Deadstream is a creative and clever novel that plays with modern storytelling in an engaging way. Mar Romasco-Moore has a knack for building atmosphere, and the concept itself immediately grabbed me. The idea felt fresh, blending elements of horror, suspense, and social commentary in a way that was both entertaining and thought-provoking. There are moments of sharp writing and scenes that left a strong impression, and I appreciated the originality the author brought to the premise.

That said, while the book hooked me in its opening, the execution didn’t always maintain that momentum. The pacing was uneven, with some stretches that dragged and others that felt rushed. At times, the plot became a little muddled, and I found myself wishing for more cohesion and tighter structure to really bring the story’s strongest elements into focus. The characters, too, felt underdeveloped in places, making it harder to stay emotionally invested as events escalated.

Still, there’s a lot to admire here. Romasco-Moore’s creativity is undeniable, and I think readers who enjoy experimental narratives or genre-blending horror will find much to appreciate. While it wasn’t a perfect fit for me, I can see Deadstream finding its audience among those who enjoy unsettling, unusual stories that push boundaries.
A solid 3⭐️ read — not without flaws, but certainly memorable for its originality and ambition.

This reminded me of the classic creepy pasta and had me interested the whole story.

For those that enjoy Twitch and are fans of horror, you’ll enjoy this. There are multiple narrators and one of those is the chat. I think this is a good portrayal of the toxic side online activity, specifically social media. If you’re familiar with Twitch or Youtube you’ll really get this - but really any form of social media where people interact or create par-asocial relationships. I really enjoyed seeing the story play out from not only the main narrator but also other people watching these live streams. It created a dread that wouldn’t have been possible from one perspective.

There are some creepy moments and overall I found this to be a good story with good writing.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book had a lot of potential. We follow a livestream gone wrong when someone is killed by an entity. A teen has to overcome her agoraphobia in order to stop the entity.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I found the main character to be really annoying and just make bad choices. She was hard to follow as the narrator so it was hard for me to get into the story or care about what was happening.

Since it is YA, I am not the intended audience so hopefully teens will enjoy this one more than I did.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book—while the premise drew me in, I was very skeptical about the execution of such a thing, having only really seen it done successfully in a play format (Unboxed by Briana Morgan, though aside from the whole ‘streamer/influencer’ aspect, the plots are very different). So when I was immediately hooked by this book, I was over the moon.

I also enjoyed the idea of an almost single-set horror novel that is still able to bring a sense of fear of the outside world. Though with Teresa’s trauma-induced agoraphobia, her mind is already a battleground, so the events of the novel were really just a breaking point.

While seasoned horror fanatics may not have the thrill of true fear from this novel, it was genuinely creepy. Teresa’s world of select angles of others’ bedrooms/streaming spaces gives the idea of the ability to move around. I enjoyed the angle the novel was portrayed from, even if I don’t love the idea of streamers/influencers and those who go chasing views based on uploading select clips first. Maybe it’s just my old, raised in the 90’s bones here, but that seems like a strange living to chase. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about, so I digress.

The plot and pacing were really well done, hooking me immediately and keeping me engaged and wanting to push forward at every turn. One of the things I was most worried about, the actual ‘streams’ were depicted in such a way that it was incredibly easy to follow and, more than that, engaging. It was factual and descriptive without being overly so or devolving into a foot-by-foot word-picture of the surroundings which would have become convoluted and hard to imagine really quickly.

The characters felt believable, for the most part. It seems the author knows much more about the behind-the-scenes when it comes to streaming than I do, but it all sounded like it made sense to me, and I liked Teresa’s online friends. They made sense, they felt ‘real’ and they reacted like people would, not like puppets who were required to do so for the plot.

Without giving too much away since I don’t do or enjoy spoiler-laden reviews, I did think the messaging/moral that made up the final chapter or two was a bit heavy-handed, but I also see where it almost made sense for it to be based on the entire arc the main character has to go on. It was something that, as an author I understood, but as a reader, just started to grate on me as it felt like the same information was being restated several ways to make sure everyone understood it.

All in all, this is a book I would read again. While, as I said, this might not be the book for a horror buff who is looking for something to scare their pants off, I think it’s a really great YA horror novel, and a good, quick read for anyone who might be between scare-your-pants-off novels who’s looking for a palate-cleanser without diverting too far from your preferred genre.

(While this book did come out in April of 2025, I have to extend a huge thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing a free E-ARC in exchange for this late-coming, honest review.)

Deadstream was such a thrilling and entertaining read. I loved the blend of horror and dark humor—it kept me on edge while still making me laugh at unexpected moments. The protagonist’s voice felt authentic and engaging, which made the scares hit even harder. A few plot points were slightly predictable for me, but overall, it was a fun, suspenseful ride that I genuinely enjoyed.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this eARC. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable reading experience.

Now playing:

SPIDER WEB - Melanie Martinez
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Characters: There weren't very many characters outside of the main character, who I found to be annoying and unrelatable towards. But that could just be me as we have like nothing in common, I just felt like they made a lot of dumb decisions nobody would ever make.

