The Phantom circuit by Austin Farmer.
After twenty-eight-year-old Lyft driver Erica Westfield learns her popstar sister is dead, the last thing she wants to deal with is a stupid hacker threatening to delete her sister’s Facebook profile. Let alone a hacker who brings up Bloody Mary.
A good read. Likeable story and characters. I did like the cover. It was different. 4*.

I always enjoy a modern spin on an old story. So I loved how Phantom Circuit takes on the Bloody Mary legend using computers as a medium. This happens within a stream of consciousness narrative that deals with the questions of what happens when a loved one with a social media presence dies.

The main characters internal dialogue reads as a beautiful meditation on the nature of issues and grief. There are not a lot of stories that deal with the nature of losing someone who still has an internet footprint so it is refreshing that this book ventures into this direction.

The story maintains a good balance between being reflective and using supernatural horror to entertain. I would definitely recommend it to fans of horror and dark fantasy!

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader's copy.

I am also posting my review on Goodreads.

<b>3.5 Stars</b>
I love horror that incorporates technology so I was very excited for this novel. I really enjoyed how the story took the idea of the Bloody Mary urban myth into a modern world. Likewise, I enjoy stories that incorporate grief, so that aspect also really appealed to me.

In terms of execution, I liked but did not love this one. Despite the intimate perspective we got of a woman mourning her sister, I just failed to become emotionally attached to the narrative which made it hard to be invested in the overall story.

Depsite my reservations, I would recommend this one to readers look for a unique modern take on the tale of Bloody Mary.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

As someone who has gone through similar situations with my sister, being the best of friends then having falling outs and not speaking for months at a time, this book was so relatable as well as so insanely heartbreaking to read. The story is so original and I do not know the last time I enjoyed reading a book this much.

DNF @ 20%

I really wanted to love this - I thought the premise sounded really interesting but I struggled from the beginning with the writing style, and then the plot was weird and confusing and I literally just couldn't keep reading it.

Thank you Netgalley and Author Austin Farmer for this ARC.

I so wanted to like this book, however, the writing was all over the place and I was too confused to follow along with what was going on.

This was honestly really really great. The concepts within the book were super interesting and of course this is now an author I’ll definitely keep an eye out for!