Heavy plot with potential that isn’t met. Reviews for this is all over the pace. So maybe just go in blind and decide for yourself.

First, a warning; What It Seems is such a heavy plot. Unfortunately, despite giving us an awful story of a young woman trying to survive in a controlling, abusive environment, I felt her character was quite flat.

The Feely family I found really irritating; in fact, the whole "vlogger" storyline really grated on me. Maybe this is a storyline that would be more appreciated by someone who enjoys the whole vlogs but it wasn't for me.

I really struggled to keep reading What It Seems but I didn't consider a DNF... I just really wanted it to be over.

I bumped What It Seems from one star to two, purely because of the ending; literally the last chapter! Throughout the book, Henry is the only redeeming character and even then we don't get to see the real him or know much about his story. Finally getting to know his story and see how he responds and cares for "Tara" made me like him even more.

I know this is a really negative review and I hate giving such criticism but this was just not the right book for me at all and this is just my own opinion. I've no doubt there are people out there who will read this book and find themselves utterly absorbed by "Tara's" life and her fight. Unfortunately this just wasn't the case for me personally.

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Bleeker and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though one of Bleeker's earlier novels is already on my ever-growing TBR, this is actually my first experience with her writing. This is a fast-paced and engaging read. Tara, twenty years old, is completely under the controlling influence of "Mother" - a woman who adopted her at eight and has abused and tormented her ever since. Tara manages to keep a few secrets from her witch of a caregiver - and one of them is her computer skills where she hides the fact that she follows a few families on YouTube, greedy for these glimpses into an idyllic family life. The plot escalates as these two worlds intersect and this quickly becomes hard to put down.

I admit to being thoroughly hooked - almost despite myself. This book evokes the same feelings as when you get sucked into a Lifetime movie: objectively, you know that this isn't really good, but you can't tear your eyes away either. Definitely a guilty pleasure as more and more of Tara's terrible situation comes to light. And while some of the turns of the plot are not exactly the most plausible, and the book is definitely sad and a little silly too, I can see this easily being a one-sitting read. Despite some expected turns, the book holds surprises, too. Though the characters are not deeply developed, I still felt invested in their fates and I definitely did enjoy reading this. I am looking forward to catching up on Bleeker's earlier novels and I know I will be keeping my eye out for her books in the future.

I haven't read a whole lot by Emily Bleeker yet, in fact the only other book I have read is Working Fire, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with What It Seems. What I got was a real page-turner that I had a hard time putting down!

What It Seems had a couple of surprises, but overall I could definitely see the direction it was going. It is not a thriller, but more suspenseful and I spent a lot of the book wondering where things would end up. I didn't feel like there was too much mystery, but the writing was really good, and I found myself glued to the pages.

I loved that What It Seems was different from the books I've been reading lately and that Bleeker went a different direction than a lot of authors right now. Even though I felt like I knew what was going to happen (which I did) it didn't remove any of the enjoyment for me, and I loved the pacing! If you are looking for something quick that you can read in one sitting that is more suspenseful than thriller, I would check this out!

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was a crazy story! It was a quick read which I think is because of the writing style and the fact that it was pretty suspenseful. I was intrigued by this story from the very beginning and it only got better.
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The whole story is told from the protagonist’s point of view in first person which I’ve mentioned before is my favorite style. The protagonist herself, well...she wasn’t my favorite. First I felt awful for her, then she frustrated me for a while, in the end she mostly redeemed herself. The jump from being with her horrible foster mother to interning with a YouTube vlogger family was just...different. I think it seemed odd mostly because it’s not something I’m used to seeing in this type of book. But it was a good way to bring in the reminder that things aren’t as perfect as they might seem on social media. There were some good surprises that totally caught me off guard which was awesome and the ending was full of action!
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So, I had a couple complaints about this book, but when I put them together with what I liked about it they’re pretty minor. I really liked this book and it gets a solid 4 stars from me!

They say the grass is always greener on the other side...but is it? Tara is about to find out the hard way. She escapes from a hellish life to a life where things aren't as they originally seemed. Only time will tell if she made the right choice or not.

