Let me first start out by saying I did enjoy this book, it wasn't my favorite, but it was a fun read. This story follows fan girl and twitter enthusiast Tessa Hart and teen heartthrob pop star Eric Thorn in alternating view points. Tessa is OBSESSED with Eric, tweeting to him and about him to pass the time, as she is an agoraphobic unable to leave her room. Eric is totally over the entire fame scene and a recent incident in the industry has him terrified of his fans. In a weird twist of events, eric and Tessa end up forming an online friendship via twitter DMs. The only thing is that Tessa doesn't know she's been talking with Eric, as he has been communicating through a fake profile under a different name. What happens throughout the book is a twisty nightmare that sheds light on the inner workings of what it's like to be a "fangirl" and also what it's like to be the subject of said fangirling.

Much of this book was quite confusing and very jumpy, which made it hard for me to follow along and stay connected to the story. I also had a hard time connecting to the characters as I know nothing about what it's like to be a "fangirl". But, if you're looking for an entertaining YA thriller that has an emphasis on pop culture, I would definitely suggest this book.

~4.5~
Whoa. Just wow. This book was incredible in so many different ways. The buildup to the Tessa-meets-Taylor part was honestly so nerve wracking it wasn't even funny. I can't say I'm in love with Tessa or Eric, due to their flawed characters as a whole, because they're both so realistic in their imperfectness. But, I do love that the title wasn't all that it seemed to be, as one would expect the fangirl to be on the sending side of the "follow me back" statement, while in reality, she's on the receiving end of the request.

However, I must state that, although I love the intensity of Follow Me Back, it's not one of those books that I'd be able to read and read over and over again without proper closure or the mental capacity to handle it all over again.

I'm not giving this book a full 5/5 because I believe that it has one of those storylines that either makes it or breaks it with people. If you aren't prepared for the course, then you'll be thrown overboard. Also, I'm just stuck with a mess of post-amazing book feelings that aren't really helping.

Eric made me want to cry from frustration for the majority of the book, just because of the sheer stress of the secrets, but I disliked a good deal of his actions, not that it dragged him down as a character.

Tessa gave off whiny vibes in the beginning, but I warmed up slightly to her after a while. She's fairly complex and has a good deal of baggage, so that may have reduced how relatable she was to me, but all's well.

I have so many mixed feelings toward MET's character. From indifference to confusion to wariness to further confusion. I wish A.V. Geiger would've brought more of his/her character into the book after Blair was revealed. One can hope.

Actually, scratch that. I have so many mixed feelings about half of the characters. Some plot twists are just too much haha.

About the ending, I wish I'd tried to look into the sketchiness and minor foreshadowing in the beginning, but so much is left unanswered. Really, though. Heads up to all of you planning on reading it. @EricThornSucks was the source of so much that happened, like everything with Blair and I just AHHHH. It's so overwhelming. The creepiness, catfishing, and stalking, I mean.

I stand firm that the ending described in the transcripts wasn't the full story. I have no doubt that they were smart enough, and I won't go into more detail because my brain is still a little fuzzy from everything.

Final thoughts.

This book was emotionally and mentally taxing, but I love it, and it was definitely worth the read! I can't wait until the next book comes out, although it's quite a bit of a wait.


Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for the opportunity to get my (virtual) hands on this!

All Eric wants to do is release some stress and backlash on some of his fans. What he doesn't expect is a lonely fan named Tessa to understand the struggle he’s going through. The last thing Eric wanted to do was fall in love with her.
Tessa’s only way of coping with her agoraphobia (fear of leaving her room) is by listening to her favourite artist, Eric Thorn. When talking to people in real life becomes too difficult, Tessa turns to social media where she can be completely anonymous and express her love for the artist, what she doesn't expect is to befriend the one person who harasses her online.

This story is absolutely adorable. I haven't read a book that was remotely similar to this one. I just thought the idea behind the story, the characters and the uniqueness was all just so well thought out and it blended together into such a beautiful story. I seriously loved this book so much, it is definitely going on my favourites shelf.

