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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
Ce roman est un véritable page-turner ! La psychologie des deux personnages principaux est travaillée, et la romance qui se tisse entre eux est superbe. Mais l'auteure ne s'est pas contenté d'une belle histoire d'amour : le livre devient dans sa deuxième partie un thriller surprenant et efficace, abordant les dérives des réseaux sociaux et de la célébrité.
3.5 stars
Follow Me Back has left me very, very conflicted. I am struggling to find what I want to say about it. On one hand, I genuinely found this story incredibly engaging. I could not put it down; to the point where I even got a little snappy at my mum for trying to talk to me while I was reading it. I was just so immersed, so worried and emotionally invested in the characters, that I did not want to stop. However, the plotline was definitely the best part of the story. I was often frustrated by the characters, and I struggled with Geiger’s negative portrayal of fame and fandom.
Like I said, the plotline was absolutely addictive. Eric’s fear for his safety was palpable and bleed onto the pages. I was flipping the pages in a flurry to see how the story would end. I wanted answers and could barely take a breath in my anticipation to get to them. I love that Geiger was able to perfectly capture that sense of urgency, especially because that is something a lot of mystery stories have been lacking for me recently. I also loved that the plot focused on online friendships and catfishing… well, kind of. I think Geiger did an absolutely, utterly brilliant job at showing how everything can be twisted when it is done through a screen, even if it was originally meant to be innocent. Eric’s entire POV was fascinating because of this. I loved seeing how his relationship with Tessa bloomed from that initial interaction and the unfolding twists and reactions on both sides which resulted from the moment. I do not know what to say too much for fear of spoiling it but I think this is the first time I have ever read such an honest, realistic online relationship. I have read a billion “falling in love with an online friend even though you do not ‘really’ know them” stories before but this put a twist on that which I truly enjoyed seeing playing out. The plot was definitely the most enjoyable aspect of this story. It kept me engaged throughout the entire story and I cannot wait to see how the sequel will develop this storyline.
Tessa was a pleasant protagonist. While I did not connect with her on a major level, I did think her agoraphobia was pretty well-done. I would love to read a review from someone with agoraphobia though, so if you know of one, link me up, please! What I loved about Tessa’s mental illness was that it was never shied away from. It was actively present in all of her scenes, which is realistic. It is a massive part of her life. I liked we got to see her in therapy and attempting different therapeutic techniques, like desensitisation and journalling. I also think this is honestly the first book I have read where the protagonist did not have a healthy support system to help them through their issues. While that was hard to read about at times, I loved that Geiger did not shy away from it. Not everyone is lucky enough to have people in their life that understand; some people’s parents and partners are incredibly unsupportive or even triggering, so it was good to see something different being portrayed.
My major problem with this book was its portrayal of fame and fandom. Tessa was meant to be a major of Eric (who is a famous musician), but I did not think that her passion, her true fangirl, shone through much at all. I know that it is difficult to tackle this subject in a YA book because the majority of us readers belong to at least one fandom, we are fan(girl)s ourselves. The release of books like Geekerella - that have shown us that fandom life can accurately and positively be written into a story - has set the standard high. I understand that but I was still disappointed. Eric’s POVs were a little hard to read because they seemed to perpetuate the myth that fangirls are rabid, obsessive and neurotic. I absolutely despised how he looked down on his fans. He stated multiple times that he’d be surprised if any of his fans even listened to his music; he assumed that they were only fans because of his good looks and Instagram filled with shirtless selfies. He goes on about this throughout the entire book and it is reiterated by his Twitter feed… but I personally call bullshit. I am a pretty avid Tumblr user and fangirl - yes, even of a music group - so I have a lot of interactions with other fans. I have never, ever meet a single fan who has was as involved in a fandom to the extent Eric’s fans were because of the person’s looks alone. No way! I know that a lot of fans are drawn to a person by their looks originally - I’ll even admit to that - but they stay and continue to contribute to the community so extensively because of their passion for their music/movies/books. All of Eric’s fans are portrayed as shallow, almost childish and simple, and have (seemingly) no interest in his music. I did not appreciate this and found it really hard to see past it. I understood Eric’s position. I feared for his safety and understood his apprehension but it went too far and I think it did a disservice to fans everywhere.
Overall?
Follow Me Back was such a thrilling read. I enjoyed the mystery. It had such a sense of urgency that I could not put it down. The writing and the characters were pleasant enough, and I was impressed by Geiger’s portrayal of Tessa’s mental illness. The only thing that let it down for me was how they portrayed fame and fandom life. I think it was quite inaccurate and kind of insulting.
