Never Too Many To Read : Blog Tour: #famous by Jilly Gagnon...Review & Giveaway!

#famous
by Jilly Gagnon
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: February 14th 2017

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Synopsis:

In this modern-day love story, Girl likes Boy, Girl takes photo of Boy and posts it online, Boy becomes accidentally insta-famous. And what starts out as an innocent joke spirals into a whirlwind adventure that could change both their lives—and their hearts—forever. But are fame and love worth the price?

Told in alternating points of view, #famous captures the out-of-control thrill ride of falling for someone in front of everyone.

Jilly Gagnon is currently based in Chicago, but is originally from Minnesota, a fact she'll likely inform you of within minutes of meeting you. Her humor writing, personal essays, and op-eds have appeared in Newsweek, Elle, Vanity Fair, Boston Magazine, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Toast, and The Hairpin, among others.

She writes both humor and young adult fiction. She's represented by Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary (for humor) and Taylor Haggerty of Waxman Leavell (for young adult writing).

Find her on twitter, facebook, or instagram. She's an especially good conversation partner if you love amazing cocktails, terrible television, or talking to your cats.

Title: #famous

Author: Jilly Gagnon

Format: Digital ARC

Source: Blog Tour

I have been looking forward to reading #famous since I first learned about it and it was definitely worth the wait! With such a relevant topic in today's cyber-focused world, #famous offers a fun and fascinating take on internet stardom.

As the synopsis says: Girl likes guy. Girls takes a pic of guy. Girl posts pic online. Guy becomes a viral sensation...or #famous. Sounds familiar, right? I remember this happening not long ago in real life and thinking about how life must have changed for the once anonymous guy and whoever took his picture. Well, in the fictional #famous, Jilly Gagnon attempts to give us a glimpse of life for a viral sensation PLUS the person who caused all of the attention...and as one might predict, overnight fame is not always positive.

In the world of #famous, instead of Twitter, you have "Flit." With a simple snap of the camera phone and the press of a send button, what should have been a simple flit between friends suddenly turns viral as people discover Rachel's picture of hot classmate Kyle online.

Soon, thousands of people online and in their school are talking about it. Even the media gets involved! Neither Kyle nor Rachel wanted or expected the fame, but now they must deal with it as it begins to affect their lives and relationships. They've both gone from unknowns to internet "stars"...well, Kyle has anyway.

Told in alternative POVs from both Kyle and Rachel, we are able to see just how this affects both of them in very different ways. Things aren't always completely positive when it comes to internet stardom, as Gagnon demonstrates wonderfully in this book. Kyle may be more popular now, but his new notoriety begins to interfere with his friendships and other aspects of his life as people seek his attention and start treating him differently...even in his own family.

Meanwhile, Rachel becomes the target of trolls and bullies both online and in real life. It never fails to amaze me how cruel people can be to complete strangers despite the fact that I see it every day on Twitter, blogs, and Instagram. Rachel not only has to deal with internet bullying, but also bullying from her peers and former friends. She is such wonderful, relatable character and I just wanted to reach through the pages and hug her...to tell her she matters and to forget what anyone says! Gagnon did a great job of making me care about this young woman whose unintentional notoriety opens up some old wounds.

As for Kyle, at times he seems a bit clueless...or maybe naive is a better word. At first, he gets so caught up in his own newfound fame, that he doesn't seem to understand the impact this has had on Rachel. But eventually he opens his eyes and despite the rollercoaster that their lives had become, Kyle and Rachel bond as a sweet, new friendship blossoms between the pair.

Overall, this was a fun and enlightening read. I enjoyed how Gagnon demonstrated how fame is not all you think it is and would recommend this book to teens who are eager to seek fame through social media. There are so many mixed messages about it out there now, but #famous shows a bit of the behind the scenes reality. Sure it looks great at first and there can be plus sides, but sometimes the negatives outweigh all the good as things turn out differently than expected. Plus, people are always looking for the next big thing so fame can be fleeting.

This book will definitely have me thinking more about what I post online and just who could see it.

Oh and one more thing...I am so glad social media wasn't a thing when I was in high school! Being a teen is awkward enough without being afraid someone might take a photo of you at any time or misconstrue something you post.