Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger (#1)

Publication Date: June 6th, 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

“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.“

Review:

This book is about a girl named Tessa who has trouble leaving her bedroom after something traumatic happens to her the previous summer. Eric Thorn is a superstar who wishes he wasn’t. Even though he became an international heartthrob and every girl wants him, he’s never felt more alone. He’s nervous all of the time due to a He sees on Twitter than the number one trend is something called #EricThornObsessed. It turns out that Tessa had written a fanfiction about the one and only Eric Thorn. While being confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, she has picked Eric Thorn to be her entertainment. She has a twitter called @TessaHeartsEric with 30 thousand followers and growing. When Eric sees the trend, he gets angry and wants to know why they fangirl over him. He creates a fake account for himself called @EricThornSucks under the name Taylor. Tessa and Eric begin to DM over Twitter about Eric Thorn at first, but it quickly turns into more.

I absolutely loved this book. There were so many things going on that I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Let’s break down the things that I really loved:

Characters: Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. She was the cutest human alive and I wanted to hug her. I couldn’t imagine going through what she was going through. Agoraphobia clawing at the insides of her brain making her dizzy by the time she gets to the top of her steps. There were some times where I was curious if that was who she really was. You will have to read to find out. Next, Eric Thorn was perfectly written. I feel like he was portrayed exactly how I would think a celebrity would feel. It’s known that a lot of celebrities feel like they are being used and that they have no privacy. A.V. Geiger wrote Eric so perfectly that I could imagine him as a real superstar. I could close my eyes and see a boybander like Harry Styles or Shawn Mendes thinking just like Eric Thorn did.

Story: This is a story unlike any other. I think that the synopsis is what drew me to this book originally. It’s very contemporary and very current with today’s society. It really connects to readers that know Twitter and fandoms. I think it was easier for me to read this because I live in a social media world where everything is known about each other. I’m guilty of that, as well.

Ending: The ending had me screaming. Let’s just say that I’m grateful that there is a sequel because if there wasn’t, I’d be livid. The last page is what really gets you. There are so many questions unanswered and I’m saddened that I have to wait until next year.

Overall, this YA debut was absolutely wonderful. I read it very quickly and that’s because it definitely kept my attention from beginning to end. The coolest part was when I posted a short review on my bookstagram and A.V. Geiger noticed me: