Hello everyone!
I am back with another book review, today it is Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger. Thanks so much to Raincoast Books for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
This story follows Eric Thorn, a teen heartthrob singer who is sick of his life and constantly paranoid he's going to be attacked like another of his co-workers, and Tessa, an obsessed fangirl who hasn't left her home in months, due to her agoraphobia. One day, Eric finally snaps. His fans have been building and he knows it's only a matter of time before something serious happens. So he decides to make a fake Twitter account, originally coined @EricThornSucks, to tear himself down. Soon he begins messaging Tessa as Taylor, the owner of the fake account. The two become quick friends, discussing Eric's life and their own. Tessa is willing to open up to Taylor and Eric uses the fake persona to vent his frustrations. The two decide to meet in real life, under the guise of a private Eric concert, however, things don't turn out as they should and there are deadly consequences.
Firstly, I was intrigued by this book because of the premise. In today's world, almost everyone has a social media profile, whether it be a Facebook account you only use to lurk on your high school classmates or a Twitter account you keep with the up-to-the-minute goings on of your life. And the concept of meeting someone online and the end result of that really drew me in because it has become more and more common. The story starts on a relatable note and goes on from there.
I liked both of the characters, but I think I liked Eric a bit more than Tessa. Eric was fed up with his life, but it never came across as a whiny pop star. He had genuine concerns about the direction his career was headed in and voiced those to Tessa. For me, I found Tessa a bit irritating. Not a lot, but just enough for me to notice. I don't think I'd consider myself a fangirl, but I've definitely met some people who are hard-core fans and I feel like Geiger did a great job making her character believable in that sense.
I loved the way this story was told, the concept of an untraditional format is becoming more and more popular these days and I think it works exceptionally well in this case. Along with the traditional third-person narration, Geiger uses direct messages, police interviews, tweets to tell the story. I thought the Twitter elements fit really well with the story, as Twitter is such a major part of this book, and I liked the addition of the police interviews because it helped remind me that there was an event that happened worth investigating. It doesn't really come to light until the end of the book why there is an investigation, but I think having that reminder that there was something more sinister going on helped keep the book moving and add suspense.
I kind of forgot that this book was part of a series until I got to the last interview. I wasn't really sure what there could be to write about in at least one other book, but after that ending, I need to know more. I won't say too much because I don't want to spoil anything, but I feel like I want to start reading the book all over again to look for more clues. I couldn't believe it - but I think it really happened because if it was staged, then there wouldn't really be much of a book two.
I will also say that this book is super fast paced, not just because of the mystery/thriller elements, but because the chapters are so quick you just want to keep reading and see what the next tweet is going to be. I whipped through this one and I know if I didn't have to get up early in the morning I would have read into the night.
Overall, a very interesting story and I am looking forward to book two!