REVIEW and GIVEAWAY
Internet Famous
by Danika Stone
Internet Famous by Danika Stone is currently on tour with Xpresso Book Tours. The tour stops here today for my review, an excerpt, and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
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?
Book Video
Excerpt
The message arrived as Madison Nakama slid into the passenger seat of her mother’s sedan. She pulled the phone from her pocket with one hand and tugged the seat belt across her lap with the other.
NEW Message, *anonymous*: 3:59 p.m. EST
Subject: I Love, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR BLOG!
Subject: I Love, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR BLOG!
Madi grinned. Fanmail was the very best kind of e-mail! The messages had been coming in more frequently the last few weeks, sometimes two or three a day and many more after a rewatch. Each note of happiness she received gave Madi a thrill of excitement. People loved what she blogged!
The voice of Madi’s sister, Sarah, echoed from the backseat. “What’re you reading, Madi?”
Madi hit open, waiting as the message loaded on her phone. “Just a message.”
“Is it Aunt Lisa again?” Sarah asked. “She texted Dad seven times today. Mom told Dad to turn off his phone since he was at home, and Dad said he was waiting for a message from his editor. But then Mom said the editor could e-mail and Aunt Lisa was interrupting their personal time, but he told Mom that she was his little sister, and if she wanted to talk, he’d talk. So is”—her sister took a quick breath—“this Aunt Lisa again?”
“Not Lisa,” Madi said absently. “Someone else.”
“Is it about your blog?”
Madi glanced toward the front door of the house, but their mother had yet to arrive. Madi still had time. “Uh-huh,” she mumbled.
Dear MadLib,
I’ve never written to anyone famous before, so I hope this is okay! I recently joined the MadLibbers, and I had to tell you how much I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your blog! I’d heard about your rewatches once or twice, but hadn’t checked them out before this month. When a fandom friend of mine told me you’d started a rewatch of the SV series, I decided to pop by. I am SO GLAD that I did! I’ve never laughed so hard at—
I’ve never written to anyone famous before, so I hope this is okay! I recently joined the MadLibbers, and I had to tell you how much I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your blog! I’d heard about your rewatches once or twice, but hadn’t checked them out before this month. When a fandom friend of mine told me you’d started a rewatch of the SV series, I decided to pop by. I am SO GLAD that I did! I’ve never laughed so hard at—
“So who is the message from?” Sarah asked, interrupting the flow of Madi’s thoughts. She groaned, scanning to find her place again.
—the inside jokes and all those fandom FEELS. I honestly just wanted to call you up and say: “IKR???!!!” You totally GET it! And I know you were never a SV fangirl before you started the rewatch, but if you ever—
“Madi!” Sarah shouted. “Who’s the message from?!”
Madi jerked. “I don’t know who,” she said. “It was sent anonymously.”
“But why would someone send you an anonymous e-mail?”
“Because they don’t want me to know who they are.”
“Why would they e-mail you at all, if they didn’t want you to know that? Why send anything? They could just not e-mail and then you’d never know anything about them. It doesn’t make sense.”
Madi glanced over the back of the seat to find her younger sister watching. Sarah was small for fifteen years old, but the severity of her expression made her seem older.
“I’ll explain the whole anon thing later, okay?” Madi said. “I just need a minute to finish.”
“Finish what?”
“I want to reply to this message before we go to the park.”
“But—”
“Please, Sarah. Just a minute.”
Her sister crossed her arms and looked out the window. “Fine,” she sighed.
Madi hit reply, her thumbs blurring over the screen as she typed.
Reply to Message from *anonymous*: 4:03 p.m. EST
Subject: RE: I Love, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR BLOG!
Hi, Anon!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog! Don’t feel you have to hide. Feel free to jump into the liveblog on Twitter when we start Starveil V: Ghosts of the Rebellion. That rewatch starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST. Just search up the MadLibs tag and—
Subject: RE: I Love, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOUR BLOG!
Hi, Anon!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog! Don’t feel you have to hide. Feel free to jump into the liveblog on Twitter when we start Starveil V: Ghosts of the Rebellion. That rewatch starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST. Just search up the MadLibs tag and—
Before Madi could finish, the door to the house opened and Madi’s mother appeared. She took a step outside then turned back around, pausing half in and half out of the doorway. Madi figured her father must have called out to her to do some last-second errand. (Her father was always doing that.) With Olympic-level thumb-typing abilities, Madi sped through the last bit of her message.
