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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
5/5
i knew i would enjoy the plot and it would be a light hearted read based on the synopsis. but what i didn't expect was the important topics it discussed about biphobia, being really true and growing. it was a pleasure to watch cece's journey to self discovery, even if it meant admitting to her own faults which isn't always comfortable.
i loved cece's pride speech, especially the part where she said that bisexuality isn't always liking 50% guys and 50% girls but it could be different for people. it's such an important fact that should be spread because it will lead to awareness and hopefully, less prejudice.
i also loved how realistic josh's reaction was to discovering everything about cece. from first her being bisexual to eventually that she was internet famous. he didn't sugarcoat and reacted realistically. he was, after all, just a normal dude who doesn't even care about the internet before.
ultimately, a great read!
i knew i would enjoy the plot and it would be a light hearted read based on the synopsis. but what i didn't expect was the important topics it discussed about biphobia, being really true and growing. it was a pleasure to watch cece's journey to self discovery, even if it meant admitting to her own faults which isn't always comfortable.
i loved cece's pride speech, especially the part where she said that bisexuality isn't always liking 50% guys and 50% girls but it could be different for people. it's such an important fact that should be spread because it will lead to awareness and hopefully, less prejudice.
i also loved how realistic josh's reaction was to discovering everything about cece. from first her being bisexual to eventually that she was internet famous. he didn't sugarcoat and reacted realistically. he was, after all, just a normal dude who doesn't even care about the internet before.
ultimately, a great read!
This book was a perfect mix of adorable and funny and even had a few parts that made me tear up. CeCe Ross is an influencer from Cincinnati and her girlfriends, Silvie has just broken up with her. Although originally heartbroken, CeCe ends up falling for this guy, Josh, who has no social media presence whatsoever.
CeCe deals with hiding the fame from Josh, dealing with hater and her own unsupportive father. Overall, I loved all of the major characters and I love how realistic CeCe’s mom was, which is really hard to find in most YAs. Although I found some parts of the plot unrealistic, what would I know? I’m not an influencer :(
CeCe deals with hiding the fame from Josh, dealing with hater and her own unsupportive father. Overall, I loved all of the major characters and I love how realistic CeCe’s mom was, which is really hard to find in most YAs. Although I found some parts of the plot unrealistic, what would I know? I’m not an influencer :(
Thank you so much to Edelweiss and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book!
CeCe and her girlfriend, Sylvie, are social media influencer, with millions of fans and followers and partnerships, but when Sylvie breaks up with her, CeCe loses a piece of her. And she’s afraid to lose her followers, too, so invested in their relationship, so much they created an hastag with their names combined: Cevie. CeCe is forced to figure out who is she without Sylvie and CeCe, while navigating her heartbreak and keeping up her profile. Meeting Josh, funny, smart and Not Online isn’t something she was expecting, but slowly CeCe starts to have feelings for him, determined to keep him away from knowing how famous she is. But when secrets are revealed, CeCe has to face an online and personal crisis and she will have to decide who she wants to be. If she wants to speak her truth or keep the facade on and off line.
Follow your arrow is a captivating and interesting story, with a compelling main character. CeCe is both an Influencer, with an apparently perfect life on social medias, and a teenager, dealing with friends, relationships, romantic and familial, school and so on. Told in first person by CeCe, the story follows her through heartbreak, new relationships, friends, both on and off line, her thoughts, her rage, fears, pain and memories. The reader gets to know a brilliant main character, weighed down by her complex and painful relationship with her conservative father, her passion for politics and queer rights, the enviroment and, at the same time, her fear of being herself, of losing followers, of being forgotten if she decided to be outspoken and truthful to her beliefs. Through CeCe’s eyes, the reader is able to see how dangerous and obsessive social medias can be, how fake is the life many show the world, how difficult and draining can be keeping up a facade in front of everything. At the same time, though, the author shows how important Internet can be, the support and love and understanding people can get through it, the bonds it can create, the news it can share.
Between social media posts, messages and emoticons, partnerships posts, the reader follows CeCe in her journey and growth into being more confident of herself, her beliefs and identity, realizing the importance of being surrounded by people who loves her exactly for what and who she is and not from what other see on social medias.