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Plot: Okay so this part is TOTALLY on me, but I didn't realize this was a supernatural thriller, so I was actually really disappointed with the plot twist at the end. I was curious the whole book but when we finally found out what actually happened to me it was a major let down

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Writing: Again this is totally on me, but I hate modern references in books and this whole book is obviously about that (I really just shouldn't have requested this book but oh well, I did read it in one sitting) so all of it kind of killed the mood for me and the character could come off as annoying a lot of the time

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Overall thoughts: This just simply wasn't the book for me!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore in exchange for an honest review. This book reminded me a bit of the movie Pulse, with strange entities in the machine. I enjoyed it and it was a fun late night read.

I was really excited for this book. As someone who really enjoyed The Ring, but also the book Such Lovely Skin, which has a similar premise and also seems inspired by The Ring, I don't think it capitalizing on the concept enough. I felt for Teresa, especially because I can understand, especially in the post-COVID lockdown world, why something like that would make her become a bit of a recluse and stay in her room. However, rather than an interesting mystery, I found this bordering on territory of like, trying to make an ARG in book form? I'm not sure if that makes sense. But, it caused me to put down the book and not finished. I had hoped coming back to it at a later time, maybe after not watching a ton of ARG content, would help, but I just found myself more disinterested.

I thought this book was extremely interesting and the mystery was so much fun.

The streaming world is not something I'm extremely familiar with, but I think the author did a very good job introducing the subject and making it spooky.

The ending was also SO GOOD!

This one definitely was creepy! I think the idea of digital paranormal possession will definitely relate well for teens who read this. The book was formatted interestingly that keeps you reading and makes it go quick. Definitely will recommend this to my horror readers.

I simply might have been too old of an audience for this, but as someone who frequently reads and enjoys YA — this never connected for me.

An interesting premise marred by a lack of development. No one element was fleshed out enough. Not the characters, relationships, backstory, horror elements, etc.

The writing itself was not bad so I’m going with two stars in the hope that this book has more to offer a younger audience.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think this delivered exactly what it promised. I got out of it exactly what I wanted. The message is a little obvious. The conclusion a literal over the top literal.

But I thought it was a solidly good time. Early on, the intrigue is high. The pages keep turning as you wait to see whether it’s all real or an internet hoax.

I loved the mixed media format. I loved the found footage feel as we view some of the other streamers.

Theresa does struggle with agoraphobia and I think PTSD. She is seeing a therapist. I can’t speak to how accurate or well done the rep is. Some other reviewer mentioned the ending is unrealistic for her situation.

It didn’t feel that way to me? But I mention it as something, I guess to be aware of.

I thought she was a fairly well fleshed out character. I felt for her and her situation.

It wasn’t super scary or anything, but it does get a little gory in the end. I’d be interested to check out other work from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for a review copy.

Okay so... this totally resonated with me as a new watcher of streams and just youtube in general. Something I find very annoying in books is when they use wording that's just too hip... if that makes sense? I don't love magical realism... especially not in horror. There was not enough context about how Theresa/Replay became agoraphobic. It took too long to be told the very obvious reason. Maybe it's because I just watched A24's Opus that this storyline seemed too familiar and also not well done. This may be good for its intended audience - YA horror, but it doesn't translate well to an adult audience, I'm afraid. The layout of the book was also confusing... maybe because the formatting was weird on kindle? I think had I not known how streamers talk and act ad how Discord looks, I would've been too confused and distracted by the chat. This was an okay book and not for me.


Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for this #arc. All opinions are my own #Deadstream #NetGalley

Deadstream follows Teresa who is a teenager and she ends up witnessing a livestream murder of a online streamer. This was a captivating and page turning YA thriller and horror book that was written well. Every character in this was interesting. It was a quick and fun read that I would recommend to any reader who likes thriller or horror books. I enjoyed this one and would read more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this read in exchange of my honest review of Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore.

This was a wild ride, but I liked the author's presentation for trauma. It's not all at once, and one's mental state will have to deal with so much more if there's already a disability. The Internet isn't the cause of our problems with mental illness, just the tool shining the brightest on what was already there, and I think the attacks using screens made it clear.

Every year my Spooky Season reading was starting earlier and earlier, until I just gave up. Now I just read spooky reads all year long. Why not? My favorite stories are creepy, strange tales...so why not read what I want. :)

The cover first drew me to this book. The cover art definitely has the right vibe! Then I read the book description. A livestream event gone horribly, horribly wrong.... I knew I had to read the book at that point.

This book is YA, so it's not incredibly scary or graphic. The main character has been through an accident and then witnesses a really horrible event. She has to overcome fears and trauma in order to help figure out what happened before others meet the same fate.

Great book! Because it deals with supernatural horror and murder, I'd say it's definitely PG 13. Enjoyable story. Some of the most entertaining, light horror stories are YA books. Usually quick reads, no weird sex or graphic spurting blood....just good stories!

I will definitely read more by this author. This book was definitely spooky and an entertaining read!

This was an interesting story. I liked the multi media context in this story. It was definitely a modern age tech horror story and I digged that.

A unique ghost story for the Internet age. The voice is very teen/young adult oriented, maybe even middle grade. That being said, the reality and creep factor are solid. I struggled to connect with the characters as I have never been a gamer nor had an online video presence. To be honest, this book made me feel old… Overall, a good book with an important message of distinction between Internet and reality.

Thank you NetGalley, Viking Books for Young Readers, and author Mar Romasco-Moore for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this YA horror book that brought in video game tropes and live streaming. It’s like watching a haunted influencer video. I will definitely be keeping a lookout for more books from this author.!