Unfortunately I thought the plot was a little far fetched and therefore I didn't enjoy this one as much. Which is a shame, because the actual writing was really good. 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

This book was alright. I was really intrigued by the premise of the book, a young woman who loves a YouTube family gets a dream job of working with them but finds out they aren't what they seem. But this wasn't what the book was really about at all. Yes the YouTube family was not the same off screen as they were on but the story centered about Tara/Angela and her issues. While Tara/Angela's story was interesting I felt that a lot more could have been done with it if it was going to be the center of the story. I felt that the author had an idea for a story about a YouTube family then added a character with a bit of her own backstory and that ended up taking over the whole book. In the end it was a good story and I enjoyed reading it but there were definitely some parts that were really implausible. The implausible scenes and the disjointed feel of the story kept it from being really good.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting story of a child/Tara raised by a woman after her biological parents were no longer in the picture. I think there was enough of a story to make you believe what you read but as it got closer to the end you find out more to the true story than what the adoptive/foster parent revealed to Tara. Some of the things that took place were a bit stretched due to how Tara was raised especially at the end of the story. I think the storyline was fine but it took until the end of the book to really want me to figure out what really happened.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Emily Bleeker for the opportunity to read and review her latest novel. Even though some of the plot was a little implausible, still a good read that kept me wondering how it would all play out.

Tara has been with her foster mom since she was 8. But "Mother" is extremely abusive to Tara, locking her in the dark, starving her, making her steal from stores and then sell the products online to make a living. Tara, now 20, escapes her reality by watching a YouTube family, the Feelys. When an internship with the family is offered, Tara is able to finally escape from Mother and join a family like she's always dreamed of. But of course, no family is as perfect as they appear online.

Creepy, especially because such things as this happen far too frequently.

You gotta hope this is as implausible as I think it is. Tara has been held more or less hostage by her foster mother for the last 12 years. Now 20, she's got some really distorted views of life and then she finds the Feely family vlog. She manages to escape from the rotten mother and restyle herself as Angela to get a job with the Feelys. They are not, of course, what she thought they were. I honestly didn't know why I kept reading this one except that I wanted to know what happened. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It wasn't for me but if it grabs you, try it.

I really wanted to like this book, but it wasn’t for me. I found the characters to be lacking in depth. I think there was an odd emphasis placed on Tara’s life skills, but she taught herself so much. The ending was also too neat. Thank you to Lake Union publishing for the free review copy.

This was an interesting read! I was expecting more of a thriller type book, but this is more mystery/suspense.

The story is told from Tara's point of view. She was adopted by her foster mom at 8 years old. Since then, she rarely leaves the house and has been the victim of her mother's mood swings. Now at twenty, Tara may have a chance to get away - the Feely's, her favorite YouTube family, is looking for an intern. Does Tara have what it takes to get away?

I immediately fell in love with Tara. She's so sweet and innocent - so innocent that the book reads a little juvenile, but it's fitting. From page one, I was hooked on the story and could've read it in a day if I had had the time.

I wasn't just hooked on the story, my emotions were involved too. I was sad and angry and happy. The end actually made my eyes do that slightly burning thing like I was about to cry. For the record, I didn't cry, but I could have.

This book was fairly predictable though. I knew the big twist within the first few chapters, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. I recommend this book if you want a suspenseful feel good story.

This was a very different kind of story, that had me turning pages. I’m not a binge reader, and like to savor the journey, but this book really stoked my curiosity as to what was coming.
An eight year old girl wakes up in a strange place, with an unfamiliar woman, explaining that she is her foster mother. She states that the girls mother gave her away and she is adopting her. Thus begins her life within strict confines and dark locked closets, always hungry, always frightened, until she is released to help Mother shoplift.
Tara, her new name, builds her own family of dolls, which helps her absorb the abuse that is constant and allows her to survive her prison. Her computer helps her find a uTube family that she feels a part of.
This is a story of loneliness, longing for connections, our need to be part of a group and how courage can be found in dolls, blogs and a locked room, in order to escape.
My thanks to #NetGalley #LakeUnionPublishing for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was super excited when I found out this was about a fictional Youtube family. I was intrigued about what their dirty secrets would be, but it turned out to be kind of disappointing. In fact, the family doesn’t even appear until the second half of the book, and all the mystery would have work easily without them.
This book was a fun experience, but it felt kind of uncomfortable sometimes, and kind of rush others. The main idea is good. The execution, however, is somewhat poor, especially near the ending, with those anticlimactic time jumps.
I enjoyed most of the book, though.
Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What it Seems
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of What It Seems.

