Kole Miller does one thing really well: write fanfiction for the show The Space Game. Everything else is a struggle: like managing her anxiety, frequent crushes, and plans after high school. But when her blog, Spacer, wins a major fanfiction contest, her traffic soars.
With massive readership comes criticism Kole isn’t prepared for, including getting stuck in the heated ship wars surrounding the show. And then an invitation to speak at The Space Game’s official convention arrives in her inbox.
When the most competitive kids in her Creative Writing class discover Kole’s writing Spacer, her blog is taken hostage and she risks them hitting ctrl+A+del on Spacer. To win it back, Kole must face both her inner demons and the ones at Crystal Lake High before they make the drama not just about The Space Game, but about Kole herself.
Including snippets from Kole’s fanfic, emails, and text messages, Down With This Ship is sure to bring out the inner fangirl in anyone.
It's a mixed review today, sadly.
First off: I adore fanfiction. I read and write it in my (limited) spare time. I love that it's becoming mainstream enough to put in a novel, that people realise it's not just 'smut written by middle aged women' but actual, proper, hard work. Show me a novel about fanfic, I'm there.
However.
These things are really subjective, I know. But Kole's writing just didn't seem that good to me. Possibly because we never learn enough about the actual show to know what's meant to be going on; possibly because it's presented in tiny snippets of about a page and a half (if I came across a fanfic with chapters that short, I would not be reading. Again, subjective.)
Kole herself is an odd character. I sympathised with her a lot over some things, and not at all over others. For instance, she refuses to even consider the notion that other people are allowed to have different opinions. When her friends suggested that they prefer a different romantic pairing in a fictional show, she straight up cut them out of her life. That's the kind of fan that most fans disavow, because they give fandom a bad name. Everyone's allowed their opinion, but it's very bad form to berate someone over theirs.
And, as someone else pointed out; show runners, writers, and most actors avoid fanfic like the plague. They don't want to leave themselves open to claims of stealing ideas from the writers. There's just no way that the whole cast and crew of The Space Game know about, read and discuss Kole's blog.
However, those issues might not bother people who aren't really into fanfiction, and if you're just looking for a cute read about teen love, this is an excellent choice; the pace is good, the dilemmas are gripping and by the end, when Kole is advocating for people of all 'ships to live in harmony, I was smiling. If you're looking for a nice, light read, this is it. Just remember; the best 'ship of all is friendship. (It's not, it's clearly Tony and Pepper, but wasn't that a nice note to end on?)
Down With This Ship publishes on the 8th of June, 2021. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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