The Reading Buddy begins with a horrific tragedy and the death of two people. The survivor of the tragedy becomes riddled with social anxiety and his therapist encourages him to join a social media platform called The Reading Buddy to ease back into two things he used to enjoy: reading and being a normal kid with friends and relationships.

I loved the premise of this social media platform, The Reading Buddy, because I feel like it is a large part of who we are as active bookstagrammers! I was extremely enticed by the idea of something sinister behind it all - and thought it could hit closer to home and scare me a little more since it was something close to my daily activity. The downside? There's really not much about The Reading Buddy in the book, despite the title and the synopsis. So I definitely wanted more of that.

The ending left me slightly disappointed because just when the book started really gaining in momentum and hinting at wrapping up the mystery, we are hit in the face with the threat/villain of the story is and then it just basically stops. There is not too much of an explanation other than a sentence or two to help us with the motive. I wanted more there, too.

But I think the author did a good job in writing a book that felt like one I would have read growing up. At times I felt like this could have been a book I would enjoy reading after I Know What You Did Last Summer, Stranger With My Face, etc. I enjoyed the nostalgic vibe of it all for sure. This is a book I would recommend someone if they were not sure if this pre-horror/YA-mystery genre was for them or not.

In the end, I enjoyed what was present in the book, but I wanted more (as mentioned above). 3 stars for this one from me - and many thanks to the author for sending copies to the Night Worms in exchange for an honest review!