This book was a pleasant surprise.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was a quick read and a good time.

Oooh that was creepy. I think readers will be drawn in by the varied ways dialogue is presented, and how plot points are communicated. The premise is intriguing, there's a presence you cannot control or even see in person, who controls you and controls others through streaming. You cannot interfere or the spirit/demon (it's later revealed who/what it is, toward the end of the book) and the impact they have, but you just know that streamers and viewers are unsafe. I would recommend this to young adults who are fans of a medium-paced story about gaming and social media.

Deadstream is a creepy horror novel. It turns streaming online into a nightmare. It's a real page-turner that is hard to put down once you start reading it. I highly recommend it to all young adult horror fans.

I really enjoyed this book. My daughter is also reading it right now. It felt like I was watching a twitch stream and the author captured the twitch environment perfectly. I think the horror elements and gore are at an appropriate YA level.

So good! I'm not usually a YA reader, but I love tech horror and this delivered! Also had a diverse cast and dove into questions of mental health.

I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.

THIS BOOK WAS SO CREEPY!!!

I am writing this review and am a bit irrationally concerned about it.

I don't even know how to write a review without spoilers! OMG, what a ride!

DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!!!!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers, and Mar Romasco-Moore for the ARC of this gripping book.

Thanks NetGalley for the #lARC of Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore! I read this in one sitting today and it gave me palpable anxiety 😅😬 I loved the format -- many sections were told through text messages or livestream chats, and it had a lot of interesting ideas! I liked the characters and the LGBT rep, and I love the concept of like cursed media. I will say, I thought the ending could've been better, but I'm also probably not the target audience for this, as it is more of a YA read for the generation who grew up plugged in to the internet. Still a very fun (and tense lol!) read overall! Gave me some of the same vibes as the Spree movie but with some creepier moments.

DNF @ 36%.

I'm just too old for this lol. It was confusing and I didn't care about our characters. While I appreciated that the author tried to take a relatively trite plot and take it in a new direction, I just kept thinking over and over of the authors who have done it better.

Not for me.

I am not the demographic, but this book is for, however, I can see why someone younger would enjoy it. I do think it was a good, unique idea. I am a sucker for mixed media in books: text, emails, news clips, pictures— all of that, I love. So I really enjoyed that part of the book. I also like books about the Internet for some reason, so I really enjoyed that part of it too. I thought the plot was behind it was creepy in that the way the ghosts showed up….I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t elaborate. However, the ending lost me a little bit and seemed rushed, and I kind of got confused. Overall, as a YA book, I think it’s fine. It also depicted the thoughts that someone with anxiety has well. It kind of got a little annoying to read, but I have had the exact same thoughts as the main character, so yeah, it is annoying— it’s annoying to have anxiety, lol.

Overall, it was a unique story, and it was fun to read.

I think many will enjoy this book.

Theres a lot to love.

The cover is stunning. The concept is fresh and unique. The story grabs you from pretty early on. Romasco-Moore creates an atmosphere that is deliciously creepy. Teresa’s perspective as a streamer and as someone who struggles greatly with mental health gave me fresh insight into the daily life of someone much different than me. The text messages are a fun touch. It was fun to compare this book to the film The Ring.

There are some things that didn’t work for me.

Some of the aspects of the ending did not feel as cohesive as I would have liked. I love to read a book with mental health representation but this one missed a few notes for me. While I appreciated the inner workings of Teresa’s mental health struggles and the insight reading about a character like Teresa brings, at times it felt repetitive which led me to skimming through some of Teresa’s thoughts and feelings near the middle and end.

Overall, I think this book will work for many people, especially those who are in the streaming and gaming world.

I received this arc in exchange for an honest review.

'Deadstream" is a compelling young adult horror novel that intertwines modern digital culture with supernatural terror. The story centers on Teresa, a seventeen-year-old grappling with severe agoraphobia following a traumatic car accident that claimed her best friend's life. Confined to her bedroom, Teresa finds solace in online streaming, connecting with the world through her digital presence. Her fragile sense of security unravels when she witnesses a shadowy figure appearing in a fellow streamer's live video—a harbinger of mysterious deaths among online personalities. As this malevolent entity begins to infiltrate other streams, including Teresa's own, she must confront her deepest fears and step beyond her self-imposed isolation to halt the spreading horror.

The novel is lauded for its immersive narrative style, incorporating mixed media elements such as livestream transcripts, text messages, and online forums. This approach not only enhances the storytelling but also reflects the pervasive influence of digital interactions in contemporary life. This book has been able to create a claustrophobic atmosphere that mirrors Teresa's escalating anxiety, effectively building tension and suspense. The portrayal of Teresa's mental health struggles, including her agoraphobia and panic attacks, is handled with sensitivity and realism, offering depth to her character and making her journey both relatable and compelling.

