Follow Me Back by A. V. Geiger is an intriguing YA read. Dark, sinister, and crazy. There's a few moments of sweetness by both characters. But their actions are spontaneous. Readers won't know what to expect especially towards the end. So, there's this popular guy who wants to escape his current life and then there's this girl who suffered greatly. She puts her energy into writing about the popular guy, Eric. Tessa seems normal but she's really not what readers think she is. Major plot twists are everywhere. Surprises are found throughout this read.

I love being in suspense and being kept on my toes at all times but this novel left me more confused than anything. These two characters communicate via Twitter. Eric falls for Tessa whom he has never met before...and Tessa is obsessed with him. Eric has a fear he'll be next in line for death...and that to me seemed like a foreshadowing insight. Because the unexpected and totally not fully played out ending was an outcome of his greatest fear.

At first, I was like, wait did she really kill him or injure him enough that he's almost dead but still alive...but I guess someone has died at this horrible ending. One moment they're in the car talking, Eric loves Tessa, but she pushes him away. Then out of nowhere she's like, okay, come on in with me, everything is okay. The next scene...the ending was shocking and cut too short. However, many have found this perfect. I have never read a novel where I was so confused...and this book, Follow Me Back did just that. Other than that, I think the plot sounds great, just needs to be rewritten. Has a promising ring to it. Overall, I was disappointed...as a reader.

Follow Me Back is one of those books you won't want to put down. Between Tessa's agoraphobia, Eric's paranoia, the social media aspect, and the way A.V. Geiger unfolded the story, you couldn't help but be drawn in page after page. With how prominent social media is these days, Follow Me Back is wholly relatable. With twists and turns, some of which I saw coming and others I didn’t, it was easy to find yourself caught up in Tessa and Eric’s personal and intertwining stories. Them being likable and engaging characters was just one more draw. After the way it all ended, I have to say I’m excited for book two. I need to know what will happen next for Tessa and Eric.

I was so excited to read Follow Me Back that I finished it in one sitting. I am seriously reeling at that ending! This is a book filled with surprises, shocks and an insight into the life of a pop star and a fangirl. The characters are really well-rounded, the story flowed perfectly and I can't wait to get myself a physical copy of the book once it's released in June.

“Tessa, it’s me. Do you hear me? I’m real. You’re real. This connection that we have is real. When you’re the only person on earth who can make me smile anymore, that’s real. That’s the only thing that’s real. It’s everything else in my life that’s fake as hell.”

That quote right there kind of defines the whole book for me. Tessa lives in her bedroom. She never leaves it. The only connection she has to the world is through her phone, and Twitter. And on Twitter she meets this guy. Turns out he’s not completely who he says he is, but in the end, I completely forgave him for that. And they fall for each other. But of course, it has this damn HORRIBLE cliffhanger, and I’m freaking out even as I write this. I want to know how it ends now!!! Needless to say, I loved this book. Will be buying it when it comes out.

“Busy, my ass. I’m busy too. I still find time to talk to you.”

I loved the depth that Geiger gave Eric. I totally thought ‘Aloe Vera’ was about some hook-up, just like Tessa did. But him writing a song about ‘The Man’? Him worrying that his fans could go crazy or are harboring homicidal tendencies? Him recognizing what he got into and just how much of a hold the record company has on him for several more albums? Eric knowing the songs he sings are sugary sweet? Pretty damn mature of him.

“Truth…I don’t know about Eric Thorn and his cheesy-ass songs, but I do know that I love you. Do you hear me, Tessa? L-O-V-E. And I need you to remember that tomorrow. Whatever else happens, just remember I said that, and I meant it. Because it’s TRUE.”

I loved the OCD psycho-babble. (Hopefully Geiger had a psychologist or a psychiatrist read this first and declare it all accurate.) Projecting? Catastrophizing? Love them big words. Having a friend with OCD and anxiety and then reading this book helped me understand her that much better, about the sad thoughts that go through her head and the things she feels that she can’t talk herself out of, just like Tessa. Tessa knew her fears were not rational, but knowing and making herself believe it are two completely different things.

