A must-read for people involved in fandoms at almost any level and genre! It's cute, lighthearted and a relatable story.

I did do some full body cringes while reading this but it was a cute read. Now let me go check to make sure nothing I've ever written can be traced back to me irl.

[Thanks to NetGalley and Flux for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.]

It's been a LONG time since I accidentally stayed up until 2 a.m. 'one more chapter-ing' my way to the end of a book, but I read over half of this in one sitting, because it was just that good. I'm many years removed from high school, but Kole still resonated with me, both in terms of who I was then and who I am now. I think there's a little bit of Kole in most people, however it might look.

All of the characters in Down With This Ship were dynamic and refreshing. I found myself genuinely invested in both of Kole's real-life ships, even if I was definitely right there with Michaela rooting for one a little bit more than the other. Love triangles come up often in YA novels, but rarely does an author strike the balance so neatly between the two sides and still leave me feeling satisfied and fulfilled with the ending.

The interlacing of the story's narrative and Kole's fanfic kept me engaged in both plots - and I'm not even a sci-fi fan! It allowed me to see how Kole's personal life made its way onto her blog, how her world came to life in her words. By the ending, I was almost disappointed not to read about a series finale for The Space Game. Not because I wanted it cancelled, but because I wanted to know what direction the show is going to take!

I'm already looking forward to rereading this lighthearted and relatable take on what it's like to come of age at a time when social media rules our daily lives and fandoms are an integral part of so many people's media consumption. It was really fascinating for me to see fandom lingo - the sorts of words and abbreviations my friends and I throw around online - breaking the barrier and becoming part of mainstream media. Overall, this is a must-read for people involved in fandoms at almost any level and genre.

A fun and enjoyable YA book about fandom. It really captured shipping and fandom in general well. I know I would have loved this book as a geeky teen.

I am not sure where to start with this review other than this book gave me the feels. It has been a while since a book caused me to put it down and physically walk away from it while verbally responding to it because of what happened - in this case it was me walking away repeating "no" over and over again while running into a different room. I am very prone to suffering from secondhand embarrassment, especially if I am invested in what I am involved in (book/movie/tv show), and this book had me suffering from that twice! The second time I just crossed my arms, dealt with the goosebumps, and tried to not start crying. All of this to be said, I finished this book in about 5 hours, desperate to know that Kole made it out of everything ok and got her happy ending. Let's just say I teared up at the ending in the best way.

I have read other books like this before, but there was something about this one that has put it over the top compared to the others. I don't think I can pinpoint what it was that Kingman tapped into with this book that made it that much more enjoyable than the others I read, but I think the honesty that was written into this book really brought it to a different level. Kole is a very relatable character to anyone who had a "weird" hobby in high school, was just trying to get by and didn't feel like they fit in. The characters all felt well-rounded and I had feelings/opinions about all of the characters, even ones that appeared only for a page.

I don't want to say too much about the actual plot because this isn't a completely unpredictable book, but I don't find that to be a major flaw. Sometimes there is comfort in the predictability, especially when there are still elements of the unknown. Even reading an uncorrected proof of this book didn't limit my enjoyment of this story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is drawn in by the cover or the plot description.

3/5✨: I'll be honest, I'm no quite sure how I feel about this book. I was invested in the story, where we follow Kole on her journey into proving that she is more than just a fanfic writer all the while taking drastic measures to make sure no one knows.She even finds herself in the mist of her own love triangle and ship wars, which she previously thought only happened in fiction. Like I said, I was invested in the story but I can't tell if it was because I liked it enough to care or if my curiosity on how the story ends beat out the cringe favor of the content.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this story was bad. I had fun reading it and I got so deep that I finished it all in one setting. I also have a soft spot for stories about writers. But it was made for a specific audience in mind. One I was apart of for a while too. But tastes grow and I don't think I found myself relating to the story or characters but that doesn't mean others won't. I just think if you're not the exact target of this book, then you might not enjoy or appreciate the fun moments of this book.

On a personal note, while I thought the story was well written and I was interested in the events taking place, there were two factors that didn't vibe well with me and took this piece from a four to a three. Those two things are the actual fanfiction pieces and our main characters. Firstly, I wasn't bad about the fiction in the work, as it was nice to get an insight onto the topic the writer is working on if they spend most of the book writing. But after the first reads of the fanfiction, it became really clear that the blog updates had nothing to do with the story and I struggled to care about what was going on in an world I knew nothing about. After a while, the posts happened so often that I kind of glossed over a few. Second, I found Kole a might too unlikable in the beginning, as she came off a little pretentious and like her word is gospel. I found myself liking the two love interests more than her and I wanted better for them. I also didn't like the one eighty they did with the personality of one boy, just so it would make sense why she chose the other. It was a little outrageous.

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux publishing for an advanced free copy of Down With This Ship in exchange for an honest review!

This book had a few ups and downs, but overall was adorable as hell. It started strong, and I liked Kole for the most part, even if I just wanted her to grow a dang backbone. The fanfiction was cute, and the writing of fandom and the fanfiction just completely took me back to being a teenager and wanting to be in Kole's place! It was so relatable and enjoyable, I found myself both cringing and laughing whenever Kole and her friends would talk about it.

