Fandom

The Fandom #1

by Anna Day

Violet en haar vrienden zijn fans van de populaire bestseller The Gallows Dance, die ook verfilmd is. Verkleed als hun helden gaan ze naar Comic Con, om daar de acteurs uit de film te ontmoeten. Maar tijdens een bizar ongeluk worden ze opeens echt het verhaal in gesleurd.

Gevangen in een weerzinwekkende wereld waarin ze per ongeluk de dood van hoofdpersonage Rose hebben veroorzaakt, is er nog maar één manier om te overleven: Violet moet de rol van haar heldin overnemen om het verhaal door te laten gaan. Maar dat is niet zonder gevaren...

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance, Fiction, Science Fiction, Contemporary

443 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2018

About the author

The short version: I’m an Author/single mum/Clinical psychologist/Geordie/lover of stories, music and floaty things.

Read the long version here.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's every super fan's dream turned reality to find themselves transported into their favourite fictional world. Who hasn't fantasised about taking herbology class in Hogwarts, fighting the white walkers in Westeros, or running the Maze with Minho?

The Fandom allows readers to do just that.

The story begins with Violet, and fellow fangirl Alice, obsessing over their up-coming trip to comic con, where they will get to meet the actor who plays their favourite fictional bae, Willow. Willow resides in the bestselling book, and successful movie adaptation of the same name, The Gallow's Dance. His real-world equivalent might be a cocaine-snorting and model-dating douche, but their excitement still remains unbridled. Accompanying the duo is their friend Katie, clueless about any fiction from this century, and Violet's younger brother, Nate, who might be more obsessed with this fictional world than his sister is!

The foursome end up with far more than they bargained for, however, when they find themselves transported directly into the world of The Gallow's Dance, moments after meeting their fictional idol. Events continue to unfold almost exactly as they do in the canon, but with four quite obvious and real-world additions to the story-line.

Violet must decide whether to continue following the plot to its sorrowful close, or write her own story and risk trapping her friends into a lifetime of unknowable risks and horrors.

The concept of this appealed to my inner-fangirl who is tragically still awaiting her Hogwarts' acceptance letter! To enter, an albeit new, fictional land and get to relive this fantasy (minus the accompanying danger) sounded like a fangirl's dream come true.

'The Fandom' incorporated authentic characters into this innovate plot and truly honed their collective feelings of awe and excitement, mixed with confusion and fear, on entry to the fictional London of The Gallow's Dance. You got a sense that these were true fans but also genuine human beings with genuine human responses to their ordeals.

The text also incorporated a number of pop culture references, that conspired together to add to the reality of their situation. This extra narrative layer, in which I was constantly puzzling out the references and searching for more subtle links to my own favourite fandoms, was another example of how cleverly the reader was united with the characters.

The actual fictional world that is entered was also as fully fleshed as the outer-layer story-line. It played with popular tropes from young adult dystopia, and the contemporary human additions combined to make this an almost satire of itself. By allowing reality to intrude on fantasy the reader is invited to tear apart the fabric of the text and this cleverly becomes a parody of the thing it is parading as.

With a startling believable plot, an exciting narrative, and a link to already beloved contemporary fandoms I found little to fault in this already-acclaimed new addition to the dystopian genre. I will, however, think twice about daydreaming about my own inclusion into my favourite fictional fandoms...

[Faye · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read: September 2018
DNF at page 65

The reason I couldn't read this book any further than page 65 was the treatment of a female character named Alice. Alice is a teenage schoolgirl who is tall, blonde, pretty and Violet's best friend. She has been her best friend since primary school and treats Violet as a best friend should; she is nice, supportive, compliments her, tries to get on with Violet's other friend Katie, hangs out with her outside of school and they share a love of the fictional book 'The Gallows Dance.'

However, because Alice is beautiful (as Violet keeps reminding us with repeated mentions of her blonde hair, Amazon-like height and perfect face and teeth) apparently it is ok put down her hobby as a popular fanfic writer with snide comments (pg 12), call her a 'human Barbie' (pg 16), imply that she is stupid ('A DNA helix,' Katie says...I notice Alice scowling, the foundation cracking on her usually flawless skin' pg 23), allow a woman to rip a chunk of hair from Alice's head (pg 42), humiliate her when she is forced to wear clothing that is too small for her which is then forcibly ripped open at the crotch (pg 47), watch that same woman threaten to 'knock a couple of [her] teeth out' (pg 54), force her to kneel in the dirt so they can 'hack' her hair off (pg 55), and finally (the final straw for me), allow a man to tear her clothing from her body to expose her 'slender limbs' (pg 62).

- All of the above, by the way, has nothing to do with the main plot, as far as I could tell by page 65.

I am so done with this tired old trope that any female characters described as pretty, - or prettier than the main character anyway - who are interested in normal teenage/young adult things like wearing or experimenting with make-up, become an immediate and viable target for vile things to happen to them; attacks, sexual assault, not to mention the myriad of derogatory comments from other men and women around them. And these are supposed to be justified in the eyes of the reader because the character in question happens to be a young, attractive female. So of course she deserves it.

This gets to me so much because I am the mother of a tall, blonde teenage girl and the idea that anyone would look at her and assume that she's stupid, her hobbies are pointless and that she deserves attack and ridicule for being blonde or wearing make-up - the same way Alice is treated in the book - makes my blood boil.

[Cora Tea Party Princess · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Words: Fandom, danger, love, betrayal, friendship.

Oh man. I love books about fandoms. I love the giddy excitement, getting swept away by the enthusiasm and love.

When I read, I tend to spend a portion of my time imagining that I am in the story with the characters. But let's be honest, would you really want to find yourself in the books you read?

