top of page

"Stranger Than Fanfiction", or the road trip to end all road trips.

Writer's picture: The Fox in the TeacupThe Fox in the Teacup

Updated: Mar 21, 2023

Hello critters! Today you're getting a book review purely because I've been needing to talk about this book. I read it a couple months ago and I still can't seem to shake it off. So here goes nothing.


In this delightful show of literary talent, Chris Colfer proves once again that he is an amazing human/genius. I picked up this book last year in a compulsive craze to get more books, always more books, even if I didn’t have a shelf at the time. The title seemed fun and I'd been curious about the author. Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel played an important part in my teenage years (I was a total Gleek). I thought (and still think) he had an incredible singing voice and great acting skills, but what I hadn’t known until I read this book was that he also has a remarkable ability to give his characters a unique voice and impeccable writing skills too.

Stranger Than Fanfiction is a YA novel that tells the unexpected adventure of a group of said young adults embarking on a road trip that will change them furevah. Colfer doesn’t shy away from including subjects that would not be considered “rainbows and butterflies”, like substance abuse and family pressure on LGBTQIA+ youth, but does so in a way that is neither glorifying nor degrading. This is a story of acceptance, of others and of oneself. This is a story of friendship, of recognizing the hardship of standing by someone when you realize you don’t know them as well as you thought, of realizing that honesty comes with a price but vulnerability comes from love.


Let’s see who we’re following on this unexpected journey, shall we?

First, there’s Cash Carter, hero of a generation and lead actor of the phenomenon series Wiz Kids. Cash is young, Cash is cool, Cash is late, Cash is kind of a substance addict and last but not least, Cash has a dark secret. Right off the bat in the first chapter, at some Comic Con-type event about the show, he gets threatened that if he doesn’t get his act together, the network is going to have to disappoint millions of fans by pulling him out of what brought him fame and fortune. Little do they know.

Then, we meet Topher, Sam, Joey and Moriko (aka Mo), four best friends who just finished high school and have made plans to take on a memorable road trip together before they part ways for college. Topher has carefully planned it all to a T, there’s a little bit for everyone until they get to their final destination where they will visit the sets of their favorite TV show. We meet the four of them for the first time the night before the trip, fangirling about Wiz Kids and the info from the convention that was shared online. Topher, being the cutie patootie that he is, sends an email to Cash via his website, as he has been doing for years now, to let him know what he's up to and to thank him for being a part of the show that brought him and his friends all together in the first place. On a whim as a joke, Topher invites Cash to join them on the road trip, you know, for funsies. What a shock to find out that the star agrees and joins them the next morning! (This is sarcasm. It is a shock to the characters but not in the least bit to the reader because otherwise there wouldn’t be a story and why would you even have picked up the book in the first place. But still, shocker!)



That was the safe part. Turn around now if you want to read it first, or read on if you don't mind getting spoiled.

Disclaimer: massive spoilers ahead! You’ve been warned.



Fast forward a bit, it is now clear that:

  1. Wiz Kids is a worldwide phenomenon à la Harry Potter meets Doctor Who that has allowed millions of kids throughout the world to connect however, while the mainstream side of it has brought joy and a reason to live to many a fan, there is a dark side to it that is being kept neatly under wraps purely for PR reasons;

  2. Cash is not at all who the Fab 4 idolized him to be and he definitely has a problem with drugs and alcohol which is slightly displeasing news because that makes him an asshole to them;

  3. Topher’s master plan is going to be thwarted in every possible way and that gives him anxiety, his feelings for Sam that he keeps denying because *air quote* she’s his friend also give him anxiety;

  4. Joey’s gay but clearly in the closet since he comes from a super religious family, so this is his one chance to experiment with his sexuality before going back to the Dark Ages, I mean going to a super religious college, no pressure at all;

  5. Samantha is trans and feels deeply uncomfortable in a girl’s body when he knows for sure that he is a boy, but he doesn’t know how to reveal his true identity to his friends out of fear of rejection;

  6. Mo longs for freedom and pursuing her creative writing dreams but that doesn’t agree with what her controlling father has in mind and that makes her feel pretty bummed out and on edge;

  7. Each of the Fab 4 is in for a life-changing adventure with Cash to discover more about their true self and get some wisdom from a miserable mess of a young man who simply wanted to have a normal life. Think Book 3 of Avatar: The Last Airbender when the Gaang goes one by one on a quest with Zuko.


Through twists and turns and detours, Cash learns about each of his fans’ deepest secrets and insecurities. He offers an attentive ear to their struggles and some surprisingly sage advice about not wasting your time pretending to be someone you’re not because life is too short, too precious, to spend it hiding behind a mask, fearing what others might think, fulfilling somebody else’s wishes, lying to yourself about what you really want. Cash also reveals a bit more of himself as the younger crew prove themselves worthy to earn his trust. But he still won’t be completely honest with them. How could he? How could he confess the real reason why he came along in the first place? Where would he even begin? It would crush them. Better to play along the part of the tired jackass and dispense his not-sober lessons. On the other hand, the Fab 4 get used to this unforeseen side of their hero and show him compassion while trying to keep him accountable regarding the changes they made to their plans to accommodate his pleas. What was supposed to be an anticipated yet reasonable fun experience has turned into a learning curve about what makes us human and what actually makes our protagonists happy. Each character is on their way to discover that there is indeed more to life than passively walking the path that has been laid out for you.