“Not projecting if you’re actually talking about yourself, Tessa…”

BTW- I call total bullshit on her doctor refusing to go to the police station! Fuck her career- if she cared about Tessa at all, if she was human at all, she would have gone there and at least been in the room for Tessa. Yes, Tessa may not have been as truthful as she was, and maybe that’s why Dr. Regan refused to go, but I really hope Tessa has it out with her therapist and demands an explanation for not showing up. (Unless the therapist is now dead, which I have this weird feeling she might be…)

“No, Tessa. We both know you have feelings for Taylor. The question is how deep those feelings go.”

For the record though, I did not appreciate the false advertising: Told through tweets, direct messages, and police transcripts. Definitely false advertising. I was going to read the story anyway, after reading the description, but this made me more intrigued. “A whole story written through tweets, DMs and transcripts? Cool!” Alas, no. The story was about 90 percent normal writing, the rest tweets, DMs and transcripts. Someone should reconsider tweeking the advertising a bit, because the book doesn’t need the false advertising. It’s pretty freakin’ great on its own.

“I love you, snowflake. This is real.”

BTW- This is completely going to be my new motto of life: “Any kind of social interaction can potentially hold therapeutic value.” #ericthornobsessed #followmeback

“If being my fangirl embarrasses you, then stop being my fangirl. Be something else instead.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like, you could be my girlfriend, for example.”

“What do you want from me?” she whispered.
“I want to be with you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m in love with you.”

One of my favorite finds on Netgalley to date! My expectations for this weren't that high (story about a celebrity boy and a female fan? Usually not my cup of tea.) but I was really surprised by this in the best way possible. The story is told partially via conversations between the main characters and partially via a police record and in this case, it works and works well. The author does not reveal Tessa's past right away and this creates the right ammount of tension. It's worth noting that I am obviously way older than the book's target audiences and others my age might be confused by aspects of this story, such as fandoms (wtf is that?) and how Twitter works, but I don't feel like this really detered from my enjoyment of the story. And like others mention, the ending does come as a total surprise and leaves you guessing.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was really fun having the police interrogations throughout the book which helped maintain the mystery elements. I thought their relationship was well developed and realistic for the platform they were set on. I thought the topic of agoraphobia as a result of possible sexual abuse was an important theme in the book. It's definitely one I could recommend to others.

Rants, Raves, and General Thoughts

I'll admit, I submitted for this advanced reader copy because I might have been watching It Follows on Netflix. I was a little disappointed that this isn't a weird ghost/demon story, but it still was right up my alley. I secretly kind of love books where celebrities genuinely fall in love with one of their fans in some way.

I also tend to really love epistolary novels....which this isn't entirely. It's a good combination of pros and documents. I found Tessa to be incredibly relatable, even without not knowing what caused her paranoia until much later in the book. The author also doesn't try to sell her as a drop dead gorgeous girl who is just slightly flawed — she feels real.

This book also makes me as a Twitter user feel wonderfully uncomfortable. I have never randomly confessed my love to a celebrity....I honestly am more likely to yell at a corporation I feel has wronged me. But still, I do see the people that respond, saying anything to see if they'll get a reaction. And I will like/retweet things people say....especially authors.

This book is well written and fairly straight forward, though it has a nice twist. I found I related with Tessa's anxieties, and that they were written with just enough tension but not over the top at all.

Final Thoughts

I don't find too many young adult thrillers that are great — Harlan Coben has a great miniseries worth checking out ahem — and I would also recommend A.V. Geiger. I have started following her on Wattpad too! Though I doubt the sequel to this book will be published there. And be advised — this book has a cliffhanger ending. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

....oh I have to wait a year? REALLY? Sigh.