As Violet and her friends discover, this isn't always a good thing. They have disrupted the canon of the world they have found themselves in, and they have to find a way to fix it to get home. Dilemmas and confusion and drama ensue (and it's excellent).

I loved the mix of worlds. There was the real world, with familiar references and sights and smells. And then BOOM you're in The Gallows Dance. I liked how the world was explored through Violet and the differences she saw between the film and canon. The sights and smells came to life on the page, I was experiencing them with Violet.

I kinda really want to read the actual The Gallows Dance story now. And I need more of THIS story.

[April (Aprilius Maximus)]

These characters are annoying as hell and I don't really want to finish a book I know I'm not going to love, so byeeeeeee

[Lauren (Northern Plunder) · Rating 1 out of 5]

My review was first posted on Northern Plunder, you can read more of my reviews there too.

okay wow.

dnf @ 18 pages because of toxicity.

girls can be cute. ur best friend can be cute and have great boobs. cosplayers can have skin on show.

stop being derogatory towards other girls. we do not need this. girls supporting girls is great and what we should be striving towards. i am sooooo done. i am rolling my eyes at this main character too much.

and lastly who the fuck is princess LEAH?
-----------

i mean i have an ARC so maybe these are changed but hey lets get to know alice - her best friend.

When Alice is first mentioned:
"Come on you know you're hot"
I laugh, "Yeah Im sweating like a pig after that car crash"
"Just because you're not six foot and blonde like some people"
She means Alice. I don't reply. It's hard when your best friend looks like Britains Next Top Model.

When we first meet Alice:
".... Here comes Alice." The smile never leaves Katies mouth but it slips from her eyess" Like me, she's learnt to tell when Alice approaches by reading other people. Every male glances over his shoulder, every girl falls silent, brow knitted in a tight frown.

& on the way to the con:
"I suddenly feel very overdressed" I say, unable to avert my eyes from the acres of exposed flesh. Princess Leah, Wonder Woman, Daenerys Targaryen - all thighs and cleavage and fake bake. I study my pale forearms and supress a sigh. "And by overdressed, I mean not nearly naked enough."
...
...
"Like you should have come as Lara Croft" Alice says "Seriously girls - and boy - how am I the only one who owns a Wonderbra?" she puffs out her impressive chest and winks


AHHHHHHHHH.
Sure enough, the crowd parts like the Red Sea but this Moses has long bronzed legs that swallow up the tiled floor as she strides towards us. A smile lights up her perfect, oval face. She's always had that smile, ever since I met her on our first day at primary school - the kind of smile that makes you forgive her for being so beautiful.

[Seda · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Al sana Kızıl Yükseliş🙊🙊)


Normalde kitaba yorum yazmayacaktım ama 2. kitap olan Darağacı Şarkısı’nı okuduktan sonra bir sinir birikmesi oldu.🙊🙊 Seriyi beraber okuduğum Şeymoş ile konuşurken karar verdik ki yorum yazmadan asla bu sinirimizi atamayacağız. (Ne çektik be Şeyma!🥺)

Kitaba, pardon yoruma girişmeden önce, bir şeyi samimiyetle çok merak ediyorum ve özellikle ilk kitabı okuyup beğenenlere sormak istiyorum; Kızıl Yükseliş’i okumadınız mı, yoksa okudunuz ama bu kitabı okurken benzerlikleri fark etmediniz mi? Çünkü denk geldiğim yorumlarda bu kitabın Kızıl Yükseliş’in hayran kurgusu?! olduğuna dair bir yoruma rastlamadım.

Distopya çok iyi yazılmadıysa okumayı çok tercih ettiğim bir tür değil aslında. Ama iyi örneklerini ağır distopya olsa da, çıtır çerez tarzında olsa da çok severek okurum. (Altın Oğul, Sabah Yıldızı ya da Parazit-Panzehir gibi.) Bugüne kadar çok fazla distopya okumadıysanız seriyi beğenme ihtimaliniz sanırım daha yüksek olabilir. (İhtimal ama söz vermiyorum.🙊) Ama benim gibi fazla distopya okumamış biri için bile distopya türü adına çok yetersizdi.

İlk kitaptaki distopik ögeler ve olaylar ağırlıklı olarak Kızıl Yükseliş’ten alınmaydı. Esinlenme vs. değil, dikkatinizi çekerim. Birebir alınma. Darağacı fikri, Rose’un asılması, isyan çıkması, kitabın içindeki kitapta erkek karakterin isminin WILLOW olması, Gem’lerin kusursuz fiziki özellikleri ve sarışın olmaları, Imp’lerin sıradan, fakir ve aç olmaları, yaşayışları, 2. kitabın orijinal isminin Fandom Rising olması gibi bir sürü örnek verebilirim buna. (Bazı örnekleri Kızıl Yükseliş okumayanlara spoiler olabilir diye yazmıyorum.) Hatta Kızıl Yükseliş’i daha çok hatırlasam daha çok da örnek çıkardı, eminim.

Bunun yanında, ben orijinallerini okuyup izlemedim ama Açlık Oyunları ve Uyumsuz gibi distopyalara da göndermeler bolca vardı. Hatta birebir karakter isimleri kullanılarak göndermeler yapılmıştı.

Yazarın amacı hayran kurgusu yazmaksa, evet hayran kurgusu yazmış ama üstüne hiçbir şey koyamamıştı. Esinlendiği ya da hayranı olduğu kitap/kitapların bazı özelliklerini alıp kendinden bir şeyler katarak yeni bir hikaye oluşturabilseydi çok güzel bir hayran kurgusu okudum derdim. Ama şu haliyle anca vasatın altında bir distopya ya da Kızıl Yükseliş’in ilk yarısının 16-17 yaş grubu için yazılmış kötü bi kopyasını okudum diyebilirim.😒😒 Kızıl Yükseliş’ten alıntı yapmadığı, kendi eklediği bölümlerin hepsi de ilk cümleden tahmin edilebilir basitlikte olaylardı. Kitabın bazı bölümlerini yazmışsınız, biri üstünden geçip düzeltme yapmış gibi bilerek okunuyordu.

