Book Blurb:
A former child star and an envious fan collide in this cat-and-mouse psychological thriller about obsession, self-invention, and the dark side of internet fame.
University was meant to be Crystal’s way out. Growing up, there was nothing in her life that couldn’t be turned into content for her mother’s popular (and profitable) family vlog channel, At Home with the Shaws—including the tragic death of her older sister when they were kids. When she arrives on campus, her mother demands she keep filming her every experience for her subscribers—but Crystal has just one story in mind, one that will blow them all away.
At Home with the Shaws is Crystal’s prison, but it is Alyssa’s escape. An aspiring journalist from a deeply troubled family, she jumps at the chance to help Crystal with an exciting project. When she realizes her new friend’s goal is to expose her family and put an end to the channel, Alyssa becomes desperate to find a way to stop the Shaws’ carefully curated image from shattering.
As the two girls discover unsettling truths about themselves and each other, and shocking new information about the Shaws comes to light, Crystal realizes what’s really at stake. If she doesn’t figure out whom she can trust, her freedom will cost her much more than just her fame.
*Mystery *Thriller *College *Young adult *Child influencer *Darker side of social media
*Obsession *family secrets *death of sibling *darker elements *Young Naive adult in big city
*Netgalley ALC (new set 3/7)
Thoughts:
Crystal has grown up in the spot light her family has their own "channel" online and many have followed the family for years seeing Crystal grow up... along with the spot light comes the fact that she feels over exposed her overbearing mother is constantly on her to "behave" appropriately to make sure that their channel's viewers get the "right" impression of their family life and even now that she has broken free of her family for a bit and gone away to University in the big city her mother continues to hassle her for "proper content."
Alyssa grew up in a wealthy family she may have had her needs met... but she never had the love she craved or a true family support now in University working towards Journalism she becomes fast friends with Crystal who has grown up with such a loving family... why couldn't her family be more like that?
Crystal and her family have always had a cloud over them in the form of the death of her older sister... even this what should have been a private time to mourn with her family was turned into content for the family channel. Seeking to break free of this if not for herself for her younger brother and sister Crystal sets out to enlist help to expose the darker side of being an influencer... only a trip home leads Crystal to finding that something much more sinister may be happening within her family and now there is more urgency to get her story out there.
Crystal has enlisted the help of her new friend Alyssa... only she has motivations of her own and they don't necessarily align with Crystal's.
Can Crystal find out if she can really trust anyone?... If she can't even trust her own family right now who can she trust? The Dual POV between Crystal and Alyssa kept the story flowing well enough it kind of reminded of the movie Single White Female. The lead characters were young and acted like it, to be honest I didn't really feel a strong connection with either of the lead characters for this book.
This story was just ok for me, nothing really stood out and there wasn't really anything surprising in this as we as the reader could see where it was going early on... but if you are looking for a quick Young Adult Thriller you might enjoy this one. I think this audio version could have used a second narrator to help with more voices as sometimes it got a bit hard to tell who was who... but the narrator did well over all.