—join in! I’d love to see you there.
Thanks for the fanmail. Got to go!
MadLib
Thanks for the fanmail. Got to go!
MadLib
With a grin, she hit send. The door to the car opened with a screech and Madi looked up to see her mother, white-faced, as she slid behind the wheel.
Madi’s smile faltered. “Everything okay, Mom? You look—”
“Everything’s fine,” she said, then pulled the car onto the street without another word.
Madi glanced into the backseat, hoping to catch Sarah’s eyes, but her sister was engrossed in something on her phone. After a moment, Madi turned back around. She slid her phone back in her pocket and frowned, the fleeting joy from her fanmail already gone.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
"An enjoyable, fast-paced read to which teens will relate because of the social media–influenced format." ~ School Library Journal
"This is very much a current book and anyone familiar with social media and blogging will recognise pretty much everything in this book. I liked the mix of styles, between Madi's narrative, her blog and messages between friends. I have a bit of a soft spot for fandom stories, and this one worked really well." ~ Cora
"This book has the perfect balance of sweet and significant content, which I absolutely adored." ~ Olivia (The Candid Cover)
"That was adorable! And that ending was everything." ~ Sam Kozbial
"I love the storytelling aspects of using text messages, blog posts and tweets to help tell the story. It was an easy read and one that was very enjoyable." ~ Alice (marriedtobooks)
My Review
By Lynda Dickson
Madi Nakama is still a senior in high school, but she's already Internet famous, thanks to her blog about popular culture. When family problems cause her to turn to her online friends for support, her Internet life intersects with her real life, and Madi discovers just how famous she really is. But fame comes at a price. An anonymous fan becomes a troll, harassing her first in private and then in public. As the attacks escalate, Madi begins to suspect everyone around her. Who is the troll? Will Madi's new friendships survive her increasing paranoia? Will she emerge with her online (and offline) reputation intact?
Each chapter begins with a fitting 1980s movie quote. The narrative is interwoven with emails, Tumblr posts and messages, tweets, Snaps, texts (complete with graphics and emojis), and Skype sessions. Part romance, part family drama, part mystery, part suspense/thriller, Internet Famous is modern and fresh, with a bit of nostalgia thrown in for us older readers. I especially enjoyed the 1980s movie references. The only movie I haven't seen yet is Say Anything; it's definitely one I'll have to "rewatch".
Warnings: coarse language.
Some of My Favorite Lines
"You set the bar," he said. "Now you’re dealing with the consequences. You’re a victim of your own success."
"Crushing on someone made a cool façade a lot harder to manage."
"This wasn’t just friends saying good-bye, she realized—it was like a scene from a movie."
"This had been—bar none—the most exciting night in her entire life. It felt like a movie, and she wasn’t ready for the credits to run."
"The best thing to do with trolls was to ignore them."
"It felt like she was watching a movie of her life from an earlier era."
"The code to the Wi-Fi is a privilege, not a right."
"She wanted something funny or smart to say—like some kind of moment from the movies when the sassy heroine tells it like it is—but she was no Molly Ringwald, and her words and brain had parted ways."
"It was awesome and silly, and she couldn’t quite believe her own life was mimicking the movies."
"If her entire life had turned into an ’80s movie, Laurent was doing his best to play the part of the romantic lead."
"She wondered if anyone else was as terrible at blurting things out as she was. (If there were an Oscar for this sort of thing, she’d win it.)"
"I like you for who you are," she said. "I liked you even before I knew who you really were."
"The future—their future—a page waiting to be written."
"It felt like she’d stumbled into a horror movie, and though she didn’t know why it was happening, the serial killer had found her once again."
"This isn’t like it is in the movies. We can’t just click a couple keys to find him and send a SWAT team to his house."
"Why is it always so much easier to be a detective in the movies?"
About the Author
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 (Intaglio and CtrlZ) 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).
Ms. Stone is represented by Morty Mint of Mint Literary Agency.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a print copy of Internet Famous by Danika Stone (US only).
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