I LOVED this book. The chapters flew by, especially towards the end.

Divya is a girl whose family has had some financial difficulties since her parent's divorce. She's helping her family (which is just her and mom now) financially by hosting a popular stream on the hot new video game, Reclaim the Sun. Her mom only has one semester before she gets an advanced degree and their finances will start looking up.

Then she runs into a few trolls who take it a little too far, and start harassing her in real life.

In the meantime, she meets a guy online, Aaron, who has his own set of problems. His mom wants him to become a doctor, but he wants to write video game scripts. He's been working with a guy named Jason from the indie game company ManaPunk, but Jason hasn't paid him yet.

You're just going to have to read the book to see how all of this works out.

This book has all the video game feels, so if you're a gamer, you're already probably going to like it. It brings up a lot of real world issues, like the harassment of females in video games. Although I haven't experienced it personally, many high-ranking female players have (see p. 84 of Wired Magazine, January 2018). Another issue it addresses is how sometimes companies try to take advantage of artists by using their work without paying them. These are serious issues in real life, but it's tackled under a very engaging story.

I definitely recommend it, especially if you enjoyed Ready Player One or the Warcross duology.

The characters in this were terrific and I enjoyed spending time with them. I wanted even more from the Angst Armada - both their in-game adventures and IRL. I adored them and the way they kept showing up for Divya. And Aaron's relationship with his sister was adorable.

The romance in this is fairly low key, which fits with the other things going on in the story. Divya's hesitancy and her care with her identity were perfect for the context of the story. I appreciated Aaron's efforts to keep healthy boundaries and not try to be the fixer or the savior in the lives of the women around him (although we were *told* this was an issue through Ryan, but we didn't actually get to *see* it in any of the scenes in the book - just Aaron's efforts to not be "that guy.")

The trolls were as horrible as you would expect. I did enjoy how things were wrapped up with that part of the story. (Language, TW: Assault, harassment)

Omg yall. This book. It’s my first 5 star read of the year and so deserving of every single star it gets. Don’t Read the Comments is a great look at the sexist nature of the video gaming community. That just because you are a female, you automatically aren’t as good as a male. Like, honestly. What do genitals have to do with gaming skill? NOTHING.

I’ve been gaming since I was 15. I started with Halo online, then went to World of Warcraft. I’ve tried various other MMO’s, FPS’s, everything. And no matter how good I am, if I speak, I’m either just trying to find a boyfriend or I’m a boy who hasn’t hit puberty yet. It’s so annoying, so I felt what D1V did. I knew how it was – people saying nasty things about you because they think you don’t belong. It was so nice to have that rep. To have a strong, GOOD female gamer, who didn’t let them see her break. She was so brave and so strong. Even when she got doxxed. If you don’t know about doxxing, check this out. It happened to a lot of females in the gaming/geek world and it it SO.SCARY.

Okay, now you see why the books means so much to me. I imagine it will mean a lot to the female gaming community who are also readers. Let’s get into this book review, shall we?

I first featured this book on my First Impressions Friday post. I read the first chapter and was immediately hooked. I was so interested in Divya, or D1V as she is known online. I immediately felt a kinship with her and her best friend, Rebekah. They were part of the streaming community, which is something I so desperately wanted to do back in the day.

In the next chapter you meet Aaron, a casual gamer who also plays Reclaim the Sun. The descriptions of the game make it sound like No Man’s Sky. Which I immediately had to play. I’ve logged three hours since finishing the book. Anyway…

A doxxing group attacks D1V and her armada of followers. She has to start over in game. She happens to meet Aaron when grinding to level back up. They end up playing together a lot, growing a friendship, then something more.

The romance was definitely in the background of this book. The main focus was D1V and Rebekah and how they have been attacked over and over. Both physically, verbally, and mentally. I think a lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to be in their position until they’ve been there. No, I’ve never been physically attacked, but I have been verbally and mentally.

There were so many great references in this book. All kinds of games, gamer news sites, and pop culture. I think I highlighted about 10 of them! It was so fun to read! The dual POV was so fun, too. I loved getting both sides of the friendship and romance.

I feel like I just rambled at the beginning of this, but this book is so important to me. I was so fortunate to get an ARC. I would recommend this to anyone in the gaming community or who loves geeky things!

