But first of all:
Geology is not a science.


And at some point I was kinda imagining something like this:



With all due love and respect hehehehehehe.

April's nerdness saying things like:
“I can actually feel the Orbiting electrons inside my body” spoke volumes with my chemistry heart.
But not only.
April's open dialogue about fat shaming and all struggles that any “plus-sized” person have to deal every day it's pretty realistic - despite a little too exaggerated or representative and her personality is a little too confident (or pretending to be so, so very well) with herself, being a little off the character, because all reasons - it is hard to explain even in pt.
It has its problems, and it is not a memorable book, however, it is a light and enjoyable romance as it is.

Random comments in PT:
A semelhança com Game of Thrones é de doer o corazón e cair na gargalhada ao mesmo tempo. Muito embora, pelos relatos do elenco, a cagada dos roteiristas foi beeeem pior do que a observada em GoT.
Eles não apenas mudaram o final tragicamente, como também mudaram as personagens, o arc central,
Claro que é um dos romances mais surreais que na vida real daria bem errado e chance de dar certo são quase nulas. Veja bem: voce consegue imaginar um cara padrão Chris Hemsworth com alguém normal tipo Rebel Wilson? É um conto de fada de pequenas proporções no mundo real - por mais que sonhado por todos nós. Como muito bem apontado pela menina na ComiCon que levantou a mão e disse que o relacionamento de April e Marcus significava muito pra ela.
ISSO foi um tapa na realidade depois das 12h30 de livro, porque mostra, claramente, que as pessoas são tomadas pela aparência e é uma barreira gigante que tem que ser atravessada para que a afinidade (mental) se sobressaia, embora todas as variáveis da vida.
Outro ponto perturbador foram os pais do casal principal. Misericórdia.
Sei que sou afortunada por viver numa bolha com pais extremamente compreensivos e supportive. Mas essas duplas de malucos que reproduziram gerando nosso casal principal, só jogando sal e colocando fogo nos corpos depois pra ter certeza que o demônio saiu.
Não tenho reclamações para o Marcus. Ele foi melhor explicado que a April e ficou mais protagonista.

E, por fim:
Se tiver um segundo volume do Alex não vou me importar nada.

Minutos depois....

É OFICIAL. QUERO UM VOLUME DO ALEX (CHAP 19).
De longe, alguém estourado, estupidamente bonito, e amável que merece um volume.

this book made me laugh, cry, feel excitement.. just everything !

The plot is just the dream of every fangirl. It mixes tv shows and books and fanfics. WIth this boo I realized I really loved the secret identity trope, I was just screaming for Marcus to tell everything to April. I also loved the whole authenticity of the book, except the premise of the celebrity dating the fan there were so much moments were I told myself “that's exactly it” for example the plus size representation : we see throughout the book the people surrounding April giving her advices for her health supposedly or what she should eat or do without thinking that it could be something else or hurtful, every fat person exactly knows that ! I liked that during sex scenes there were desciptions of stretch marks, so much women have them for hundreds of reason but even in plus size romances they never mention it. And lastly I liked the fact that april's taste was not described as something sweet, every woman knows that it's just a lie but every romance describes it as honey like for example. It quite balanced the premise of the book that is not really realistic.
I also liked the representation of difficult relationships with parents and the fact that we don't owe people, even the one we loved, forgiveness.

This book was just cute, fluffy and super sexy. I would love to see the second book about Alex and Lauren, they seem to have a really fun and cute relationship.

Geweldig boek voor de nerds in hart en nieren, inclusief fan fictie en cosplay.
Zuiverend ook voor al wie met blijvende negatieve gevoelens zit over de conclusie van Game of Thrones. De inspiratie wordt duidelijk niet onder stoelen of banken gestoken!

Dit verhaal bevat, naast het feit dat het gewoon ook een heel grappig (vooral de verschillende nep-films!) en fijn zwijmel boek is, ook nog een fantastisch geschreven representatie van bewustwording over gevoelige onderwerpen en een koppel dat echt excellent met elkaar communiceert. Allé ja, naast de obligate conflict-situatie-waardoor-we-uit-elkaar-gaan-maar-op-het-einde-alles-toch-weten-op-te-lossen ;).

Slim, mooi, warm en gezellig boek, aanrader voor als je een oppepper nodig hebt.
Ik kijk ook enorm uit naar het volgende verhaal, dat van Alex en Lauren. Echt balen dat het wachten wordt tot volgende zomer!

Guys, this book was so cute. The story follows a geologist who writes fanfiction about one of her favorite stories, as well as an actor who stars in the show based on those stories. He also writes fanfiction about the story, improving upon what the show misses out on. These two have been internet friends for years. They later meet in real life without realizing they are the same people they talk to daily on the internet. Obviously, romance ensues.

The societal discussions that happen in this book are so important. The male protagonist is dyslexic, making people assume he isn't intelligent and gets roles based on his good looks. The female protagonist is fat and has dealt with people trying to change her throughout her entire life, even her family. These two help each other get through these barriers society has put up for them and it was beautiful to read. Also, this story definitely doesn't lack in the steamy department. I highly recommend this book to romance fans!

"Honestly, if she hadn't begun to like him so much, she would find his excessive handsomeness extremely aggravating."