First, a huge thank you to the publishers for sending me this book. It was a fantastic and addictive read that reminded me of Paper Princess by Erin Watt, but with a psychological edge.
This book is different stylistically than most I’ve read as a large part the story takes place through Twitter conversations and police transcripts. It was very well executed, with simple and sharp dialogue. The two main characters are very well drawn out. Although Tessa is infuriating at first because of her fear of leaving the house and her obsession with a rock star, her phobia and fixation make for an intriguing premise. And then there’s Eric Thorn, America’s heartthrob, Tessa’s heartthrob. I have to admit he quickly turned into my heartthrob too.
The only character who felt too simplistically sketched out was the antagonist. He comes out of nowhere. Even though I would definitely not take away any stars for this, I sort of wish he was mentioned—even just by name—at the beginning of the book. Yes, there were hints that something terrible had happened to Tessa in New Orleans, and that Twitter isn’t fool-proof (security-wise), but still…
And the ending! If you’re not a fan of cliffhangers, you might want to wait for book 2 to come out before reading Follow Me Back.
But all in all an excellent read! Highly recommended!

2/5 stars. I've read some seriously top-notch fanfiction over the years - fantastically written, well-researched, the whole gamut. I have deep, deep respect for fanfiction writers. I also really enjoy YA, and I know that so much of YA can and does have appeal beyond the YA-aged audience.

But this reads like very underdeveloped, sophomoroic, wish-fulfillment fanfiction by a very, very young person.

This just felt...young. Not in topic, but the writing style. Yes, there was a plot. There were twists and turns. But it is ALL telling and nooooo showing. It's a bit like a paint-by-numbers book. I am holding your hand and telling you every single thing I want you to see/hear/think, and I'm not leaving anything up to interpretation. No metaphors. No subtext.

For a while I thought this would be a 3-star read - it's fast, it's easy to read, the police interrogation documents keep you wondering what all this tweeting and DM-ing can possible lead to. But. Nah. I didn't hate it - but I rolled my eyes. A LOT. And by the 70% mark I was skimming a lot of the filler text. At that point, I just wanted to see the resolution, so I didn't waste a ton of time on reading every word carefully (because by then I knew that I wasn't going to miss a great turn of phrase or something particularly underline-worthy).

The "twist" ending felt soooooo tacked on. Boooooo. It felt like a total last ditch effort to make people talk about this book. "OMG! What do you think happened?! Why?!? How?!?" I don't care. I see in GoodReads that there is a sequel forthcoming - I will not be reading it.

If you need a high calorie snack type of book, this is your bag of greasy potato chips. I'm not angry that I read it, but I can tell that I will spend exactly 0 minutes thinking about it in the future.

This was a very interesting trip through the tech world of today. What can go wrong when your whole social life is spent on your phone/internet? Plenty. Very suspenseful plot line. Hard to describe w/o giving it away. Considering I am not a 15 year old girl, the whole idea of being a pop star's fan was hard to relate to, but this girl's situation makes it super interesting. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book, but to be honest, the ending really ruined the entire thing for me. I was happy with the last chunk of text, but the ending police transcript was out of left field and did nothing for me. I was so disappointed by it that it really just turned me off entirely and I got nothing out of it. It didn't make sense, and the plot twist wasn't really a plot twist, it was as if they needed a direction for the second book and didn't have any other ideas so they just pulled one from out of a hat. I really didn't like that and thus, I wasn't happy with the book. The plot itself was original, and I like the idea of the it being told in tweets, direct messages and police transcripts, but to be really honest, it wasn't all that engaging. I really struggled though it and I really really wanted to love this book. I was rooting for it and I was so excited to read it but I found myself skipping around to the tweets and messages and stuff because there was such a huge amount of text that I honestly think they could have done without. We didn't really need it, and the description of the book makes it look like you're getting an entire book told in tweets, DM's and police transcripts. I felt a little cheated that they only made up what seemed to me like 1/4 of the book.

