[Review] Now a Major Motion Picture - Cori McCarthy

Summary: Unlike the rest of the world, Iris doesn't care about the famous high-fantasy Elementia books written by M. E. Thorne. So it's just a little annoying that M. E. Thorne is her grandmother—and that Iris has to deal with the trilogy's crazy fans.

When Iris gets dropped in Ireland for the filming of the movie adaptation, she sees her opportunity: if she can shut down production, the Elementia craze won't grow any bigger, and she can finally have a normal life. Not even the rascally cute actor Eamon O'Brien can get in her way.

But the crew's passion is contagious, and as Iris begins to find herself in the very world she has avoided her whole life, she realizes that this movie might just be amazing… (Pub Date: Apr 3rd, 2018)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.


I see why they compare this to Fangirl, but the story itself isn't the same.

3.5.

Iris is the granddaughter of a famous but deceased fantasy writer whose story is being filmed into a movie picture. She wasn't close to her grandmother and the last thing she and her family wants is more attention, which once culminated in her little brother being almost kidnapped by a crazy fan. Still, she slowly begins to understand what everyone's passion for her family's legacy is about and begins to love it herself as well.

This book... I don't know what my problem was with it but I'd read, read, read and it wouldn't end. It's not even long but I just couldn't get into it. If I have to guess, I'd say it's because I felt like the author had fooled me. I got a contemporary YA to read but had to read large chunks of some fantasy book inside, plus long speeches defending the genre, which is far from being my favorite. By the way, that's why people compare it to Fangirl, which made us read a Harry Potter slash fanfic back then. I think that was what I found most similar about the two. The rest wasn't really.

Even though I didn't really like the book, it had so many positive points. Unlike Iris and her family, I'm not against fantasy and the book raises so many good points of its importance I kept nodding back to it. Also, the side characters are quite an interesting bunch. I love how Iris actually becomes friends of the two big stars in the movie. She doesn't date them, they don't come on to her or hostilize her. In fact, the best scenes happen when they're all having fun.

Moreover, the adult characters are deep and make sense. I felt so sad for Iris's grandmother, and she wasn't even in the book. There is a whole family dark secret side story going on that made me reflect a lot.

In other words, this book had content, had funny scenes, and the romantic couple was cute. So why didn't I like it? That's a question I couldn't answer for sure, I can just say this wasn't my thing, hence this rating.

Rating: 3 out of 5.