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FOLLOW ME BACK by A.V. Geiger

FOLLOW ME BACK

From the Follow Me Back series, volume 1

by A.V. Geiger

Pub Date: June 6th, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4523-8
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Two teens develop a Twitter relationship.

White teen Tessa Hart’s life has been put on hold. After a terrible incident at an arts camp, Tessa has developed agoraphobia, and her condition confines her to her bedroom. Her window to the outside world is her Twitter profile, @TessaHeartsEric, where she fixates on white teen heartthrob Eric Thorn. Eric is tired of the way his official Twitter handle, @EricThorn, is swamped with adoration from his fans, so he creates @EricThornSucks to have a bit of fun. Eventually Tessa and Eric meet online, and as they send direct messages back and forth, a peculiar friendship starts to form. But not everything is as it seems. This mystery element ends up being the novel’s undoing. The author hints at Tessa’s dark past here and there, eventually revealing the terrible happening, but understanding her condition is key to readers’ empathizing with her, so withholding that information cripples the narrative. On the other end, Eric comes across as a self-obsessed goon. These two teens feed into their own isolation complexes, crafting a truly unhealthy relationship that generates no heat or investment. The cherry on top is a last-minute reveal that will have readers scratching their heads and questioning everything that came before, but not in a good way.

A dysfunctional romance about a dysfunctional romance.

(Thriller. 12-16)