Interesting mixed media format! I find that incorporating the fictional police transcripts in to the narrative adds a layer of 'authenticity' to the text that helps invest the reader in to the story. 

Overall, I have to say that this story could be summed up as 'interesting concept, bad execution.' There was a lot more room than was given to explore the various themes of the novel, and several could have been done with more appropriate sensitivity (i.e. mental illness).

Not sure I'll be continuing the second, as I wasn't enamored with the first and have no desire to find out more.

I love books that give insights to real life issues that people have. It opens the doors to those boices, and Follow Me Back does that with the complex diagnosis of agoraphobia. 

Told through tweets, DM's and transcripts, this multi media novel was rife with mystery and a thrilling twist.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for free in exchange for an honest review. 

The thriller aspect of the book is well written. It also gave headway for the challenges a young adult faces growing up. It even explores agoraphobia. Tessa creates a hashtag #️⃣ that becomes the most popular and Eric’s PR wants to explore it; however, Eric doesn’t and creates a fake Twitter account to troll his own fans. I wasn’t expecting romance to come out of the story and now there is a cliffhanger that hopefully gets answered in the sequel.

I don’t like open-ended books, especially not thrillers. I like them to wrap up nicely and for me to never think about them after I’m done with them. This book had an open ending; however, the rest of the story was pretty alright. I do
think it was a good combination of a thriller and a YA contemporary, which could work for readers who are transitioning from the latter to the former. There was quite a lot of build-up and it was rather slow, but other than that, the story was well crafted and I could tell that the author had done her research and didn’t leave things to chance or her imagination. Yes, there was a lot of wish-fulfillment and yes, this can be a twisted sort of fanfic, but who doesn’t love that every once in a while?

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

I found Follow Me Back very conflicting. The concept is clever, the synopsis made this sound like it would be a new favourite, but the execution was meh.

Tessa has been suffering with agoraphobia after an incident occurred in New Orleans over the summer. Since Tessa has been unable to leave the house she’s gotten obsessed with singer/songwriter Eric Thorn, and she manages to get his attention after her racy fanfic #EricThornObsessed gets his name into the top trends.


Eric is disillusioned with fame and detests the fangirls who are only interested in him for his body. Has anyone even bothered listening to his latest single? Can the screaming girls at every show even hear his lyrics over the sounds of their adoration? He decides it’s time to take matters into his own hands and makes a fake Twitter account to destroy his reputation.

However, it backfires. No one’s going to take a Twitter troll seriously when they’re trying to take down one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Eric changes tack and uses the account to attack Tessa, who replies civilly. He instantly realises she’s not like other fans and they strike up a friendship which develops into more.

I thought this story was going to be a thriller rather than a contemporary romance, but it’s definitely the latter. There are thrilling aspects towards the end of the story but they come out of nowhere with hardly any setup and it makes things wholly unsatisfying, although it does mean that the pacing in the last quarter is dramatically faster.

The more I think about this story the more it annoys me, because I did enjoy the beginning of the novel. The story is interspersed with excerpts from police interviews, so you know shit is going to go down… It just ends up being a bit of a cop out, which is a shame. Even Tessa’s agoraphobia doesn’t end up being tackled in a realistic way, so if you do suffer from agoraphobia I wouldn’t recommend picking this book up. I’m not a agoraphobic, but I found the way the plot ended up being resolved to be quite patronising and insulting (but if you have experience with agoraphobia and felt differently when you read this please let me know!).

I was impressed with the surprising, whiplash ending, which is a twist on a twist… Then discovered that there’s a sequel, which dampened the impact enormously. This doesn’t feel like a story which needs to be dragged out further, so it’s probably not a series I’ll continue.

Meanwhile, just because Tessa’s not like other ‘fans’ and not ‘girls’, it doesn’t mean I’m going to hate this trope any less. If Eric would get his head out of his ass and stop presuming all of his fans are rabid attach dogs waiting to bite, he’d soon learn that they’re all individuals, not cookie cutter ‘fans’. Definitely not the book for me.

I loved this book so much! From the very first page I was hooked, and I could not put it down, no matter how tired I was. I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone!

Ended on a cliffhanger. I loved that it did but then I didn't lol. I was hooked from the beginning. Thrilling and invigorating all at the same time.

WOW! This book is crazy!  The ending blew my mind!  I am so excited to read book two when it is released!

I read this book years ago, I remember enjoying the plot twist but I will have to re-read to give a more accurate review

4 stars

Everyone knows Meryl Streep is Queen, so this was immediately a book I wanted to pick up. If you are a fan, I 100% recommend this book.

First of all, the author definitely did their research. One of the coolest things was how the author outlined all of Meryl Streep’s roles-from the beginning process, to the inspiration for the characters she portrays, to the final product. It’s amazing to get that insider view and was one of my favorite things.

The best part though, is the subject of this book-Meryl Streep. Everything about her is absolutely phenomenal, from her beginnings as a student, to receiving her first major role, to how she fought (and continues to fight) for women in Hollywood, all while maintaining a regular home life. She really is a legendary icon in our generation and this book showcases that perfectly.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review**

This book kept me entertained and made me want to figure out the end (which I have to admit was not what I expected), but overall this book just felt average to me. I did think that it was fun that it was told through police interviews and Twitter DMs. It definitely felt like a slow burn thriller with a good twist at the end. A 3.5/5 for me.

