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syddey_syd's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow! That was a RIDE.
I give props to the authors for their handling of this topic. They were able to take something that (to me) seems so black and white—should we have influencer parents/families on the internet—and make it feel grey and murky. Even the mother herself, Emmy, seemed almost justified in her actions when you were reading from her POV. This made me think about the ethics and culture of influencing in a much deeper way than before.
I also must say that the ending surprised me. I won’t give any spoilers, but I thought it was a fascinating way to wrap up the story.
If you’re looking for something thought-provoking, relevant to our day, and fast-paced, this is the book for you.
I give props to the authors for their handling of this topic. They were able to take something that (to me) seems so black and white—should we have influencer parents/families on the internet—and make it feel grey and murky. Even the mother herself, Emmy, seemed almost justified in her actions when you were reading from her POV. This made me think about the ethics and culture of influencing in a much deeper way than before.
I also must say that the ending surprised me. I won’t give any spoilers, but I thought it was a fascinating way to wrap up the story.
If you’re looking for something thought-provoking, relevant to our day, and fast-paced, this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Kidnapping, and Child death
Minor: Suicide, Abortion, and Miscarriage
stephaniezd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoy a good, tense, thriller. This wasn't exactly that. There was a lot of fluff in the middle and then all of a sudden at then end we had a thriller. I did enjoy that Jill was still lurking in the dark .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Stalking, and Child death
Moderate: Abortion and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy
mysterymom40's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Stalking, Torture, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Child abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Bullying, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Miscarriage
kleinekita's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
This book was interesting but slow for the first 80ish% then goes insane in the last chapter and confusingly long epilogue. The CW for this book are very serious, make sure to check them!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Abortion and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy
millerralice's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Stalking
Minor: Grief, Kidnapping, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Suicide
kqk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Abortion
lexistwick's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm rating this book lower than I should - I think because I can't quite shake my skepticism and bias against a "social media" story, although I was delightfully surprised at its insights and effectiveness! I'd like to read more books like this that are at least partially set in the internet - not unlike Patricia Lockwood's No One's Talking About This and just like our lives. Like, it's not just doing odd lip service to the fact that everyone has phones these days; it's engaging the fact that the venue for much of the drama and intimacy of our lives is technology and social media. An aside - I can get annoyed by writers like Ann Patchett, who never incorporates cell phones into her stories (a dead giveaway and consequence of never having owned one) because, I quote, they removed the tension from a story. You'd have to have never owned a cell phone to believe that's true...
So anyway, I really love psychological crime thrillers and stories about marital conflict, and it was very fascinating how this one commented on the present moment. The world it describes is in a way really obvious, it's the world everyone is immersed in when they click into social media. I think we often take for granted that representing our world as it is actually can be quite interesting. I wanted to have a book club discussion on this book; it would work how book clubs used to work! It would provide on ramps to talk about actual issues affecting our lives that we otherwise don't know how to discuss.
I thought it was especially interesting how many different players and villains were on the scene, which struck me as quite realistic. For example, there was almost no reason not to expect that Doreen was the stalker at first, and it even seemed implied. I ultimately took that to be a commentary on the enormity of it all, the anonymity and chaos.
So anyway, I really love psychological crime thrillers and stories about marital conflict, and it was very fascinating how this one commented on the present moment. The world it describes is in a way really obvious, it's the world everyone is immersed in when they click into social media. I think we often take for granted that representing our world as it is actually can be quite interesting. I wanted to have a book club discussion on this book; it would work how book clubs used to work! It would provide on ramps to talk about actual issues affecting our lives that we otherwise don't know how to discuss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicide
avidreader8725's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Suicide
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, and Infertility
Minor: Infidelity and Abortion
paulineerika's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
This book was less than 300 pages, yet felt so much longer. What should have been tension-building came off as dragging instead.