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
Follow Me Back has left me very, very conflicted. I am struggling to find what I want to say about it. On one hand, I genuinely found this story incredibly engaging. I could not put it down; to the point where I even got a little snappy at my mum for trying to talk to me while I was reading it. I was just so immersed, so worried and emotionally invested in the characters, that I did not want to stop. However, the plotline was definitely the best part of the story. I was often frustrated by the characters, and I struggled with Geiger’s negative portrayal of fame and fandom.
Like I said, the plotline was absolutely addictive. Eric’s fear for his safety was palpable and bleed onto the pages. I was flipping the pages in a flurry to see how the story would end. I wanted answers and could barely take a breath in my anticipation to get to them. I love that Geiger was able to perfectly capture that sense of urgency, especially because that is something a lot of mystery stories have been lacking for me recently. I also loved that the plot focused on online friendships and catfishing… well, kind of. I think Geiger did an absolutely, utterly brilliant job at showing how everything can be twisted when it is done through a screen, even if it was originally meant to be innocent. Eric’s entire POV was fascinating because of this. I loved seeing how his relationship with Tessa bloomed from that initial interaction and the unfolding twists and reactions on both sides which resulted from the moment. I do not know what to say too much for fear of spoiling it but I think this is the first time I have ever read such an honest, realistic online relationship. I have read a billion “falling in love with an online friend even though you do not ‘really’ know them” stories before but this put a twist on that which I truly enjoyed seeing playing out. The plot was definitely the most enjoyable aspect of this story. It kept me engaged throughout the entire story and I cannot wait to see how the sequel will develop this storyline.
Tessa was a pleasant protagonist. While I did not connect with her on a major level, I did think her agoraphobia was pretty well-done. I would love to read a review from someone with agoraphobia though, so if you know of one, link me up, please! What I loved about Tessa’s mental illness was that it was never shied away from. It was actively present in all of her scenes, which is realistic. It is a massive part of her life. I liked we got to see her in therapy and attempting different therapeutic techniques, like desensitisation and journalling. I also think this is honestly the first book I have read where the protagonist did not have a healthy support system to help them through their issues. While that was hard to read about at times, I loved that Geiger did not shy away from it. Not everyone is lucky enough to have people in their life that understand; some people’s parents and partners are incredibly unsupportive or even triggering, so it was good to see something different being portrayed.
My major problem with this book was its portrayal of fame and fandom. Tessa was meant to be a major of Eric (who is a famous musician), but I did not think that her passion, her true fangirl, shone through much at all. I know that it is difficult to tackle this subject in a YA book because the majority of us readers belong to at least one fandom, we are fan(girl)s ourselves. The release of books like Geekerella - that have shown us that fandom life can accurately and positively be written into a story - has set the standard high. I understand that but I was still disappointed. Eric’s POVs were a little hard to read because they seemed to perpetuate the myth that fangirls are rabid, obsessive and neurotic. I absolutely despised how he looked down on his fans. He stated multiple times that he’d be surprised if any of his fans even listened to his music; he assumed that they were only fans because of his good looks and Instagram filled with shirtless selfies. He goes on about this throughout the entire book and it is reiterated by his Twitter feed… but I personally call bullshit. I am a pretty avid Tumblr user and fangirl - yes, even of a music group - so I have a lot of interactions with other fans. I have never, ever meet a single fan who has was as involved in a fandom to the extent Eric’s fans were because of the person’s looks alone. No way! I know that a lot of fans are drawn to a person by their looks originally - I’ll even admit to that - but they stay and continue to contribute to the community so extensively because of their passion for their music/movies/books. All of Eric’s fans are portrayed as shallow, almost childish and simple, and have (seemingly) no interest in his music. I did not appreciate this and found it really hard to see past it. I understood Eric’s position. I feared for his safety and understood his apprehension but it went too far and I think it did a disservice to fans everywhere.
Overall?
Follow Me Back was such a thrilling read. I enjoyed the mystery. It had such a sense of urgency that I could not put it down. The writing and the characters were pleasant enough, and I was impressed by Geiger’s portrayal of Tessa’s mental illness. The only thing that let it down for me was how they portrayed fame and fandom life. I think it was quite inaccurate and kind of insulting.
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book would be silly and monotonous. I knew it from the start. But that still didn’t prepare me for the level of cheese through which I waded.
So here we have Tessa, a girl suffering from agoraphobia who also happens to be obsessed with a pop icon named Eric Thorn. She writes fan fiction about him, follows him on Twitter, and has him as her background on her phone. There’s probably more, but everything blended together in this mishmash of YA nonsense, so it’s more than likely I skimmed right by it without realizing.
Then we have Eric Thorn. The child himself. He’s eighteen, and it shows. At sixteen, he became a YouTube sensation, and that propelled him into stardom. Now he’s tired of his rich, famous life and wants nothing more than to be rid of the record company and the burdens it imposes on him, like wearing designer clothes and touring the world. Even though he wanted this life. And quit school to do it because he wanted it so much. But you know what, it’s better if he just takes the time to bitch and moan about how famous he is and how much he hates it. And his fans? Forget them. All of them are toxic leeches and don’t deserve to even look upon his shining countenance.
I’m not exaggerating. He starts the biggest plot point--a Twitter relationship with Tessa under a pseudonym--because he wants to whine and complain about Eric Thorn and how he hates the guy and his fans.
As for characterization, that’s it. Read the above paragraphs again. That’s the characters we have. No one surpasses these bars, and everyone is a two-dimensional cutout. Tessa is the character with the mental defect (please for the love of everything read that as sarcasm, because I too suffer from horrific anxiety issues, many of them involving overstimulation and catastrophizing, and I have oodles of problems with the way Tessa’s illness is portrayed), Eric is the faux bad boy who wants freedom and sOmEoNe WhO gEtS hIm, Tessa’s mom is overworked and pissed off because of Tessa’s issues, her therapist is ineffectual at best, Eric’s manager is the suit-wearing exec type who cares and also doesn’t, and Scott--Tessa’s boyfriend--is the typical bro who doesn’t understand why his girlfriend is having issues leaving the house. Then gets mad about it. And breaks up with her because of it.
Yeah, I think he’s a piece of shit, too. <3
Two-thirds of the book is Eric and Tessa DM-ing back and forth, her finding out Eric’s persona Taylor is a guy, her watching his concerts and listening to his music, and Eric whining about how he’s tired of being famous. Then the last third Tessa has her journey to the private concert with Eric that she won, the guy who stalked her in New Orleans takes her captive in her own house, and Tessa and Eric getting together in the end. I’d like to say I can stop to analyze the book at that point, but I can’t because we were handed the most unexpected, most confusing, most preposterous “twist.”
My mind struggled to wrap itself around it. But, you know what, we’ll get there. Let’s analyze first.
The problem with Tessa’s anxiety issue. Clearly she was suffering PTSD, but her therapist insisted that it was purely agoraphobia. While agoraphobia happens because the human mind is complex and able to fracture in unfortunate ways, this was clearly caused by a traumatic event about which Tessa suffered flashbacks and nightmares. But you know what, let’s throw PTSD out the window. It’s not even a possibility and how dare you suggest it, because this therapist--who ends up letting a RANDOM STRANGER FROM THE INTERNET go into Tessa’s house with her ALONE--this therapist knows best. CLEARLY she knows best.
And the whole catastrophizing and projection definitions the authors don’t throw in? Yeah, their portrayal of these is NOT how they work. With OCD and panic disorders, catastrophizing is an unfortunate best friend I’ve had since I was about seven years old. So, 21 years now. Catastrophizing is the world’s worst game of What If, and Tessa doesn’t do that except for once, when she’s about to meet Taylor and Eric Thorn, and that’s a normal reaction to meeting someone you admire.
In essence, Tessa does this: What if doesn’t go well? What if they don’t actually like me? What if I freak out???
With catastrophizing, this would happen: What if I do something so stupid, say something so offensive, that this person declares me their arch-nemesis and posts the blunder online for all of their super fans and followers to see? What if they follow me home because secretly they’re a murderer who enjoys killing off their fans without anyone knowing, and they’re super rich so they’d totally be able to get away with it??? There’s no justice! WHAT IF I SNOT ALL THE WAY DOWN MY FACE??? I’m bringing my mace and tissues and glasses wipes and lip balm and Band-Aids and…
THAT is catastrophizing. It isn’t rational. It doesn’t make sense in the slightest. If I get a bruise or random ache, I automatically assume it’s terminal cancer. Tessa takes a Tylenol. She doesn’t catastrophize.
I can’t speak for the agoraphobia, because I don’t suffer from that. But I do get overstimulated in crowded public places, so I totally get the not wanting to be in crowds. I can’t look someone in the eye because of my social anxiety, or, inversely, I make too much eye contact altogether because what if just a glance isn’t enough and I make them think I hate them and that ruins our relationship forever??? (Yes, I’m just looking at a cashier I’ll never see again, I know. Follow me, here…)
The set up for Tessa’s abduction is flimsy at best. Blair, the guy who stalked Tessa in New Orleans, got into Eric Thorn’s false Twitter account because he set the password as “password,” and then stalked Tessa from there. But shouldn’t have Eric been getting the alerts about DMs that he didn’t send, seeing how his phone was always on as he waited for Tessa to message him? Or wouldn’t he see the message history once he logged into the account and question it? Like, “Oh, that’s weird. I didn’t send that.” Guess he should have stayed in school after all. Then the frigging “therapist” lets Tessa go into her house ALONE. With a RANDOM STRANGER OFF THE INTERNET. I can’t emphasize this enough.