Tessa was such a relatable character. She was so kind, and intelligent. I definitely loved reading from her point of view. Initially I thought that her part of the story will be boring due to her agoraphobia, but the author did an amazing job with keeping her story interesting, even though she spent most of the book in her room. What was most important to me, was getting to know the reason why she developed her fear in the first place, and when you do find out why (unfortunately thats near the end of the book), you can totally understand why she developed the fear, and if I was in her place I probably would have done something similar (maybe not that intense, but similar).

I also loved reading in Eric’s point of view. You really do get to see the other side to being a celebrity, the ugly and fearful side that no one really thinks about. The side to Eric that you see off stage is completely different than what you see on camera. He’s not outgoing, he doesn't enjoy being half naked and acting like a player, its not who he really is, but unfortunately he has to do what his publicist says. The part of the story when he finally stars opening up to Tessa really had me rooting for the couple. It was really sweet, and it made me see Eric as such a genuine character.

My absolute favourite thing about this story was the plot twists. I assumed this was going to be the cliche type of story, how most contemporaries are, but the author did such an amazing job eliminating cliches and making the story so interesting I could not put it down. After getting about 40% into the story, I just had to finish the book in one sitting. It was that good.

I will warn you, the ending had me dying. You get this super cute ending, where everything works out perfectly (just the type of ending you thought was going to happen), then BAM! You read the last (very short) chapter and the whole story just gets flipped. Honestly a part of me wishes I didn't read this book so early, because now I’m dying to read the next book. I seriously need it, like right now.

I cannot wait to continue this series, I will highly recommend this book to all YA fans. Even if you’re not a huge fan of contemporary, like I am, still give this one a try, I’m sure you will love it.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher however the thoughts in the review are my own.

The writing of the book is very relevant to today and a quick read. The plot and characters are well developed and holy cats the last line of the book will get you good.

The ending cannot be foreshadowed in anyway which is why I think it was so awesome. Many times in recent series and YA books the endings leave you feeling like you wasted your time reading but you definitely do not get that feeling here as in you are looking for any kind of afterword to explain what you were just reading.

I would recommend this book to anyone from young teens to women that enjoy pop culture or suspense novels. Well done and would definitely read more.

Tessa is trapped in her bedroom with no way of leaving because her mind won't let her. After something happened to her months before, she's be unable to trust the world. She has developed agoraphobia and there is nothing that makes her feel safe.

Nothing but Eric Thorn and Taylor.

Eric Thorn is a major pop star and Tessa's one vice. She follows him religiously on Twitter and keeps an eye out for any and all news. She feels like she knows him. He seems so afraid and unhappy; she just wants him to feel better.

Taylor is Tessa's Twitter friend and the one person who understands both her need to hide and her desire to make sure Eric is happy.

What Tessa doesn't know is that "Taylor" is actually Eric Thorn himself. He started following Tessa in order to attack her and try to stop the hashtag that she created, but he began to see Tessa as the one person who really understands what he's going through.

Together, maybe they can get out of the prisons that they've built for themselves.

Final thoughts: This one is ok, but the police interrogations spotted throughout were more distracting than tension-building. The story had moments, but it just wasn't too believable. The therapist is an idiot. And that ending, the last couple pages, was just completely out of left field. I did like the twist, but I really worry about this book as an inspiration to stalkers out there. I can just see a few very easily swayed people deciding that something like this, the love story part, could happen to them. If they could just get Biebs to read their Twitter, they could get him to understand that they belong with him, etc... Not great, but it did its job. Not sure if I'll read the next one.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

“Follow Me Back” is an engaging YA thriller. Tessa has been diagnosed with anxiety and agoraphobia, delaying college to live with her mother and stay in her room after an event in New Orleans. She only sees her therapist and boyfriend, Scott, and is making slow progress (e.g. sitting in the livingroom for a little while). She has recently become obsessed with a popstar, Eric Thorn, who she has been projecting her anxiety on. However, when we flash to Eric, he has also been experiencing anxiety after the death of another popstar at the hands of an obsessed fan. Eric is wary of his fans and tired of his contract which makes him feel used and unhappy (e.g. the record label wants him to do ads, take his shirt off in campaigns/videos, etc.).