Buraya kadar olan yorumu ilk kitap için yazdım. Darağacı Şarkısı yani 2. kitap, o vasat dediğim kitabı mumla arattı. İlk kitapla olayları sonlandırma, final yapma şansı varken neden 2. bir kitap yazma ihtiyacı duymuş sorusuna bulabildiğim tek cevap; PARA PARA PARA. Darağacı Şarkısı’ndaki olayların başka hiçbir anlamı yoktu bana göre. ‘Biraz daha bir şeyler yazarım, ilk kitaptaki konunun ve karakterlerin ekmeğini yerim, biraz daha sorun çıkartır, okuyucuyu şaşırtır, sonra şok edici?! bir şeyler yapar ve olayları şak diye çözerim.’ 2. kitabı çok merak ederek okudum. Daha ne kadar saçmalayacak diye merak ederek ama.🙄🙄 Tam daha fazla ne saçmalayacak derken, yeni bir olayla şaşırtmayı başardı. Olaylar bir ara Yeşilçam filmlerindeki sahnelere döndü artık.🙊🙊 Biter ayak şunu da yazayım der gibi bir sonla bitirmişti. Zaten bütün kitap gibi sonu da tahmin edilebilirdi.

Bu kadar kötü bir distopya olmasının yanında bari bir parça karakterleri sevseydim, teselli ödülüm olurdu diyordum. Ama o da mümkün olmadı. Sevdiğim tek karakter tatlı, nazik, sevgi dolu Ash ve çok az görünen Katie oldu. Aksi gibi 2. kitapta Ash, ayıp olmasın diye, ‘ilk kitapta eksik yazdığım bir sahne var, onu yazmaya bahane olur’ der gibi sadece 2-3 yerde eklenmişti.🥺 Böylece ne herhangi bir duygu besleyebildiğim Violet, ne başından beri hiçbir hareketi sempatik gelmeyen Alice, ne de diğer yan karakterler benim için bir anlam ifade etti. İçi boş, karakter derinliği olmayan, ne kızabildiğim, ne sevebildiğim, 2 ay sonra hiçbir özelliğini hatırlamayacağım karakterler oldular.

Bu bilgilerin ışığında, distopya sevenlerin kaçarak uzaklaşmasını; çok fazla distopya okumamış olanların da çerezlik niyetiyle bile yaklaşmamasını; yolda bulanların insaniyet namına en yakın kağıt geridönüşüm kutusuna atmasını tavsiye ederim. Çok daha iyi kitaplar, çok daha iyi distopyalar var. Zamanınıza ve paranıza yazık.

[Dana (Dana and the Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 I wanted to love this, but it wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and the whole thing felt rushed.

[Suzan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
Yazarın kaleminden mi,çevirmen den kaynaklı bir sorun mu yoksa benim ruh halim mi etkili bilmiyorum asla kitaba giremedim yaratılmak istenen dünya çok güzel ama kurgu sanki ucuz harcanmış uyduruk bir hal almış 😤

[Seyma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Büyük umutlarla başladığım ama elime patlayan, sinirlerimi bozan o kitabın yorumuyla karşınızdayım 💁🏻‍♀️

Konu olarak çok güzel hangimiz sevdiği kitabın ya da filmin evrenine gitmek istemez ki? Ben deli gibi isterdim. Karakterlerimizde ‘darağacı dansı’ adlı kitabın fanı her bir repliği ezbere biliyorlar kitaptan uyarlanan filmini de defalarca izleyip her seferinde aynı duyguları yeniden tadıyorlar. Comic-con’a kitaptaki karakterler gibi giyinip gidiyorlar ve yaşanan bir kaza sonucu kendilerini o evrende buluyorlar daha ilk andan itibaren her şey karışıyor ve kendilerini bir mücadelenin içinde buluyorlar. Buraya kadar konu çok güzel ama gerisi maalesef öyle değil.

Karakterler 17 yaşında evet ergenler ama yaptıklarına akıl sır erdiremedim. Sıkışıp kaldıkları evrenden bir an önce kurtulmak istemelerine rağmen durup türlü türlü kıskançlıklar ve saçmalıklarla uğraştılar. Böyle omuzlarından tutup kendinize gelin diye sarsmak istedim hem de bütün kitap boyunca!

Hadi bunları geçtim bir de gönderme meselesi vardı. Yazar her filme, kitaba gönderme yapmaktan kendi kurgusunu yazmayı unutmuş olabilir. Açlık oyunları, uyumsuzlar, cindirella, rapunzel, alacakaranlık, Shakespeare’in kitaplarındaki karakterler liste böyle uzar gider. Ve sürekli esas kızın cesurca davranması gerektiği yerlerde Katniss ve Tris’i düşün demelerinden gına geldi. Açlık oyunlarını mı okuyorum yoksa darağacı dansını mı? Evet her kitapta göndermeler yapılabilir ama burada göndermeler üzerine kurulmuş bir kurgu var ve ister istemez canımı sıktı. Yani neresinden tutarsam tutayım sevemedim daha özgün olmasını isterdim.

[Paperback Mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The main character is so annoying

I’m going to hang in 4 days
I’m going to hang in 3 days
I’m going to ha- HANG ALREADY!!


I won’t be reading the sequel.

[Mar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll write my final review on the sequel, cause I like proportioning a final conclusion once I’m done with a series!