Through the means of the alternating narratives of Divya and Aaron, Eric Smith blends three separate worlds: the personal lives of both Divya and Aaron and the online universe that allows their friendship to blossom. Smith skillfully bridges the gap between creating an array of meaningful themes and entertaining his readers by realistically portraying the existence of various types of harassment within digital spaces. In the midst of this, he presents crucial topics within the realm of online mistreatment due to gender and race while spinning the lovely tale of a coming of age story between two teenagers from different backgrounds who connect over their love for online gaming. Additionally, Smith creates a beautifully descriptive world within a world in his depiction of the game Reclaim the Sun, which adds the perfect kick of imaginative imagery and wonder. Don’t Read the Comments is a wonderful selection that YA readers will have trouble putting down as they explore a digital universe and follow along with the development of the two wonderful protagonists, Divya and Aaron, and their friends.

I finished Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith in one glorious sitting and enjoyed every single page of this wonderful book. There is a lot to love in this book. There is the fun and witty banter between Divya and her friends, strong friendships that are able to weather the storm that can be the online world, and the struggle to balance family obligations with personal hopes and dreams. Smith writes with real care and love for his characters and you can feel it on every page. This book will give video game lovers a thoughtful look behind the scenes of sponsorship, time commitments, and the effects that trolls have on the very real lives of those who make their living online. I can’t recommend it enough.
Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I was super excited about this book when I heard about it. Being a gamer myself I'm very aware of the toxicity that can be found in the gaming community, especially when it comes to female players, so having a book that tackles this head on was such a joy to see.

I was not disappointed at all and can easily say that Don't Read the Comments will likely appear in my favorite books of the year list. It not only discussed the gaming community and how celebrities in that community are treated, but also addressed other issues in the gaming community, different family dynamics and issues and so much more. The discussion regarding how Divya guards her identity and information out of fear of being pursued or doxxed is something that is seen in a number of industries, not just the gaming community.

I fell in love with so many of the characters, even when they perhaps weren't acting the best. They were all moving cogs within the story that contributed greatly to the plot. There were also wonderfully inserted moments of humor that not only lightened the events, but perfectly added a realness to the story.

This was really such a wonderful read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

This was a delightful and enraging book. I don’t play video games but this book made me want to. Is all this technology accurate. Because the VR stuff sounds cool. This story is about a female gamer who is harassed and threatened IRL. It’s terrifying and enraging because there really are people like this in the world. I loved the adorably nerdy Aaron and Divya was a badass. I wish we had more time with Rebekah. This book explored topics that were very serious but it was also a fun read.

Unfortunately, I think I need to take a step back from reading contemporary books — the writing style of contemporary YA coming out now just isn’t doing it for me. So while this book is pretty cute and extremely culturally relevant, and I think will resonate with a lot of people, it wasn’t personally my favorite read. Like, it was by no means bad! But it didn’t deliver emotion like an electric charge to the heart the way, say, Gena/Finn or Eliza and Her Monsters do.

It makes total sense for this book to come out now and address how women and people of color, and especially women of color, face harassment on the internet, and especially how that works in gaming circles. I was surprised that the book didn’t more directly talk about real life events like gamergate, even in a fictionalized version — it would have helped express how what happens to Divya doesn’t happen in a bubble. But maybe there wasn’t room for that, what with having two main characters, which is a shame. It is a very relevant book, but it could have leaned into that relevance more.

Aaron’s plot line again deals with a prevalent current issue — how the video game industry takes advantage of workers — but again, it’s very focused on his experience and doesn’t really allude to how far-reaching the problem is. It’s like Aaron being cheated is an unusual thing in this book, rather than the systematic problem it is in our world.

I like that Aaron’s so gentle and supportive of Divya, I could always use more of that in romance. There’s no attempted upstaging to make him seem cooler or more badass than his love interest — he’s just a good guy. But because the writing style wasn’t doing it for me in terms of the emotional pay off, I didn’t really get into shipping them. This is a book I’d read for the plot, not the writing.

This was a fun cute story, but I am definitely not the target demographic. Some young adult books will resonate with people of all ages. I think this book will appeal more to actual young adults. And it has been a very long time since I’ve been classified as a young adult. Having said that I still really did enjoy the book and I thought the message was timeless. This was a story about Devya A gamer who became famous by streaming her gameplay. As a mother of a teenager it still baffles me that my son spends time watching other people play video games. My son tells me, “it’s just like watching sports, but better, because there’s personality to it“. With Devya’s Fame comes the haters and the trolls. She is determined for this not to bring her down and not to read the comments. Aaron is an aspiring video game creator, who games for fun. The two of them Meat on a video game and become fast friends. When the threats start to become personal and lead to physical threats Devya is truly tested and Aaron is there to support her.

This was a story about being yourself and not worrying about what other people say about you. Something that I think is even harder these days with social media. It never fails to surprise me what hateful things people will post about people they don’t even know. And the reasons given in this book for this group to go as far as they did were truly baffling, but sadly there is probably some truth to it. There was a tiny bit of romance in the story and what there was was sweet. This really however was a story about being yourself and not listening to what others have to say.

