#famous
Jilly Gagnon
#famous, by Jilly Gagnon, is the EXACT story you would think of when you hear about a modern day love story. Yet, the book is so much more than that. The story is obviously not a “true love” fairy tale, and the plot will make you lose your faith into the characters, and then have you fall in love with them again. This story can be explained as, Girl likes Boy, Girl takes picture of Boy and posts it online, the picture goes viral and it might change their lives dramatically. Rachel, the girl, is an invisible high-schooler, and she’s perfectly fine with it being that way. When her friend forwards the picture that Rachel took of her crush, Kyle, it goes viral and Rachel’s comfortable life of hiding in the shadows disappears. For Kyle, the viral photo is probably one of the best things that had ever happened to him. From getting to be on a famous TV show, to gaining thousands of online followers, Kyle’s life is looking pretty nice. But for Rachel, it might as well be the exact opposite. Although she gains thousands of online followers as well, she’s constantly getting ridiculed, judged, and bullied by random strangers. It gets so bad, that she receives death threats both at school and online. But she doesn’t run away from the chaos unfolding around her, yet she doesn’t crumble and break under the pressure and bullying. The story is told through two perspectives, one being Rachel’s lens, and the other Kyle’s. When the two start to interact and try to understand what’s going on around them, they realize that maybe high-school romances aren’t as bad as everyone says, even with millions of viral eyes watching.
#famous, can be explained as a “smart comedy, romance.” I personally thought this book was a lot of fun to read as well as to experience. One thing I especially enjoyed about this story was that it wasn’t “instalove.” Although it was obvious that the chances of Kyle and Rachel getting together at the end of the story was obvious, it was still written in a way that made you wonder what would happen next. The story is full of realistic scenarios someone may experience from cyberbullying as well as a viral photo/video. It’s full of the aftermaths of internet bullying and sudden internet exposure. The light-hearted story shows the perspectives of unexpected and sudden fame.
Grade Level:
- Suggested: 6th-7th
- Advanced: 5th
Genre: Realistic-fiction, romance
Key Elements: Cyberbullying, viral photo
Possible Themes: Having a viral photo can have lots of consequences, sometimes you may not know someone’s true intentions
Overall Rating: 4/5
Happy Reading!
-The Book Lover-
If you like more details about the book or would like to request something for me to read, you can contact me at thebooklovercontact@gmail.com