I just gotta read it now

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

"What the fuck is the fandom?" — Reagan, Fangirl

Every time I have seen the title of this book, or the word "fandom" in any context since 2013 (the year Fangirl was published), I have thought of this line. And it somehow feels fitting for my reaction to this book to be precluded by a quote from another (better) book, because The Fandom just did almost nothing for me as a reader.

This was actually the first book I picked out of my brand new TBR Jar for 2019. In an effort to finally get to books I've been ignoring for years, I crammed four hundred or so printed out slips of paper into three jars (one for books I've owned for a while but haven't read, one for books I own and haven't read and really want to get to soon, and one for books I want to read but don't own) and will be picking at least one out of each jar every month. So this was the first from that last jar, and I was actually really excited to read it. I love meta stories, and stories about fandom. But it just did not work for me.

The premise here is that our main character, Violet, is obsessed with a book and film franchise called The Gallows Dance, and when she goes to London Comic-Con, a freak accident pulls her and her two friends, Alice and Katie, along with her younger brother Nate, into the world of the book. Within five minutes, they've accidentally gotten the heroine of the story killed. So what now?

I am conflicted about this book. I find the idea so incredibly interesting, and I think it could have been something I'd peed my pants over with different execution. Day structures her story to mimic, and to critique, young adult genre fiction, specifically dystopian YA. The Gallows Dance pulls in tropes from the genre from every popular book series you can think of, incorporating them into basically your quintessential YA story. But, Hunger Games and Red Rising and Divergent, and all of them, exist in this world as well. The characters reference them frequently.

I actually think the story succeeds the most in its meta aspect, although it also felt like it wanted to be more clever than it actually was. Violet has a lot of her previous feelings about the story completely overturned, and it was actually pretty satisfying. I also liked her relationship with her brother, and to some extent her two friends, although she did get a bit slut-shamey at points with Alice, which was annoying. When I say I liked those relationships, though, what I actually mean is I liked the dynamics, but Violet remained sort of dull the whole book, an empty center. That was my main problem with this book: the heroine was not the most interesting thing going on. And she knows it! She's constantly comparing herself to Rose, the dead heroine whose place she is attempting to take, and to other characters like Katniss and Tris. And mostly coming up short. Even now when I'm trying to find a way to describe who she is, the most I can come up with is that she loves her brother, and she hates injustice, and that's not much foundation for a character.

I'm not sure whether I'll read the sequel or not. This one could stand on its own, and even though it did get more interesting in the last third, it wasn't a super compelling read for me.

[2.5 stars, rounded up for now, though I was tempted to round down]

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite having read mixed reviews about this one, I really enjoyed it! Despite a slow first few chapters, it ended up a fun read with a unique and interesting premise and interesting themes.

[Andmorebook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bazı eksikleri olsada kurguyu gerçekten çok sevdim 😍 2.kitabı da heyecanla bekliyor olacağım 👌

[Serap(Agresif Spoiler Kraliçesi) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ya Bu kitap tüm ünlü distopyalari zekice bir mizah anlayışıyla yeren bir hiciv...ve ben bir distopya aşığı olarak bu kitaptan nefret ettim.tabi bu sizin sevmeyeceginiz anlamına gelmiyor...kızıl isyan dan açlık oyunları na,uyumsuz dan alacakaranlık a,oz dan distopik masallara kadar göndermelerle dolu bir kitap.
Ya da yazar benim gibi bir distopya aşığı (ki bu kadar hakim olmasından bu sonuçu da çıkartabiliriz) ve tüm okuduğu izlediği distopyalardan esinlenerek (ki bu kadarı artik esinlenme değil araklamaya girer) bu kitabı ortaya çıkartan bir hayrankurgusu yazarı...
Sonuç:bence her ikisi de...AMA kesinlikle "en iyi distopya " değil orası net!!!!

Not:bir önceki yorumum çok sertti ve insanlari eleştiriyordu ki buna hakkım yok o yüzden yorumumu degistirdim sadece kitabı eleştiriyorum...

