A. V. Geiger

"Follow Me Back is the perfect mix of fandom with just the right amount of suspense. An enthralling page turner from beginning to end." —Anna Todd, New York Timesbestselling author of the After series Tessa Hart's world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it's like his speaking directly to her... Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn't help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies. When a fellow pop star is murder at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric's plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world's best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn... Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts, this thriller for the online generation will keep you guessing right up to the shocking end.

Follow Me Back

Cody Nicole

Magda Silva

Begging good, ending good. The middle? Not so much.
3.5 stars
Not sure if I am going to read the next one

I found this book refreshingly unique and haunting. The media used to tell the story made it such an easy read. A brilliant thing about this story is the mystery element the story has.

Chrissy

2.75-3 stars....?
Tessa is an 18 year old girl who has clearly experienced something recently that triggered high anxiety and agoraphobia. To get through her days in her room of solitude she creates a fan twitter account based on her favorite singer and uses it to post her wattpad fanficion on him.
Eric, said singer, is going through some paranoia after a fellow singer was murdered by an adoring fan who convinced herself they were in a relationship. Due to these recent events, he requests higher security and tries to get the attention away from the twitter hashtage #ericthornobsessed (which was created by Tessa) by creating a fake hater twitter account h@ericthornsucks and follows Tessa to try to get her to stop tweeting out the hashtag. Things don't go exactly how he plans it as they continue to DM through out the book.

I thought the author had an interesting take on what it's like to be a celebrity. The idea of how they must feel about fangirls/fanboys. That sometimes it must be very scary for them and it's understandable how at times we find celebrities attaching some tabloids. I felt bad for Eric as he expressed his stress and fear of fangirls and how they can become obsessed and I thought it was a good point and some thing I think should be talked about a little more. 
My problems with this book were towards Tessa's character. In the very beginning you can tell that she struggles with anxiety, she has a therapist, as well as she takes medication to help her with her panic attacks. I myself have no knowledge on taking anxiety medication so I am not educated enough on how it works. In the book it suggests that it works fairly quickly to calm her nerves or dizziness and leaves a cloak of calm over her. If that is in fact how it does work for some then please let me know, but the way it was described came off as if the author wasn't educated. Like how I would have wrote it with me having no knowledge. Also, I found it a little repetitive that Tessa continued to flat out say, I have anxiety hello, I have a disorder, I'm agoraphobic etc. It is plainly clear that as a reader you know this and yet she keeps saying it in case the reader is unaware of why she does things or why she cannot do things or why she is stuck in her room. 
My other issue, which is just an opinion towards the characters in the book, but Tessa had two people in her life who I don't think took her struggles seriously and just got annoyed with her instead of trying to understand. Now I'm sure it has to be hard for the love ones of the person who is struggling with agoraphobia but I guess I would have liked to see a little more support. 
The book kind of reminds me of Big Little Lies, with the set up. The book goes back and forth with regular text and than investigative interviews. So as a reader you know that there is a mystery in this book. But it just lacked in the mystery element. I do give it props with the ending. You are left with a cliffhanger and a little "whaaaat" (insert minion voice) But I just felt it was poorly done because the entire book didn't surprise me one bit. The ending came off as a oh wait just in case you forgot this was a mystery dum dum dum.

Alice

Expected rating: ★★★✰✰

I saw a comment on here that said that it reads too much like a fanfiction piece and... yeah. 

All in all, I feel a little sorry for not liking it. I wish I could have, because the idea is appealing and it's easy to feel the author's love for her story (I relate), but it was just too hard to see past the eye-roll-worthy moments.

Full review on my blog

Chelsea Hunter

Follow Me Back was an interesting original YA novel about a girl and a guy falling in love over direct messaging via twitter. This book had a unique way of telling a story involving something that is very common in our lives today (social media). It's told through the DM, tweets, police transcripts, and a dual POV.

Something that I really loved about this book is that it deals with Agoraphobia, and personally, I think A.V. Geiger really captured the essence of what agoraphobia is like. It was different, but nice, to see a YA book about a mental disorder that wasn't an eating disorder or depression (not that it's bad that there are many that are focused on those disorders).