This book in emojis. 🎮 💻 🕹 🪐 🛸

*** Big thank you to Ink Yard Press for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

this young adult story tackles the toxicity of gamer culture from both racial and gender perspectives, but while it highlights all the terrible things that can happen, it also shines a light on the incredible friendships and community that can spring from sharing the love of a game.

don't read the comments is sweet and poignant in all the right ways. both divya and aaron grow through their connection, and this gradual shift in their points-of-view about what they want out of life and how they hope to achieve their goals is really well-done.

i truly enjoyed reading this.

**don't read the comments will publish on january 28, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/inkyard press in exchange for my honest review.

Title: Don’t Read the Comments
Author: Eric Smith
Genre: YA
Rating: 4 out of 5

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

Don’t Read the Comments is about serious subjects—cyberbullying and sexual harassment—but the tone and voice of the novel are light and personal. I loved both the main characters, and I think the author did an excellent job with both male and female viewpoints. Divya’s growth from someone who doesn’t read the comments the trolls post to a warrior who stands up and takes action is organic and believable. She doesn’t just change overnight. And Aaron finally realizes his own strength and dares to stand up for himself. I loved the voice in this, and I’m not a gamer at all and still found it thoroughly enjoyable.

Eric Smith is an author and literary agent. Don’t Read the Comments is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin TEEN/Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Divya and Aaron are two teenagers who make a connection through the world of gaming.

<b>Divya:</b> Since her father left them, Divya and her mother struggle to make ends meet. Her online personality D1v is famous in the gaming industry. She showcases her gaming skills on a streaming site playing the hottest virtual reality game of the year <i>Reclaim the Sun</i>. With the money that she garners from sponsors she is able to help her mom out. Although she has many fans she has learned that social media can be a dangerous place full of trolls and cyber-bullies. She is careful to maintain her privacy and lives by the credo "Don't read the comments".

<b>Aaron:</b> is an aspiring game developer. His parents runs a medical practice and assume that one day he will become a doctor and take over the family business. Since they don't support his plans for the future he sneaks around finding discarded parts to build his "Franken-computer".

<b>Don't Read the Comments</b> is a cute YA novel that deals with many relevant topics for today's world. Racism, sexism, inclusivity, doxxing and cyber-bullying are all handled with care. The characters are endearing, their troubles relatable, and the world of <i>Reclaim the Sun</i> was so fleshed out that it read like an actual game. I had fun reading this one and would definitely recommend it.

<i>Special thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Teen and Eric Smith for early access to this book.</i>

I'm not a great knowledgeable of the gaming universe, but as I liked this synopsis so much I decided to read the book and I didn't regret it. With a light writing, the author made me dive into the plot and feel like a player with all the tensions of each move and its interactions.



Divya loves to play but is a little tired of sexist troll attacks. With her friend Rebekah, she struggles to stay active and with sponsors but it is not so easy. After attacks happen in both the game and in real life, she fears for her safety and the safety of her mother.



Aaron loves creating scripts for games and is a little concerned about the pressure his mother puts on him to focus his efforts on studying medicine. Now he and his friend Ryan are working for a company in this business and he is very satisfied with what they are producing even though he does not see much enthusiasm in their boss. He takes great care of his younger sister, Mira, and whenever he can he lets her play with him and it is in one of those moments that he meets the famous player D1V.



The virtual friendship between Divya and Aaron gradually grows and little by little they find themselves involved with each other but Divya is afraid to meet with him personally and be disappointed. Aaron will need to be very patient and show his strength if he wants to win this girl.



The story surprised me and swallowed me up quickly and what I found most interesting was the fact that the writer created a character with protection syndrome who is Aaron and put a character who really knows how to fight for herself who is Mira. At a crucial moment in history, Eric Smith shows the reactions of these characters in a way that differs greatly from what we see in many books and I loved it so much.




A story about family values, about prejudice in the virtual world and its dangers and about the strength of great virtual and face-to-face friendships.

This book is one of the contenders for favorite read of 2020 already. Not even kidding.

When I was growing up, I so wanted to play video games. That was how my oldest brother and I bonded: wiping each other out with MarioKart on the Nintendo 64. I can still beat anyone at podracing. But I never got to explore outside of that, because ~reasons~. One of those reasons is because I'm a girl. Girls in my hometown just didn't do that.

Fast forward to now. Still can't play games regularly by any means, but damn, if I don't love some gamer girls.

