Spoiler Alert

Me ha gustado mucho la historia y la relación entre los protagonistas (son adorables), además trata temas como gordofobia, el sentirse avergonzado por algo que no puedes controlar (en este caso dislexia) o el amor por algo que los demás considerarían infantil (los fanfic) y la relación tóxica con los padres a los que debes ponerles límites para que no te sigan haciendo daño.

Si bien me ha gustado la relación entre Marcus y April, la ocultación de cierto secreto me ha molestado, aunque entiendo por qué lo hace, se ha alargado demasiado y empezaba a molestarme cada vez que se hacía alusión a dicho secreto.

Somehow, through fandom, he’d discovered who he was. His own interests. His own talents and possibilities, after decades of pretending to be someone he wasn’t, believing he was someone he wasn’t.

For the most part, I really enjoy this! There are so many great things about this book. I absolutely adored the main characters. April captivated me with her combination of strength, kindness, and self-awareness. She's so careful and firm about borders, both her own and those of other people, and even when she's rightfully hurt and upset, she's willing to analyze the situation and admit to her part in making it wrong.  She's the kind of character who's just so unapologetically herself, even when the world makes it hard for her to be, and I love that about her. I also love how her arc, as a fat character, wasn't in the slightest about overcoming insecurities about her body. On the contrary, it was about making it clear to the people around her that she wouldn't accept their opinions, criticism, and toxic do-gooding (is that a word? now it's a word). 

Marcus, in turn, won my heart with his open-mindednes, his awareness of his privelege, and his earnest desire to make himself a safe person to be around. I love how introspective he is, even when it would have been easier to evade an unpleasant topic in his thoughts, and how it's honest introspection and reflection, not just letting that unpleasant topic stew over in his mind and make him miserable. He genuinely wants to make things better for others *and* for himself, even though with the latter, the past baggage often makes it difficult. Throughout the story, from the very start, he is constantly growing and learning, and it's a wonderful process to witness. I very much appreciated how his dyslexia was handled by the narrative, showing that a learning disability and acute intelligence aren't mutually exclusive in the slightest.

It was really great to see these two genuinely good people come together and make each other happy. I liked how while the premise is super tropey—"fan meets star, they fall for each other"—that trope is actually held up and examined, with all of its implications. The power imbalance, the danger of fetishization, the public scrutiny, all of those have a place in the plot, are openly discussed, and handled maturely. I also loved how while a big part of the story hinges on all those layers of mistaken identities and falsehoods, the falsehoods are never treated as okay, and they co-exist with plenty of openness, mutual sharing, emotional vulnerability, and raw honesty. It was also very pleasant to read all those fandom-focused bits, the experts from the in-universe fan fiction, and especially the dialogues from the fandom servers. So familiar and so relatable! 

Also, it was awesome to see characters in their thirties have arcs focused on sorting out their relationships with their parents. Emotional separation from the childhood baggage doesn't end a few years after you become a legal adult, especially when there are wounds as significant as the ones April and Marcus have. In this regard, this is honestly such an important story about loving people you can't help but love, people who love you as well, and also realizing that love or not, you also have the right to be respected and to stand up for yourself, and it's scary af, no matter how old you are, but eventually you need to do it. A lot of those parents-related moments, especially in Marcus's arc, hit me so hard.

The things that I didn't like so much: the last 10-20% or so. :D I enjoyed the happy ending and all that, but I also felt like the author maybe rushed to wrap things up and the way some plot threads played out at the end was a tad too convenient. Also, I never quite clicked with the author's prose; it was a tad too verbose for me, I think, though it didn't stand in the way of enjoying the story. It just made it harder. And also, a very minor grip: namedropping Game of Thrones late in the book. Like, come on, I thought Gods of the Gates was supposed to be this alternate universe's Game of Thrones, but soapier! Otherwise, why weren't all those fans constantly talking about the uncanny coincidences, like the author refusing to write the last couple of books, the show going downhill from the moment the source material ended, the final season being a trainwreck of ruined character arcs, even the small details like the creators having the same initials? That tiny bit kind of ruined my immersion, not gonna lie. :D