Twenty year old Tara lived in a world of crime and misdeed. Faking pregnancy while living in a world that she was punished for missteps in crime, often locked in the closet and deprived of food. She lived for her friends, her dolls, and the families that invited her in to their family, via their YouTube channels. When the opportunity came that she could intern for one of the families, she disobeyed the rules she had come to known since she was a young girl.

I found the book very interesting. I enjoyed the how the story unfolded and kept me thinking about what would happen next. I enjoyed the behind the seems glimpses of how YouTube channels were made and ran. I would definitely read this author again.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Tara is twenty years old with an extremely controlling mother. But all isn't what it seems. This story took so many turns I could barely keep up. I was hooked immediately. Very enjoyable.

I am a huge fan of this author but I am disappointed to say I did not love this book. I liked it, enjoyed reading it but it did not WOW me like all her other books did ! It was a good story but I just felt it could have been stronger. Maybe less hip without all the YouTube family, bloggers, etc. That just ruined it for me. Good ending though.

This book gives you a knot in the pit of your stomach from Chapter 1, and gives new meaning to “a wolf in sheep’s clothing”. You see evil and unthinkable acts, but you see resilience and the will to live. But, things are not always what they look like. Sometimes you just never know what you are capable of, until you have no choice.

Little Angela is running away from home, mad at her mom for yelling and not paying attention to her. An accident happens and she comes to live with her foster ‘Mother’. Here, she learns a whole different life. Now, at age 20, she gets the courage to take control of her life, by applying for an internship with her favorite you tube family. But, are things as perfect as they seem?

The storyline is fast paced, coming together well. Great characters that make your emotions go from 0 to 360 in a few paragraphs. First book I’ve read by this author, I look forward to reading more.

Thanks to Ms. Bleeker, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.


Will review on B&N and Amazon on pub day.





Sent from my iPhone

I have to be honest - I don't follow any YouTube families, but I spend a ton of time watching drama channels so I hear a lot about them. When I found this book that deals with a YouTube family that is not all that it seems, I was really intrigued by this concept that I hadn't seen anywhere else. To summarize, What It Seems is about a 20 year old woman, Tara, who has lived under her incredibly controlling adoptive mother since the age of eight. Her main access to the outside world is through YouTube, which she has learned to access in secret. When her favorite vlogging family announces an internship position, she takes action to leave her mother and join the perfect family she has come to idolize. Obviously, the family is not as perfect as they portray on their channel, and Tara's mother will stop at nothing to regain control.

Based on the description, I was hoping for The Act meets Daddy of Five, but the book didn't quite live up to my expectations. I feel like the author picked a really interesting concept and tried to pack a lot in, but in doing so some believability was lost. I didn't think the dialog was as strong as it could have been, and the ending seemed a bit rushed. I did have fun reading however, and Tara was an interesting character with both personal strengths and flaws. This isn't a very long read, and therefore I would recommend it to someone who thinks the concept seems interesting.

Note: I received an ebook copy of What It Seems from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was okay and found the story line was somewhat predictable. It started out a bit slow, but picked up a bit the further I read into the story. I felt bad for Tara, but didn't really like her. Some of the choices she made were odd, but given her tragic circumstances and her relationship with the adult figure in her life, Mother, she may not have been able to see any other choice. I thought the author did a great job with the character of Mother. I felt chills go down my spine whenever she was referenced in the book...she was so creepy!!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.