[Öznur (kendimizeaitbiroda) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Devedikenini say, bir, iki, üç
Yakında bütün Impler özgür kalacak.
Devedikenini say, dört, beş, altı,
Çıkar silahlarını, taşlarını, sopalarını
Dişbudaklar yeşilden kırmızıya döndü,
Bahar geçti, yaz öldü.
Dakikaları say, saatleri değil,
Çünkü umut minik bir çiçekle başlayacak.”
🌺🌺🌺
Baskısının ve konusunun güzelliğiyle çıktığı andan itibaren aklımı çelen Darağacı Dansı’nı nihayet okudum ve bitirdim. İtiraf edeyim, konusunu ne kadar beğensem de kitaba başlarken kurgunun beni bu kadar fazla etkileyeceğini, bu kadar seveceğimi kestirememiştim.
Öncelikle size biraz kitaptan bahsedeyim.
Kitabımız ana karakter Violet, kardeşi Nate ve arkadaşları Katie ve Alice’in en sevdikleri kitap ve sonrasında film olan Darağacı Dansı’nın karakterleriyle tanışmak için Comic-Con’a en sevdikleri karakterlerin kostümlerini giyip katılmaları ile başlıyor. Filmin başrolleri Rose ve Willow ile tanıştıkları sırada bir anda bir şey oluyor ve kendilerini Darağacı Dansı dünyasında buluyorlar. Ve böylece, bir aşk hikayesiyle başarıya ulaşan distopyanın aslında hiç bilmedikleri bir yer olduğunu görüyorlar. Filmi defalarca izleyip, tüm repliklerini ezbere bilseler de, bu evrende çok daha fazlasının olduğunu görmek, o büyülü sandıkları evrenin acımasız gerçekleriyle yüzleşmek karakterlerimizi içinden çıkılmaz bir hale getiriyor. Ve bu evrenden tek kurtuluşun hikayeyi aynen bildikleri gibi sona erdirmek olduğunu keşfediyorlar. Ve buradan sonra hep birlikte hikayeyi tamamlamak için çabalıyorlar. Ve biz bu çabalarını okuyor, onlarla birlikte görünenin arkasındaki hikayeyi keşfediyoruz.
Ne yalan söyleyeyim, başlarda kitaba adapte olmakta epey zorluk çektim. Çünkü daha karakterlerin kendi dünyalarına alışamamışken bir anda farklı bir evrene geçiş oluyor ve hem oradaki hikayeyi, hem de Violet ve arkadaşlarının hikayesini takip etmeye çalışıyoruz. İşler burada biraz karmaşıklaştı benim için. Çünkü gerçekten inanılmaz bir kurgusu var kitabın. Fakat her şeye adapte olduktan sonra öyle bir aktı ki hikaye, nasıl bittiğini anlayamadım bile. Ve şu an devam kitabı Darağacı Şarkısı için çıldırıyorum.🙊
Violet’i tüm kalbimle sevdim, gerçekten. Karakter gelişimini okumak inanılmaz güzeldi. Başlarda kendine hiç güvenmeyen o minik çiçeğin, güçlendiğini görmek çok güzeldi.
Violet’in kardeşi Nate’i de en az Violet kadar çok sevdim. Spoiler olmaması için bir şey söyleyemiyorum ama, o malum sahneyi okuduktan sonra kalbim paramparça oldu. Devam kitabında Nate’in hikayesinin nasıl şekilleneceğini görmek için sabırsızlanıyorum.
Ve elbette, Ash... Benim güzel sincabım.🐿 Onu ne kadar sevdiğimi anlatabilmem mümkün mü, bilmiyorum. Gerçekler hakkında hiçbir fikiri olmamasına rağmen, Violet’e olan koşulsuz güveni, o harika sevgisi kalbimi eritti.
Hikayenin nasıl ilerleyeceğini gerçekten çok fazla merak ediyorum. Kitabı hala okumadıysanız bence acele etmelisiniz.

[andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really don't know how to feel about this book, just that I feel uncomfortable.

A girl named Violet is the biggest fan of a book and its film adaption called The Gallows Dance. After a freak accident, they're all catapulted into the world of the Gallows Dance and Violet, as a result, has to resume the place of the main character of that world in order to get back home.

It sounds like a cool theory, but my first problem probably lies in this fictional world. In this world, there are two types of humans - GEMs (genetically-enhanced men - IQs 130 or better, beautiful, etc.) and imps (imperfects - just normal people). Right off the bat I felt really icky because the GEMs hated the imps by virtue of being imps and liked to throw around a lot of epithets like "monkey" or "ape" in order to refer to them. There was also a particularly icky scene where there's an imp brothel and it's implicated that the GEMs forced imps into sexual slavery, children included. I dunno, I get it, but it all felt really gross and unnecessary?

Then there was a lot of girl-on-girl hate, it felt like. One of the MC's friends, Alice, favors a GEM more than an imp. Though Violet was meant to live the canon out of the universe they'd been thrown into, Alice was just opportunistic and chose herself a lot and it led to a lot of unsavory things... the word 'slut' being thrown around and so forth.

This really isn't a cohesive review, I guess. I think the concept was good and would have been executed better if the fictional fandom had been different and I didn't have to keep reading about characters being called apes and sluts.

Also, there were some very mean-spirited tongue-in-cheek remarks about other real fandoms (for example - one of the main characters muses how stupid it is that there's a character called Four or Gale) and it just seemed a really smug thing to put in to a novel. I guess I feel like the novel could have been written without attacking others, I dunno.

TLDR: This book made me feel really icky.

[Sevgi Arıkbaş (svgyvzbook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Distopya severler, örneklerinden farklı harika bir kitapla karşınızdayım. Kitabın içinde başka kitap okuyacağınız şahane bir kurgu. Distopya kurguları çok severim. Hatta bazı distopik kitaplar ilk 10 listemde olduğu için kitap beni çok etiketledi. Kitabın konusundan bahsedeyim ilk önce: Ana karakterimiz Violet "Darağacı Dansı" kitabını çok sever hatta büyük bir hayranıdır. Comic-Con partisine en sevdiği karakter olarak gider. Tabii ki bu karakter darağacı dansı'ndan Rose karakteridir. Ve Violet, arkadaşları ve kardeşiyle birlikte kendini bir anda Darağacı Dansı kitabının içinde bulur. Sonunu bildiği, hatta ezberlediği kitapta işler hiçte düşündüğü gibi gitmez. İşte kitap bu olaylarla ve heyecanlı bir girişle başlıyor. Kitabın içindeki distopya ise güzel kurgulanmıştı. Gem ve Imp olarak iki ırk vardır. Gem, geliştirilmiş insanlar. Imp'ler ise yoksullar ve normal insanlardır. Tabii hal böyle olunca, iki ırk arasında adaletsizlik üst safhadaydı. Kitapla ilgili daha fazla bahsedersem sanırım spoiler vereceğim (: O yüzden genel olarak değerlendirmeye geçelim. Distopya olması haricinde her şeyi içinde barındıran bir kitaptı. Hikayemizde aşk, arkadaşlık, kardeş sevgisi hepsi vardı. Bir sonraki sayfayı merakla çevireceğiniz heyecanı hiç bitmeyen kitaplardan. Benzeri distopya türlerinden oldukça farklı, kesinlikle elinizden bırakamazsınız. Şahsen ben bırakamadım (: Uzun süredir bu kadar soluksuz bir kitaba bağlandığımı hatırlamıyorum. 2019 favorilerime kesinlikle eklendi. Keşke hep böyle yaratıcı kurgular okuyabilsek. Hem akıcı hem de aşırı sürükleyiciydi. Distopya severlerin kesinlikle bu ince işlenmiş kurguyu okumasını isterim.

