About the Book
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Author:
- Adam Cesare
- Genre:
- Suspense
- Voices:
- Bisexual
- Cis Girl
- Italian Diaspora
- Puerto Rican
Cover Story: Jealous
Drinking Buddy: Lunchroom Milk
MPAA Rating: NC-17 with multiple trigger warnings for violence
Talky Talk: Unclean
Bonus Factor: Social Media
Anti-Bonus Factor: Sociopaths
Bromance Status: Cautious
Content Warning: First-person murder of a pregnant woman
Cover Story: Jealous
I wish I had access to a cover designer like this. The juxtaposition of the eyes is a nice touch, without giving away too much of Aaron or Crystal’s faces. Though to be honest, the featureless black on red ARC the publisher sent me was also pretty cool.
The Deal:
Crystal Giordano is an awkward girl, a fifth wheel in a group of kids who are already outcasts in their own right. The kid who always has to take the middle seat, who never gets to pick the movie, who gets talked over. If only she could find a way to stand out, to be someone, to maybe meet that special someone. But her companions kind of ignore her, except for maybe her best friend Gayle. Crystal has started a YouTube channel, but is too shy to make any of her videos public. Not like her friends would watch them. They’re too obsessed with some masked internet schmuck called ‘The Speaker.’
Aaron Fortin is a recent transplant from Arizona, suddenly forced to attend school in Long Island. He doesn’t know how to talk to his peers. He tentatively attaches himself to Crystal’s group…
And then Crystal outs him as The Speaker. Somehow she recognized the eyes and mannerisms of one of the most popular YouTubers out there. Crystal’s gang is over the moon. Aaron is annoyed, but maybe it’s time he expanded his circle of friends, provided they don’t blab his secret.
Also, Aaron likes to kill people for fun. And he does not forgive big-mouthed Crystal for exposing him.
Drinking Buddy: Lunchroom Milk
Crystal reminds me of a character in a teen drama/comedy who is dropped after the second season with no explanation. A nobody among nobodies. Not angry like Paul, not brooding and sexy like his ex Trevor, not Goth like Gayle, or sexy like Harmony. Crystal’s parents are overwhelmed with her neuro-atypical younger brother. She tells her secrets on unpublished videos on her YouTube channel that no one will ever watch. She’s stuck. Hopefully she’ll never uncover evidence that a well-liked guy is actually a murderer who will stop at nothing to shut her up.
As for our other narrator, see below.
MPAA Rating: NC-17 with multiple trigger warnings for violence
Please reread the content warning at the beginning of this review.
Okay, the first chapter of this book is possibly the darkest thing I’ve ever read in my twelve years with FYA. We get a first person account of a pregnant teenager witnessing the murder of her parents and brother by Aaron’s disciples, her killing the murderers with a bat in self defense, and then getting shot by Aaron.
The last thing I feel is the baby kick.
I mean, it’s always been kind of a rule in horror movies that babies, children, and pregnant women cannot be harmed. The whole time I was reading this I kept telling myself that this was all some kind of set up; the girl was just dreaming or the victim of some sick prank.
Wow. But it just goes to show how Aaron simply doesn’t feel anything, and arranges things like this to amuse himself. And now that he’s in Long Island, he’s starting again, using some of Crystal’s friends as chess pieces. And Crystal is just a pawn to be eliminated.
Talky Talk: Unclean
God, the only thing worse than finishing this book would be not finishing it. I found myself skimming Crystal’s chapters, just so I could see what Aaron had in store, only to want to slam the book shut when I found out. The worst part was when Crystal realizes that all her friends have either fallen under Aaron’s sway or are terrified by him, and that Aaron would have no problem hurting the people Crystal loves if she interferes. Interferes with his plan to hurt a lot of people. A lot of people.
Bonus Factor: Social Media
Social media. It’s a great way to keep up with old high school crushes friends, share cat videos, and get called a libtard by strangers. But Aaron/The Speaker uses his channel to pull people under his influence. On the surface, it’s just a lot of poetry and philosophy. But Aaron can get under people’s skin. And Aaron is planning something big.
Can you imagine if Manson or Jim Jones had access to a Tik Tok?
Anti-Bonus Factor: Sociopaths
When I was a teen, there was a little voice in my head that would say things like Brian, are you honestly going to look your sainted mother in the eye and lie to her?
Well, of course I would. But still, there were little things that voice would say that I would never disobey. Lines I’d never cross. Things I’d never do. And just about all of us have that little voice.
Just about. But there are some people who don’t have that cartoon cricket on their shoulder. People who’d shoot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. Who simply don’t look at other humans as equals, but playthings. Aaron is one of those people. And Crystal is standing right in his way.
Bromance Status: Cautious
I haven’t read the author’s other book, Clown in a Cornfield. Sounds funny. Of course, I thought Gone Girl was going to be a romantic comedy.
Literary Matchmaking
Well, there’s Clown in a Cornfield by the same author.
Michael Hassan’s Crash and Burn also deals with a kid who realizes a companion’s psychotic tendencies.
Need a breather after this intense reading experience? Emma Lord’s Tweet Cute is a much gentler take on the social media phenomenon.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received an ARC from the publisher, but no money or recipes for homemade napalm.