Then who should show up to save the day once he sees the DMs in his Twitter? Eric Thorn. What follows gives way to the police transcripts that we see littered throughout the book, but it’s laughable with the simple errors the authors could have cleared up with simple Google searches or phoning their local police stations to ask questions about procedure. It’s not a state secret. You can ask police officers how they work when you’re writing a project.
Now. That “twist.”
Tessa kills Eric. Then she flees to Mexico after stealing and selling his fancy car. Or so we’re led to believe. A girl who is agoraphobic and has shown zero signs of violent tendencies; a girl who has not left her house in months and has relied on this Twitter relationship to stay stable; a girl who doesn’t even like the thought of blood. This girl kills Eric.
Listen. I know the most unlikely people kill. But I doubt Tessa is a female BTK. Ninety percent of the serial killers and murderers we hear about have some kind of signal that violence is not beyond them. The reason I have a problem with this twist isn’t that it’s unbelievable period. It’s that it’s unbelievable for Tessa. Even if A.V. Geiger had pulled a fast bait-and-switch, giving us tiny clues to look for that we take to be normal, then BOOM there it is. That would have been fine. But this comes waaaaaaay out of left field. It’s so far left, liberals are having a hard time finding the origin of this twist.
If Follow Me Back was more well-written and 80 pages shorter, I’d still feel insulted by how the amount of suspension Geiger expects us to wrap around our disbelief. Everyone is a caricature. The twist is as unlikely as a cow producing chocolate milk. The errors in definition and logic are inexcusable in today’s age of information. Overall, I hate that I made myself read this. But for anyone who finds this review helpful in any way, you’re welcome.
So here we have Tessa, a girl suffering from agoraphobia who also happens to be obsessed with a pop icon named Eric Thorn. She writes fan fiction about him, follows him on Twitter, and has him as her background on her phone. There’s probably more, but everything blended together in this mishmash of YA nonsense, so it’s more than likely I skimmed right by it without realizing.
Then we have Eric Thorn. The child himself. He’s eighteen, and it shows. At sixteen, he became a YouTube sensation, and that propelled him into stardom. Now he’s tired of his rich, famous life and wants nothing more than to be rid of the record company and the burdens it imposes on him, like wearing designer clothes and touring the world. Even though he wanted this life. And quit school to do it because he wanted it so much. But you know what, it’s better if he just takes the time to bitch and moan about how famous he is and how much he hates it. And his fans? Forget them. All of them are toxic leeches and don’t deserve to even look upon his shining countenance.
I’m not exaggerating. He starts the biggest plot point--a Twitter relationship with Tessa under a pseudonym--because he wants to whine and complain about Eric Thorn and how he hates the guy and his fans.
As for characterization, that’s it. Read the above paragraphs again. That’s the characters we have. No one surpasses these bars, and everyone is a two-dimensional cutout. Tessa is the character with the mental defect (please for the love of everything read that as sarcasm, because I too suffer from horrific anxiety issues, many of them involving overstimulation and catastrophizing, and I have oodles of problems with the way Tessa’s illness is portrayed), Eric is the faux bad boy who wants freedom and sOmEoNe WhO gEtS hIm, Tessa’s mom is overworked and pissed off because of Tessa’s issues, her therapist is ineffectual at best, Eric’s manager is the suit-wearing exec type who cares and also doesn’t, and Scott--Tessa’s boyfriend--is the typical bro who doesn’t understand why his girlfriend is having issues leaving the house. Then gets mad about it. And breaks up with her because of it.
Yeah, I think he’s a piece of shit, too. <3
Two-thirds of the book is Eric and Tessa DM-ing back and forth, her finding out Eric’s persona Taylor is a guy, her watching his concerts and listening to his music, and Eric whining about how he’s tired of being famous. Then the last third Tessa has her journey to the private concert with Eric that she won, the guy who stalked her in New Orleans takes her captive in her own house, and Tessa and Eric getting together in the end. I’d like to say I can stop to analyze the book at that point, but I can’t because we were handed the most unexpected, most confusing, most preposterous “twist.”
