I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was really fun having the police interrogations throughout the book which helped maintain the mystery elements. I thought their relationship was well developed and realistic for the platform they were set on. I thought the topic of agoraphobia as a result of possible sexual abuse was an important theme in the book. It's definitely one I could recommend to others.

Rants, Raves, and General Thoughts

I'll admit, I submitted for this advanced reader copy because I might have been watching It Follows on Netflix. I was a little disappointed that this isn't a weird ghost/demon story, but it still was right up my alley. I secretly kind of love books where celebrities genuinely fall in love with one of their fans in some way.

I also tend to really love epistolary novels....which this isn't entirely. It's a good combination of pros and documents. I found Tessa to be incredibly relatable, even without not knowing what caused her paranoia until much later in the book. The author also doesn't try to sell her as a drop dead gorgeous girl who is just slightly flawed — she feels real.

This book also makes me as a Twitter user feel wonderfully uncomfortable. I have never randomly confessed my love to a celebrity....I honestly am more likely to yell at a corporation I feel has wronged me. But still, I do see the people that respond, saying anything to see if they'll get a reaction. And I will like/retweet things people say....especially authors.

This book is well written and fairly straight forward, though it has a nice twist. I found I related with Tessa's anxieties, and that they were written with just enough tension but not over the top at all.

Final Thoughts

I don't find too many young adult thrillers that are great — Harlan Coben has a great miniseries worth checking out ahem — and I would also recommend A.V. Geiger. I have started following her on Wattpad too! Though I doubt the sequel to this book will be published there. And be advised — this book has a cliffhanger ending. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

....oh I have to wait a year? REALLY? Sigh.

First, a huge thank you to the publishers for sending me this book. It was a fantastic and addictive read that reminded me of Paper Princess by Erin Watt, but with a psychological edge.
This book is different stylistically than most I’ve read as a large part the story takes place through Twitter conversations and police transcripts. It was very well executed, with simple and sharp dialogue. The two main characters are very well drawn out. Although Tessa is infuriating at first because of her fear of leaving the house and her obsession with a rock star, her phobia and fixation make for an intriguing premise. And then there’s Eric Thorn, America’s heartthrob, Tessa’s heartthrob. I have to admit he quickly turned into my heartthrob too.
The only character who felt too simplistically sketched out was the antagonist. He comes out of nowhere. Even though I would definitely not take away any stars for this, I sort of wish he was mentioned—even just by name—at the beginning of the book. Yes, there were hints that something terrible had happened to Tessa in New Orleans, and that Twitter isn’t fool-proof (security-wise), but still…
And the ending! If you’re not a fan of cliffhangers, you might want to wait for book 2 to come out before reading Follow Me Back.
But all in all an excellent read! Highly recommended!

2/5 stars. I've read some seriously top-notch fanfiction over the years - fantastically written, well-researched, the whole gamut. I have deep, deep respect for fanfiction writers. I also really enjoy YA, and I know that so much of YA can and does have appeal beyond the YA-aged audience.

But this reads like very underdeveloped, sophomoroic, wish-fulfillment fanfiction by a very, very young person.

This just felt...young. Not in topic, but the writing style. Yes, there was a plot. There were twists and turns. But it is ALL telling and nooooo showing. It's a bit like a paint-by-numbers book. I am holding your hand and telling you every single thing I want you to see/hear/think, and I'm not leaving anything up to interpretation. No metaphors. No subtext.

For a while I thought this would be a 3-star read - it's fast, it's easy to read, the police interrogation documents keep you wondering what all this tweeting and DM-ing can possible lead to. But. Nah. I didn't hate it - but I rolled my eyes. A LOT. And by the 70% mark I was skimming a lot of the filler text. At that point, I just wanted to see the resolution, so I didn't waste a ton of time on reading every word carefully (because by then I knew that I wasn't going to miss a great turn of phrase or something particularly underline-worthy).

The "twist" ending felt soooooo tacked on. Boooooo. It felt like a total last ditch effort to make people talk about this book. "OMG! What do you think happened?! Why?!? How?!?" I don't care. I see in GoodReads that there is a sequel forthcoming - I will not be reading it.

If you need a high calorie snack type of book, this is your bag of greasy potato chips. I'm not angry that I read it, but I can tell that I will spend exactly 0 minutes thinking about it in the future.

This was a very interesting trip through the tech world of today. What can go wrong when your whole social life is spent on your phone/internet? Plenty. Very suspenseful plot line. Hard to describe w/o giving it away. Considering I am not a 15 year old girl, the whole idea of being a pop star's fan was hard to relate to, but this girl's situation makes it super interesting. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book, but to be honest, the ending really ruined the entire thing for me. I was happy with the last chunk of text, but the ending police transcript was out of left field and did nothing for me. I was so disappointed by it that it really just turned me off entirely and I got nothing out of it. It didn't make sense, and the plot twist wasn't really a plot twist, it was as if they needed a direction for the second book and didn't have any other ideas so they just pulled one from out of a hat. I really didn't like that and thus, I wasn't happy with the book. The plot itself was original, and I like the idea of the it being told in tweets, direct messages and police transcripts, but to be really honest, it wasn't all that engaging. I really struggled though it and I really really wanted to love this book. I was rooting for it and I was so excited to read it but I found myself skipping around to the tweets and messages and stuff because there was such a huge amount of text that I honestly think they could have done without. We didn't really need it, and the description of the book makes it look like you're getting an entire book told in tweets, DM's and police transcripts. I felt a little cheated that they only made up what seemed to me like 1/4 of the book.

I am going to give the entire series a try before I make assumptions on the author or the publisher but, I have a feeling I'm going to continue to be disappointed, which is sad because I had such high hopes for this one.

This book was so much fun!!! The author clearly understands fandom culture. The plot twists will leave you shook. Stan twitter—particularly Bieber or One Direction stans—will love and relate to this!

Thank you to Netgalley, Source Books, & the author A.V. Geiger for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The concept for this was really refreshing. I’ve read sort of similar books before but nothing quite like this. Okay, if I’m honest, this did read like fan fiction and in a way it was fan fiction. It did borrow from one of the heaviest tropes out there: famous guy talking to fangirl through DM’s and other messages? Check!
The other thing that sets this a little higher is that I was impressed by the ending. So it’s a “fan fiction-y” trope with a great ending.
Book 2 should be interesting.

This is one of those books that as soon as you finish it, you NEED to find someone to talk to about it with.

Tessa is an agoraphobic teen who finds solace in obsessing over popstar Eric Thorn on Twitter. Eric is a popstar with an intense fear of being attacked by his obsessive fans. To try and destroy his ‘desirable’ image, he creates a fake Twitter account, where he follows one of his ‘number 1 fans’, Tessa. The two start messaging, and instantly connect, bonding over insecurities and emotional issues.

I’m not sure if I liked this book more or less after reading the ending. I literally had no words. Actually, I had quite a few. The words ‘I literally can’t even’, and ‘what the actual ...’ came out of my mouth quite a few times. I like my book endings wrapped up all nice and neatly, and I take comfort in the predictable. If you do too, then this is not the book for you.

With that being said, everyone should read this book. It was such a unique idea, and I literally have stayed awake for hours, lying in bed, trying to figure out what happened. The book creates so much hype for the second one, and I cannot wait.

SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 5th
I love the cover. I love the format. And I love the alternating viewpoints. But I don't love the third viewpoint or where it gets added.

Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…

Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn’t help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies.

When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric’s plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world’s best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn…

Follow Me Back was everything I wanted with experimental formats. Conversations are formatted to look like tweets, the accounts actually exist online (see @TessaHeartsEric and @EricThornSucks), the platform itself is used correctly and not altered for the sake of what is needed for the story, and the police transcripts add just the right amount of tension.

I loved all of that.

Follow Me Back accurately depicts the real struggles of those with anxiety disorders. Geiger did a wonderful job with Tessa's character, always showing her high levels of anxiety and letting us know her feelings on it. There was a never a moment when Tessa didn't acknowledge that her anxiety was irrational.

