TELL ME NO LIES

It’s one month after the events of Follow Me Back (2017), and police think pop star Eric Thorn has been murdered by obsessed fangirl Tessa Hart.

The truth: Tessa and Eric, now a couple, are living in a VW van in Mexico after framing Tessa for Eric’s “murder.” Dismissing Tessa’s valid fear of social media as distorted thinking, Eric sets up an anonymous Snapchat account to communicate with formerly pretend-dead idol Dorian Cromwell, who says he can help them. He helps them—right back into the high-profile life Eric desperately wanted to escape. For several reasons, Tessa can’t publicly come out as Eric’s girlfriend, so the young lovers decide to communicate via Snapchat (because that turned out really well in Mexico), and chaos and confusion ensue. Tessa’s agoraphobia seems to have cleared up overnight (running away from home after staging a murder will do that to a person?), but she still suffers from extreme anxiety triggered by male stalker Blair, who is still on the loose. Tessa and Eric make one bad decision after the next, making it impossible to feel bad for them. The story is somewhat exciting at times, but its predictability and convoluted supporting plot elements don’t do it any favors. It seems everyone is white.

This sequel requires a read of its predecessor to understand what’s going on, and even then, the most dedicated fans will still be lost.