Bombshell

June 1, 2017
A teenage catfisher's lies catch up to her.High school sophomore Joss Wyatt lives through the carefully constructed lives of her many online personas; her virtual relationships with unwitting paramours save her from the monotony of her daily life. Joss is attracted to her targets' vulnerability, to their willingness to believe she's a damsel in distress only they can rescue. Then she starts receiving texts from "Believer." Believer knows everything: the names and locations of Joss' "victims." This unknown antagonist has copies of all of Joss' chat transcripts and the naughty videos she's sent to her favorite online lover. Believer also knows Joss just had sex with a teacher. Meanwhile, her close friendships are crashing down around her, and she can't separate reality from fantasy. The multitudinous characters--both in the novel's reality and Joss' online life--and narrative disruptions such as texts, emails, and Joss' daydreaming throw the story into a confusing tailspin: the result is chaos on the page and in readers' minds. Joss' real-life potential love interest is a mixed-race boy (white and Japanese), but otherwise the book subscribes to the white default. Too clever by half, this book isn't worth the energy needed to keep everything straight. (Fiction. 15-18)

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August 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Joss Wyatt is a storyteller. Stifled by the boredom of her privileged life in suburban Phoenix, she creates sexy yet vulnerable characters and uses them to lure guys on social media. Juggling several of these relationships at once, she carefully develops each character's story while concealing her true identity. More than just a pastime, these stories also distract Joss from some deep personal issues, making it all the more threatening when an anonymous blogger begins exposing her false personas. Prickly, superstitious, and unreliable, Joss's narration will draw readers in even as the dissonance of her mental state keeps them at arm's length. Though this psychological push-pull is tantalizing, it also hampers the suspense: the consequences of the protagonist's exposure are mostly emotional, yet her emotions and motivations are never fully explored, making it difficult for readers to become invested. Also unexplored is the positive potential of social media, which is depicted as a vice, with only the faintest suggestion that Joss might use it as a means for healthy connection or creativity. Casual drug use and brief sexual content make this title best suited for high schoolers. Additionally, an uncritical portrayal of an inappropriate teacher-student relationship may leave readers feeling unsettled, as might the use of "lame" and "autistic" as insults. VERDICT Provocative but ultimately unsatisfying, this is an additional purchase for libraries where psychological suspense is in demand.-Rebecca Honeycutt, NoveList, Durham, NC

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