These characters are their own, which is so important given the viewpoints are short and we switch from Eric to Tessa after as few as two paragraphs.

When Tessa and Eric's relationship starts to get serious, we finally get the third viewpoint. And - I think it could have been left out. When I got there-I had no interest in this new character, and only a few sentences in I had strong suspicions as to who it was, and I was correct. I don't like being correct when I read thrillers - it takes all the fun out of it.

I very strongly recommend that this book finds its way to your shelves, even with its extra character. You won't regret it.

I received this book from Netgalley. When I started this book I immediately fell in love. I loved how this book tackled mental illness and how well it was portrayed. Tessa is dealing with mental illness and Eric is dealing with crazy fans. After reading several chapters, I immediately fell in love with Eric Thorn. This boy is struggling with how his fans are treating him and not being able to have anyone to talk to. Eric starts messaging Tessa as a person named Taylor. AND THIS IS WHERE THINGS START GETTING CRAZY. After messaging every day Eric starts falling for Tessa, even though he doesn't even know what she looks like (I really appreciate how Eric can love Tessa for who she is and not just because of her looks). Eric comes up with a plan to meet her and she is actually okay with leaving her house for the first time. AND THEN I STARTED TO FREAK OUT AND I READ THE LAST 50 PAGES IN LIKE 10 MINUTES. The person responsible for Tessa's agoraphobia pretends to be Taylor. HE DUCT TAPES HER MOUTH AND AT THIS POINT I'M SHAKING BECAUSE WHERE IS ERIC??????? I felt so much better when everything was settled and Tessa finally found out who Taylor actually was. I couldn't believe she slapped him!!!! And I really loved how she found out that Snowflake was written about her. AND THEN YOU THINK THEY'LL END UP HAPPILY EVER AFTER. BUT THEN THE LAST 5 PAGES RUINS IT ALL AND NOW I'M CONCERNED AND SCARED AND WHERE IS THE NEXT BOOK ALREADY?!?!?!?!?!?!? IS ERIC EVEN ALIVE???? I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT PHYSICALLY MADE ME SHAKE LIKE THIS ONE DID. SUCH AN EXCELLENT BOOK AND I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This was a very interesting and fast read. I enjoyed how half of the story is written through the Twitter messaging between Tessa and Eric. It was fun to see how their relationship evolved through the internet and the difficulties such a relationship can have for each person. I was a little unhappy with Tessa's mother and how she was treating her daughter's psychological issues. I would hope a parent would be a little more understanding than that. I liked the ending and can't wait the read the next book. I did look up the whole thing on Wattpad but made myself not read it because the published works will most likely be a bit different since Geiger will be updating and revising it for publication.

Please note that this is a review of the book version only. There is also a version on Wattpad, which has some significant changes. Ironically, I believe I would have rated that one higher, but this is the version provided to me by NetGalley, so so be it.

It will be hard to review it properly without spoilers but I will do my best.

Most of the book was excellent. Well written and captivating - written in the style of a YA Liane Moriarty novel. Sure, it was kinda sweetly tacky in places, and unrealistic in a chick-lit kinda way, but it worked. I stayed up much too late to read it, and despite a few glaring plotholes (most notably the MET storyline which was never tied up... I also have questions about both Blair and the therapist) was ready to give it a solid 4 star rating.

But then came the last 5 pages. I realize they were added for shock value and to get people to read the sequel, but when I read them, I didn't know a sequel was in the works, and thought this was the end - and it basically ruined the book for me. Only the fact that I was reading it on my tablet saved it from being tossed across the room.

At that time I was ready to give the book just 1 star, but a quick look on Goodreads informed me that a sequel is indeed in the works (and spoilers are aplenty on Wattpad) and that all is obviously not how it seems. That mellowed my opinion a fair bit, and made me raise my rating from "I didn't like it" to "it was okay". Still not impressed with the cheap trick though.

I loved it!!!! What a perfect mix of my two favorite genres, YA and suspense/thriller. I loved Tessa & Eric both, I felt they were very well-developed characters & the story was great. I'm excited to see what's next with this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this novel.