What happens when a fan’s obsession turns deadly? A.V Geiger twists together a mystery-thriller that will give you chills and have you staying up late into the night.

Although I found the beginning a bit slow, I am glad that I stuck with it. A little ways in, I was fully devoted to finding out what really happened to the main character, Tessa Hart, and trying to understand WHY she picked Eric Thorn.

It is the perfect twist to romance with a hint of mystery, just enough to keep you guessing and continuing to read. I love how the author progressed the story through the use of police interrogations, and the inclusion of social media, Twitter, made it easy to relate to. This book also shines a light on the horrors that is social media, and what happens when the wrong people gain access to your accounts.

I feel that the minor characters in the book, such as the boyfriend and the mother, were portrayed as beyond insincere to Tessa’s condition, which made me a bit uncomfortable to read. This also brings up the important point on caring for those with mental health issues, and not trying to force them out of their comfort zone. This was about the only turn-off from the entire book that I had.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book, and I loved how it was a true mystery-thriller. The ending is left with a cliffhanger, which will lead into my next review, Tell Me No Lies, the second book in this duology

FOLLOW ME BACK is an addictive YA thriller that held my attention from the first page. I enjoyed watching the unlikely friendship develop between a music star and an ordinary girl suffering from agoraphobia. The ending was something I didn’t see coming, and at first wasn’t sure I enjoyed how it left off or not. Guess I’ll have to read the sequel to come to a better conclusion! Thank you NetGalley for the adnaced copy.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I ended up buying a finished copy and read it super quick! This wasn’t a title I did a full review on, I just Did a whole lot of fangirling on Twitter about it for a few days.

OMG, so many apologies! I read and reviewed this book but I totally spaced putting it on here for some reason!

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY. FREAKIN'. CRAP. I. CANNOT. EVEN. WHAT. WAS. THAT. ENDING. EVEN. I. JUST. CANNOT. EVEN. THIS BOOK WAS SO FREAKIN' GOOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

OKay... I have calmed myself down a little... jUST KIDDING THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING.

Okay, seriously. I'm calm now.

I first saw this one on NetGalley and was drawn to it because of the cover. And then I read the blurb. If you've been following my reviews for a while, you probably know that I love books with romance that occur in the Hollywood/celebrity environment.

DNF - couldn't get into this at all. Not a bad book, and certainly readable as I raced through the first 10% in no time. It just wasn't for me - I was hoping for something more creepy/thrilling and it's firmly on the romance/coming-of-age side.

Meh. I blame myself for not really liking this book since I know I don't enjoy Contemporary reads, but I thought I would enjoy it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, it's not BAD, I just don't like stories like this. I think there is an audience out there that will truly enjoy it and want more, I'm just not one of them.

Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘ Monday Memos’ we’re going to discuss a book called ‘Follow Me Back’, a psychological thriller that will definitely find a place among your TBR pile (or To Be Read for those of you who don’t speak BookTube) very soon. ‘Follow Me Back’ is the debut book from A.V. Geiger, one of the latest superstars to come out of the writing website Wattpad, and was provided for review by Sourcebooks Fire. On the outside this book seems like your typical Young Adult contemporary novel, but it quickly evolves into a story that will keep you mesmerized until the end. So now that you’re excited, let’s begin the review! Ready? Ok, let’s go!!!

 

‘Follow Me Back’ is a dual perspective novel that tells the story of 18 year old Tessa Hart who is a super fan of musician Eric Thorne. Tessa become famous within the Eric Thorne fandom when her fanfiction ‘Eric Thorne Obsessed’ goes viral. Due to her newfound internet fame, Tessa grabs the attention of fellow super fan MET (a screen name that stands for Mrs. Eric Thorne), as well as Eric’s management team. However, Tessa is harboring a deep secret that will eventually change her life forever. We also get insight into 18 year old superstar Eric’s deep resentment of his extreme fame, due to the fact that his fans seem to be more interested in his body than his music. When Eric creates a catfish Twitter account in order to ruin his own image, he sets off a series of events that will expose the dark sides of fame & obsession.

 

I feel like I have to start off this section by saying that not only is this a 5 smiley face book, but it broke the smiley face scale. Luckily the last few books I’ve reviewed have been very good reads, but this is undoubtedly the best book I’ll read this year. The characters are incredibly well developed & interesting, the plot grips you from the first word & never lets you go, & the twists and turns not only make perfect sense, but actually surprise you. Lastly, I really have to commend A.V. Geiger on her talent as a writer. She is able to perfectly jump between the perspectives of Tessa & Eric, while making their characters feel distinct and interesting. She is also able to use the tool of flashbacks through police reports to help her story become even more compelling. Needless to say I am so excited to not only read the sequel to this book, but to also add A.V. Geiger to my list of auto-buy authors. I am so excited to see where her career goes, & encourage all of you to invest in this duology TODAY!

Not my typical go to read but I enjoyed this one. It does have a whimsical feel to it in that I doubt a pop star would fall for someone over Twitter. I'm not sure that hit the realistic button but I did like the twists in this one. I almost felt there was more to delve into with this story that the author missed out on. Also, I wasn't too keen on the detective interview chapters. We could have done without those. I'd much rather have had the story delivered straight on. It didn't add any mystery, it only infuriated me and made me wonder why the story was dragging along. That said, I would probably read the next book in the series.