[Hanife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerçekten sevdim ya. Sona doğru beni baya gerdi. Noldu nolacak, ha oldu ha olacak derken kitap bitti mi iyi mi? :D İlk YA çevirim oldu. İlk defa bir kitabı önceden tamamını okumadan çevirdim. Güzel bir deneyimdi. :D

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy going read based in a parallel world of the book the gallows dance

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This YA fantasy was one of those books that had an absolutely fantastic and intriguing premise but that just never quite managed to translate all that potential into a good and compelling story. Pity as the basic set up is super fun so my expectations going into this book were extremely high which left me extra disappointed when Anna Day never quite managed to deliver.

The story had such potential to be fun! Violet, as well as her two friends and her brother, are all dressed up as their favourite characters from the Gallows Dance books/movies and on a trip to Comic Con to meet the actors from the movie when a freak accident sucks them into their favourite fictional world. Things go wrong right from the start as Violet and her friends manage to accidentality get the stories heroine, Rose, killed. Violet has to fill Rose's place in the story but it turns out living in a crazed dystopian future is a lot less fun than just reading about it!

I adore portal fantasy and people being sucked into their favourite book and movie worlds should be the best of the best when it comes to potential for awesome story ideas but sadly The Fandom just never worked out for me. Despite the premise being fantastic the story, writing, and characters all had issues and as a result this ended up turning into a bit of a chore just to make it to the end.

The biggest issue was probably the writing. I just never really connected with Anna Day's writing. I never found myself sucked into the story which made it all feel like a bit of a slog. The story itself was OK without being anything special. It lacked humour and excitement and I felt like it suffered badly as a result. Characters being sucked into their favourite fictional worlds should be a comedy gold mine but this book was weirdly devoid of any humour. A mistake of epic proportions in my eyes!

The characters were also a problem. The fictional characters were absolutely horrible no matter if they were genetically enhanced Gems or rebel slave Imps and that was an issue for me as I ended up hating both factions and wishing the story could find a way to end with the fictional world just ceasing to exist just so they could all be deleted from existence. I'm 100% sure Anna Day was not aiming for that response from her readers lol! That would have been bad enough but even the four characters from the regular world were not very likeable. Our main character Violet spent most of her time acting like a selfish brat and stewing in jealousy over how much prettier the books heroine Rose was when compared to her and also how much more attractive her hot friend Alice was. Violet's brother Nate was pretty annoying but was an OK sidekick at other times. Alice was OK most of the time but had a few moments of her own that that were pretty negative. The 4th friend pretty much just existed to inflate Violet's ego and bitch about Alice with Violet. By the time they got sucked into the fantasy world she was left with no role to play except that as a hostage and general damsel in distress. The worst thing about the human characters was their awful treatment of each other. This was one of those groups that helped the phrase "with friends like these who needs enemies?" gain such popularity! I ended up not really liking anyone which made it tough to get emotionally invested in the story.

The only good thing was the way the ending was handled. It was looking like things were going to wrap in a predictable way but a clever twist towards the end helped make things a bit more interesting.

All in all this book was a real disappointment. I think that was mostly due to my unreasonably high expectations rather than this being an overly awful book but all the same I ended up finding it to be a bit boring and with far too many flaws so I doubt I'll bother to pick up the second book in the duology. Not that it matters too much as this worked out OK as a stand alone story in its own right.

Rating: 2.5 stars. I'm rounding down to 2 stars as I pondered the idea of quitting this a few times and caught myself avoiding picking it up for a day or two.

Audio Note: I felt like Fiona Hardingham did an OK job with the audio. She seemed a good fit for a YA book.

[˙⋆✮ Anny ✮⋆˙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea behind The Fandom is one that certainly many of us thought about before: getting transported into your favorite book and getting to play the main character's part. But what if that book is an awful dystopia where a human life is worth less than dirt? This is what happens to the characters here. I absolutely loved the idea and the execution was mostly good too.

The writing style was fluent, the storyline easy to follow. I thought it would take the characters longer to actually land in their favorite book, but only a few chapters in the big bang happens and from there on, this book is basically a dystopia. Not quite what I expected but I didn't mind.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters though. Well, Violet, the mc, was an okay main character, but not especially outstanding. And while I liked the frequent nods to other popular books such as THG or Divergent, I got tired of the comparison of Violet with Katniss and Tris - because girl, you'll never be the next Katniss.
My favorites were Violet's friend Katie and her little brother Nate. They were funny and likeable. Extremely unlikeable was Alice. It doesn't speak in favor of Violet that she considers Alice her best friend - gosh, that girl was annoying. Ugh. To be fair, Alice had development, but at that point I hated her so much already I barely cared.

The characters inside the fictional world were pretty cliché: the good looking but boring love interest, the mysterious other love interest, the mentally unstable rebel leader. The whole world and society was cliché, typical ya dystopia. Also, for a ya novel there's quite frequent swearing. Personally I didn't mind but I wanted to point it out.

Yet, I liked how the author managed to intertwine the storyline of Violet and her friends with the fictional dystopian one. The ending wasn't quite what I'd expected, but it was a nice touch too.
I mostly enjoyed this book.

[Leon Enciso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reto 34- 2018 Book Challenge: Un libro publicado en 2018.

Cuando descubrí este libro y vi de que iba no sabia si esperarme una especie de parodia/burla de las novelas distopicas adolescentes (al estilo de la película de”Los muertos del hambre”) o algo que intentara ser mas o menos serio. Y el resultado ciertamente es una mezcla de los dos, a pesar de que la autora suelte varios chistes acerca de los tropos y clichés mas usados del genero en cuestión, estos no llega a ser excesivos ni llegan a opacar la trama y para mi que me considero un gran fan de este genero, no encontré ninguno ofensivo ni muchos menos, de hecho muchos me hicieron gracia. XD

Es una de las reglas no escritas de las novelas distópicas: los intereses románticos deben tener nombres ridículos.