* I received a free copy of this book, via Netgalley and SourcebooksFire*

What I was expecting was teeny bopper fluff. Stuff I could read in any other YA book. However this book, was nothing like I expected. It was simply fantastic. It pulled me in from the start, and didn't let go until I got to the very end, and holy smokes, that ending!!!! I can't honestly put in to words, how clever and sharp this book is. And I am totally digging the mixed media in books lately. Follow Me Back, did a fantastic job with it!

Do yourself and favor, and read this one guys! Releases on June 6th, 2017. Add it to your TBR, right now!

Let me first start out by saying I did enjoy this book, it wasn't my favorite, but it was a fun read. This story follows fan girl and twitter enthusiast Tessa Hart and teen heartthrob pop star Eric Thorn in alternating view points. Tessa is OBSESSED with Eric, tweeting to him and about him to pass the time, as she is an agoraphobic unable to leave her room. Eric is totally over the entire fame scene and a recent incident in the industry has him terrified of his fans. In a weird twist of events, eric and Tessa end up forming an online friendship via twitter DMs. The only thing is that Tessa doesn't know she's been talking with Eric, as he has been communicating through a fake profile under a different name. What happens throughout the book is a twisty nightmare that sheds light on the inner workings of what it's like to be a "fangirl" and also what it's like to be the subject of said fangirling.

Much of this book was quite confusing and very jumpy, which made it hard for me to follow along and stay connected to the story. I also had a hard time connecting to the characters as I know nothing about what it's like to be a "fangirl". But, if you're looking for an entertaining YA thriller that has an emphasis on pop culture, I would definitely suggest this book.

~4.5~
Whoa. Just wow. This book was incredible in so many different ways. The buildup to the Tessa-meets-Taylor part was honestly so nerve wracking it wasn't even funny. I can't say I'm in love with Tessa or Eric, due to their flawed characters as a whole, because they're both so realistic in their imperfectness. But, I do love that the title wasn't all that it seemed to be, as one would expect the fangirl to be on the sending side of the "follow me back" statement, while in reality, she's on the receiving end of the request.

However, I must state that, although I love the intensity of Follow Me Back, it's not one of those books that I'd be able to read and read over and over again without proper closure or the mental capacity to handle it all over again.

I'm not giving this book a full 5/5 because I believe that it has one of those storylines that either makes it or breaks it with people. If you aren't prepared for the course, then you'll be thrown overboard. Also, I'm just stuck with a mess of post-amazing book feelings that aren't really helping.

Eric made me want to cry from frustration for the majority of the book, just because of the sheer stress of the secrets, but I disliked a good deal of his actions, not that it dragged him down as a character.

Tessa gave off whiny vibes in the beginning, but I warmed up slightly to her after a while. She's fairly complex and has a good deal of baggage, so that may have reduced how relatable she was to me, but all's well.

I have so many mixed feelings toward MET's character. From indifference to confusion to wariness to further confusion. I wish A.V. Geiger would've brought more of his/her character into the book after Blair was revealed. One can hope.

Actually, scratch that. I have so many mixed feelings about half of the characters. Some plot twists are just too much haha.

About the ending, I wish I'd tried to look into the sketchiness and minor foreshadowing in the beginning, but so much is left unanswered. Really, though. Heads up to all of you planning on reading it. @EricThornSucks was the source of so much that happened, like everything with Blair and I just AHHHH. It's so overwhelming. The creepiness, catfishing, and stalking, I mean.

I stand firm that the ending described in the transcripts wasn't the full story. I have no doubt that they were smart enough, and I won't go into more detail because my brain is still a little fuzzy from everything.

Final thoughts.

This book was emotionally and mentally taxing, but I love it, and it was definitely worth the read! I can't wait until the next book comes out, although it's quite a bit of a wait.


Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for the opportunity to get my (virtual) hands on this!