I am going to give the entire series a try before I make assumptions on the author or the publisher but, I have a feeling I'm going to continue to be disappointed, which is sad because I had such high hopes for this one.

This book was so much fun!!! The author clearly understands fandom culture. The plot twists will leave you shook. Stan twitter—particularly Bieber or One Direction stans—will love and relate to this!

Thank you to Netgalley, Source Books, & the author A.V. Geiger for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The concept for this was really refreshing. I’ve read sort of similar books before but nothing quite like this. Okay, if I’m honest, this did read like fan fiction and in a way it was fan fiction. It did borrow from one of the heaviest tropes out there: famous guy talking to fangirl through DM’s and other messages? Check!
The other thing that sets this a little higher is that I was impressed by the ending. So it’s a “fan fiction-y” trope with a great ending.
Book 2 should be interesting.

This is one of those books that as soon as you finish it, you NEED to find someone to talk to about it with.

Tessa is an agoraphobic teen who finds solace in obsessing over popstar Eric Thorn on Twitter. Eric is a popstar with an intense fear of being attacked by his obsessive fans. To try and destroy his ‘desirable’ image, he creates a fake Twitter account, where he follows one of his ‘number 1 fans’, Tessa. The two start messaging, and instantly connect, bonding over insecurities and emotional issues.

I’m not sure if I liked this book more or less after reading the ending. I literally had no words. Actually, I had quite a few. The words ‘I literally can’t even’, and ‘what the actual ...’ came out of my mouth quite a few times. I like my book endings wrapped up all nice and neatly, and I take comfort in the predictable. If you do too, then this is not the book for you.

With that being said, everyone should read this book. It was such a unique idea, and I literally have stayed awake for hours, lying in bed, trying to figure out what happened. The book creates so much hype for the second one, and I cannot wait.

SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 5th
I love the cover. I love the format. And I love the alternating viewpoints. But I don't love the third viewpoint or where it gets added.

Tessa Hart’s world feels very small. Confined to her bedroom with agoraphobia, her one escape is the online fandom for pop sensation Eric Thorn. When he tweets to his fans, it’s like his speaking directly to her…

Eric Thorn is frightened by his obsessive fans. They take their devotion way too far. It doesn’t help that his PR team keeps posting to encourage their fantasies.

When a fellow pop star is murdered at the hands of a fan, Eric knows he has to do something to shatter his online image fast—like take down one of his top Twitter followers. But Eric’s plan to troll @TessaHeartsEric unexpectedly evolves into an online relationship deeper than either could have imagined. And when the two arrange to meet IRL, what should have made for the world’s best episode of Catfish takes a deadly turn…

Follow Me Back was everything I wanted with experimental formats. Conversations are formatted to look like tweets, the accounts actually exist online (see @TessaHeartsEric and @EricThornSucks), the platform itself is used correctly and not altered for the sake of what is needed for the story, and the police transcripts add just the right amount of tension.

I loved all of that.

Follow Me Back accurately depicts the real struggles of those with anxiety disorders. Geiger did a wonderful job with Tessa's character, always showing her high levels of anxiety and letting us know her feelings on it. There was a never a moment when Tessa didn't acknowledge that her anxiety was irrational.

These characters are their own, which is so important given the viewpoints are short and we switch from Eric to Tessa after as few as two paragraphs.

When Tessa and Eric's relationship starts to get serious, we finally get the third viewpoint. And - I think it could have been left out. When I got there-I had no interest in this new character, and only a few sentences in I had strong suspicions as to who it was, and I was correct. I don't like being correct when I read thrillers - it takes all the fun out of it.

I very strongly recommend that this book finds its way to your shelves, even with its extra character. You won't regret it.

