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Thursday, May 28, 2020

Review: The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms

The Bright Side of Going Dark 
by Kelly Harms


Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publish Date: May 12, 2020
Paperback
348 Pages
Standalone
Genre: Contemporary

As one of the most popular influencers on social media, Mia Bell has lived her life online for years. With her celebrity dog and gorgeous fiancĆ©, she is planning the ultimate virtual wedding—expensive, elaborate, and entirely paid for by sponsors. But off-camera, her world is far from picture perfect. After being jilted by her fiancĆ© and faking her nuptials to please her sponsors, Mia finally has had enough. She heaves her phone off a cliff, ready to live—and maybe find love—offline for a change.

Mia’s sudden absence doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by techie loner Paige Miller, who hacks Mia’s account and begins impersonating the internet celebrity. Paige has her reasons. Her half sister, Jessica, idolizes Mia and desperately needs something to believe in. If taking over Mia’s online persona is Paige’s only means of connecting to her sister, so be it.

Creating a like-worthy life is more fun than Paige expected. But when she grows too bold and is caught in the act, a fiasco ensues that could forever change Mia, Paige, and the people who love them. Because somewhere amid the chaos is an invaluable lesson—one that only real life can teach.

My Review:


We are definitely seeing more and more books coming out with storylines associated with social media.  With social media being such a powerful force in our day to day, this isn't surprising.  Here we have a story about one girl's life tied to social media - it's her foremost thought from the moment she wakes up to the time she goes to bed.  Her bills are paid in sponsorships and her relationship is what is making her popular enough to get paid.  So what happens when things fall apart and she throws her phone off a cliff?

I feel like I'm on social media way more than I probably should be and while my screen time has actually gone down lately, I still fee the effects of it all the time.  Who doesn't want to have a following but when you get it, do you know what you potentially could be giving up?  How authentic can you keep being when so much starts to be expected of you?  

This was a fun read in terms of dealing with all of the above.  I also never knew there was a job in the tech industry to flag offensive or questionable posts.  How very interesting!  (I think we all know by now that nothing put on the internet is ever actually private.)  I kept waiting for the take over to begin.  It seemed to take quite a while to get to that point and in that, I felt my interest in the story wane from time to time.  And then it seemed to quickly wrap up and a bit too neatly for me.  *shrug*
Overall a cute story in the social media age that also touches on the important subject of suicide and social ideation. 

★★★

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