I can’t handle this.

Teenager: *throws temper tantrum*
Also Teenager one page later: I am the most mature teen I know.
Me: you must only know one teen then. ( )

As disappointed as I was to find that this was,,, much more allocishet than I was expecting, I'm so fucking glad I read this.

I expected something fun. goofy. unmemorable.

And I got this absolute emotional powerful relatable book and I'm in awe.

There were so many good discussions - on discrimination, trauma, fame, fandom, who even knows what else - and so many parts that made me cry, and laugh, so much I could relate to - this book was everything I could have wanted.

Read it y'all. You're missing out. ( )

This book attempts to encompass a lot: a broken family trying their best to not hate each other in the shadow of generational grief & resentment, a protagonist finding the strength to face her desires & needs, an insane fantasy movie set & the Hollywood drama that entails, an adorable international YA romance, a story that prizes friendship & mentorship from a feminist lens... As you can probably guess, the arc of this novel sometimes feels disjointed and/or soapbox-y, but still, I think it was well worth a binge read. ( )

“Everyone else got to read Elementia and discover something about the world or themselves. Not me. I’d read her story and began drowning in a loss I’d never known was mine.”

Now A Major Motion Picture was a really fun reading experience about fandom, family, and finding yourself. We follow Iris Thorne as she and her little brother Ryder go to Ireland to see the filming of the grandmother’s beloved fantasy series, Elementia. Iris is no fantasy fan and there’s no live list for the rabid fandom , so she’s determines to get the production shut down and return home to L.A. as soon as possible. But Iris starts to see the magic in her grandmother’s story and gains a courage she wasn’t sure she had.

Things I Liked
I really liked the sides and filming notes we get to see before the chapters. It really made everything seem real and let me get to know a lot of the different characters quickly.

There was really solid humor all throughout the story. It felt very conversational and natural, never forced. And it created some great banter and dynamics between characters.

My favorite part was probably the friendships we see develop and really flourish in the last half of the book. They all felt so genuine and made me care about the individual characters more as well. I also liked the sibling relationship between Iris and Ryder.

I liked seeing some diversity in the story. Shoshana and Julian, two leads of the movie are half Filipino, and Shoshana is a lesbian.

Things I Didn’t Like
Iris’ parents were the WORST! Her mom was completely absent and pointless in the story, and her dad was a piece of work. I just didn’t like them as all.

I didn’t really connect to the Elementia storyline until around 70% of the book. Before that I just didn’t really care and that kept my investment down.

This was a fantastically quick read that I knocked out in a few hours. It really surprised me in a good way after the beginning was a bit lackluster. I loved the friendships, always a win from me, and seeing Iris’s journey gaining courage and bravery through her experiences. And the romance was adorable too.

I received a copy of the book from Sourcebooks Fire via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I received an advanced reader copy of Now a Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy and was intrigued by the description, although after reading it I feel like the summary kind of buries the lead and doesn't really prepare the reader for what to expect. Iris is forced to take her younger brother to Ireland for the filming of Elementia's first movie after his therapist thinks it's a good idea and her father doesn't want to take him. More than just finding it "a little annoying," Iris is angry and openly hostile toward anything to do with the fantasy world...so how will she react when she finds herself surrounded by a cast and crew that, for the most part, is composed of devout "Thornians," as Elementia fans refer to themselves? As it turns out, not well...but the closer she gets to the cast and the film's director, the more she finds her attitude shifting. Unfortunately, filming is fraught with issues and the movie does not seem to have the support of the film studio backing it. Will Iris have a change of heart in time to appreciate her time in Ireland? Or will the studio cancel filming before she has a chance to realize how precious it is?

Things I loved about the book:
-Iris and Eamon were great characters. Eamon was intriguing from the start, and even when Iris was at her most pessimistic and unlikable I still found myself understanding where she was coming from and sympathizing with her.
-Cate and her strong-woman agenda. I will admit that it got a little over-the-top at times, but overall, I'll give a resounding "hell yeah" to a strong, confident woman who commits herself to teaching another young woman the importance of being strong, speaking up, and lifting other women up.
-The relationship between Iris and her brother and the way that it evolved as the story went on. I loved seeing him get more independent and watching them gain a new appreciation for each other after everything they had been through together.

Things I was a little more meh about:
-The fantasy element. In a world where mind-blowing fantasy worlds exist, it always seems risky to me when a book creates a bestselling fantasy series compared to the works of real-life fantasy bestsellers. The Elementia descriptions included in the book didn't necessarily detract from the story for me, but they also didn't add much to it. The book/movie could have been about anything and provided the same element to the story.
-The ending, man. I'm not going to give anything away, but things wrapped up a little too neatly for me, especially after the overblown ups and downs throughout the book. Speaking of...
-The overblown ups and downs throughout the book. I like a book with some drama. Ask anyone in my book club, and they'll tell you I love a story that makes me emotional. But holy hell, the wild swings from "everything is perfect" to "the world is falling apart" from page to page practically gave me whiplash. Toning it down a notch would have gone a long way to making the characters' experiences more relatable.

Overall, I think this is an ok read. There were things I didn't particularly love about it, but for the most part I enjoyed it. It gets into emotional stuff without getting too heavy, makes you love the characters, and is perfect if you're looking for a light, quick read. ( )