Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group/Viking Books for Young Readers, and Mar Romasco-Moore for an advanced copy of Deadstream in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a really interesting blend of paranormal and thriller. It was a fun/spooky take of creepypasta and modern streaming culture where we are currently finding ourselves in. I loved the mixed media aspect (videos, chat, live streaming) and how that was handled in the audio as well as in the ebook. It was very firmly YA, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was adult and went a bit darker, but overall it was an enjoyable, quick read.

This book had me gripped from the get go! I enjoyed the mingling of streamer chat rooms in the formatting and loved the way the characters were written! Very clever story line that read like a movie in my mind. Would definitely love to see this made into a tv series.

Great premise, but slow and plodding to the end.

Technology and horror are my favorites but usually the books are quick paced and interesting. This one just didn’t hit right for me.

This was ok, the premise was interesting - with some kind of ghost/demon type thing haunting live streamers though the internet.

After serving a car accident that killed her best friend, Teresa is terrified to leave the house and has become “stuck” in her bedroom. To find some kind of freedom and community she turns to live streaming; spending her days watching other streamers or streaming herself. After seeing one of her favorite live streamers become possessed by something live, she becomes obsessed with solving the mystery and putting a stop to whatever is happening before all her internet friends wind up dead.

Exploring the dangers of steaming and how it can take hold of a person def was an interesting route to go down, but it did come off as a bit preachy at times. I did enjoy the LGBTQIA representation throughout.

DNF at 25%.

Despite this being labeled as YA, I felt this could really be considered more middle-grade. The writing style was just quite amateurish and the young characters and their chat logs were very annoying to read through. This plotline has been done to death before as well and didn't really add anything new, in my opinion. This was just not my cup of tea.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I am a /huge/ sucker for technological horror so it comes to no surprise that I absolutely loved DEADSTREAM..

This was a fun YA horror that dives into the world of internet personas & gaming livestreams. & makes use of mixed media elements alongside the actual narrative writing to tell the story, like transcripts of stream chats and text messages.

DEADSTREAM was so fast-paced & exciting; I loved flipping through the digital pages, excited to discover what was going to happen next. With technology being so prevalent in all of our lives, it helps lend a hand at making this sub-genre pretty ✨scary✨.

I don’t know how strongly I’d recommend this to those who really don’t enjoy YA books, but if you do — DEADSTREAM is a fun one worth reading!

I do get the likeness to The Ring but this reminded me more of the movie Pulse, just the young adult version. But I also liked that movie a lot more than I liked this book. Take it with a grain of salt since I'm not the targeted audience but a lot of it felt dull and boring to me. A couple of parts did have my eyes widening but then there would be moments like the main character googling how to wake her brother up and I'd be rolling my eyes. Also a lot of what's said in the chat rooms made no sense to me but I don't watch streams. I'm giving it 3 stars only for how fast I read it and the representations were good.

This book is a chilling gem, blending the voyeuristic tension of Hitchcock’s Rear Window with the eerie supernatural vibes of The Ring. It feels fresh and modern, weaving a gripping tale around Teresa, a compelling protagonist whose trauma and resilience anchor the story. After enduring a harrowing experience, Teresa finds comfort in her online connections, and her journey to confront her fears to protect her safe haven is both relatable and inspiring.
The inclusion of streaming chats and text messages elevates the immersion, making the story feel alive and immediate, as if you’re right there in Teresa’s world. These elements add a layer of authenticity and engagement, pulling readers deeper into the narrative. For fans of psychological thrillers with a tech-savvy edge, this book is a cool, captivating read that delivers suspense and heart.

Horror is not a genre I usually dive into, but Deadstream was a book that I felt intrigued by, so I had to read it. It was a far shorter read than I expected and I ended up finishing it rather quickly. The descriptions were very vivid and engaging, interspaced with formats akin to Twitch streams as well as other social media. I did feel chills going down my spine as I read it, because the way the events pan out felt pretty terrifying. And what made it feel even more real (and scary) is the way certain commenters (chat) were acting - it was exactly as they do irl, and you could imagine similar comments popping up in a Twitch stream.

Aside from the horror aspect, the book offers commentary on parasocial relationships and how they can deeply affect an individual, especially one who is constantly online. While that is something that the book does pretty well, I do feel it kind of falls short in conveying its message but only due to the short length/span of the novel. This length also made it a little hard to connect with the main character Teresa - even at the end of the story, I still felt like there were unanswered questions about her.

