A page-turning new thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of NOW YOU SEE HER, YOU and Liane Moriarty. Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.She was the first of his victims but not the last.Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the killer once and for all.The whole world is watching her every move.And so is the Magpie Man.
Are You Watching?
By vincentralph
This is a YA Mystery novel surrounding Jessica who is trying to find the serial killer called “The Magpie Man” who killed her mum and 13 other women.
It has 144 chapters but the chapters are quick and easy to read.
I’m glad I requested this and got to read this.
This is YA read heavily steeped in this current age of social Media that every one of our current always watched generation will most certainly understand and get the pitfalls of.
So Jessica Simmons wants to catch the Magpie Man.
Her mum was the first victim of this notorious serial killer and his kill-count is now way up at 13.
With this goal in mind, she applies and is accepted to star on a new web-based reality show with 4 others called The Eye.
The show is a competition to see who can collect the largest following and that individual will get a regular spot for the next 3 months.
So Jessica has 1 month to make her mark, the cameras every Monday will follow her from the minute she opens her eyes until she closes them at midnight.
Also, her whole social media, every text and personal interaction she has will be food for the masses.
The general idea is that each contestant gets there own day of the week to showcase their life and build a fanbase.
This really was an interesting and rather unique premise which definitely made you think.
But what starts out as rather on the back-burner then starts to build at a steady momentum almost like a rolling stone and the show then starts to impact every part of Jessicas life from school to home and even her own leisure time.
Jessica is public property and her life is an open book just waiting to be read.
Then the messages start-up chilling and surreal, is he watching, one of the many new subscribers and online trolls she is now dealing with.
Told completely from Jessicas POV this is not just a mystery to discover and find closure from but also a journey to better understand herself even telling herself some harsh own-truths along the way.
I did find it slightly unrealistic and the idea of using yourself as bait to draw out a killer is never a good idea also in real-time this frankly just wouldn’t work unless the killer was a moron wanting to be caught.
I also can’t see any parent being on board with this especially after losing your spouse in such a horrific way.
I also wanted the whys and whatnots of this rather than the superficial but that also wasn’t happening either.
The finish itself was rather anti-climactic, it was underwhelming if im honest after all that build-up a bit of a letdown.
Still, it was enjoyable and well written and appropriate for the digital age we all live in.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of are You Watching.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
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Are You Watching? by Vincent Ralph a compelling and questioning four-star read. This was so good, I couldn’t put it down, but I couldn’t give it five as I was shaking m head going really… at several points, I know its fiction and dramatized much like most of reality TV, but still I struggled to accept that at times. Jess intrigued me, she was a great character and I could have read her for longer, but it was the other characters that just pushed me too far. The star of this show thou is the whodunit aspect, that kept me hooked and I did not have a clue.