All his well, or as well as it could be given the circumstances, until a fight breaks out and all hell breaks loose. A very much in pain Cash blurts out the private information he was told in confidence leading to everybody’s feelings getting hurt. Cash splits from the Not So Fab 4 who then drive to their last destination in silence. The sense of discomfort is palpable and rather sad to read because friend break-ups hurt like a bitch. Eventually, the Fab 4 realize that although they can’t rely on what used to link them as children, their bond is stronger than any show cancellation and they accept each other for who they are no matter what. That demonstration of unconditional love and support is seriously heartwarming.

Of course, the plot wouldn’t get nicely tied up if we didn’t reunite with Cash at the end. As the Fab 4 are returning home, they stop by the place where their former travelling companion is supposed to be in rehab. Only Topher makes it out of the car and into the facility. Honestly, the more Cash kept repeating that there was more than one way to get out of a contract without breaching it, the more I kept thinking his solution was going to be quite tragic. And so it was. Topher finding an emaciated Cash on his deathbed hit me in the feels so hard. Finding out that all these years Cash kept an alert on Topher’s emails because he was the first fan to address him as Cash instead of Dr. Bumfuzzle, his character on the show, because he was the first to treat him like a normal person, like a normal child, that hit me even harder. Now that they understand why their friend was having such a destructive attitude, all four besties extraordinaires refuse to leave his side until he peacefully passes away. The fact that they eventually find out that Cash left each of them a hefty sum of money to set them up nicely for college is merely gravy. A true act of kindness which admittedly was to be expected but is always very much appreciated, just to read the stunned reactions of the clueless recipients.



I read the book in less than a week, I couldn’t put it down.

On the one hand, I was so enthralled by the hijinks that followed Cash’s appearance in the younglings’ lives and how he got to each of them on an emotional level both by simply listening to them and pushing them to get real and honest. The more I learned about Cash’s backstory, the more aggravated I felt that a child should be submitted to such a disproportionate level of scrutiny (which made me feel bad for child actors in general, and Harry Potter stars in particular, growing up is hard enough without having the pressure of a set of insanely high expectations created by the spotlight). To paraphrase Florence Pugh, just because a person is in the public eye doesn’t mean they owe an explanation about any decision of their life to said public. Regarding the other main characters, it was captivating to follow the four original friends on the adventure of a lifetime as they think they’re gonna grow apart only for them to grow closer. I mean, yes sign me up! I am here for meaningful friendships that go beyond gender and race (in the end we’re all humans and we all breathe the same polluted air).

On the other hand, Colfer’s writing is so easy to read. It is beautifully crafted without feeling overly researched and complex. The jokes are relatable and culturally sound (or so I thought). The flow and the rhythm of the words seemed so seamless I flew right through the pages. Colfer’s style was highly enjoyable to me, it almost didn’t feel like I was reading.

As an aspiring writer myself, one thing I learned in this book, and for which I am grateful, is to use the correct pronouns right away. I think of myself as progressive yet I was still surprised when Colfer switched to male pronouns as soon as Sam admitted to being trans in his introduction chapter. I don’t really know why (probably my cultural and patriarchal conditioning that I’m still working on undoing) but I was expecting Sam’s pronouns to remain she/her until he “officially” came out to his friends, or at least in the narration in group settings, but I’m delighted that it wasn’t the case. That mark of respect for the character showed me that I still have some prejudice and helped me understand why I should deconstruct it. Representation matters critters! Not only for people to see themselves represented but to normalize it for everyone else. When everything’s out in the open toward the end, I found it adorable that Topher didn’t really take Sam’s gender into consideration after admitting his feelings for him. Topher loved Sam for who Sam was regardless of how he presented himself. Love is love.


I must give a quick special mention to my favorite scene of the whole book, the sports car ride. The fascination Cash has for that Porsche 550 Spyder, I could picture him with twinkles in his eyes at the sight of it. When he takes Mo for a drive, the feeling of adrenaline, of pure fear of dying makes her yell that she’s not happy with the trajectory her life is supposed to take, and I felt that to my core. Not because I had parents who forced their wishes for my future on me, they were really supportive to be honest and I thank them for that, but because of all the kids I’ve met in my life, both when I was in school as a student and then later on as a teacher, who didn’t have a say in their future or who didn’t know enough about who they were and what they wanted that they went along with what their parents had planned for them because it was easier that way. Cash says to Mo to “never take a backseat to your own life!” That statement rings as true as ever. When it comes to the road ahead, you should be in the driver’s seat, heading toward a destination that makes your soul smile.


Lollipops and water parks 🍭


Nicky 🦊

Comentarios


bottom of page