My mind struggled to wrap itself around it. But, you know what, we’ll get there. Let’s analyze first.
The problem with Tessa’s anxiety issue. Clearly she was suffering PTSD, but her therapist insisted that it was purely agoraphobia. While agoraphobia happens because the human mind is complex and able to fracture in unfortunate ways, this was clearly caused by a traumatic event about which Tessa suffered flashbacks and nightmares. But you know what, let’s throw PTSD out the window. It’s not even a possibility and how dare you suggest it, because this therapist--who ends up letting a RANDOM STRANGER FROM THE INTERNET go into Tessa’s house with her ALONE--this therapist knows best. CLEARLY she knows best.
And the whole catastrophizing and projection definitions the authors don’t throw in? Yeah, their portrayal of these is NOT how they work. With OCD and panic disorders, catastrophizing is an unfortunate best friend I’ve had since I was about seven years old. So, 21 years now. Catastrophizing is the world’s worst game of What If, and Tessa doesn’t do that except for once, when she’s about to meet Taylor and Eric Thorn, and that’s a normal reaction to meeting someone you admire.
In essence, Tessa does this: What if doesn’t go well? What if they don’t actually like me? What if I freak out???
With catastrophizing, this would happen: What if I do something so stupid, say something so offensive, that this person declares me their arch-nemesis and posts the blunder online for all of their super fans and followers to see? What if they follow me home because secretly they’re a murderer who enjoys killing off their fans without anyone knowing, and they’re super rich so they’d totally be able to get away with it??? There’s no justice! WHAT IF I SNOT ALL THE WAY DOWN MY FACE??? I’m bringing my mace and tissues and glasses wipes and lip balm and Band-Aids and…
THAT is catastrophizing. It isn’t rational. It doesn’t make sense in the slightest. If I get a bruise or random ache, I automatically assume it’s terminal cancer. Tessa takes a Tylenol. She doesn’t catastrophize.
I can’t speak for the agoraphobia, because I don’t suffer from that. But I do get overstimulated in crowded public places, so I totally get the not wanting to be in crowds. I can’t look someone in the eye because of my social anxiety, or, inversely, I make too much eye contact altogether because what if just a glance isn’t enough and I make them think I hate them and that ruins our relationship forever??? (Yes, I’m just looking at a cashier I’ll never see again, I know. Follow me, here…)
The set up for Tessa’s abduction is flimsy at best. Blair, the guy who stalked Tessa in New Orleans, got into Eric Thorn’s false Twitter account because he set the password as “password,” and then stalked Tessa from there. But shouldn’t have Eric been getting the alerts about DMs that he didn’t send, seeing how his phone was always on as he waited for Tessa to message him? Or wouldn’t he see the message history once he logged into the account and question it? Like, “Oh, that’s weird. I didn’t send that.” Guess he should have stayed in school after all. Then the frigging “therapist” lets Tessa go into her house ALONE. With a RANDOM STRANGER OFF THE INTERNET. I can’t emphasize this enough.
Then who should show up to save the day once he sees the DMs in his Twitter? Eric Thorn. What follows gives way to the police transcripts that we see littered throughout the book, but it’s laughable with the simple errors the authors could have cleared up with simple Google searches or phoning their local police stations to ask questions about procedure. It’s not a state secret. You can ask police officers how they work when you’re writing a project.
Now. That “twist.”
Tessa kills Eric. Then she flees to Mexico after stealing and selling his fancy car. Or so we’re led to believe. A girl who is agoraphobic and has shown zero signs of violent tendencies; a girl who has not left her house in months and has relied on this Twitter relationship to stay stable; a girl who doesn’t even like the thought of blood. This girl kills Eric.
Listen. I know the most unlikely people kill. But I doubt Tessa is a female BTK. Ninety percent of the serial killers and murderers we hear about have some kind of signal that violence is not beyond them. The reason I have a problem with this twist isn’t that it’s unbelievable period. It’s that it’s unbelievable for Tessa. Even if A.V. Geiger had pulled a fast bait-and-switch, giving us tiny clues to look for that we take to be normal, then BOOM there it is. That would have been fine. But this comes waaaaaaay out of left field. It’s so far left, liberals are having a hard time finding the origin of this twist.
If Follow Me Back was more well-written and 80 pages shorter, I’d still feel insulted by how the amount of suspension Geiger expects us to wrap around our disbelief. Everyone is a caricature. The twist is as unlikely as a cow producing chocolate milk. The errors in definition and logic are inexcusable in today’s age of information. Overall, I hate that I made myself read this. But for anyone who finds this review helpful in any way, you’re welcome.