(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

Now that’s a plot twist! And incredibly believable despite how shocking it is, adding yet another layer to the novel’s already well-developed themes of deceit and the difficulties of parenting. The plot is well done, the blog/social media posts engaging and modern (though the popularity of Ask.fm was in reality quite short-lived, at least among my classmates, the asks got just as nasty as the “screenshots” here).

Cyber- and IRL-bullying are definitely a hot topic, particularly as they intersect with adolescents’ mental health and social lives, and this novel does a pretty good job of demonstrating some of the nuanced issues and incarnations thereof. However, I did feel like the author was showing rather than telling (not the most effective approach for such an emotionally charged situation, imho) and the narrative voice was inconsistent between POV switches: sometimes changing between characters, but not always, and only sometimes trying too hard to incorporate teenage slang and thought processes as though they differ wholly from adult language. That said, the overall story is strong and it’s a gripping read.