—¿Veis? Os lo dije en la Comic-Con: el gobierno siempre es el malo en las distopías. Es tan predecible...


—¿Una semana? —exclama Katie, incrédula—. ¿Todo esto pasa en una sola semana?... Hay que ver lo rápido que se enamora la gente en las distopías para chicas...
—Es una historia distópica de amor —protesta Alice.

El mundo ficticio que crea la autora, a pesar de no ser realmente original es bastante bueno, ciertamente tengo ganas de que publiquen un libro basado en el, ya sea la historia original del “Baile del Ahorcado” o una versión alterativa, seria la bomba la verdad. XD

En términos generales no es una novela perfecta, tiene varios fallos, como la explicación de cómo los protagonistas se transportan al mundo ficticio y el funcionamiento de “el universo ficticio”, sin hacer spoiler diré que es algo que si te lo piensas bien tiene mas agujeros y fallos que un colador XD , pero bueno para mi es una recomendación. :P

[Beth, BooksNest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a proof of this superb book up at YALC because I thought the plot looked absolutely fantastic and I was not wrong. If you don't know what this is about, it follows a group of friends on their way to ComicCon to meet the cast of their favourite film/book (think Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter style fandom). Instead of their day going as planned, they get thrown into the world of the book and have to fight to survive and get back to the world they know. They have to navigate the world of The Gallows Dance, where anyone considered not perfect is threatened to hang and all who are perfect live a life of luxury, sound familiar? So not only did Anna Day write The Fandom, she also wrote The Gallows Dance, the story they get trapped in. This book must have taken so much creativity and I am in awe of the storytelling.

This plot was intricate, intruding and complex, with twists and turns the whole way through. I couldn't put this down and that isn't a regular occurrence at the moment. I was constantly questioning every character we met along the way, but that went with the nature of the chopping and changing plot, I never knew who to trust. The main characters are each very different and have interesting relationships together. Violet is the protagonist for this book and she has many doubts in herself along the way of this story, as it's up to her to save herself and her friends. Initially I was doubtful at the plot of The Gallows Dance and the division between Imps and Gems; a plot line I would compare to the contrast of those in the capital and those in the districts in The Hunger Games series. But I soon chose my side in the battle between imps (imperfect people with flaws) and gems (genetically modified people with zero physical flaws).

If you're any kind of fangirl you will love all of the references dropped into this book. I love how many lines were included that linked back to a popular series. Some lines were cleverly hidden in the writing and I took pride in spotting them and also wondering if they were deliberate or not. I definitely felt myself sounding a successful cheer whenever a favourite fandom of mine was mentioned.

I don't think I can keep this spoiler free any longer, so here we go for me blabbing every spoilery thing I loved in this book! If you like the sound of this book then it's coming our January 2018 so go and preorder your copy now!

Ash. I want an Ash in my life. I usually say I want someone to love me like Rory loves Amy, but I'd also like to add that I'd like someone to love me like Ash loves Violet. He is just so kind and caring to her and there's no stupid falling outs between them that hold up the plot, I hate those kinds of things so I'm glad they're being eased out of YA. I think I can say that I liked Ash as a character as soon as we met him, he was confident and knew what he was doing, he felt like someone who could keep you safe. He maintains this position throughout the book and it kills me that we don't entirely get a resolution from him. Yes he is the lead in the next book, but we don't know yet if he is happy or if he will ever see Violet again. Surely there has to be a sequel, right Anna Day...?!

Violet's relationship with Nate is my favourite of all. When they're at ComicCon you get the impression he can be the annoying little brother, but once they're thrown into the world of The Gallows Dance Nate comes into his own. Violet relies on him to support her and coach her through the plot she needs to follow. The two become inseparable, Violet is protective over Nate and Nate just has this strong hope he puts into Violet. It's a brilliant example of a sibling relationship that I think I would have liked myself.

Katie and Alice were both interesting characters in very different ways. Katie was always consulting the words of Shakespeare and I'm sure if I was better at analysing literature I'd pull a lot of information about that. But I did think it was interesting to see how relevant these quotes became to helping Violet piece together what to do. Usually we think of Shakespeare as a wonderful play-write, but in this case the words come across as more of a motivational speech. When it comes to Alice I'm still lost as to whether we are meant to like her or not? Obviously she does some very crappy things, that seem to somehow get resolved by her last minute declaration of love for Violet. I don't know about you, but I don't suddenly forgive her! She forgot her friend far too easily, unless it was all a hoax to get the Gems on her side, but I feel again this was left open.

If you've read this book, please share your thoughts with me! I am preaching about it to everyone with a pulse and I need to know if there's a sequel! However judging by the fact that the first book isn't technically published yet, I doubt it. All in all a brilliant read and now one of my new favourites!

https://booksnest.blog

[Joana’s World · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quem lê este livro fica-se a imaginar a si próprio na mesma situação o que acaba por ser um sentimento muito agradável e que ainda dá mais vontade de ler até descobrir o que vai acontecer.

Opinião completa no blog: lostinmyownworldofbooks.wordpress.com...

[The Reading's Love Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

RECENSIONE COMPLETA QUI: https://thereadingslove.blogspot.it/2...


