Katherine Larsen

First, I will just say that I love Supernatural. It’s a great show and if I could I would love to visit Comic Con, but…I think there is a limit to how far one takes one's obsession with a show/movie/singer/group/whatever…it’s one thing to like something, but to let it take over one’s life totally? It’s not that I don’t enjoy fandom’s, but I just don’t have the need to ruin my economy, drive away my friends or family for it.

The ladies in this book, middle age women, suddenly start to obsess over Supernatural although it seems mostly Jensen Ackles, they fly to see him in play, watch everything he is in from movies to tv shows. Nothing wrong with that, I have favorite actors also. But it bothered me reading how for example Lynn hid the fact from her family that she ordered passes to a convention. Like what she did was something shameful. And here we have the BIG problem with the book. Everything they did was so shameful, liking Supernatural and writing fanfiction. It’s shameful to like something; it’s shameful to write slash fanfiction. It’s shame, shame, shame. And I tried to remember if I have ever been ashamed for liking something (Hell I liked David Hasselhoff in Baywatch when I was a teenager and not even that makes me ashamed nowadays).

This book felt like an excuse to be able to get up and close with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, a middle life crisis now that the children are almost grown up.

"As we pondered and plotted and looked for opportunities to get up close and personal with actors, our road trip through fandom continued"

But there are moments I feel for them because in a part they manage to find a life outside being a wife, mother, and professor. That part of the book I liked, but I ultimately I think they failed in their mission to show the good side of the fandom, it felt more like they showed the worst part, the over enthusiastic fans, the fanatic fans that sleep in hallways to have breakfast with actors.

There isn’t any shame in liking Supernatural. And if you like writing fanfiction, slash or not slash go for it. It’s your life.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!… (lisätietoja)

I am not sure what I expected of the book, but it sure wasn't what I just read. It's both good and bad.

I expected more about all kinds of fans, not just the obsessive kind, or the kind that have money to go to conventions. I wanted to know about the fans, not what the actors, writers etc. thought of the fans. This really was a book about writing a book, to me, this was not a book about about fandom. It was a book about two grown ass women being embarrassing as fuck. Granted it was hilarious at times. But mostly I just felt second hand embarrassment.

And then there's the fact that most of the time I didn't get who was the storyteller, the voice who told the story. It was confusing as hell.

I am not sure if the writers got what they set out to do, but I found this book a bit wanting.

That said. I do not regret buying this nor do I regret reading it. It was okay. And we do need more books about fans.… (lisätietoja)

I enjoyed how the authors combined anecdotes with academic research to explore the worlds of fan girls and fandom, and how social media has really brought a perceived fringe group together. Being a super Ricky Martin and Hugh Jackman fan girl, I was able to relate to many situations, such as feeling guilty that you may be neglecting your family or that you fandom revolves from an unhappy life. I've even experienced run ins with internet fandom police. I do think the authors make an excellent case that a woman's committment to her fandom is often belittled because of her gender. The male face painter who attends every home game of his fav team is held in much better esteem.… (lisätietoja)