I was torn between three and four stars on this because I really did like it, but I don't think much of it was to my taste. I can definitely see the love for it, though. I read most of this book in one night because I was hooked on the story and invested in seeing where it was going.

What I didn't like boiled down to the tone, mostly. It's a little bit over the top. It's not ridiculous by any means, but it does lean toward melodrama in the situations and characters' reactions. I much prefer contemporaries that have a more down to earth, almost quiet kind of feel. Even when big things are happening, I want it to feel small. I just consistently wanted this book to dial it back a couple of notches.

I also found the excerpts of the podcast a little annoying. I never like when excerpts of the characters' work is included in the story, whether it's podcasts or comics or their writing. I usually either skip it or skim it because I'm not interested and it rarely has much impact on the story. I didn't find the podcast interesting and that made it difficult to relate to the love for it that so many of the characters' had. I'd just rather it stay inside the story so in my head it can be as amazing as all the characters claim it is. I'll also admit that my issue with this is in part probably because I'm not a big fandom person.

I also wasn't a big fan of how short the chapters were. They were usually just a couple of pages in my ebook format on my phone, so I imagine that translates to just 1-2 pages in a physical book. It felt so choppy and took me quite a while to get into. Not every new bit of information or plot development or character growth needed to be a different scene.

But beyond that, it was a solid book. The narration grabbed me and I was always interested in where it was going. I liked the characters okay. They weren't my favorite people ever, but they were enough that I didn't feel like a few hours stuck with them was insufferable. The representation was also pretty good. It's nice to see a good bit of diversity that isn't just screaming at you to look at all the diversity. Especially with the asexual character. Although I was a bit disappointed that the ace character treated the people who cared about him poorly for most of the book. I think that's largely just because of how rarely I see ace characters, though.

I dunno, not a bad book by any means, but the more I think about it the more this is just a solid three stars for me. A fine contemporary, but it's honestly not one that will stick with me very long. It joins the long list of books I've read and thought "sure" after finishing.