Now A Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I don't even know where to begin with this book, simply because it was just THAT GOOD. Now A Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy is technically a contemporary, but the plot centers around a fantasy novel becoming a film. Iris Thorne's grandmother is famous for writing a series of high-fantasy novels called Elementia. Now, Elementia is being made into a film, and Iris and her father aren't too pleased. See, Elementia is what tore their family apart, after a crazed fan tried to kidnap Iris's little brother Ryder.

When Iris and her brother end up visiting the film set in Ireland, Iris would love nothing more for the film to fail. She doesn't want her family's life to be in the public eye, and she knows that no matter what happens with this film, blockbuster or bust, that's going to happen. In her eyes, the only way to stop this is for the film to never make it to the cutting room floor. But the longer Iris sticks around, the more she gets to know the cast and crew (and one cute Irish boy in particular), and her opinion of the movie, and Elementia in general, starts to shift.

Throw in a terrible relationship with her father, the feeling of being the sole person responsible for her little brother, and the desire to pursue a passion that terrifies her, and you have an outstanding coming of age story. But it doesn't stop there. The world of Elementia is fantastic, and you get to see a lot of that in this story as well through film dialogue and snippets from the books themselves.

I just can't rave about this book enough. The contemporary aspect was spot on, but it was blended so well with the fantasy world it centered around that it was made even better. I loved every character in this story (except for Iris's father...but you're supposed to dislike him). Iris was headstrong and determined, but she had a fear inside her that a lot of us can relate to. Ryder was such a cute kid, even though he threw tantrums a lot, he had a good heart and was incredibly brave after all he had been through. Eamon was a big bag of sugar concealed in an Irishman's body, and Shoshanna and Julian were great minor characters as well. Cate was the role model that all teenage girls need, pushing and motivating while standing back and letting people figure out things for themselves.

This book also tackled so many issues in a way that was far from preachy. It was definitely big on feminism, since the Elementia books themselves were focused heavily on a powerful female protagonist. It covered sexism, racism, and sexual orientation discrimination in the film industry. It also revealed the dark side of fandoms, and how being obsessed with a fictional world can sometimes cause people to do extreme and scary things.

Personally, I loved that how in the author's note we discover that the Elementia series actually does exist, and that it was Cori McCarthy's own feminist response to Tolkien. Personally I would love to get to read the actual Elementia stories that were the focus of this novel. This was pretty long (around 400 pages), which is unusual for a contemporary, but I flew through it and honestly wish it had been even longer. This is definitely going on my list of favorite books of 2018, and actually, maybe ever.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me a copy of this phenomenal read. Now A Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy releases TOMORROW so be sure to pick it up and see for yourself just how wonderful this story is.