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shelf_blame 's review for:
Follow Your Arrow
by Jessica Verdi
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.