The middle of the book kind of dragged, and I ended up wanting to skim certain parts of the book. I debated about not finishing it, but I'm glad I pushed through because the end did pick up! The situation with Damien and Hayley though, it was just frustrating past a point of enjoyment and it made me want to shake Kole. It felt unrealistic, for me. The character of Damien in general felt unrealistic and it was frustrating to not have a resolution for him. He gets taken out of the convention, yeah, but it doesn't feel like a win for Kole? He's just going to keep behaving that way and making her miserable, which at least for Hayley she backed off and got a punishment.

The ending was cute though, I liked the parts with the convention and I was happy with how Kole and her mom fixed their relationship, and Kole knowing that her mom had her back. Kole and Colin were absolutely adorable, and I loved that they pushed each other to be better, even if Kole didn't appreciate it for a time! I know Ms. Kingman is a debut author, and overall honestly I enjoyed her first book a lot. I can't wait to see what she does in the future!

Down with this Ship is the story of Kole, a quietly successful fanfiction writer with a top ranked blog based on her favorite tv show, The Space Game. As her blog continues to gain notoriety, she also gains a handful of critics, worst of all being a fellow student who threatens to reveal her identity to her whole school. Throw in a romantic tug-of-war (or two....or three.....) and an invite to a con with the opportunity to talk on the show's panel, and Kole is left with whole lot more to handle than she expected.

The plot of Down with this Ship is pretty darn cute; geek girls and smart, talented girls unite as Kole for the protagonist of this book. Her fanfiction writing is fun to follow, and she certainly has a knack for getting herself into messy situations, which is pretty entertaining. However, I found myself having trouble staying engaged throughout the entire book; the story just didn't hold up for me as much as I hoped it would. I also found the writing style to be more suited for a younger audience than the story was seemingly geared toward, which left me a bit confused. I would recommend this book for fanfiction enthusiasts and the earlier side of the YA reader crowd.

Thanks to Netgalley and Flux for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

I found myself struggling to finish this book at certain points. The book is overall a good story, but Kole struggles to be likeable in a lot of ways. She is often mean to people around her and the reader is given very little backstory as to why, or the backstory is so flimsy that it made me cringe to hear her snark. It sometimes got better as the book moved on, but it was the first introduction to Kole that gave that impression, and that made it difficult to get beyond enough to enjoy her story.

At times, the author was fantastic at creating a writing style that felt like a YA book. Other times, it was very "adult trying to be a youth." But overall, the writing style flowed well. The insertions of letters and blog posts were really nice, and they didn't take over the book.

The loose ends were tied up very neatly in the end, and I suppose I did feel some small bit of satisfaction. The middle was really problematic with how much things built up, pushing way beyond the walls of believability. Almost a jumping-the-shark feel with how absurd the situations got.

My biggest problem with this book is just Kole herself. She's not a likeable character, even when she gets better as the book progresses. I still rooted for her, but she definitely made it hard at times. For example, anyone that had any criticism, even when said nicely, was a troll or a hater. As the book progressed, the comments got nastier, and it made more sense to use those words; however, when she first started calling people that, it was a bit overkill for people trying to interact with an author. Or, of course, when we first meet Kole, her entire schtick is hating anyone within her eyeline and thinking nasty things about them.

I wouldn't read this book again, but I do appreciate a book that tries to normalize fandoms and fanfiction.

This one is a little rough to review. It's a bit cheesy. It's a bit cute. It's a bit cringy. Honestly, that describes a lot of fanfic, if you think about it. Also, ew to irl ships.
I wanted to like this more than I did but I wasn't really a fan. I highly recommend Down With This Ship more to fanfic WRITERS over readers. But everyone should give it a shot. Maybe I'm just not the target audience.

Thank you to Flux and Netgalley for giving me the review opportunity.

I honestly couldn’t get through the first chapter of this book. It might be about fan fiction, but it reads like fan fiction and not a novel ready for publishing. Also, I feel like the forced diversity in Michaela’s character seemed super obvious from her introduction as a “black, bi goddess”

Kole Miller is an avid writer and a huge fan of the the television show The Space Game. She's more than that though. She's the anonymous writer behind Spacer, the most popular blog about the show and the repository of her own fanfiction. She's got a cute new neighbor, a best friend as obsessed with the show as she is, and a rival who may be something more than that. What could go wrong?

I really loved the premise of this book. The potential of a book with a main character who is immersed in fandom and fanfic is right up my alley. But this book did not engage me the way I expected. I thought I would love this book but I don't have such a strong feeling for it.

I didn't feel the characters were very three-dimensional. We don't get much back story on any of them. There are hints about Noah and Colin but not very much at all. Colin has signs of perfectionism and a challenging relationship with his parents but it's not explored much at all. And even Kole's relationship with her parents, which is hinted at, is not fleshed out much at all before the very end when it is. bit unexpected and rushed. I don't feel like these characters changed or developed much in the course of the book.

The love triangle felt a little forced at times and a bit unbelievable at others.