I really appreciated how the author tackles the complexity of social medias, Internet hate and bullying and the conversation and definition of being bisexual, how CeCe isn’t less bisexual or queer if she dates a cisgender male, how there are infinite choice and not just two, how:
“Yes,” I say, turning another page “the labels, the letters in the initialism- LBTQIAP- are important. Owning your identity is powerful, and something to be proud of. But sometimes the letters also box people in, put margins and rules on what does and doesn’t qualify, and who is and isn’t welcome, and what someone who IDs a certain way is and isn’t allowed to do.” (quotes from the earc, so they can be subject to changes)
I really enjoyed reading this book. There were some predictable moments, but the story is very captivating, the characters are well written and relatable and I loved realizing how much CeCe grew through the story, becoming more confident, stronger and less focused on what other people think.
I definitely recommend this book. It’s funny, it tackles many important themes, like sexuality, being oneself, bullying, the good and bad part of social medias, love, family and relationships.
CeCe and her girlfriend, Sylvie, are social media influencer, with millions of fans and followers and partnerships, but when Sylvie breaks up with her, CeCe loses a piece of her. And she’s afraid to lose her followers, too, so invested in their relationship, so much they created an hastag with their names combined: Cevie. CeCe is forced to figure out who is she without Sylvie and CeCe, while navigating her heartbreak and keeping up her profile. Meeting Josh, funny, smart and Not Online isn’t something she was expecting, but slowly CeCe starts to have feelings for him, determined to keep him away from knowing how famous she is. But when secrets are revealed, CeCe has to face an online and personal crisis and she will have to decide who she wants to be. If she wants to speak her truth or keep the facade on and off line.
Follow your arrow is a captivating and interesting story, with a compelling main character. CeCe is both an Influencer, with an apparently perfect life on social medias, and a teenager, dealing with friends, relationships, romantic and familial, school and so on. Told in first person by CeCe, the story follows her through heartbreak, new relationships, friends, both on and off line, her thoughts, her rage, fears, pain and memories. The reader gets to know a brilliant main character, weighed down by her complex and painful relationship with her conservative father, her passion for politics and queer rights, the enviroment and, at the same time, her fear of being herself, of losing followers, of being forgotten if she decided to be outspoken and truthful to her beliefs. Through CeCe’s eyes, the reader is able to see how dangerous and obsessive social medias can be, how fake is the life many show the world, how difficult and draining can be keeping up a facade in front of everything. At the same time, though, the author shows how important Internet can be, the support and love and understanding people can get through it, the bonds it can create, the news it can share.
Between social media posts, messages and emoticons, partnerships posts, the reader follows CeCe in her journey and growth into being more confident of herself, her beliefs and identity, realizing the importance of being surrounded by people who loves her exactly for what and who she is and not from what other see on social medias.
I really appreciated how the author tackles the complexity of social medias, Internet hate and bullying and the conversation and definition of being bisexual, how CeCe isn’t less bisexual or queer if she dates a cisgender male, how there are infinite choice and not just two, how:
“Yes,” I say, turning another page “the labels, the letters in the initialism- LBTQIAP- are important. Owning your identity is powerful, and something to be proud of. But sometimes the letters also box people in, put margins and rules on what does and doesn’t qualify, and who is and isn’t welcome, and what someone who IDs a certain way is and isn’t allowed to do.” (quotes from the earc, so they can be subject to changes)
I really enjoyed reading this book. There were some predictable moments, but the story is very captivating, the characters are well written and relatable and I loved realizing how much CeCe grew through the story, becoming more confident, stronger and less focused on what other people think.
I definitely recommend this book. It’s funny, it tackles many important themes, like sexuality, being oneself, bullying, the good and bad part of social medias, love, family and relationships.
Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours and Scholastic for the ARC of this book!
Cece and her girlfriend Silvie are internet famous. With millions of followers and sponsorships behind them, they're the ultimate #OTP. When they break up, Cece is suddenly left adrift, wondering how her followers will react and how she can keep her life online from crumbling. Things start to look up when she meets Josh, a musician who holds a deep disdain for social media. She's able to live her life in the present for once. But when word gets out about her new relationship, Cece stands to lose more than her followers.
Full disclosure: I was very not sure about this book when I started reading it. Cece was a fine character, but she read very much like a woke white girl with all of her outrage, very little of it seemingly directed at issues that affect BIPOC, but things like general (re: white) 'feminism' and the environment. I would've liked to see her acknowledge that, but I understand that wasn't the main point of the story. There is also a Harry Potter reference not far into the book, and while there is a trans character in the book and I know the author is a trans ally, it still immediately left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure if this book was written before JKR's comments were made, but it is what it is.