3.5 stars

The pacing of this book for YA is fantastic, it successfully builds tension throughout and is enough to keep you hooked.
I liked the formatting of the stream style chats, it allowed for an easy read.

What I found frustrating was the ending. It was suitably fast paced as the mystery was unfolding however the ending that the book had been building up to felt too rushed and over quickly.

The constant repetition of Teresa’s name was also frustrating but it doesn’t stop the flow of the chapters.

As a teacher I would definitely recommend this book to my students who I know love horror/thriller.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

I think this will be a big hit with the younger reading audience, as the language used and the media used within the story works so well! It was an interesting story and I think it will be scary for the target audience! I felt a little old reading this when the main character refers to someone in their thirties as "not old-old." I had a laugh and kept reading.
I would try another book by Romasco-Moore if they write another Teen/YA horror novel!

I really enjoyed this YA horror book. I liked the mixed media aspect, which made it fly by extra fast. Very fun and entertaining book about the perils of too much screen time. Although, the epilogue kind of negates that message just a little bit.

ARC REVIEW, thank you so much to Mar Romasco-Moore, Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for this ARC. My review is not influenced by receiving an ARC. This is an honest review!

3.75/5 stars

This book was so good I read the entire thing in one day. I stayed up until almost 3 a.m. to finish! The writing vibe reminded me of Natalie D. Richards but paranormal. This feels like it might be for the younger part of the YA genre.

Our protagonist, Teresa, is agoraphobic following a traumatic car accident. I feel like the depictions of anxiety and agoraphobia were done so well. She almost reminds me of Pippa Fitz-Amobi in the second/third book of 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder' series.

The amount of queer representation was so refreshing, I genuinely loved it.

It is so rare for books to get social media and streaming correctly. Both the Reddit threads and stream chats were so realistic to what you would actually see in those spaces. The bots in the YouTube comments were also realistic and made me release a breath laugh through my nose.

My only complaint is the text messages can be hard to read in some places without context clues of the situation. It almost looks like one character typing and not a conversation between two people.

Rating: 4.25/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: bound to keep you up at night; puts a whole new twist on live-streaming; creeptastic read; keeps you guessing until the end

Huge thanks to Mar Romasco-Moore, Penguin Teen, and Netgalley for access to this ARC! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.

Readers beware-- this book might make your dreams just a little more weird while reading. I know mine were. This book is creeptastic from start to finish, a deep look into social media and what it means to truly "put yourself out there" interspersed with the things that lurk, watching, even when we are alone.

The writing style of this book is a mix of texts/chat snips, third person limited (focused on Teresa), and third person omniscient (told from the universal "we"). These change ups help to set the tone, to push the story forward in moments we might otherwise feel "stuck", and to bring the ending together before the close. The author walked a thin line with these styles-- don't give too little information, so as to keep readers clinging... but don't give TOO much, too soon! In this instance, this was masterfully woven.

I highly recommend to readers who live for the feel of goosebumps, those who wonder late at night who might be watching them, Ave those who just have a flair for curiosity-- the whodunits of the world. The scene is set, the camera is rolling... what will YOU find lurking outside the door?

Received an eARC copy from NetGalley for my honest review. I would read this author again for a nice fun creepy popcorn read.

I am a 30-something year old adult who enjoys YA books. There were times where this felt like a YA and then moments towards the end where the writer got a little deeper. Almost like two different authors. I gave this book a 3 star read as I found it was a fun quick read for me and could see many tweens and teens enjoying it and being scared.

The story focuses on Teresa, AKA Replay, a teen who is agoraphobic due to a car accident. She finds peace in streaming, until her stream, and other's streams, become haunted. The story has mixed media and includes chat room texts and direct message screenshots. Has representation of the LGBTQ+ community, but felt it was forced in at times and not natural to the story. The ending felt a bit rushed. I wish it went a different way or had more explanation, but it could be left open for a sequel.

this is kind of hard to rate because im not the intended age range for the book so i personally think some things could have been done better. however, if i was younger, maybe around middle school or early highschool, i would be eating this up. i think the villians back story could have been a little more fleshed out because i felt lile he was doing it for no reason…

This is a fun and spooky YA horror novel. I loved the focus on haunted live streams and the streamer community. It's like modern The Ring vibes.

This book was crazy from the very beginning, but I enjoyed the way it turned out at the end. Was different from books I normally read. Definitely would recommend to my friends to read.