Devoured it. 

 

Energy: Suspicious. Ambitious. Hasty. 

Scene: 🇨🇦 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Perspective: A high school counsellor realizing her dream of becoming a published author. But at the height of their success, a scathing one star review accuses them of stealing the story and results in plummeting reviews from other readers. We also get to read snippets of the novel. 

 

🐕 Howls: I didn’t like the Burnt Orchard book and topics (but it’s vital to the story, just not something I'd ever choose to read). 

🐩 Tail Wags: The ending. The imperfect characters. Invoking cringe and sympathy. The train-wrecks before the reveals. 

 

🤔 Random Thoughts:

So much of this story relies on Cameron making dumb decisions. But it works with her personality. She is goodie-good oblivious, and  interacts with the world as if people should know she has good intentions and that will solve everything. As she gets more stressed, she burrows deeper into that mindset. It was entertaining but could be off-putting if you hate rolling your eyes at dumb character decisions!

 

Nearing the end I happily settled into ‘suspended disbelief’ mode. Then I started thinking how possible this all is. And then I saw some news about something similar happening and now I just think this is a story that will feel eerily realistic soon.  

 

🤓 Reader Role: Cameron talking to us about everything going on, what she’s doing, thinking, feeling. Reading snippets of her novel. 

🗺️ World-Building: Easy to imagine, not overly detailed. Little details here and there to establish foundation. 

🔥 Fuel: Intriguing twists and turns. Escalating stakes for Cameron’s career and safety. Who gave the one-star review? Is Cameron as innocent as she claims when it comes to the inspiration for her story? As the stalker escalates, will Cameron be able to keep herself, her career, and her daughter safe? 

📖 Cred: Wild, but plausible. 

 

Vacuuming. Voicemails. Book reviews. Text messages. Zoom calls. TikTok. Street parking. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Teen sexual assault, rape (in fictional story but graphic). Stalking. Threatening messages. Cyberbullying (review bombing, compromising video). Sabotage (career). Drug use, dealing (cocaine).  Homelessness (teens, mental illness). Sexualized child images. Police incompetence (dismissal, disbelief). Doxxing. Personality disorder/psychopathy. Arson. Fire/fire injury/fatality (graphic, on page)

 

Rep: White and Black Americans. Cisgender. Heterosexual. Lesbian peripheral character. Pale and dark skin tones.

 

📚 Format: Library Audio