All Eric wants to do is release some stress and backlash on some of his fans. What he doesn't expect is a lonely fan named Tessa to understand the struggle he’s going through. The last thing Eric wanted to do was fall in love with her.
Tessa’s only way of coping with her agoraphobia (fear of leaving her room) is by listening to her favourite artist, Eric Thorn. When talking to people in real life becomes too difficult, Tessa turns to social media where she can be completely anonymous and express her love for the artist, what she doesn't expect is to befriend the one person who harasses her online.

This story is absolutely adorable. I haven't read a book that was remotely similar to this one. I just thought the idea behind the story, the characters and the uniqueness was all just so well thought out and it blended together into such a beautiful story. I seriously loved this book so much, it is definitely going on my favourites shelf.

Tessa was such a relatable character. She was so kind, and intelligent. I definitely loved reading from her point of view. Initially I thought that her part of the story will be boring due to her agoraphobia, but the author did an amazing job with keeping her story interesting, even though she spent most of the book in her room. What was most important to me, was getting to know the reason why she developed her fear in the first place, and when you do find out why (unfortunately thats near the end of the book), you can totally understand why she developed the fear, and if I was in her place I probably would have done something similar (maybe not that intense, but similar).

I also loved reading in Eric’s point of view. You really do get to see the other side to being a celebrity, the ugly and fearful side that no one really thinks about. The side to Eric that you see off stage is completely different than what you see on camera. He’s not outgoing, he doesn't enjoy being half naked and acting like a player, its not who he really is, but unfortunately he has to do what his publicist says. The part of the story when he finally stars opening up to Tessa really had me rooting for the couple. It was really sweet, and it made me see Eric as such a genuine character.

My absolute favourite thing about this story was the plot twists. I assumed this was going to be the cliche type of story, how most contemporaries are, but the author did such an amazing job eliminating cliches and making the story so interesting I could not put it down. After getting about 40% into the story, I just had to finish the book in one sitting. It was that good.

I will warn you, the ending had me dying. You get this super cute ending, where everything works out perfectly (just the type of ending you thought was going to happen), then BAM! You read the last (very short) chapter and the whole story just gets flipped. Honestly a part of me wishes I didn't read this book so early, because now I’m dying to read the next book. I seriously need it, like right now.

I cannot wait to continue this series, I will highly recommend this book to all YA fans. Even if you’re not a huge fan of contemporary, like I am, still give this one a try, I’m sure you will love it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher however the thoughts in the review are my own.

The writing of the book is very relevant to today and a quick read. The plot and characters are well developed and holy cats the last line of the book will get you good.

The ending cannot be foreshadowed in anyway which is why I think it was so awesome. Many times in recent series and YA books the endings leave you feeling like you wasted your time reading but you definitely do not get that feeling here as in you are looking for any kind of afterword to explain what you were just reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone from young teens to women that enjoy pop culture or suspense novels. Well done and would definitely read more.

Tessa is trapped in her bedroom with no way of leaving because her mind won't let her. After something happened to her months before, she's be unable to trust the world. She has developed agoraphobia and there is nothing that makes her feel safe.

Nothing but Eric Thorn and Taylor.

Eric Thorn is a major pop star and Tessa's one vice. She follows him religiously on Twitter and keeps an eye out for any and all news. She feels like she knows him. He seems so afraid and unhappy; she just wants him to feel better.

Taylor is Tessa's Twitter friend and the one person who understands both her need to hide and her desire to make sure Eric is happy.

What Tessa doesn't know is that "Taylor" is actually Eric Thorn himself. He started following Tessa in order to attack her and try to stop the hashtag that she created, but he began to see Tessa as the one person who really understands what he's going through.

Together, maybe they can get out of the prisons that they've built for themselves.

Final thoughts: This one is ok, but the police interrogations spotted throughout were more distracting than tension-building. The story had moments, but it just wasn't too believable. The therapist is an idiot. And that ending, the last couple pages, was just completely out of left field. I did like the twist, but I really worry about this book as an inspiration to stalkers out there. I can just see a few very easily swayed people deciding that something like this, the love story part, could happen to them. If they could just get Biebs to read their Twitter, they could get him to understand that they belong with him, etc... Not great, but it did its job. Not sure if I'll read the next one.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.