Tessa finds some release in twitter, where a story she wrote plus a hashtag has become viral. Eric’s publicists encourage him to cash in on this hashtag (#EricThornObsessed), but he’s a little too wary. To try to steer the fans in a different direction, he creates an alternate account @EricThornSucks and uses his middle name, Taylor. He begins to engage the fangirl who started it all- Tessa- but they both find more than they bargained for in their DMs.

The story is told with police transcripts from interrogations of Eric and Tessa, interspersed with the past events from each of their point-of-views leading up to the police interventions. This book is part sweet/fangirl type “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” feel plus part mystery/thriller as both Eric and Tessa are dealing with some big issues/fears plus we know there was something big that happened with the police but don’t know what until the end.

This is a really fast-paced book with enough rom-com elements to separate the thriller, making it such a unique story. It’s also an interesting exploration into mental health and stalking. This was impossible to put down and I ended up reading it in one sitting as a result. The emotions are all over the place on this one- from heartwarming to intriguing to questioning to scary- it’s quite the ride! This blew my expectations out of the water, and I really enjoyed it! I’ve still got some chills.

As a warning, there are some intense stalking/sexual crimes that would make this appropriate only for older teens/audiences. Additionally, the ending is very open and left to the imagination, so this is not the book for people who like closure. I wish there was an epilogue to give us the final answers, but it definitely adds to the mysterious airs of the book to leave it this way.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

A Promising Start – But Disappointing Finish

Tessa Hart. Tessa Hart is a girl with a problem. Although a teenager, a severe trauma has brought on a case of agoraphobia. She can’t leave her room and can’t talk about what caused things to change so drastically—not even to her therapist. Now? Now she makes due by mad crushing on Eric Thorn via Twitter. Eric Thorn. Eric Thorn is a superstar with a problem. Locked into a recording contract that dictates his every move, he might as well be in prison. He yearns for something that’s his to control and begins to resent fans like @TessaHeartsEric. She doesn’t even know him and yet she wrote fan fiction and started hashtag #EricThornObsessed. He just wishes he could talk to her and find out what’s really going on in that mind of hers to imagine she’s in love with someone she’s never met.

I’ll state at the outset that at 20% done, 40% done, 70% done, and at 90% done, I was prepared to give this book five stars. I mean, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I would. I was #tearingthrupages and assimilating data faster than if caught up in the Matrix. But then I had to go #ruinitall by reading #thefinalpages. Silly me! If I’d only known! But let me start with the #goodstuff.

There’s really so much to love about FOLLOW ME BACK by A.V. Geiger. The story is so well-written and the characters—the characters are likable and intriguing. The structure of this novel is divine. It’s divided up so that a police transcript tells you what happened in real time. You’re then taken back via Tess and Eric to find out how everything got to that point. Of course, the mystery of why the police report was necessitated isn’t revealed. It’s yet another mystery, but there’s a lot of that intentional withholding of pertinent info and the technique works beautifully.

Another big plus plus plus is A.V. Geiger’s knowledge of Twitter and social media. The conversations going back and forth accurately portray what takes place. She even nailed down that primal urge to check on messages. No one can resist! All those details add to the genuineness of one that has been there and done that. The fleshing out of Tessa, Eric, and the other main players is another area where the author excels. She does an excellent job of letting us in on what’s ticking in pretty unstable, dysfunctional heads. But applying the microscope to Tessa and Eric allows the relationship to build organically rather than forcing it in any one direction … which brings me to the ending … yeah, #thatending …

Have no idea what the author was thinking, #none, but that ending did not fit the story. We’re talking at all … in no way …. None! Yes, there was some suspense sprinkled throughout the story, but would you expect the ending of Pride and Prejudice to be Elizabeth Bennett stabbing Mr. Darcy through the heart because she decided that remark he made really was unforgivable? Or how about, Jane Eyre? Would you expect Edward Rochester to go at her with a meat cleaver because she’s turning into that wife he just got rid of and women are all alike? Yeah, no, I wouldn’t either. I wouldn’t appreciate either.

