A review by kba76
All the Lonely People by David Owen
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me access to a quirky exploration of identity, addressing some of the more toxic elements of social media.
Kat has a heavy online presence. There she can be herself. But when she is trolled her life becomes unbearable. Slowly she strips away her online presence until nothing is left.
At this point we realise there is, literally, nothing to her. Kat has faded, nobody can see her and she is none the wiser about how this has happened. All she knows is she has to do something to salvage a sense of who she is.
Alongside Kat’s story we also focus on Wesley, a young boy who has become part of an online group who are vitriolic in their engagement with young women online.
There’s a lot of strands to this and sometimes I felt the story would have been better if just a few elements were focused on. It explored some thoughtful issues but the resolution of the story was very fast, and the abstract fantastic element to what was going on made me feel the message was not presented as effectively as it might have been.
Kat has a heavy online presence. There she can be herself. But when she is trolled her life becomes unbearable. Slowly she strips away her online presence until nothing is left.
At this point we realise there is, literally, nothing to her. Kat has faded, nobody can see her and she is none the wiser about how this has happened. All she knows is she has to do something to salvage a sense of who she is.
Alongside Kat’s story we also focus on Wesley, a young boy who has become part of an online group who are vitriolic in their engagement with young women online.
There’s a lot of strands to this and sometimes I felt the story would have been better if just a few elements were focused on. It explored some thoughtful issues but the resolution of the story was very fast, and the abstract fantastic element to what was going on made me feel the message was not presented as effectively as it might have been.