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A review by emleemay
All the Lonely People by David Owen
2.0
Edit: I didn't realize until it was pointed out in the comments that I accidentally stated Kat's romance was "with a boy", which it was not. I'm sorry for misleading anyone who read my review. I can only assume that I'm just so used to writing about that trope that I did it on autopilot. My thoughts on the romance haven't changed.
I still think this book has one of the most fascinating premises I've read all year. It is timely, terrifying and - at least in my experience - completely unique. It's a shame it just didn't love up to it.
[b: All the Lonely People|41576526|All the Lonely People|David Owen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1535704327s/41576526.jpg|64890952] is about a girl called Kat who deletes her entire online presence after she becomes the target of cyber-bullies. Once her online self is gone, Kat's physical body starts to fade (I would call this a magical realism novel). It is an attempt to explore the loss of an online identity-- when this carefully-crafted public persona is gone, who are we?
Owen does a good job of showing the toxic side of the Internet and social media. He touches upon trolling, right-wing hate groups, bullying and anxiety. However, I think some aspects seemed too simplistic and juvenile. These are teenagers, but the book often feels written for a younger audience than I expected.
For example, I think the ultimate dismissal of online friends and relationships lacks nuance. It's absolutely fair to be critical of the Internet, but as someone who has made some very real and important friendships online, I disliked the way the author seemed to decide that they were not a part of reality. I think it's a dangerous thing in general when we start to believe that online life is not "real life". I think it's exactly this idea that allows people to disassociate and bully others. It's easy to do when none of it's real, none of it counts toward your "real life", when you pretend there's not an actual human reading your comments.
But most of all, I was disappointed that it took a love story to pull Kat back to reality. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone - usually suffering from anxiety or something similar - is cured, rescued or given reason to go on by a romantic relationship. I think it sends a terrible message.
Great premise; poor execution.
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I still think this book has one of the most fascinating premises I've read all year. It is timely, terrifying and - at least in my experience - completely unique. It's a shame it just didn't love up to it.
[b: All the Lonely People|41576526|All the Lonely People|David Owen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1535704327s/41576526.jpg|64890952] is about a girl called Kat who deletes her entire online presence after she becomes the target of cyber-bullies. Once her online self is gone, Kat's physical body starts to fade (I would call this a magical realism novel). It is an attempt to explore the loss of an online identity-- when this carefully-crafted public persona is gone, who are we?
Owen does a good job of showing the toxic side of the Internet and social media. He touches upon trolling, right-wing hate groups, bullying and anxiety. However, I think some aspects seemed too simplistic and juvenile. These are teenagers, but the book often feels written for a younger audience than I expected.
For example, I think the ultimate dismissal of online friends and relationships lacks nuance. It's absolutely fair to be critical of the Internet, but as someone who has made some very real and important friendships online, I disliked the way the author seemed to decide that they were not a part of reality. I think it's a dangerous thing in general when we start to believe that online life is not "real life". I think it's exactly this idea that allows people to disassociate and bully others. It's easy to do when none of it's real, none of it counts toward your "real life", when you pretend there's not an actual human reading your comments.
But most of all, I was disappointed that it took a love story to pull Kat back to reality. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone - usually suffering from anxiety or something similar - is cured, rescued or given reason to go on by a romantic relationship. I think it sends a terrible message.
Great premise; poor execution.
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