Damian was a character I felt was truly more of a caricature. I didn't like his stalkerish tendencies and I think making him from an overly religious family was a questionable decision. It was awkward to read.

I love that fanfiction and fandom were represented. They were really central to the plot itself. Which is why I was surprised that we don't see a more realistic portrayal of fandom here. I think some of the plot points revolving around that were too far-fetched and unrealistic. Particularly the con scenes at the end. It also made the interaction with other fans online very all or none--people were either gushing or "anti's" or bullies. This isn't how it usually is--there are so many shades of grey between those extremes. Fandom friendships and interactions are common and can be supportive and rich in camaraderie regarding the ship/show/fandom.

Overall I think this will be an enjoyable book to many. It has a good pace and an engaging idea. The writing is solid. There was body positivity and celebration of geek culture and supportive sibling interactions, which are all great. I did not personally connect to it as much as I expected to from the premise and my familiarity with fandom in general was a bit at odds with how it was portrayed here.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Okay. This was absolutely adorable.

First, the characters were just 👌
And the relationships between the characters AHH
I loved to read and "see" how the relationship with her mother developed!! Her friendship with her BFF is actual goals!! Okay, that teacher though, please transfer to my school and teach me!! And the romance! AH adorable, nice enemies to lovers and allllllllll. The sort of taunting thing they have going on is very entertaining. Reminds me of like Tweet Cute or something :)

Second, the writing. I actually really really enjoyed the writing style of this book :)

Third, the plot. I also really really enjoyed the plot. It was mediocrely fast-paced. Like wasn't the MOST fast-paced book but it wasn't s l o w. It was a very good pace, actually.

I honestly don't know what else to write about this book. It was very cutesy and nice and fluffy to read. SOmething to brighten my day haha.

I loved this so much and highly recommend it to fans of Eliza and Her Monsters, Fangirl, The Extraordinaries :)

I’ve been grinning stupidly and inwardly squealing for most of this book. It was cute, funny, dorky, frustrating... I went through a range of emotions.

I used to write fanfiction as well, and maybe that’s why I enjoyed this book so much. I didn’t really talk about it except with a couple of friends, for a lot of the same reasons Kole didn’t - I knew I would be judged and made fun of. As I grew up, I realized I didn’t care what anyone thought, but by then it had mostly run its course. So on a personal level, this book really connected with me.

I love that Kole is a geek, but still attractive and able to pull boys. I love that she’s quirky and weird and relatable. I just... I really liked this book. This book made me smile and sometimes that’s all that’s needed.

In the beginning I wasn't sure if this book would be enjoyable to me. It was hard to take the problem our main character Kole goes through seriously but the friendship and later relationship between Colin and Kole really made all the difference. It became a fun and lighthearted read that I ended up enjoying because of the cute moments they shared and I am sucker for academic rivals to lovers.

It also offered a lot of references to today's popular culture and as someone who has always been involved with in internet culture - it was cool. The book is a hit or miss depending on the demographic. It can be seen as cheesy but it's amazing for what it is and it shouldn't be taken too seriously. I recommend it as a light read.

Kole Miller spends every possible minute writing for her fan fiction blog, Spacer - aka fixing the mistakes made by the writers of her fave show The Space Game. But then, to her horror, other students in her Creative Writing class find out that she's the one behind the blog. They threaten to reveal her identity unless she does several things for them - and that includes writing a ship she doesn't love into her story.

I really thought I would love this. I am a real fiend for books about fandom and fanfic. I've read a lot of them - which is probably why I was disappointed with this one. Much of what happens in Down with this Ship has been done before and done better. It also reminded me quite strongly of the stories I've read on Wattpad - sooo many boys wanting to go to the dance with the lead, too many "and then they all clapped" moments, cardboard cutouts instead of characters (also what happened to the Journalism teacher?? She just disappeared??), and really squiffy logic.

I know I'm from an older fanfic era, but I still dabble in fandom (as a lurker only these days!). A lot of things just didn't match my experiences. And that was very jarring. Posting fanfic on a blog was a really odd choice for Kole (something like AO3 is more likely). But the one thing that really stuck out - show (and book) writers do NOT read fan fiction (for legal reasons).

Ugh. I don't know. Maybe these things don't or shouldn't matter. But they do to me. This all said, I think quite a few Wattpadders would enjoy it.

This book was just a lovely journey. I enjoyed it so much. I ship just about everything and this book was full of characters and moments. I think anyone who enjoys YA or just well written books will like this.

This was a cute story, but predictable and slow to start. I liked how the author weaved in the actual fan fiction excerpts. It was hard to get deeper into Kole's head at times and it also not a very convincing YA voice.

As a lover of FanFiction, I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and felt new, with a great cast of characters. My only complaint, and why I dropped to 4/5 stars, was that so much of the issues could have been averted if Kole just came clean about her writings. Somehow she thought she could appear on a public panel and still remain anonymous? It never crossed her mind that “hey, this hiding will be moot the second people see me in real life talking about my stuff”. It was just frustrating as a reader. However, I still loved this book and would visit it again.

This YA romance was super cute and enjoyable!! I loved how mid-way through there was a love triangle. I’m very glad at who the author decided to ship in this book!!! 4/5!