This was a great YA ghost story thriller with unique use of multi-media elements to add to the horror. Reading this book at night gave me the chills, and I definitely understand “The Ring” reference. The LGBTQ+ representation added a fresh and fun perspective on the whole story, as well as the mental health representation. The epilogue was a nice way to wrap it up and leave the reader with an eerie feeling. Would definitely recommend for fans of YA.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a galley of this title ahead of publication.

Let me say first and foremost that I respect that effort that went into telling the spooky tale of Teresa, an agoraphobic budding streamer haunted by loss and guilt after a tragic accident.

This was interesting for the most part. Seeing the inside baseball of being an influencer was...something else. It's like learning how laws and sausages are made—more disconcerting and somehow uninteresting than you'd expect. It felt a bit like padding that distracted from the (for me) more interesting supernatural events of the story. The internet chat jargon really grated and I suspect it date the story very quickly.

I was intrigued by the possibility of the internet creating a kind of portal to reality and using it to grab unsuspecting streamers. I liked that. The rest of the story (Teresa's back story, the rainbow streamer group) was less interesting to me.

This story is relatively short. In fact, it feels like it should be a long-ish short story rather than a shortish novella. I got the impression this story was padded for length and thr pacing suffered as a consequence. It took ages to get to our inciting incident (Brick dying) and by the time it happened, the emotional impact for me as a reader had totally dissipated.

All this to say. This was a quick albeit uneven read best suited for someone who enjoys the online streamer and influencer landscape. I'm not sure anyone less invested will have the patience for it. As a ghost story lover, it didn't quite do it for me.

This was the kind of story I find challenging- to read, not because it was a hard read, but because I sometimes find that reading about the mindset of people who have a mental illness can be challenging. However Teresa was still someone I wanted to understand. She was layered and emotional and I was really rooting for her to overcome her issues. That being said, I loved the ring-esuqe elements, and how real the chat conversations felt. I think once this hits shelves with the final formatting it'll be cool visually, but also help with how some parts of the story are read.

📷👾Deadstream 👾📷

This was such a good read that I need them to make a mini series or a movie about it. It was a great ride!

Going in with mixed media between chat rooms, reddit posts, and text messages is a super enveloping story where we follow Teresa aka Replay, a teen that's going through it in life currently, with her only outlet to the world is her computer and streaming with her online friends. One day, while watching her favorite streamer, she noticed something was off, and oh boy, she was not prepared for the whirlwind of insanity that would follow.

We get a great story that goes into trauma, mental illness, friendship, forgiveness , and fears with a touch of supernatural.

If you enjoy The Ring, It Follows, Unfriended, and Ratter here is for you.

This is a surprisingly in-depth look into trauma, so for teens and YA, please make sure you look into the triggers. It goes into mental illness , anxiety, agoraphobia, bullying, violence, and suicide.

I would love to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deadstream is. YA thriller novel that revolves around the world of streaming and streamers.

Rating: 3 stars ⭐️

I thought the concept of this book was interesting. This is the first book I’ve read where streaming is at the forefront and I quite enjoyed it. The writing style wasn’t my favorite, but I overall thought the writing was good.

How creepy is that cover?! When I saw Rear Window and The Ring mentioned in the blurb, I knew I had to read this book! This was a fun read, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Even though the action starts within the first few pages, it actually took me quite awhile to get into the story! Even then, I still didn’t feel a connection to FMC, Teresa. Her backstory and trauma is sad and I definitely felt bad about her terrible anxiety.

The writing style was interesting going back and forth between third person and first person. I liked the inclusion of the chats and forums. I definitely thought it added to the story, but was also distracting at times. I wish the ending had been better flushed out. It left me wanting more.

Overall, this YA thriller had a unique premise and a lot of potential, it just didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I do think a lot of young readers will probably find parts of relatable, especially if you’re a gamer!

dnf @30%

it was very difficult to get into this one. i’m not the biggest 3rd person fan, but with a 3rd person narrator and 1st person dialogue with all the people in the chat it was just a bit overwhelming. the plot itself hit the geound running from like page 2 but the FMC’s backstory was just taking far too long to develop / be explained and i lost connection with her.

the formatting is also not great on a kindle, so i may revisit this one as a physical once it releases!

This was such a an interesting premise. I found myself sinking lower in my chair in anticipation of what was around the next corner.

2 stars, YA for YA.

Billed as “Rear Window” meets “The Ring.” Uh huh.

Teresa is agoraphobic after a car accident that killed her best friend and her world is shrinking. First she could only be on her family’s property, then only in the house. Now she’s limited to her room. So she never leaves her own bedroom and nothing ever happens to her so there’s no story here and we can all go do something else, like go watch that “Seinfeld” where they go to India for a wedding and it’s told in reverse. That’s a good one.

Or so it would have been back in my day (imagine this said in the cracked voice of the old crone that I suppose I now am) when we had to internet. And no web cams. And you didn’t have relationships with people you didn’t actually know. But the world spins on, and Teresa has all kinds of contact with the outside world through the people she has met online.

O e night that world goes horribly wrong when she sees and records a shadow on her favorite personality’s online stream (it’s worth noting that Teresa isn’t talking to friends from school or anything. She watches “personalities” who monetize their content and she’s hoping against hope to be able to do the same one day, but she’s not having tons of luck with that. So, yes, she wants to be an “influencer,” one of the truly abhorrent things about the internet.).

But I digress. This personality’s personality (ha!) starts to change. And then he dies. Online. In front of thousands. What has Teresa recorded and what is happening?

