[Review] These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Imprint: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN: 1534457690
Published: November 17th 2020
Rating: 4 stars 

[Blog Tour] ARC Review & Mood Board/Tour Stop: City of Spells by Alexandra Christo

City of Spells by Alexandra Christo

Imprint: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 352
ISBN: 1250318408
Published: March 9th 2021

Tour Hosted By: Book Terminal Tours

Rating: 3.5 stars

(I received an ARC from the publisher free of charge from Netgalley, but this does not impact my review in any way.)

[Blog Tour] ARC Review & Mood Board/Tour Stop: The Poetry of Secrets by Cambria Gordon

 

The Poetry of Secrets by Cambria Gordon

Imprint: Scholastic
Pages: 416
ISBN: 1338634186
Published: February 2nd 2021

Tour Hosted By: Book Terminal Tours

Rating: 4 stars

(I received an ARC from the publisher free of charge, but this does not impact my review in any way.)

[Blog Tour] ARC Review & Mood Board/Tour Stop: Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury

 

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury

Imprint: Scholastic
Pages: 300
ISBN: 1407180290

Published: January 5th 2021

Tour Hosted By: Book Terminal Tours
Rating: 4 stars

(I received an ARC from the publisher free of charge, but this does not impact my review in any way.)

[Review] Followers by Megan Angelo

Followers by Megan Angelo

Rating: 4.5 stars

Published: January 14th 2020

Goodreads Synopsis:

An electrifying story of two ambitious friends, the dark choices they make and the profound moment that changes the meaning of privacy forever.
Orla Cadden dreams of literary success, but she’s stuck writing about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Orla has no idea how to change her life until her new roommate, Floss―a striving, wannabe A-lister―comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they so desperately crave. But it's only when Orla and Floss abandon all pretense of ethics that social media responds with the most terrifying feedback of all: overwhelming success.
Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity―twelve million loyal followers―Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything, even horrible things, to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.
Followers traces the paths of Orla, Floss and Marlow as they wind through time toward each other, and toward a cataclysmic event that sends America into lasting upheaval. At turns wry and tender, bleak and hopeful, this darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection.

I'm full of thoughts about this book, because it's the type of book that leaves you thinking for a long time afterwards. A contemporary scifi that discusses the effects of social media and privacy? Fantastic.

I ended up rating it higher than my initial 4 stars because it's really sticking to me how good this is. And it did a great job of utilizing unlikable heroines, because the whole time I wasn't sure if I was rooting for Floss and Orla, but then at the end they definitely swayed me over to their side.

Floss and Orla are like if Snooki from Jersey Shore and Kim Ki-Jeong from Parasite decided to plot a heist together. They want to play the system of social media - Floss wants to be famous, and Orla wants to be a writer. But that isn't easy when the world of influencers and celebrities and fame exists. So they con their way through it. They're a perfect team, each so self-absorbed in their own ideas of fame that it blinds them to the consequences. And there are so many consequences.