Goodreads Blurb:
"Thea's overprotective parents are driving her insane. They invade her privacy, ask too many questions, and restrict her online time so severely that Thea feels she has no life at all. When she discovers a new role-playing game online, Thea breaks the rules by staying up late to play. She's living a double life: on one hand, the obedient daughter; on the other, a girl slipping deeper into darkness. In the world of the game, Thea falls under the spell of Kit, an older boy whose smarts and savvy can't defeat his loneliness and near-suicidal despair. As Kit draws soft-hearted Thea into his drama, she creates a full plate of cover stories for her parents and then even her friends.
Soon, Thea is all alone in the dark world with Kit, who worries her more and more, but also seems to be the only person who really "gets" her. Is he frightening, the way he seems sometimes, or only terribly sad? Should Thea fear Kit, or pity him? And now, Kit wants to come out of the screen and bring Thea into his real-life world. As much as she suspects that this is wrong, Thea is powerless to resist Kit's allure, and hurtles toward the same dark fate her parents feared most. Ripped from a true-life story of Internet stalking, Who R U Really? will excite you and scare you, as Thea's life spins out of control."
Review:
Thank you to the author, Margo Kelly, for participating in the blog tour and to Kathy from I Am A Reader for organizing the tour!
This is like real life people. Honestly, it was kind of scary while I was reading because I could really connect with it. I know (or at least I hope we're all aware) we're all aware of the dangers of internet stalkers and that some people you meet online aren't actually who they really are. You can be anyone online and a lot of people will believe anything. You can make great friends online but when those friends start pressuring you for your phone number or where you live or start saying they'll commit suicide without you, I think that's getting a bit manipulative.
That's exactly what happens in Who R U Really and it's quite a scary prospect which is why I gave this book 5 stars. I think it really shows what we're all up against in this digital age and what we need to be careful of. It's a very vivid book which I think led to me actually examining what I do online and what I say.
The title does say it all. Who R U Really? I guess you don't really know until you've met them in person.
This book takes place over about a yearish. I'm actually a bit wishy-washy on the timetable because I don't actually know. I think that's where the author could improve or just add a bit. Having milestones in how long Thea was actually talking to Kit would have helped me a lot.
The Final Verdict:
A very well-written, vivid, spot on book about the dangers of online life. I definitely think it's a must-read for anyone who goes online as a warning to what can happen if you aren't careful. A timetable would have been nice to track Thea's relationship with Kit.
5 stars
Giveaway
Thank you for reading and reviewing WHO R U REALLY?! :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Thank you for doing the blog tour!
DeleteYippee! That means hope is not lost when I actually read this book for my stop in January! It sort of reminded me of another book I read a few years ago - similar concept and idea. Fab review, Laura! :)
ReplyDeleteNo, hope is not lost! :D What was the title of that book? Thanks!
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