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A review by lailat
Underbelly by Anna Whitehouse
3.0
Website || Instagram
Underbelly is the story of Lo and Dylan, who meet in the school playground. Lo is middle class and makes her living as an influencer on Instagram. Dylan works a zero-hours job and struggles to make ends meet. The friendship between their children forces them to spend time together, which leads to a devastating event.
This is not the sort of book I would typically pick up, but I requested it from the library on a whim, unsure if it would be for me. I think I started reading it at the perfect time - on a bad day where my brain wouldn’t process anything too complicated - I just wanted to lose myself in a book I didn’t have to think too much about. Underbelly ticked that box and I sped through it.
The story shines a light on the underbelly of the internet, focussing on how we often only show the highlights of our lives online, and no one really ever knows what’s going on behind the phone screen. There is also discussion on the difficulty of balancing working and parenting.
The book is written by the co-founders of Mother Pukka, a website “for people who happen to be parents”, who also founded the Flex Appeal campaign to have flexible working enshrined as a legal right for all. Anna Whitehouse has an Instagram account with 323k followers, and it is clear that the novel is written by someone who understands the way social media works - both the highs and the lows.
Underbelly was an entertaining read. Although ultimately it’s not a story that will stick with me for very long, it was a nice, easy pick-me-up, and sometimes that’s all I want from a book!
Underbelly is the story of Lo and Dylan, who meet in the school playground. Lo is middle class and makes her living as an influencer on Instagram. Dylan works a zero-hours job and struggles to make ends meet. The friendship between their children forces them to spend time together, which leads to a devastating event.
This is not the sort of book I would typically pick up, but I requested it from the library on a whim, unsure if it would be for me. I think I started reading it at the perfect time - on a bad day where my brain wouldn’t process anything too complicated - I just wanted to lose myself in a book I didn’t have to think too much about. Underbelly ticked that box and I sped through it.
The story shines a light on the underbelly of the internet, focussing on how we often only show the highlights of our lives online, and no one really ever knows what’s going on behind the phone screen. There is also discussion on the difficulty of balancing working and parenting.
The book is written by the co-founders of Mother Pukka, a website “for people who happen to be parents”, who also founded the Flex Appeal campaign to have flexible working enshrined as a legal right for all. Anna Whitehouse has an Instagram account with 323k followers, and it is clear that the novel is written by someone who understands the way social media works - both the highs and the lows.
Underbelly was an entertaining read. Although ultimately it’s not a story that will stick with me for very long, it was a nice, easy pick-me-up, and sometimes that’s all I want from a book!