I received this book from Netgalley. When I started this book I immediately fell in love. I loved how this book tackled mental illness and how well it was portrayed. Tessa is dealing with mental illness and Eric is dealing with crazy fans. After reading several chapters, I immediately fell in love with Eric Thorn. This boy is struggling with how his fans are treating him and not being able to have anyone to talk to. Eric starts messaging Tessa as a person named Taylor. AND THIS IS WHERE THINGS START GETTING CRAZY. After messaging every day Eric starts falling for Tessa, even though he doesn't even know what she looks like (I really appreciate how Eric can love Tessa for who she is and not just because of her looks). Eric comes up with a plan to meet her and she is actually okay with leaving her house for the first time. AND THEN I STARTED TO FREAK OUT AND I READ THE LAST 50 PAGES IN LIKE 10 MINUTES. The person responsible for Tessa's agoraphobia pretends to be Taylor. HE DUCT TAPES HER MOUTH AND AT THIS POINT I'M SHAKING BECAUSE WHERE IS ERIC??????? I felt so much better when everything was settled and Tessa finally found out who Taylor actually was. I couldn't believe she slapped him!!!! And I really loved how she found out that Snowflake was written about her. AND THEN YOU THINK THEY'LL END UP HAPPILY EVER AFTER. BUT THEN THE LAST 5 PAGES RUINS IT ALL AND NOW I'M CONCERNED AND SCARED AND WHERE IS THE NEXT BOOK ALREADY?!?!?!?!?!?!? IS ERIC EVEN ALIVE???? I HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK THAT PHYSICALLY MADE ME SHAKE LIKE THIS ONE DID. SUCH AN EXCELLENT BOOK AND I CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This was a very interesting and fast read. I enjoyed how half of the story is written through the Twitter messaging between Tessa and Eric. It was fun to see how their relationship evolved through the internet and the difficulties such a relationship can have for each person. I was a little unhappy with Tessa's mother and how she was treating her daughter's psychological issues. I would hope a parent would be a little more understanding than that. I liked the ending and can't wait the read the next book. I did look up the whole thing on Wattpad but made myself not read it because the published works will most likely be a bit different since Geiger will be updating and revising it for publication.

Please note that this is a review of the book version only. There is also a version on Wattpad, which has some significant changes. Ironically, I believe I would have rated that one higher, but this is the version provided to me by NetGalley, so so be it.

It will be hard to review it properly without spoilers but I will do my best.

Most of the book was excellent. Well written and captivating - written in the style of a YA Liane Moriarty novel. Sure, it was kinda sweetly tacky in places, and unrealistic in a chick-lit kinda way, but it worked. I stayed up much too late to read it, and despite a few glaring plotholes (most notably the MET storyline which was never tied up... I also have questions about both Blair and the therapist) was ready to give it a solid 4 star rating.

But then came the last 5 pages. I realize they were added for shock value and to get people to read the sequel, but when I read them, I didn't know a sequel was in the works, and thought this was the end - and it basically ruined the book for me. Only the fact that I was reading it on my tablet saved it from being tossed across the room.

At that time I was ready to give the book just 1 star, but a quick look on Goodreads informed me that a sequel is indeed in the works (and spoilers are aplenty on Wattpad) and that all is obviously not how it seems. That mellowed my opinion a fair bit, and made me raise my rating from "I didn't like it" to "it was okay". Still not impressed with the cheap trick though.

I loved it!!!! What a perfect mix of my two favorite genres, YA and suspense/thriller. I loved Tessa & Eric both, I felt they were very well-developed characters & the story was great. I'm excited to see what's next with this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this novel.

* I received a free copy of this book, via Netgalley and SourcebooksFire*

What I was expecting was teeny bopper fluff. Stuff I could read in any other YA book. However this book, was nothing like I expected. It was simply fantastic. It pulled me in from the start, and didn't let go until I got to the very end, and holy smokes, that ending!!!! I can't honestly put in to words, how clever and sharp this book is. And I am totally digging the mixed media in books lately. Follow Me Back, did a fantastic job with it!

Do yourself and favor, and read this one guys! Releases on June 6th, 2017. Add it to your TBR, right now!