Chi non ha mai desiderato di entrare nel proprio romanzo preferito e vivere la storia da protagonista? Fandom consente ai lettori di fare proprio questo. Dalla mente brillante di un'autrice esordiente, veniamo catapultati in una storia distopica e ci immergiamo completamente nell'ambientazione. La protagonista Violet è una ragazza timida e introversa, è una fangirl perdutamente innamorata del suo libro preferito intitolato "La Danza delle forche", che hanno portato successivamente sul grande schermo. Ossessionata dal libro, decide di partecipare ad un cosplay dove potrà incontrare l'attore che interpreta il protagonista maschile nell'adattamento cinematografico. Ad accompagnarla insieme alla sua migliore amica Alice, ci sono anche la loro amica Katie, all'oscuro della storia, e Nate, il fratello minore di Violet innamorato anch'egli di quel mondo immaginario. Arrivati all'evento e dopo aver incontrato il loro idolo immaginario, avviene qualcosa di inaspettato. Un terremoto e poi il buio. Quando si risvegliano, si ritrovano improvvisamente all'interno de La Danza delle forche. Sembra un sogno, un desiderio realizzato che ben presto si trasforma in un terribile incubo. Il loro intervento nella storia causa accidentalmente la morte di Rose, l'eroina principale e Violet, contro ogni aspettativa si ritrova a prendere il suo posto e a vivere la storia da protagonista. Violet e i suoi amici devono cercare di seguire le orme dei loro eroi, assicurarsi che la storia segua la progressione scritta per poter tornare a casa. Ma non tutto si svolge esattamente come nel romanzo: devono lottare per sopravvivere, devono affrontare imprevisti, pericoli e tradimenti per poter far ritorno nel mondo reale. Violet deve decidere se continuare a seguire la trama o riscrivere la storia e rischiare così di intrappolare se stessa e i suoi amici in un mondo terribile. Fandom incorpora personaggi autentici in una storia innovativa, avvincente e tortuosa, mescola il loro coraggio con la paura, le difficoltà e la delusione per superare ogni ostacolo. La costruzione di Fandom è perfetta: è facile immaginarsi di entrare nel mondo de La Danza delle forche, ma affrontare avventure e difficoltà e schierarsi dalla parte giusta si rivela più complicato del previsto. Anna Day ha plasmato un romanzo in un romanzo: non ha creato solo Fandom ma anche La Danza delle forche. I personaggi sono perfetti nelle loro perfezioni e imperfezioni: Violet dimostra di essere coraggiosa per riportare a casa i suoi amici, anche se ciò che le accade, la terrorizza; Katie è istintiva, intelligente e sarcastica; Nate è perspicace e risolve ogni difficoltà; Alice infine, si rivela egoista e prepotente ma alla fine ritorna sulla strada giusta e rimedia ai suoi errori...

CONTINUA SUL NOSTRO BLOG. VENITE A TROVARCI
https://thereadingslove.blogspot.it/

[Olga Kowalska (WielkiBuk) · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Fandom” to prawdziwy powiew świeżości pośród młodzieżowych opowieści. Anna Day umiejętnie i z pomysłem operuje znanymi z kultowych opowieści young adult schematami, ale robi to na swoją modłę, bawiąc się i dopasowując znane motywy do swoich celów. To książka o książce, w którym prawa świata wyobrażonego zostają złamane i naciągnięte do granic możliwości, a czytelnikowi wydaje się, że wraz z bohaterami tworzy fabułę na nowo. Niby znamy możliwe zakończenie, niby wszystko jest jasne, a poszczególne części układanki leżą przed naszymi oczami, a mimo wszystko, w „Fandomie” przeżywamy wszystko od nowa. Być może to jest właśnie siła prawdziwej miłości do książek – ta gotowość do poświęcenia i otwartość na samą opowieść, które sprawiają, że Anna Day trzyma nas w napięciu od pierwszej do ostatniej strony. Siła fandomu.

Lektura powieści Anny Day ucieszy nie tylko młodszych czytelników, ale sprawdzi się również dla wszystkich, którzy kiedyś zaczytywali się w kultowych tytułach young adult, dorośli, ale teraz z radością powrócą do tamtego świata raz jeszcze, na nieco odmiennych zasadach, tak jak bohaterowie „Fandomu”.

[Zey]

Maalesef dnf...
Sonra devam ederim sanırım. Şu anlık sarmadığı için devam etmek istemiyorum.

[Burçak Kılıç Sultanoğlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genel yorumlara baktığımda 'Kızıl Yükseliş' kitabından bayağı bir çalıntı olduğu 🤣 söyleniyor. Ben okumadığım için fark etmedim. Ama meraktan o seriyi de okuyacağım. Sırf bu kitap hakkında yorum yapmam gerekirse,

Arka planı çok güzel olan bir hikaye ancak bu kadar saçma ve tutarsız işlenir. Genel hatlar güzel, darağacı dansı, imp'ler, gem'ler vs.. beğendim.. Ama karakterlerde iş yok anam.. Hepsi sinir bozucu.. Ana karakter olan Violet önce Willow Willow.. Sonra ash ash sonra yine arada Willow.. Sevmiyorum böyle ilişkileri.. Hele Alice yaptıklarıyla saç yoldurttu. Kim öyle bir tiple arkadaş kalır ki.. Bi son sahnede gösterdi bi arkadaş olduğunu.. İhanetler, kayıplar bazı kısımları sevdim ama :)

Bir de hayran kurgusu olayı bana zorlama geldi.. Koma halinde kitaptaki dünyaya geçiş yapmak vs. Bana sanki yazar hayranları etkilemek için bayağı bir zorlamış kendini hissi verdi 😅😅 keşke dümdüz imp gem dünyası hakkında yazsaydı.. neyse Bi ara 2.yi de okurum. Bu kitap elimde bayağı bir süründüğü için şu an değil ama 😅😅😅

[Lulai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much fun. I think everyone who is a bit a fan of something will like it. A lot of pop culture references, and the plot was fun and actionpack. It was nice.