Put bluntly, the ending A.V. Geiger offers us just doesn’t work. Would it ever? Yes, if she changed the genre to something else and added #tonsofsuspense. Right now, the dialogue reads “romantic suspense” and what she would need is to dirty the conversations up and add some paranoia by not having such a light-hearted approach. If that kind of rewrite took place, she could have a solid thriller rather than the oh, so readable YA fluffernutter she has now. The banter just doesn’t fit with the drive off the cliff—the one that is destined to take the reader with it.

As for the climactic scene that precedes this big plot twist? Yeah, that lost me, too. It was too long and I didn’t think Tessa was that much of an idiot, but apparently …. #shewas!!! I’d really tighten up that whole encounter and make it taut and #creepychilling.

In summation, my score for the first 90% is five stars. However, my score for that ending earns 1 star. This averages out to three stars which is a shame.

I think A.V. Geiger is immensely talented and I really do look forward to reading more of her stories. If the ending were different, this would be a slam dunk five star winner. #nodoubt

For intents and purposes of fair disclosure, I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unsettling in many ways for the too-close-to-home way in which it portrays teens and social media and fandom, I really enjoyed this one. It had a really interesting premise - I liked the dual POV, and felt that both character's flaws and neurosis came through loud and clear. Neither was perfect, but they needed to own their own role in what happened.

Did not buy into this story much. It was predictable and cheesy at parts

I read the first draft on wattpad and loved it. The second draft is SO much better. There's so many more new scenes, a new kind of plot, and all around I just loved it.

Tessa has agoraphobia, she can't really leave her room because of fear. But she's twitter obsessed with Eric Thorne heartthrob celebrity. As she tries to work through her issues she finds a friend through DMs that she spends most of her time talking to.

What happens when she finds out the person she is talking to is the real Eric Thorne?

The whole way through its told through snippets of police reports and twitter messages, combined with story. It will keep you guessing all the way to the very end.

My favorite part of the story is when Tessa starts to tell off Eric through the DMs but he keeps coming back for more and more. The banter between them had me laughing like crazy.

I also really liked how the police report told just enough snippets to leave you wanting more and more. It was hard not to skip ahead and read the next one.

AV Geiger has a real talent for writing suspense stories and I cannot wait to read the next part. I absolutely recommend this book.

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Kids totally involved in social media should read this book. Don't get bogged down in the beginning of this novel...the best is yet to come. I would have liked little peeks into the trauma that happened to the girl prior to her developing agoraphobia. But, I am still reeling over the SHOCKING ending.

Addictive, Captivating, Amazing.

I love when I find a book that is unique. When the plot hasn't been used (at least in all the books I have read).
We have all read the book that has the leads exchanging DM's over twitter. We all read about the girl/boy who has agoraphobia, The police statements and interviews in the same style this author used had been use before in other books but having all of them writing in one books is very unique. And the author did such an amazing job that it maintain me glue at seat devouring this book in one seating.

I am so against falling for someone who you meet in the internet, Is a big NO NO for me. But their Dm's were so well writing that I was anxious for them to meet each other. The story between them wasn't your typical fan falls for celebrity is just so much more.

The book is full of plot twists, that I found myself seating at the edge of my seat, grasping the edge of my pillow.This book kept me reeled in from beginning to end, I didn't get bored once.

I would definitely recommend this books to any of my friends or family.

First off, Eric Thorn was a total douchebag. He's one of the main characters of the novel and also one of the POVs, and being in his head for more than one page drove me up a wall. I'm guessing I was supposed to empathize with him because his record label is trying to change him from this sweet boy-next-door who's all deep and such into a shallow boy with manufactured songs, but I didn't. He continually puts down his fans, implying that they're idiots and all sex-obsessed and that they don't really care about him (no, Eric, no they don't. That's because they DON'T KNOW YOU), but, of course ~Tessa~ knows all about him and is different from all the other girls. Excuse me while I roll my eyes.