That said, I did end up really enjoying the book. It's a really good commentary on how seriously we can take social media. I'm not an influencer by any means, but I've definitely felt the pressure of bookstagram and obsessively tracking followers and hashtags and feeling like I needed to put more into it. Cece knew she put too much stock in what other people thought, but she was okay with it because she'd never had to really face the dark parts of the internet. She hid the unlikeable things about herself to build her persona. I appreciated that the break up with her girlfriend was handled like a natural break up would be. Not one big thing that happened, but a subtle shifting and growth that occurs naturally when you've been with someone for so long.
Josh was likable as a love interest, even if he was a little stock image. Of course he didn't know how to use a computer or social media. Why would he? Beyond that, he felt like a whole person with a personality and a family he cherished. His Dad and little sister were both adorable.
The thing that really swayed me towards this book though, was the commentary on being bi. Specifically, how biphobia is rampant in both the LGBTQ and straight communities. Not gay enough to be queer, not straight enough to be straight. There's internalized biphobia and Cece felt it as soon as she fell for a boy. There's so much pressure in the community to be the right kind of queer, and it can feel absolutely suffocating sometimes. Constantly second-guessing yourself. This was handled so well in this book, and that alone left me wanting to applaud at the end. I want this book for the ace community too. It was empowering.
Overall a good and quick read. If you can get past the few things I mentioned, I think it's worth it.
Cece and her girlfriend Silvie are internet famous. With millions of followers and sponsorships behind them, they're the ultimate #OTP. When they break up, Cece is suddenly left adrift, wondering how her followers will react and how she can keep her life online from crumbling. Things start to look up when she meets Josh, a musician who holds a deep disdain for social media. She's able to live her life in the present for once. But when word gets out about her new relationship, Cece stands to lose more than her followers.
Full disclosure: I was very not sure about this book when I started reading it. Cece was a fine character, but she read very much like a woke white girl with all of her outrage, very little of it seemingly directed at issues that affect BIPOC, but things like general (re: white) 'feminism' and the environment. I would've liked to see her acknowledge that, but I understand that wasn't the main point of the story. There is also a Harry Potter reference not far into the book, and while there is a trans character in the book and I know the author is a trans ally, it still immediately left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure if this book was written before JKR's comments were made, but it is what it is.
That said, I did end up really enjoying the book. It's a really good commentary on how seriously we can take social media. I'm not an influencer by any means, but I've definitely felt the pressure of bookstagram and obsessively tracking followers and hashtags and feeling like I needed to put more into it. Cece knew she put too much stock in what other people thought, but she was okay with it because she'd never had to really face the dark parts of the internet. She hid the unlikeable things about herself to build her persona. I appreciated that the break up with her girlfriend was handled like a natural break up would be. Not one big thing that happened, but a subtle shifting and growth that occurs naturally when you've been with someone for so long.
Josh was likable as a love interest, even if he was a little stock image. Of course he didn't know how to use a computer or social media. Why would he? Beyond that, he felt like a whole person with a personality and a family he cherished. His Dad and little sister were both adorable.
The thing that really swayed me towards this book though, was the commentary on being bi. Specifically, how biphobia is rampant in both the LGBTQ and straight communities. Not gay enough to be queer, not straight enough to be straight. There's internalized biphobia and Cece felt it as soon as she fell for a boy. There's so much pressure in the community to be the right kind of queer, and it can feel absolutely suffocating sometimes. Constantly second-guessing yourself. This was handled so well in this book, and that alone left me wanting to applaud at the end. I want this book for the ace community too. It was empowering.
Overall a good and quick read. If you can get past the few things I mentioned, I think it's worth it.
Quick and easy YA contemporary read with very solid LGBTQ+ representation! I haven't read many YA books that address bisexuality and biphobia like this and I was happy to see it here. 4.5 stars.
Note: this book is fulllllll of pop culture and internet and social media references so if that annoys you I'd avoid!
Note: this book is fulllllll of pop culture and internet and social media references so if that annoys you I'd avoid!
Oh I loved this one! This was a powerful lgbtq story about a girl named Cece who is an internet influencer. She learns a couple lessons in this story about who she is, how she presents herself online and how the attention from social media can change you. My only complaint is that the app they use is never referred to by name and that took some getting used to. I binge read over half of this book today.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Biphobia
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes