DNF Young Adult Review: Gena/Finn

Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson, May 17, 2016. 287 pages. Published by Chronicle Books. Source: Publisher.

 The story follows the unlikely friendship of two young women forged via fan fiction and message boards, and is told entirely in texts, chats, and blog posts.

Gena (short for Genevieve) and Finn (short for Stephanie) have little in common. Book-smart Gena is preparing to leave her posh boarding school for college; down-to-earth Finn is a twenty-something struggling to make ends meet in the big city. Gena’s romantic life is a series of reluctant one-night-stands; Finn is making a go of it with long-term boyfriend Charlie. But they share a passion for Up Below, a buddy cop TV show with a cult fan following. Gena is a darling of the fangirl scene, keeping a popular blog and writing fan fiction. Finn’s online life is a secret, even from Charlie. The pair spark an unlikely online friendship that deepens quickly (so quickly it scares them both), and as their individual “real” lives begin to fall apart, they increasingly seek shelter online, and with each other. 

Thoughts

Gena/Finn was one book that I had never heard of when it one day showed up at my house. It was an unexpected addition to my review list, but I thought I'd give it a chance to see if it was going to be a book that I would ended up enjoying. Unfortunately, as you can tell by the post title, this did not end up being a book that was for me.

•  I'll keep this really short since I was unable to make it more than a couple pages into Gena/Finn. It was one of those books that you know, pretty much right off the bat, that it is not going to be for you. For me, it was a mixture of the format the story was told in and the writing style. I just could not get into it; even though I have devoured books told through diary entries and letter...go figure.

• Something about the tone of the book put me in the mind of reality TV shows which I abhor. There was really nothing about the book to draw me in, in regards to the writing and overall story line. It just fell flat and like it was trying to hard to be a "niche" like read. The little bit I did read came across as forced and unnatural, so, I decided to not waste my stolen moments of reading on something I was not enjoying.

• Could this book have been better...hard to say. I literally have nothing else to say about this book. It was just like a blip on the radar, here for a second and then gone.

Final Verdict: Gena/Finn- The writing and story line come across as forced; and the overall tone of the book was, well, it was unremarkable.

Gena/Finn earns

A copy of this book was received in consideration for a review. All thoughts are my own.