Then we have one of the worst romances I've ever seen. As you can see from the synopsis, Eric sets up a second account under an alias and ends up communicating with Tessa that way. In the span of a couple of months, Eric apparently falls in love with her? It made absolutely no sense. The two of them are simply talking over Twitter DMs, and before you know it, BAM! Eric's talking about how much he loves her even though he knows next-to-nothing about her, and then before they're going to meet, Tessa pours out her love for him, even though we never see this develop on her end. It's utterly ridiculous.

Also, I really hated the way Tessa's agoraphobia was addressed. She's traumatized by something that happened at camp, and decides to stay locked up in her room after that. I just really hated how literally everyone around her treated her like garbage. Her boyfriend, Scott, assumes that just because she feels like she might be ready to walk outside the house that she'll want to attend some crowded fraternity party (???) and her mom is very short and impatient with her, which I found more concerning. She gets frustrated when Tessa isn't mentally ready to go outside and sit for a couple of minutes, and her attitude was just so bad. And then, we reach the end of the book, and it's as if it never even mattered, in my opinion. I just didn't see the point of it being in the plot.

My real gripe is with the ending. We reach the end of the book, and we find out that Tessa is an undercover psychopath and that she murdered Eric and that she's fled to Mexico to escape punishment??? Here's the thing. I've already seen this happen twice before: once in With Malice by Eileen Cook and once in Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas, both YA thrillers. So far, Dangerous Girls is the only book to have nailed this. The main character is revealed to have murdered her best friend, but the reason it worked and was such a brilliant plot twist was because the foreshadowing is subtle throughout the entire book, and the last sentence ties it all together. With Malice also did the same thing, and, in my opinion, failed, not only because it was WAY too similar to Dangerous Girls, but also because it just didn't make sense. We see the main character and how she acts and thinks, and then the final chapters come in, and all of a sudden, she decided to make a last-minute decision to murder her friend out of nowhere. That's how this felt like. We have zero indication or foreshadowing that Tessa is a psychopath. She seems like a very sweet, shy girl who's suffering from agoraphobia, and there's nothing to show she's an obsessive fangirl who's out to murder.

Not to mention that this is the most elaborate plot I've ever seen. In order for everything to even work out, This means that Tessa had to:

1. Have agoraphobia
2. Write an Eric Thorn fanfiction on Wattpad
3. Create a hashtag and hope that it ends up trending and catching Eric's eye
4. Somehow play a part in Dorian's murder to make Eric anxious
5. Get Eric to create a second Twitter account to troll himself
6. Get him to target her and start talking to her
7. Build a relationship over a period of five months
8. Get a crazed fangirl to attack Eric onstage, making him even more anxious
9. Get Eric to fall in love with her
10. Cause Eric to make up a whole contest just to meet her
11. Plan the fact that Blair was going to pretend to be Eric by hacking into his account
12. Escape and not die at the hands of Blair
13. Actually meet Eric
14. Actually carry out the murder

It literally makes no sense. I know there's a sequel coming out next year that might reveal things, but it's so frustrating because nothing adds up. There's not even a reason or motivation for her to kill him. There's no context or build-up. It just seems like a plot twist tacked on so people can be like, "OMG!!! Never saw that coming!!!" but I've seen it before so many times, that it just made me annoyed.

All in all, a huge disappointment.

So, when I went through my obsessive phase with a particular band in the late 1990s/early 2000s, I would often dream about interacting with band members (although it would have been through my AIM buddy list instead of Twitter because I am ancient). Also, during that same time period I had a habit of catfishing people in the fandom (well before the term 'catfish' existed and before 'fandom' was really a huge, cultural thing). Maybe it is these two things that made me a good reader for this book.

It wasn't a total light-hearted, fun read. The main characters were both dealing with some heavy things - her, agoraphobia spawning from some traumatic event a few months prior, and him, unhappiness with the trajectory of his career and bitterness at obsessive fans. From there, things are definitely happening!

