This book is such a cute, original story. It really is a testament to how obsessed our culture is with social media and how beneficial it could be for us to unplug.

The Bright Side of Going Dark attempts to address quite a few deep issues that a lot of people face nowadays in a light and funny way. For me, this novel was more of a miss than a hit. I applauded to the author's attempt to shed light into issues such as our addiction to social media, the illusion of the perfect life on social media, and the impact it has on people's lives. However, I didn't particularly like any of the characters; almost all the female characters are portrayed as emotionally unstable with extremely bad coping skills and the male characters are mostly depicted as attractive, mature, understanding and supportive.
Coincidentally, I read on the news today that social media content moderators are asked to sign PTSD forms stating they understand their job could potentially cause PTSD. Harms nailed that on the head with Paige who worked as a social media content moderator who tried to cheat the system and lie on her daily mental health check to avoid talking to a professional about her emotional issues. It goes to show how far some people are willing to go to avoid facing their darkest problems.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this. There are good things in it, and it has a really intriguing plot.

but at 40% in I'm still waiting for that plot to happen, and the characters aren't keeping me. -spoilers for the first half of the book-

The entire plot centers around Mia and Paige. Mia is a social media influencer on Not-Instagram, and Paige works for that company doing basically security on the comments and uploads. Anything that gets flagged she and her team have to look at and decide if it's offensive. When Mia goes dark after her fiance leaves her, Paige, by happenstance, takes over Mia's account in order to give her suicidal sister something to believe in.

On paper this sounds really good. However, at 40% Paige hasn't even seen her sister let alone taken over the account (which i assume will happen after she talks to her sister)

What I did like:
There was a big focus on mental health. Paige works in a very toxic environment, reviewing the nastiest of human comments and being required to really read them to understand intent before deciding if its offensive. The company has an onsite psychiatrist if you get overwhelmed and tries to provide a safe-space. They also address that most people try hard to ignore that and move on with their day. They answer the 'after work' survey with the 'right answers' to avoid talking to the Psychiatrist so they wont be prevented from working tomorrow. I LOVED this. I thought it was a really good insight into 1. how companies talk a big game about wanting to help your mental health, while still pushing you to get your numbers (employees feel conditioned to not take time off etc). 2. how we can also get really desensitized to horrific things if we see them all the time.

I loved the light being shed on the emotional damage of para-social relationships. How Mia feels lonely, and her followers look to her to escape their loneliness and how people can feel like theyre friends with people they follow or that they 'know' them when you only ever see the highlights reel of what they're posting.

Mia talking about her dog and brother were also highlights of Harms writing. There was a lot of heartfelt emotion there and it was easy to connect with.

Things that didn't work for me:
I get the feeling Harms doesn't like Millenials or influencers based on the amount of people who refuse to have or even come close to understanding modern technology. My 82 year old grandma has a better understanding of most tech than people far younger than her in this novel do. Hell, even my great-grandparents used email once or twice. Mia's mom being basically a tech-phobe seemed mostly to be a wedge in their relationship since she doesn't know the difference between an iPad and a computer, but can also manage to look up Mia's account (mind you, she doesn't even appear to have a device capable of loading the App but that's an entirely different issue).

Mia is of course anti-gluten because it makes you fat, even though as a society we've mostly moved past that mindset.... and conversely, Paige is an overweight and overall unhappy girl working in a male dominated industry (which I DID really like that Harms touched on that fact. She is one of few women, and that made her a desirable candidate.)

The characters really seemed completely detached from reality. Tucker text-message broke-up with Mia two(?) days before their wedding. he sends ONE TEXT to say its not happening. Mia doesn't respond, and Tucker never follows up. Then he seems surprised that she was hurt by that??? Mia's mom also basically said "oh that sucks". this woman gets broken up with and NO ONE reacts at all normally. Mia did for a minute, with her drunk binge-eating session (which again, was another well done scene. She has a moment of feeling childlike and 'needing her mommy' I liked these small moments)

Paige finds out from her BOSS that her sister attempted suicide 'but is okay'. I have MANY problems with this because... why wouldn't her family call her (this is later 'addressed' by her mom being flippant about the entire situation and not acknowledging that it was a suicide attempt in the first place, but I still call BS on this) but FURTHERMORE why does Paige's boss have so much information on the situation. Yes a coworker called in the 911 call, but they dont like call you back and give you updates. 'suspend your disbelief' I just can't, considering this information could have easily been delivered to Paige in another way that would not have changed much of hte story.
However, upon hearing that her sister attempted suicide, Paige has a panic attack and is required to take 2 weeks off work. Where they ban her badge from letting her in the building, but apparently don't block her from actually doing any work via the VPN etc.

