Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

Freya’s life has improved immensely since she got herself the lifestyle app, BBest, which narrows down every decision to the three top choices. It advises her on every facet of life – from what to eat and wear, encouraged her to switch from waitressing to being a florist, and even helped matchmake her with fiance Mason. But as Freya wonders whether Mason really is her near-perfect match, she discovers a dark side to the app that most of the population relies on.
This novel has an intriguing premise which isn’t perhaps as far removed from reality as you’d hope. The storyline hooked me in straight away - how amazing does an app like this sound! But O’Neill’s story brings home the reality of a world where everything we do is tracked by a digital entity.

Freya and Mason had just become engaged – the lifestyle app BBest must have been correct in judging she and Mason were best suited. Mason even did all BBest told him to - how to propose, where to propose and what fripperies to use as accessories.

Freya’s floristry business, Blooming Brilliant, which she ran from her mother’s garage, was doing well. She was supplying the bouquets for weddings, as well as the surrounding blooms – her business was becoming so well known she knew she’d have to move out of the garage into a shop soon. She couldn’t have been happier in her job…

Freya’s grandfather owned a bookshop which was full to overflowing with every type of book ever published. She visited him as often as she could, always nagging him to stop smoking – Bbest listed all the help he needed to do so. But he was determined to live life the way he wanted to – he hated anything connected to technology. And when the customer caused Freya’s heart to stand still on one visit, she questioned herself – she was suited to Mason; BBest said so! So why was she feeling like she was?

I previously loved The Enchanted Island and Reluctantly Charmed, giving them both 5 stars, so when I saw The Right Girl by Aussie author Ellie O’Neill was due for publication, I was excited to read it. I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy it anywhere near as much as her first two. Completely different, it seemed flippant, frivolous and totally meaningless. The complete dominance of a person’s life by a mobile app – of everyone’s life – doing exactly what the voice from the app said; right down to when they ate, what they ate, who they saw, who they even loved! I’m disappointed, but it was obviously just not for me – that said, I will look at the author’s next novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster AU for my digital ARC to read for an honest review.

Freya Flannigan is on top of the world. Four years ago she started using the BBest app, an app tailored to her based on her digital footprint. She surrender everything she ever did on line to the app and now her life runs exactly to the app time line. It tells her when she feels like a coffee, what she wants or needs to eat and more. BBest suggested that being a florist was her ideal line of work, so she now runs a successful florist business out of her mother’s garage. She has recently become engaged to Mason, he was her 93% perfect match but they both think that the relationship must be a slow burn, as they don’t have that spark but it must be right because BBest said it is. Best of all, BBest eliminates all of that mind-boggling choice.

But what happens when you don’t want to do what BBest tells you to......

I love that dark, magical realism that author Ellie O’Neill brings to her books. They all have that touch of truth or something that doesn’t seem quite out of the question in this day and age. I wanted something light and entertaining (and it was) but was almost a seriously scary book as I sat here reading on my Kindle – with whatever stats going back to Amazon. And my Fitbit buzzing on my wrist notifying me that I needed to complete my 250 steps for the hour.....I rebelled on that one and kept reading!!
I suggest you read this book, I think of it as a tongue in cheek look about what can happen when we let technology take over our lives but it will also give you a lot to think about in terms of the information we willingly put on the internet.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.

Well this book has got me thinking twice about giving out information on line. I hope the younger generation read it so they realize phone are not indispensible

I am really looking forward to reading this unusual story. It sounds like a warning about the impact of technology on our daily lives which I find very interesting. However I will have to wait until I am able to read it and when I do I will write a review. Two stars for an interesting blurb - hopefully reading the novel will enable me to increase the stars!