So, this isn’t a copy of “The Ring” or “Rear Window,” and it’s pretty disturbing to think about teenage kids doing any of this. At the same time I can see this totally creeping out 12 year olds who I am assuming would be the target audience. Oh, and all the stuff about West Virginia’s quiet zone is totally true. I don’t even think residents can have garage door openers there. The observatory is really cool and worth visiting if you are ever nearby.

A nice, easy read with a good dash of spooky for flavor! I fall over myself getting my hands on epistolary-type novels and this was no exception. Overall, it reminded me of a YA retelling of The Ring.

For those who like thrillers and/or ghost stories, with the pitfalls of modern tech thrown in, this one should be an easy buy.

A ghost story meets Creepypasta in the modern world of streaming.
Teresa hasn't been able to leave her house since the car accident that killed her best friend left her with a debilitating panic disorder. When Teresa turns to streaming for a social outlet, she finds herself falling quickly from a tenuous fame into a much darker world than she could ever imagine.

This book was a very FUN kind of spooky, while also not shying away from some particularly dark subjects. I thought they were handled generally well. The panic disorder was very well done, in my opinion, as someone who also has a panic disorder. I also loved the variety of LGBT+ rep!
I am a big Twitch watcher and a lover of Creepypastas and ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) so this was just up my alley. I thought the formatting was excellently done, really highlight the multimedia context of messaging today through multiple apps and on video sites.

I would definitely recommend this to other tech and horror lovers!

This was a really awesome spooky YA horror story. The online aspect was very chilling and it was creepy. Good if you love creepy ghost stories! A quick, easy read. Thanks Netgalley for an ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

3.5 out 5.

I loved the epistolary (text messages, server messages, video transcripts) element of this book and I'm a sucker for whenever a book does this well.

For the first 60-65% of the book, I was in it. I was following along and having fun. After that, it dropped for me. Ultimately, I don't think the real stalker was set up well enough since I thought it was going to be a red herring for the longest time (admittedly, even when it was being explained that this is the stalker person). The epilogue (since the book is 22 chapters plus an epilogue) felt sort of handwavey and I wished there had been more to it.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Was it a lot of fun? Yes. Did I have to throw out even more suspension of disbelief even though I had already thrown out a lot? Yes.

This book Is basically about a ghost that possesses people while they are streaming on the computer. The main character has some past trauma, so she has very bad anxiety. The way her anxiety was written in the book she was giving me anxiety ugh lol. She is a paranoid Polly. There is one major moment of gore in the book. Mainly a thriller book not a horror one. The story was a decent story. If you like a crazy ghost story, give it a try.

Thank you, Netgalley for this copy!

My heart went out to the MC for her tragic loss that spiraled her into living a life as a shut-in to her own bedroom.
Her only friends were online and it's during a streaming session that she sees what looks like a murder.

It got weirder from there - is it a stalker? Is it a spirit? Is it a hoax?

The writing was easy to read but I wasn't a huge fan of so much of the book being written in "online forums/chat messaging" type and it was often repetitive.

All in all I had an okay time.

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc for this!

deadstream follows our main character, an online streamer who has to try and solve the mystery of some creepy stuff going on in other people's streams before they get caught up in it themselves.

this was a solid read. i loved the pacing up until the end and i think it used mixed media elements very well. it definitely built up a feeling of dread and tension in the beginning (i personally am terrified of anything found footage esque so this was definitely scary for me, but not overly so).

the thing that ultimately disappointed me was the ending. it requires a certain suspension of disbelief i just couldn't bring up myself, and it all felt a little too campy in the end and the tone didn't really match with the rest of the book for me.

While at times I had to remind myself that it’s YA (and how old I am?) it was a very gripping fast paced book! As someone who loved The Ring I was drawn to what felt like a new age version. It did not disappoint! I also love the mixed media. It’s a nice quick fun and entertaining read!

*Deadstream* by Mar Romasco-Moore is a fascinating mix of psychological tension and supernatural horror, with a eerily relevant storyline in our increasingly digital world. It’s an intriguing tale of isolation, fear, and finding strength in the face of unimaginable terror.

Teresa’s journey is both relatable and haunting. After the trauma of a car accident and the loss of her best friend, her struggle with agoraphobia is portrayed with sensitivity and depth. Her retreat into the world of streaming feels so authentic, capturing both the comfort and the disconnect of online life. When the mysterious shadowy figure threatens her safe haven, the tension ramps up, blending psychological and supernatural elements in a way that kept me on edge.

What I appreciated most was the way the story pushes Teresa to face her fears. The entity’s unsettling presence and the chilling command to “open the door” create a sense of urgency that makes her transformation feel earned and compelling. The book doesn’t just deliver scares—it also offers a story of personal growth and resilience, which adds a surprising layer of warmth to the narrative.

The pacing is solid, and the mystery of the shadowy figure kept me guessing. While some parts felt a little predictable, the concept and Teresa’s emotional arc were strong enough to hold my attention. The digital horror element felt fresh and creative, and the commentary on the intersection of technology and isolation made it all the more thought-provoking.

If you’re into horror with a psychological twist and a strong emotional core, *Deadstream* is worth a read. It’s creepy, inventive, and surprisingly heartfelt, making it a unique addition to the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to honestly review.

This was a quick read with an interesting premise and a satisfying resolution. There are some valuable discussions about streaming culture, how things posted online can grow and consume someone, grief and trauma, identity and growth. A solid scary read for a middle grade/YA audience.

This book captivated me from start to finish, offering an insightful and compelling portrayal of online culture and live-streaming communities. The narrative was engaging throughout, and the ending delivered a well-executed and unexpected twist that left a lasting impression.