This was a little bit of a let down, my three stars is really a 2 stars but I gave 1 star to the cover!

This wasn't really something I could get into, I felt I was on a bumpy rollercoaster ride that I felt that wasn't going to stop.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them

“If you could be anything in the world, Liam Flynn, what would you be?”

DNF@70%.

There’s no other way to put this: this book was very poorly written.

It was chockful of typos, awkward sentences, stilted dialogue, and badly used verbs. (I swear, if I see the word ‘roars’ one more time, I will scream.)

There is only one reason why I got so far into the book, and that was simple courtesy: since publisher was kind enough to give me a digital ARC of the novel, I felt the least I could do was at least attempt to finish the novel before I said anything negative.

But, holy shit, do I have a lot of negative things to say.

This book was a rollercoaster, and not the good kind. It was the wtf-how-did-we-even-get-here kind that makes you wonder if you just accidentally skipped a page or fifty.

At one point, they're literally in the middle of an argument, they’re all up in each other’s faces yelling at each other and all of a sudden he’s hugging her and making declarations of love - which is all very nice, but that is not a healthy way of resolving conflict.

A few chapters in, and I was honestly convinced that both Emerald and Liam were certifiably insane. Like, he’s literally in the middle of work and a customer is asking if she can remove a tack from the noticeboard, when he notices Emerald’s card and this actually happens:

I look up at yer woman. ‘It’s bloody real!’ I cry out, closing my eyes as my carriage whips off down the track at ninety miles per hour. I clutch the card tight to my chest and smile like Charlie Bucket with his golden ticket.

You can argue cultural difference here, but the last time I checked, it is not normal human behaviour to start screaming in the middle of a conversation.

And speaking of conversations, let’s move on to dialogue. Because, oh, the dialogue.

Now, I’m well aware that this might stem from my complete unfamiliarity with Irish slang, but honestly - when it reaches the point where I fail to understand entire conversations, that’s when you know things have gotten a bit too far. But then again, considering that I have spent a grand total of three days in Ireland, perhaps the local teenagers do speak like that - I wouldn’t know.

But even putting that aside, whatever dialogue that hadn't been rendered incomprehensible by the overuse of slang was completely stilted and awkward. Here’s a scene of Em and Liam at a party, when Em’s went and made the excellent decision of taking drugs (because that’s what the cool kids do! #messages).

“When am I going to…?”
“Come down?” She bows her head for yes and I think this through for a minute. “Properly?” She nods again. “3 a.m., ish.”
“No!” she grunts through her clenched teeth. “I’m too high…I can’t…”

Now, I’m not claiming to be an expert on recreational drugs, but I’m pretty sure that is not how someone behaves when they’re high. And the morning after, from Em’s POV:

What the effing holy f**k was I thinking?!?!?!

Asterisks. Multiple punctuation marks. Now, I'm all for stylistic choices in prose, but lady, what are you doing.

But enough about the general writing style. Let’s move on to the next issue I had with this book: social media.

Now, I’m a media student. I literally take classes on this shit in university, so maybe I’m being overly nitpicky about this. But this is a problem that regularly arises in novels, and since YA novels frequently involve a middle-aged author writing for an entirely different (and, incidentally, highly dynamic) age group, they are often the biggest and worst offenders.

But I simply cannot stand when authors reference social media without having a freakin’ clue what they’re doing.

Don’t get me wrong: this is not about me defending social media. It’s about me defending the fact that if you’re going to diss it - or, actually, if you’re going to make any sort of mention of it at all - then please, do some research.

It is incredibly off-putting when a group of popular kids are depicted as using Instagram in a way that’s so - and I don’t know how else to put this - uncool.

Here’s a sample of one of the Instagram captions:

‘#tbt GLASTO!!! SIKKK START TO SUMMER WITH MY BAE!!!!!!!’

It’s 2017. Teenagers don’t type like that. Nobody - at least, nobody over the age of twelve - types like that.

And don’t even get me started on usernames: ‘0o_kittykatz_o0’. And this girl is supposed to be popular. What. Even.

Here’s a tip: if you’re going to try and imitate twenty-first-century teenage-speak, don’t use MySpace as a reference.

And here’s a part where Em takes a selfie of the pair of them at night:

“Can’t see much,” I say, examining our two barely recognisable faces, silhouetted together against the night.

“Watch this,” she says turning to me.

She hits a small square at the bottom of the screen and I watch our faces burst out of the dark. “Hey, I like it now!”

“You do?” she asks and I nod. “Hail filter, bringer of light!”

Let’s get this straight - this is a regular, attractive eighteen-year-old male with friends and a social life, and he does not know what a filter is. He is referring to the filter icon as ‘a small square’. Last time I checked, this was Dublin, not freakin’ Mars.

(And no, I’m not even going to bring up the fact that the main character - a normal, functioning, popular teenage girl - uses default Instagram filters. Nope.)

I could literally write an entire essay on this, but it really doesn’t matter at this point. So, TLDR; this book just isn’t very good. But keep an open mind, turn your brain onto silent, and maybe you’ll enjoy it. (I didn’t.)

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Orlagh Collins and Bloomsbury for allowing me to read and review this ARC. This is my honest and unbiased opinion.

No Filter is the story that reminds us all of that summer … the one where your life changed … the unforgettable memory of the one you still think about sometimes when you let your mind wander.

Orlagh’s debut YA novel is fresh, poignant and the characters are interesting and quirky, lending to this book’s appeal.

Emerald comes from a privileged background but her family has dark secrets that threaten to change her life forever.

She comes home to find her mother unconscious on the bathroom floor. Her father sends her mother off to rehab and Emerald is packed off to Ireland to live with her grandmother for the holidays.

Emerald feels lost and alone without her usual access to social media … until she meets Liam at the beach. Something special sparks between them and they both go on a journey of discovery to find their true selves and ignite their heart desires.

This is such an authentic, relatable, feel good story about two young people overcoming their personal and family struggles to find their own way in the world.

At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Emerald but she grew on me. Her character is unfiltered and she follows her instincts. She wins you over and makes you think about your own life.

Liam is a gentle, quirky repressed musician, who makes the perfect, very appealing YA heartthrob. He cares about other people and tries very hard to please his family, despite wanting more out of life than what they want for him.

This isn’t a predictable read. I loved the mini plots interwoven amongst the characters featured in this book. It was an enjoyable and interesting story that I think you will find very engaging. It’s the perfect summer read!

Orlagh, I loved “No Filter” and look forward to your next novel.

This feel good book deserves an inspiring 4.5 stars.

After her mum tried to overdose, Emerald finds herself sent away to Ireland for the summer holiday's to stay with her Grandma. Whilst on the beach there she first meets Liam, a local boy whom wants to pursue a career in the music industry. She then has quite a summer being a normal teenager for once, falling in love and going to parties, not like usual back home even though her best friend Kitty does that sort of thing, Emerald has had to look after her mum until this summer.

This book honestly didn't quite jell with me and the of felt very up and down throughout the story, the base of to novel's plot made it sound more engaging than I found it by the end to be completely honest in this review. However, it did have some fun chapters and I enjoyed reading Liam and Emerald's perspective over a more traditional narrative. I would she encourage you to try and read it for yourselves and judge it accordingly as not everyone will enjoy a book as another person.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!