Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke have one goal: they both want to become their high school’s valedictorian. Not only because the winner gets bragging rights, but because they also receive a scholarship to university, which both Stella and Wesley desperately want.
When they are not trying to outdo each other academically or are busy with the epic prank war they have started between them, both Stella and Wesley (respectively) spend their time fangirling over Warship Seven, a sci-fi show that had been cancelled after its first season. The fandom, though, is very much alive. With comic con on the horizon, they meet on an online forum and hide behind aliases while getting to know each other better than they ever did offline. The question is, will they be able to keep their online connection alive IRL?
This reviewer is very much a fan of everything nerdy and comic con-y, so it is not surprising that I was absolutely stoked to find out that this book exists and even more excited when I got to read this early. There is not a single thing I did not love about this book.
Stella and Wesley are fantastic characters and I enjoyed both of their POV’s immensely. It was so enjoyable how there is more to them that meets the eye (obviously) and that the other one slowly gets to figure that out. Their banter was fantastic and their prank war was nothing short of hilarious. Was it juvenile? Yes. Was it unnecessary for these two high achievers to go there? Yeah, but damn if I didn’t love every single second of it. It made both characters seem less serious, which was such a lovely aspect seeing as their mind was otherwise pretty occupied by the battle about becoming valedictorian.
Tate wrote two such relatable characters with so many facets that they made this story come alive and I enjoyed everything about them meeting in the Warship Seven fandom quite a bit. Trust and believe me that I would be in that fandom as well if it existed. I loved how Stella is unapologetically feminist and tells more than one mansplainer to f*** off and I was just sitting here, snapping in support. Wesley is what I think could be described as a “cinnamon roll” hero and I personally love him 100%.
The writing itself is fantastic as it is written in a way where you want to go on and on without the writer having to use cliffhangers at the end of chapters to keep the reader’s interest going. You genuinely just want to stay in that world, especially if you are into fandom yourself as there is a lot of talk about fanfiction and fanart and I felt right at home. Honestly, when I finished, I contemplated starting right over again.
I can just wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves YA, anyone who loves a healthy dose of enemies-to-lovers, a bit of fandom and a lot of feels. I simply can’t wait to see what Meredith Tate does next.
Shipped is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 18th 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Can two IRL enemies find their happily ever after online?
Stella Greene and Wesley Clarke are Gene Connolly Memorial High School’s biggest rivals. While the two have been battling it out for top student, it’s a race to the bottom when it comes to snide comments and pulling the dirtiest prank. For years, Stella and Wes have been the villain in each other’s story, and now it’s all-out war.
And there is no bigger battle than the one for valedictorian, and more specifically, the coveted valedictorian scholarship.
But Stella and Wes have more in common than they think. Both are huge fans of Warship Seven, a popular sci-fi TV drama with a dedicated online following, and the two start chatting under aliases–without a clue that their rival is just beyond the screen. They realize that they’re both attending SciCon this year, so they plan to dress in their best cosplay and finally meet IRL.
While tensions at school are rising and SciCon inches closer and closer, the enemy lines between Stella and Wes blur when a class project shows them they might understand one another better than anyone else–and not just in cosplay.