This book speaks to a special place in my heart.

Divya is the ultimate teenage badass. She's helping her mom pay for, well, everything after a terrible divorce. She streams games with her best friend Rebekah. And she's the leader of the #AngstArmada. She's everything I would've loved as a teenager.

Aaron is this sweet, sensitive soul, who is FAR MORE TRUSTING than he ever should be. Bless his little Hufflepuff heart. All he wants to do is be a game writer, which, honestly, isn't even a career path I'd considered but it makes so much sense.

Their meetcute is honestly really cute, discovering the same planet at the same time. And their interactions (almost all through text) speak to another place in my heart.

This book touches on some major issues without getting overly heavy. I teared up reading one part that I won't spoil, but seeing a community stand up? Love that! Plus, one of my favorite bands (I Fight Dragons) is name-dropped, so like, gotta love that, as well.

A sweet love story mixed with a story about fighting back against racism and sexism in gaming, I give Don't Read The Comments 5 out of 5 mushrooms.

3 Stars-
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This book was fine. I thought it touched on some great areas of concern in our world-- racism, poverty, sexism, assault (physical and sexual). It was done in a way that teens can relate to-- the world of gaming.

But I thought this book tried to tackle too many issues instead of taking one or two and developing them better.

The ending was a blur and because at so many pages this book had run its course. I enjoyed it as a nice quick read, but would recommend to a limited age group.

Don’t Read the Comments follows Divya Sharma, a teen girl who has become internet famous because of her video game stream for Reclaim the Sun on the popular Glitch website. Her stream has gained so many followers that she has received sponsorships from several big gaming companies, which means she receives a lot of gifted items and even cash. While all of the perks are great and it’s fun being considered a celebrity of sorts, Divya also relies on the money she makes from streaming to help her mom make ends meet. So when she encounters trolls online who threaten her livelihood, it’s a big deal on many levels. They send her messages telling her she doesn’t belong in their community and is taking money and endorsements that should go to others more talented and deserving than she is.

When they destroy her ship in the game, Divya refuses to give into them. She begins the game all over again, seeking a quiet corner of the Reclaim the Sun universe to start from scratch and rebuild her resources. It is here she encounters the second protagonist of the book, Aaron Jericho, a teen who is equally passionate about video games but from the standpoint that he wants to actually write video games for a living. Aaron is a little starstruck at first because of Divya’s celebrity status but slowly, a friendship starts to build between them.

I really loved both Divya and Aaron. Divya is smart, scrappy, and resourceful. She’s also a great friend and a good daughter. I loved that she was so determined to use her streaming income to help her mom achieve her dream of a college degree. Aaron is equally likeable and is immediately a great friend to Divya. He’s also the sweetest big brother ever, even allowing his adorable little sister Mira to play video games with him and name planets he has claimed. Divya and Aaron are just so sweet that it’s all the more wonderful that they find each other online.

Along with the relationship between Divya and Aaron, the other friendships in the novel really made Don’t Read the Comments such an enjoyable read for me. There were several feel good geeky moments throughout the story involving Divya and her Angst Armada, a group of fans/friends she has met and bonded with through the Reclaim the Sun game. Having made many wonderful friends online myself, I found it very heartwarming to watch this group interact in such a positive way.

The author does a wonderful job of creating a balance between those feel good moments and the other darker aspects of the online gaming community. While the story has many moments that left me smiling, it also has its fair share of tension and suspense, which is created by racism, sexism, and doxing, which takes harassment to a whole new level when it moves from online to in-your-face personal.

I have to confess that I was initially drawn to Eric Smith’s Don’t Read the Comments because of the cute cover that promises a “wonderfully geeky” read. And yes, while it was definitely a wonderfully geeky read, Don’t Read the Comments is so much more than that. It’s also an in-depth exploration of the online world of video game streaming, both the good and the bad. Smith exposes the undercurrent of racism, sexism and harassment that sometimes pervades the culture, he also shows the positives such as online friendships that are born from shared interests. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary reads that focus on relevant and timely issues, and definitely to anyone who loves video games.

I think this is a book that all the teenagers out there need to read. It is really poignant in the struggles of being young and higher profile. And honestly, it happens all the time to young people in general.

What do I mean by “it”? Running into jerks hiding behind screens… computer screens, streaming devices, etc. We ALL run into them. And being a popular streamer doesn’t help Divya. She’s built a brand and is awesome at what she does and yet other people want to bring her down. She doesn’t always handle things well but she is brave and inspirational as she goes on this journey and stands up even when her life is threatened.

Five stars, Eric Smith, and I’m clapping. This is an important read this year and I highly, highly recommend it!