I really connected with Tessa. Her character was just so real, and strong. It was interesting to see her progress throughout the story. And I liked Eric, but I didn't connect as much as I did with him as I did with Tessa. I wasn't completely sold on their relationship, but I did like it, and I thought Eric and Tessa were cute together. But I felt like a lot was lacking chemistry-wise between the two of them.

And that ending... I don't even know what to think after an ending like that. All I know is I desperately need my hand on the second book right now, because I really need to find out what is going on. So many questions, so many thoughts... and I want them answered now.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a good YA novel. Especially if you are looking for something different, which I thought this book was, hands down.

Candyce Kirk

Reread June '18
I have to stand by my first review that I definitely need the next book. Luckily, I have that one now!! After a reread I am completely back in to this story and can't wait to see how it continues. I really forgot how addicting this book was. Hoping Tell Me No Lies is just as addicting and good!

Paige Green

Rating: 3/5

Genre: YA Romance/Slight YA Thriller

Recommended Age: 16+ (stalking, death, obsessed fans, mental illness)

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinons are my own.

Tessa Hart's world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it's like he's speaking directly to her...
Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn't help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies. 
When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast―like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric's plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world's best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn...
Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts, this thriller for the online generation will keep you guessing right up to the shocking end. - Amazon.com

Another book I've read that's from the perspective of someone who has a mental illness I don't see regularly in YA books! Tessa has agoraphobia, which is the fear of places and situations that might cause panic, helplessness, or embarrassment and she also suffers from extreme anxiety. I also do not have agoraphobia but I believe that the perspective of Tessa is a very real interpretation of this illness, although if not I'd love to hear from someone who lives with the disorder. Aside from the disability rep, this book also had some diverse characters in it! Win! The characters in this book are very well developed, which is very hard to pull off in a mixed media format. The writing was also very beautiful throughout the book.

However, I did have some dislikes about this book. I really was confused by the ending. Like WHAT?? The book had a really dark odd twist to it as well and it really confused me. This book definitely ended on a cliffhanger and it needs a sequel. I also felt that the way the story was told, while beautiful, could be confusing for some readers. It takes a lot of attention to detail to get where the book is going. Lastly I thought that beginning relationship of the two characters was very odd and there were a few other moments in the book that were unbelievable as well.

Verdict: Aside from the ending this book was fantastic! A great dark romance thriller... thing... read! If you like anything with mixed media format, anything with thrillers, or anything where there are creepy people in books then this book is for you!

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

“Eric Thorn (@EricThorn) followed you”

Before this book showed up unexpected on my doorstep, I had never heard of it. After reading the synopsis I decided to give it a read. And boy did I ever!! It was one of those stories that hooks you right in and doesn't let go.

Tessa is suffering from agoraphobia and hasn't left her house in quite a while. She's spends most of her time fangirling over a singer, Eric Thorn. She even goes so far as to start a hashtag #EricThornObsessed, which goes viral instantly.

Eric is struggling with being a rockstar after a fellow star is murdered by an obsessed fan. He's so worried that the same can happen to him. And it doesn't help that his publicity team urges the fans to go nuts whenever possible. When Eric sees the new #EricThornObsessed tag going viral, he decides to create a secret account and troll the creator of the hashtag, @TessaLovesEric. What he doesn't expect is to develop feelings for Tessa over Twitter messages.

I love how this story incorporates twitter chats and text messages as well. That's always a plus for me. It just adds a little something. This story also includes police transcripts, as both Tessa and Eric are being questioned regarding a crime. We don't know that much about the crime yet, but as the story progresses we learn more and more.

The majority of this story for me was the romance. Watching Tessa's and Eric's relationship evolve online was really cute. We do get an explanation of sorts regarding the cause of Tessa's agoraphobia as well, but the main focus for me was definitely the romance. And I also must warn you... major cliffhanger ending here!! I did not know that this was going to be a series, so when I got to the last page I was floored. Now I need book 2 asap!!

This book surprised me in a really great way. I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it. It really was quite entertaining and I'm hoping more people give it the attention it deserves. 

 


  


(Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

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A.V. Geiger

"Follow Me Back is the perfect mix of fandom with just the right amount of suspense. An enthralling page turner from beginning to end." —Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the After series Tessa Hart's world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it's like his speaking directly to her... Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn't help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies. When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric's plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world's best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn... Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts, this thriller for the online generation will keep you guessing right up to the shocking end.

Follow Me Back

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