Nevertheless, Deadstream was a pretty great read, offering some very important commentary on the damaging nature of parasocial relationships online, and the harm they may cause.

Special thanks to @penguinteen @netgalley for the #gifted eARC.

👉🏼 swipe for synopsis ➡️

𝙈𝙔 𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So I'm not one who watches many streamers or gamers or even know how to do any of the above. We're lucky i get my book reviews to post in a reasonable fashion most days 🤣

This one sucks you in from the beginning and is truly unputdownable, even if you're not familiar with the world. The way I also have so much in commen anxiety / thinking wise as Teresa, is crazy and it makes me feel crazy when I see how out of bounds I go with my tangents.

Throughout the book I'm dying to know about "the accident".
The amount of underlying creep that forms throughout this story is amazing.

Oh em gee the last half the book went by in a flash. I don't think ive ever read so fast. This was amazing. So creeptastic so horrifying, so frightening.
This is a must read and an easy 5 stars. Grab this one ASAP

Thank you NetGalley for my copy

I was here for this until about half way through and it just fell flat. I also don’t understand why we needed to repeat gender over and over again. This idea had so much potential and this just wasn’t it.

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I think I'm too old for this book. I grew up when social media was barely a thing and no one made a living from streaming. The Ring is one of my favorite horror movies and I was VERY excited to read a book with that comp title. However, most of the book takes place in the main characters bedroom (as they are agoraphobic), so it began to feel repetitive extremely quickly. Only so much can happen within the same four walls.

While I still read and enjoy many YA books, this was definitely written for the YA demographics of today. I could see this being relatable for younger teens growing up with social media, but I found myself rolling my eyes because of the choices Theresa made. Overall I realize this wasn't written for my enjoyment, but as I did finish it, I will rate it.

This book was has such a great premise! I really enjoyed it. Exploring grief, trauma, etc. mixed with the thriller story, was really interesting.

I just thought this was ok. The opening scene got me through the first 10% and then about after that I kind of lost interest. I don’t think the book is bad I think I’m not the target audience and it’s just too ya for me.

I’m not sure how to explain it other than it felt like it was pretty low stakes compared to a lot of thrillers. I just truly didn’t care what would happen

This one was OK, it was entertaining. It uses some mixed media, which was nice. Overall, that the story was good, it didn’t suck me in, but I liked it enough to finish it. However, I don’t read a lot of YA. If you do, I think you would probably really like this one. It was nice and unique.

The internet is a frightening place where the dead are never truly gone, leaving their footprints behind forever. Teresa is dealing with some trauma and make her self trapped in her room. The only connection she has to the outside world is through streaming, but this proves to be a dangerous activity as well.

This YA thriller/horror is so bingible, and thanks to multimedia format (streaming chat, messaged, Teresa POV) you will be flying through pages.

This thriller is marked as combo of Rear Window and The rind vibes.

I liked the concept of the story, and loved how digital this book felt. All the chats and texts chapters were my favorites.

I definitely recommend to check it out , if you want paranormal/digital YA thriller/horror book.

QOTD: Do you like multimedia format in the books? I absolutely love

This, I felt, was an eerie take on how tech has taken over our lives. The connection we sometimes feel more online than in person. And for Teresa, after the horrible accident that caused her to lose her best friend, it was where she felt safe. Also, the fact that she wanted to be a streamer and stay indoors for the rest of her life was her coping mechanism. But when Brick, the most popular streamer she was following and aspiring to be, was seen acting strange, Teresa starts to investigate. What she discovers is unbelievable!

There was a lot that went on that I’ve never seen done in a horror story based on streaming or technology. Loads of suspense and twists I didn’t see coming. Tackling PTSD, mental health and loss like this book did was fantastic. While this can be seen as horror, there was more paranormal elements used. The horror factor being the use of those elements. If you like both of those genres, this is a good read for you.

This was a fun fast paced YA thriller that had me flying through the pages. In this book we follow Theresa who is a streamer, one day when another streamer goes catatonic on stream she starts to look into what’s causing it and finds it may be more supernatural than she first expected. I had a fun time with this book it was entertaining and a quick read it wasn’t anything groundbreaking but still a fun read. This was my first book by this author and hope to read more in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this for an honest review.

This was such a fun YA horror novel that fans of movies like The Ring or Unfriended will definitely enjoy. The inclusion of the multimedia kept the pacing of the book so quick, it felt like I was watching a tech based horror movie; I loved it! It definitely creeped me out reading it at night.