Name: Deepfake
ISBN: 9781338178258

Sarah Darer Littman

What happens when anyone can make a video of you saying anything?

Deepfake

Dara Simons and Will Hochman are head of the senior class at Greenpoint High, competitors for valedictorian, but also dating each other, a fact that they kept secret until Rumor Has It, an anonymous gossip site, spilled the beans--but worse is to come because the site posts a video that seems to show Dara accusing Will of paying someone to take the SAT for him and suddenly Will is under investigation and his relationship with Dara is on the rocks, even though she denies ever having said anything of the sort, and it becomes imperative to find out who is responsible for the fake video and why they are trying to wreck two lives.

Annalee Harris

There were some certain flaws in Littman's Deepfake, mainly with one of the "protagonists" being absolutely so self-centered, out-of-touch, and utterly unlikeable, or with some problems in developing a plot. But Deepfake is genuinely an interesting novel. It has a good concept, realistic characters, and relatable problems. While the plot twist is easily guessed by the second page, the novel wasn't bad; a good pick that's an easy read.

Lynn Braden

Dara and Will have spent the summer together and now that school is starting again, they've decided to keep their relationship a secret. Unfortunately, Rumor Has It, an anonymous school gossip website, has outed them to the rest of the school, which isn't so bad until the same website posts a video of Dara accusing Will of cheating on his SATs. Things deteriorate from there when nobody believes Dara when she tells them that she never said the things in the video. What is worse is now everybody believes that Will actually cheated, so an investigation into his actions may cause him to lose his acceptance to Stanford University. Will swears he didn't cheat, but a video is conclusive proof, or is it?

Deepfake examines the question of what is and what isn't fake news and how the public is supposed to tell the difference, a good theme and plot line for a story, however, the rest of Deepfake is a bit of a letdown. Dara and Will's relationship suffers the kind of damage that can result from accusations and trust issues and is portrayed realistically. The rest of the story just seems like add ons and fill ins to complete a book, as the other characters and problems in the story have no real emotional presence. By the end, the book seems a little preachy, making the whole thing fall a little flat. Overall, a good idea that could have been executed in a better way.

Deepfake

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