Oh my giddy aunt! Nothing prepared me for the labyrinth of twists that meander through the chapters of this book. The prologue offered a hint but the following chapters led me into a false sense of security and I imagined I was reading a fairly straightforward, almost romcom, novel. “Breastapo” had me laughing out loud. A touch of genius.
Then……. it all gets dark. It’s one of those books where you found yourself hurtling towards the end in a kind of frenzied desperation to find out exactly what’s going on. Thematically the book can’t fail but make you reconsider your position on social media. There are so many people desperate to be “influencers” today, desirous of vast viewing figures, followers and likes et cetera. Reading this book might change your mind! So what is it all about?
‘You can't stop watching her.
Violet Young is a hugely popular journalist-turned-mummy-influencer, with three children, a successful husband and a million subscribers on YouTube who tune in daily to watch her everyday life unfold.
Until the day she's no longer there.
But one day she disappears from the online world - her entire social media presence deleted overnight, with no explanation. Has she simply decided that baring her life to all online is no longer a good idea, or has something more sinister happened to Violet?
But do you really know who Violet is?
Her fans are obsessed with finding out the truth, but their search quickly reveals a web of lies, betrayal, and shocking consequences…’
And that’s putting it simply…..
As you might expect from a psychological thriller, and as you might expect from author Charlotte Duckworth the story is populated by several dysfunctional people. Some more difficult to engage with which is just how it should be because in order to experience the full effect of this book you don’t really need to “take sides”. The writer skilfully tries to push you down various pathways and offer you some red herrings with your chips. Whether you choose to go or not is up to you! Seasoned readers of psychological thrillers may attempt to resist. Experienced readers of psychological fiction may think they’ve sussed out all the answers. I doubt it!
The novel has several narrators. So we’re getting the story from their perspectives which I always find is another feature of psychological thrillers. I find it intriguing because the reader has to play amateur psychologist in a sense to decide whether what they’re being told is true or skewed. In fact although Violet appears as if she should be the main character she isn’t really. She’s almost a bit part player but she is fundamental and crucial to the overall premise and denouement of the novel. I believe she only has one chapter as narrator. Her function as influencer is the synthesis for the other narrators initially.
There seems to have been a little cluster of what I call anti social media books although maybe that’s not really accurate. There are fictions that are highlighting the pitfalls that can ensue from an unhealthy obsession with social media. But hey, none of us are guilty of that, are we?! Charlotte Duckworth demonstrates a sound knowledge of how these platforms operate. And the GoMamas forum exchanges are so accurate and bordering on the hilarious at times that I can only imagine the author must have spent some considerable hours reading through online forums.
It’s a marvellously entertaining novel. And I always marvel at the creative plotting that goes into books like these. How the writer keeps track of everybody’s weird and peculiar behaviour patterns and their mental instabilities to end up with a conclusion is to be admired. I was delighted to be invited to the social media blast for the paperback publication of this book and thrilled with my gifted copy from Ella Patel at Quercus Books. But what do other readers and bloggers think? Check them out and see...
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