Thank you to Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read this book. I have voluntarily provided this review and the opinion expressed is my own.

Divya Sharma is D1V, leader of the #AngstArmada on a streaming channel for the game Reclaim The Sun. It's how she makes money to help her single mother make the rent and complete her library science degree, putting her own college on hold. At the same time, Aaron Jericho loves games and he yearns to write one of his own. He enjoys games like Reclaim The Sun in his spare time and gets drawn into Divya's world when they explore a planet in the game. Their real lives and virtual lives collide, especially when the group Vox Populi not only harass Divya and her friend online but threaten to doxx her as well.

There are so many nods to online gaming, streaming, social media, and the push back that women can get when they're online. Divya tries hard to keep her head up in spite of the online harassment, as most women online would have to do, relying on her mantra Don't read the comments when she's getting trolled. Div's best friend and fellow streamer had been sexually assaulted on campus, which makes the threat of being doxxed even more terrifying for her. The Vox Populi not only harass them online, but inspire others to also harass Divya when they recognize her, and carry a following of racist and sexist men who feel they're the only ones "deserving" of being online and gaining sponsorships.

People would definitely recognize the conflict on Aaron's side as well. His mother wants him to be a doctor like her so that his emphasis on gaming and trying to work with a local developer leads to arguments. It's an otherwise very loving and supportive family, and there is eventually an entire discussion about everyone's goals and needs. That is a fantastic thing to show in families, especially after the other misunderstandings and resentments in the novel. There is a lot of love within the Jericho family, and Aaron is determined to be a good friend for Divya and be there when she needs support. Theirs is a friendship that deepens over time into a romance, but it isn't the crux of the novel.

Without spoiling the progression of the plot, I was entirely engrossed in reading it and enjoyed the fun nods to gamer culture. The serious issues brought up were in a fairly realistic kind of way, and I could handwave some of the drama that was injected into the story. It was dramatic enough to raise awareness for the plight of women not only in games, but those alone on the street, with a friend in arcades, or even attending classes. Their stories are all too familiar for many women, and it's important to see not only that they're taken seriously in the novel, but find a way to rise above it. I really enjoyed this, and think that others interested in similar topics will enjoy it as well.

Right from the first page, Divya tells her mother don't read the comments. She is talking about her Glitch channel where she plays Reclaim the Sun. Divya uses sponsorship revenue she makes from playing Reclaim the Sun in her streams to help her mother pay rent, groceries and bills. She does this out of the kindness of her heart so her mother doesn't have to work another part-time job on top of two jobs while her mother takes graduate classes. Divya's father is out of the picture since he left the family awhile back.

Aaron, on the other hand, isn't worried about finances but doesn't get support from his family to fund his hobbies. He wants to pursue a career to develop video game storylines. Aaron definitely doesn't want to follow the footsteps of becoming a doctor. His mother wants him to be a doctor and both parents push him to do internships or to work instead of playing video games to boost his chances of getting into a good college.

Divya and Aaron meet through Reclaim the Sun and they support each other in ways others cannot. While people have way too much time trolling Divya, Divya doesn't give up. She rebuilds and fights back. With popular culture and political issues intertwined within the novel, Eric Smith creates a novel that is relatable.

Smith's Don't Read the Comments is written in a dual POV with Divya and Aaron alternating chapters about how Reclaim the Sun impacts their lives. And readers see how their worlds collide through the game. Smith tackles racism, sexism, online bullying, doxing, social-economics and much more within the gaming industry. Stereotypes are broken down in this novel. I highly suggest this book for readers who enjoyed reading Warcross by Marie Lu and When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.

Danger and Romance in the VR Gaming World

Divya, known as D1V in the gaming world, is a star when it comes to leading her #AngstArmada through the vast virtual universe of Reclaim the Sun. With her friend Rebekah, as producer, she posts videos of her conquests. She has enough fans that she has sponsorships. She’s able to sell the products she receives to help pay the rent and help her mother finish her courses. However, there are trolls out there and they are intent on driving Divya out of the gaming world.

Aaron’s whole desire is to be a game developer. This conflicts with his mother’s plan to have him become a doctor like her. He loves writing games for a local developer, but there are problems in that relationship. He uses time playing Reclaim the Sun to get away from his everyday difficulties. There he meets Divya.

Aaron and Divya are attracted. Through the game they get to know each other and as danger becomes more real, help each other.

This is a great contemporary story that is almost science fiction. It explores topics important to YA readers in today’s world: racism, sexism, and doxing. Whether you’re a gamer, or not, this is a good story with a delightful romance between two geeky teenagers.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.