Overall, this book isn't for me.

Two women are involved with a social media sites. Their lives eventually intersect in an unexpected way.

The theme is the impact social media has in our lives. The addictiveness if it and the way it prevents us from actually experiencing our lives. However it never descends into preaching

The characters are quirky and relatable. The writing is well done. An enjoyable feel good novel.

There is a lot of YA/NA out there using their platform to comment on the affect social media (read: Instagram) has on the psyche of young people. I have to say, this is the most comprehensive and insightful piece of accessible fiction that I've read regarding this. (The book is marketed as literary fiction, rather than YA/NA but it is as accessible to read as any run of the mill New Adult, which shouldn't be seen as a negative)

We enter two unaffiliated characters lives whose lives are intrinsically linked with the fictional Pictey app. Mia is the influencer making an absolute killing off the app by uploading 30 photos of herself per day. Paige is an employee of the app whose job is to screen any content deemed potentially inappropriate. The story presents an interesting perspective of the two opposite sides of the spectrum, as well as the superfluousness of apps such as Instagram on everyday life.

I don't think the story lands definitively in either the pro- or anti-Instagram camp. It presents an interesting commentary of what can happen when we become too reliant on social media, but also points out the good that can come of following the fictional lives presented by Mia and her influencer peers. Paige's sister comments that influencers 'promote nothing but positivity and bring people hope' (or something to that effect, I can't be bothered finding the exact quote), which (lol) is true, I guess. Influencers today generally get a bad rap for promoting fake and unreachable lives, but why is that necessarily a bad thing? Promoting healthy lifestyles, letting people in trouble know that there is more to aspire to. Social media is a free and accessible way of reaching out to an infinitely wide-spread audience.

Yes, there is the addiction side of social media, an aspect of which the book is critical, but also the app connects people and makes them feel included in a way that may be impossible in real life. Commentary of social media, the 'fictional' digital world, and its impact on real mental health is something that deserves debating. I also found myself drawn to how frankly mental health issues were discussed; real and hereditary and gritty without romanticising or using as a significant plot point, as YA/NA tends to do.

A good book, I thought, even if the characters are annoying. Also I can't stand alternating first-person POV, but I guess that was the best way for the author to actually tap into the Worth a read, and I'll be batting in its corner. Thanks Netgalley.

What a book! To me, this book hit the perfect balance of mixing heavy, deep issues with light and funny. It's definitely a story that will make you think, but probably not one that will keep you up at night. I initially chose this novel because I was interested in learning more about the Influencer culture, and the insights the author provided helped me gain a better understanding of not only the people I follow online, but my own phone usage as well. I also really appreciated the portrayal of mental health issues, especially as they relate to internet issues in young adults.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This book moved me unlike any book ever has before. It shows you the danger that social media can have on our lives and how you sometimes need to take a step back and remember what a time was like before there was social media. We meet Mia who is an internet celebrity who gets stood up 2 days before her wedding. She realizes that if she does not fake posts she will lose out on a lot of sponsorship opportunities. She goes to visit her mother and throws her phone over a cliff. Paige meanwhile works for the social media platform and is responsible for determining if posts should be deleted. She figures out what Mia is doing and decides to go undercover as her. There is a special bond in this book between man and best friend.

I highly recommend that everyone picks this book up especially if you find yourself checking your instagram, facebook, snapchat, etc multiple times a day. It has given me a new outlook on social media and I am going to strive to plant my feet on the ground more everyday.

Thank you netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Kelly Harms for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review. Also, thank you Kelly for writing a book that has made me think more about my life in real life instead of through a filter. I am logging offline to go play with my dog now.!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance read and review this book early.

To be honest , I loved everything about this piece of literature. This book deals with a very important issue of real life Vs. virtual life of Instagram posts today which is a very relatable as I am an active social media user too (just like millions of people). This book contains a very strong message. Though the book circles around Mia, Paige and Jessica , it also depicts the influence of social media these days. