Author: Anna Priemaza
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age
Source: HarperTeen via Edelweiss
Goodreads
For fans of Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything, Emery Lord’s When We Collided, and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Anna Priemaza’s debut novel is a heartwarming and achingly real story of finding a friend, being a fan, and defining your place in a difficult world.Review by Nara
Kat and Meg couldn’t be more different. Kat’s anxiety makes it hard for her to talk to people. Meg hates being alone, but her ADHD keeps pushing people away. But when the two girls are thrown together for a year-long science project, they discover they do have one thing in common: They’re both obsessed with the same online gaming star and his hilarious videos.
It might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship—if they don’t kill each other first.
“Kat and Meg Conquer the World will hit home for anyone who has ever been waist-deep in fandom, doubt, or new relationships; Kat’s and Meg’s unique voices are outstanding, and their friendship brings this story to vibrant life."—Francesca Zappia, author of Made You Up and Eliza and Her Monsters
Kat and Meg Conquer the World was probably the first book that I've read that touches on the growing internet culture of gaming (there may have been others that I've just forgotten about, if so, my bad). From actually playing an online MMO to watching Let's Plays on Youtube, there's certainly a thriving community online who like to game and watch others game together. I personally also quite like watching other people play games- not sure why but there's this odd satisfaction when they do something really well, and there's always entertainment when things go not-so-well.
The two main characters of the novel are excellently developed. Their two voices are quite distinct and unique, and it's great to see how the two help each other grow as the book goes on. Meg was quite annoying at first, but as the story went on, you began to see that there was more to her than meets the eye. I'm not sure how much of her being slightly annoying you can attribute to her ADHD, and how much you can simply put down to personality (she was almost a bit intrusive at times), but as you got to know her a bit better, you could understand the reasoning behind why she acted as she did.
Kat suffers from anxiety and so is Meg's opposite in many ways. She moves to Meg's school at the start of the novel, and goes through that classic phase of struggling to make friends, eating in the bathroom and seeking sanctuary in the library. The two characters end up needing to partner together for the big yearly science fair project, and develop a friendship in the process. I felt that Kat's evolutionary arc was a bit more satisfying that Meg's, especially because it also included such a cute romance haha.
Overall, an excellently written novel with two memorable and relateable protagonists. Would recommend it to fans of contemporary novels and fans of internet culture.
Really liked it
RatingsOverall: 8/10
Plot:4 /5
Romance: 3.5/5
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 1/5