All The Lonely People by David Owen blog tour. This book to me was such a raw and honest view on both aspects of being bullied and being behind the bullying. "Everyone tells Kat that her online personality - confident, funny, opinionated - isn't her true self. Kat knows otherwise. The internet is her only way to cope with a bad day, chat with friends who get all her references, make someone laugh. But when she becomes the target of an alt-right trolling campaign, she feels she has no option but to Escape, Delete, Disappear.
With her social media shut down, her website erased, her entire online identity void, Kat feels she has cut away her very core: without her virtual self, who is she? She brought it on herself. Or so Wesley keeps telling himself as he dismantles Kat's world. It's different, seeing one of his victims in real life and not inside a computer screen - but he's in too far to back out now. As soon as Kat disappears from the online world, her physical body begins to fade and while everybody else forgets that she exists, Wesley realises he is the only one left who remembers her. Overcome by remorse for what he has done, Wesley resolves to stop her disappearing completely. It might just be the only way to save himself." David Owen is a spectacular writer and the premise for this book is interesting. Before I get into this review I have to answer this question first. "How has the internet made your life better and how has it made it worse?" For me growing up in the '90s without the internet and playing outside was refreshing, having to go to friends houses to see if anyone was playing out etc. And to go into year 2 and have computer lessons was SUCH a strange phenomenon, and I now use the internet to reach those childhood friends, to see their lives, to see how they're doing, and my adult friends too. But i also see the negative impact on the internet, I see how toxic thinking is very there, online bullying, horrid sexist comments made. I do see rays of light in this too, with body positivity on the rise through positive posts on the internet too. Honestly, if it weren't for the access of talking to my friends and my natural nosiness, I don't think I would use it as much as I do! I can see why Kat disappeared, and why Wesley feels guilty about it all, so he should. The 'Alt-Right' attitude is so toxic in an age where everyone is sharing how they really feel, and how negative things impact people. I think this book has an almost magical realism take on personal identity, and a meditation on the nature of the digital self. It gets deep, its one of those books that makes you think. David has written this amazing book that really does highlight how much the internet affects us all. He delves in to topics that are usually skirted around and he does it in such a unique way. The characters are well written, even the ones that are side characters who don't need to be fleshed out are fleshed out enough to understand them. I couldn't put this book down in all honestly, and it sparked me to read some self help books so I can try to care less about the internet and being on it all the time, but its so addictive isn't it? I'm not going to analyse this book in full depth because you really could especially with the take on how you view your digital self, but I will leave you to make your own decision about this book! I highly recommend this book 100%. It is fantastic and well written. Be sure to check the rest of the tour out and the previous ones too! They're fab!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About MeHi I'm Charlotte, I review books for fun and read a lot! Archives
September 2020
Categories |