A large part of the problem is that there are two different stories going on here and they never quite intersect the way they should (even at the end). On the one hand, you have Dan and Emmy, with their strained marriage and possibly competing views on social media and Emmy's influencer career. On the other hand, you have a stalker story that is also related somewhat to Emmy's influencer career. Had the authors focused just on one or the other of these plots, I think the book would have been tighter and achieved that suspense they were looking for. Unfortunately, you just end up with two half-developed stories.And honestly, the stalker story required a lot of willing suspension of disbelief. It felt almost like a parody by the end.
Another problem? Neither Dan nor Emmy are particularly likeable characters. Gillian Flynn got away with this in Gone Girl, but there's significantly less success here. You need either Dan or Emmy to at least be somewhat fleshed out to be understandable, if not likeable. But neither one of them gets the character development they need for this to be pulled off. They're two-dimensional and stereotypical.
Ultimately, this book comes off as what the authors think a thriller should be like, rather than an actual thriller. The attempts at commentary about Instagram and influencers fall short and the stalker bit is just unnecessary and unsuccessful.
Disclaimer: I won this book in a #bookstagram giveaway.
A large part of the problem is that there are two different stories going on here and they never quite intersect the way they should (even at the end). On the one hand, you have Dan and Emmy, with their strained marriage and possibly competing views on social media and Emmy's influencer career. On the other hand, you have a stalker story that is also related somewhat to Emmy's influencer career. Had the authors focused just on one or the other of these plots, I think the book would have been tighter and achieved that suspense they were looking for. Unfortunately, you just end up with two half-developed stories.
Another problem? Neither Dan nor Emmy are particularly likeable characters. Gillian Flynn got away with this in Gone Girl, but there's significantly less success here. You need either Dan or Emmy to at least be somewhat fleshed out to be understandable, if not likeable. But neither one of them gets the character development they need for this to be pulled off. They're two-dimensional and stereotypical.
Ultimately, this book comes off as what the authors think a thriller should be like, rather than an actual thriller. The attempts at commentary about Instagram and influencers fall short and the stalker bit is just unnecessary and unsuccessful.
Disclaimer: I won this book in a #bookstagram giveaway.
Content Warnings
Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Mental illness
ju_harue's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
O thriller em si, não curti tanto, tinha potencial mas não me pegou tanto, acho que não foi tão bem trabalhado quanto almejou ser em algumas formas dos desenrolar dos fatos.
Porém as discussões sobre redes sociais, os impactos que os influenciadores podem exercer nas vidas dos seguidores, a exposição, o que é verdade e o que acaba sendo o trabalho; isso achei bem colocado, a um ponto de questionar sobre o que consumimos meio automaticamente, como refletem em nós e o que iremos expor. A construção dos personagens achei um tanto quanto confusa, me pareceu querer abordar vários tópicos e características que algumas vezes se divergiam em outras atitudes dos mesmos, fiquei com a impressão que queria abraçar muitas coisas e nao tinha necessidade de tanto.
Em resumo, não foi um livro incrível pra mim, mas também não foi horrível. Tem vários gatilhos que deixarei listados no Storygraph para quem tiver sensibilidade (e que podem ser spoilers).
Porém as discussões sobre redes sociais, os impactos que os influenciadores podem exercer nas vidas dos seguidores, a exposição, o que é verdade e o que acaba sendo o trabalho; isso achei bem colocado, a um ponto de questionar sobre o que consumimos meio automaticamente, como refletem em nós e o que iremos expor. A construção dos personagens achei um tanto quanto confusa, me pareceu querer abordar vários tópicos e características que algumas vezes se divergiam em outras atitudes dos mesmos, fiquei com a impressão que queria abraçar muitas coisas e nao tinha necessidade de tanto.
Em resumo, não foi um livro incrível pra mim, mas também não foi horrível. Tem vários gatilhos que deixarei listados no Storygraph para quem tiver sensibilidade (e que podem ser spoilers).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Child death, Medical content, Miscarriage, Abortion, Death of parent, Hate crime, Stalking, Torture, Medical trauma, and Suicide
Moderate: Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Mental illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Eating disorder