Blog Tour: Internet Famous by Danika Stone

Welcome to my stop on INTERNET FAMOUS blog tour, hosted by Xpresso book tours! After years of blogging, I finally figured the whole blog tour thing, so I decided to sign up for one and got accepted! As you guess, this is my first time and I’m so so so excited for it. You can see the full tour schedule here and without further ado, let’s see what I thought about this book!

Internet Famous
Danika Stone
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: June 6th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

Can an online romance survive in real life?

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?

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Internet has been a huge part of our daily lives, including mine. It’s a place where we can meet people with the same interest with us or just showcase their so-called “perfect” life. But no human have perfect lives, those people included. I remember a few years ago I was obsessed with the British Youtube Gang (consist of Jacksgap, Zoella, Funforlouis, Alfie, Zoe sugg, etc) but then they kinda break apart. I used to envy Jay Alvarrez and Alexis Ren’s live (travelling to tropical places all over the world??) until they broke apart and the reasons behind it was revealed. Essena O’Neill was also an insta celeb until she quit social media and revealed the ugly truth behind her picture and in a sense, how her instagram became an escape for her. In short, the internet vs real life sometimes don’t go hand in hand together, and I think Internet Famous discuss the theme really well.

The first 50% was amazing. The story flows very well and the writing isn’t complicated.  Within the first chapter, only a few words in, we can sense there’s something wrong with her family and how blogging was her release. I love how we get texts, conversation, blog snippets, and chats as a way for storytelling. It’s very interesting and definitely adds up to the experience.

Absent parents come in all size and shapes, and sadly, they are also present in this book, albeit in a less subtle way. They are there, but not really “there”, you know? I can feel Madi’s frustration and the unfairness of the situation in this book.

Despite the frustration, I think Madi’s character was pretty solid. She’s frustrated yes, but she still do the best for her family, and especially her sister, Sarah. She’s so devoted and we can see how much she loves her sister. I think Laurent was pretty sweet too, I totally liked him throughout the book.

Unfortunately, I find the last 50% to be lacking. It felt like reading a different, yet familiar book with different writing and characters. The writing began to feel dramatic (with all the !!!! and ?!), Madi feels too childish (yes, trolls are annoying but why are you so easily provoked and replied to them? also, if you think they are dangerous, talk to adults or the police!) and Laurent become too emotional. Not to mention the totally cute romance become to sappy for my taste (you guys only leave 40 minutes away from each other…). I loved how the troll thing was resolved, it feels like we got Madi back and her cooperating with her fans and sister make everything seems better.

Internet Famous manages to tackle issues of online vs real life and you vs your parent expectations. It has a good story and writing and amazing siblings relationship. Despite that, the second half felt lacklustre and aim for different mark than the first half. But overall, it’s fun to read and a good reading experience!

Author Bio:

Danika Stone is an author, artist, and educator who discovered a passion for writingfiction while in the throes of her Masters thesis. A self-declared bibliophile, Danika now writes novels for both adults (The Intaglio Series and Ctrl Z) and teens (Icarus and All the Feels). When not writing, Danika can be found hiking in the Rockies, planning grandadventures, 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). Edge of Wild (Stonehouse CA) will be released March 2016. Danika’s YA novel, All the Feels (Macmillan US), will be released June 2016.

Ms. Stone is represented by Morty Mint of Mint Literary Agency.

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