I think I’ve probably said this before but there’s something so nice about a YA mystery/thriller. Nearly always a quick read and will probably likely be a good one. And this was no exception! It’s almost an isolation horror since most of the plot is limited to one room – which upped my interest. I like isolation horror, I like knowing that, for whatever reason, the character/characters can’t leave the situation. In here it’s a bit different as it starts with our main character, Teresa, not being able to leave – as she’s agoraphobic. I think that and making the book be all about the Internet was an interesting take as I think it’s an evergreen issue. Plus influencers/streamers are always big in real life – I’d definitely like to see more. I love watching video gamers on YouTube so I was happy to see Teresa be one. Also I laughed at the game references – I think I got all of them.

Teresa was interesting and I liked her as a main character. I did want to see more mentions of her actually doing school work since I’m sure she does it online? It did feel like her parents barely did anything to help her but at the same time, we only saw it from her POV and they could be having multiple conversations about her in other parts of the house. I liked being part of her growing journey re her channel/followers, even though sometimes it was more about her getting more followers; she had the right heart about it. I’m always up for a good mystery and this delivered in here.

I got what I like in the horror genre – things starting to happen slowly and then it builds and builds until the characters can’t deny it anymore. In the case of Deadstream, it was even more interesting because there was always that “What if it’s all fake?” idea. Even I started to think it was fake and I knew it was a paranormal book and therefore wasn’t fake. It was spooky and I was reading it at and sleeping across from a door! Which, honestly, is exactly how I like to feel when reading a horror book. So I definitely recommend it if you’re into that spooky side. It’s also a very character-driven book and we’re almost always in Teresa’s mind, reading her thoughts (agoraphobic after the car accident), making it even more so (more character-driven).

I thought the mystery was well done and interesting. I had my own ideas, especially as I watch a bunch of horror movies – I was wrong but I was happy about it. I like being proven wrong. It kept me guessing for most of the book and I think it worked well here (sometimes it doesn’t). I probably would’ve liked more paranormal aspects but that’s just my opinion.

The issue I had were mostly with the characters. I liked Teresa but there was just something that held me back from rating it the full 5 stars or even 4.5. I couldn’t fully connect to Teresa like I wanted to. I liked the other side characters. but much like with Teresa, I wasn’t able to connect to them all. I did like that they mostly stuck together even though they were all physically apart. The relationship in this book (very late end) was sweet and I liked the other character.