Though unbelievable at times, this kept my full attention for the entirety of reading it. It got a little silly heading towards the end, but I managed to be shocked at the end. I am glad that Goodreads is showing this as #1 (hopefully of at least 2??) because my immediately thought when finishing was, "Um, WHAT. Where is the rest of the book?" It was successful, and if there is a sequel, I will definitely read it, and I hope it is as enjoyable as this was!

Really wonderful, full of tension and I love the use of twitter and technology. It really explores the nuances of social media and relationships we have over it. Well done and I look forward to book 2!

This book was awesome. I loved the overall story very Cinderella like! Great idea. I would have liked it to finish with her inviting him inside.

This is book 1 in a 2 book series.
Why did I say that first? I wish I had known that before I started the book. Onward!

I devoured this book mainly because of the formatting. Don't get me wrong: the characters, storyline, writing style - all amazing. But it's the formatting that showcases all of those elements so beautifully. Cut into Tessa's world, Eric's world, and police interrogation reports, this book kept me engaged 100% of the time. I had so many mysteries to solve! I was rooting for Tessa to overcome her past and her fears and for Eric to find someone who accepted him for the person he was rather than his star status. Both characters have many missteps in their relationships, which makes them more realistic. No one is perfect.

The last police report though...it didn't do anything to HELP my reading experience. It actually detracted from it. However, anyone who knows the characters will have no problem deciphering it. I just didn't care for it. Although it did have me jumping on the author's Wattpad account to make sure my interpretation was correct.

I am on board for book 2!

thoroughly enjoyed this book...it had me hooked in the first chapter and I did not want to put it down......im not usually of a fan of books that jump from the present to the past, but in this book it was so minimal that I didn't really notice....great build up of the characters and their lives....im also not a fan of a story that doesn't completely have a conclusion, as this book left me hanging...but just a bit....I couldn't see any other conclusion...great book

Wow. I enjoyed this story. Fast pacing and an interesting premise. I look forward to seeing this one in stores.

Trapped inside her house with agoraphobia, Tessa Hart doesn’t have much to do all day other than tweet. When she starts the #EricThornObsessed hashtag she has no idea how it will change her life. Eric Thorn is at the top of the charts, but he’s grown hateful and even fearful of his fans after a fellow popstar’s murder. When he’s commanded to follow one of them he does - from a secret second account @EricThornSucks. As Eric and Tessa continue to interact they start to form a relationship but when Eric arranges them to meet IRL he has no idea what's about to happen.

Following the trends of many other social media books Follow Me Back is told through tweets, DMs and from two points of view. We get to know about both Eric and Tessa and watch the romance grow from both sides. Unfortunately, this works well for Eric but leaves Tessa feeling sort of hollow. Her anxiety is her only real personality trait and too many secrets are kept from the reader for too long for anyone to be attached to her. It also makes the ending rather confusing, there’s a difference between an unreliable narrator and just suddenly becoming out of character.

The book on a whole is very standard feeling. The romance is fluffy and has ups and downs but never anything spectacular. One antagonist is left with their story relatively unfinished while the other seems shoved in and dealt with too quickly. The ending really tips the book into a new territory. Spoiling the twist would be a terrible crime but the last few pages really change the game and leave the doors open for a sequel.

The reason this book is stuck at three stars is because it didn’t know what it wanted to be. It focused intermittently on both romance and the mystery/thriller elements and suffered for it. The romance feels cookie cutter while the mystery/thriller portion feels rushed and not well foreshadowed or incorporated into the other sections of the book. There are a few extra chapters on wattpad that apparently help but they are not in the book so my review will not consider them.

It’s an easy read that’s sure to suck you in, but in the end it’s nothing special. The whole story told from just Eric’s point of view might have been better as it would let Tessa keep her secrets and let us further connect with the better-written character. The ending was a shock, but because of Tessa’s writing and the neglect of foreshadowing it feels cheap rather than satisfying.

I enjoyed Follow Me Back and I read it quickly, but it’s definitely more of one-night stand than a soulmate.