What it's about:
April is a plus-sized geologist who spends her spare time cosplaying, reading and writing fanfiction for her favourite book series turned TV series, ‘Gods of the Gates' (a thinly veiled ‘Game of Thrones' reference).

Marcus is the hunky lead actor in ‘Gods of the Gates' who to all the world appears to be a complete himbo. In his free time, he has taken to writing fanfiction to channel his frustrations with how the show-runners deviate from the source material and contradict characterisation. 

When Marcus is tagged in a Twitter thread of April's cosplay get-up by a man body shaming her, Marcus comes to her public defence and invites her on a date in an attempt to prove to the trolls and haters that April is not unattractive. Here, Marcus discovers April's fanfic penname and realises that she is his anonymous fandom bestie and beta-reader. Of course, instead of confessing his secret fandom identity to her he conceals it but continues to date her, giving us one of the main conflicts of the novel.

Themes present in this story include:

• Marcus feels stifled by his public persona but afraid to let the real him show
• Body-shaming and body-positivity, April's past experiences dating as a fat woman and her insecurities and fatphobia within fandom
• Toxic parenting and strained parent/child relations - Marcus' parents are snobby & pretentious, ashamed of his lack of academic achievement and dyslexia; April's father is embarrassed by her size and her mother constantly undermines April and body-shames her
• Dual POV from both Marcus and April
• Marcus concealing their previous connection from April while pursuing a relationship with her

“I'm not looking to be fixed. I want to be loved and liked and desired not because of my size, not despite my size, but because I'm ME. My character, my choices, my words.”

What I thought:

• My first time reading a book by Olivia Dade and I enjoyed it enough that I now have most of the other things she's written on my wishlist!
• There were fanfic self-insert vibes, but I felt it was a well-written one and, perhaps due to being a lover of fanfic, I didn't mind it.
• I related to April's insecurities regarding letting the nerdier aspects of her personality and interests show at work and other non-fandom places.
• I was glad that Marcus was called out on how unfair and uneven his knowing April's online persona and their prior friendship and keeping this from her was, this wasn't glossed over and was treated as the massive betrayal and manipulation it absolutely is.
• Enjoyed the supporting cast of characters, although I do agree with previous reviewers that an actor in a major franchise happily admitting he writes pegging fanfic about said franchise (Marcus' colleague who jumps into the fanfic scene after Marcus confides in him) requires some suspension of disbelief because it does seem very unlikely!
• The Red Riding Hood role-play was seriously cringe and unsexy, glad that ended there!

“If those lines in the script contradicted seasons' worth of character development, not to mention the books that had inspired the series, he wouldn't dwell on that. Not now.”

As someone that used to belong to a fanfic community and has also been a longtime fat person (lol), I loved this book. I related to April in so many ways. I loved reading about the way Marcus viewed her and how he described her body with reverence. I gathered from the references throughout that Marcus Caster-Rupp was not so loosely modeled after Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister, that Gods of the Gates was Game of Thrones, and that E. Wade was George R. Martin. Fanfiction inception. I wanted to watch Gods of the Gates and read the books though so I could be a fan. I loved the tags for the fanfics and the mention of kudos. I also loved that the biggest complement April (as a fanfic writer) received, was that her smut was great from E. Wade. The relationships Marcus and April had with their parents were important. I think this was almost a 5 star, but sometimes it teetered over the edge of fluffy into corny. I definitely want to continue this series, and I haven't looked into who the next book is about, but I realllllly hope it's Lauren and Alex.

This was such a fun read! It feels like reading fanfic in the BEST possible way, and all the nods to ACTUAL fanfic communities is very much icing on the cake. It???s been YEARS since I actively participated (in that I post fic and comment on other people???s work), but there were plenty of moments when I felt warm and fuzzy over memories from when I was more active. I also appreciate how the author CELEBRATED the good things about fandom and fanfic writing, not least because fanfic is still looked down upon by a lot of authors - this, despite the fact that some of the most popular authors, especially in genre fiction, used to write fanfic themselves, and their work as fanfic authors shows in how they write their own original works.
I was also delighted by the way April???s weight and Marcus???s dyslexia were handled. Their respective drives to heal from the trauma caused by their upbringing and a less-than-kind world was very touching to read about, but what really got me was how they supported each other through their most challenging moments. I also appreciated how their romance didn???t necessarily ???fix??? their respective traumas; their love and support for each other are very important factors in HELPING them heal, but it does not in any way FIX them. This is a distinction I deeply appreciate.
Overall, this was a wonderful, squee-worthy read. The nods to fandom and fanfic writing were thoroughly enjoyable to read about, as was the development of April and Marcus??? relationship. This reads like fanfic in the best way possible, and is guaranteed to give anyone who???s ever been involved in fanfic and fandom the most wonderful warm and fuzzy feelings. 

It was ok! Happy with plus size representation but the characters had no depth. All that she is is a 36 year old red head, who writes fan fiction. All that he is is a 40 year old shy actor with dyslexia. I'll admit Marcus was the more interesting of the two but he was still lacking depth.

There was some fan fiction at the end of each chapter that I skipped.... I read the DM conversations between characters but couldn't care less about the random fan fiction.

Like, it had potential for a good concept but I felt it could be executed better.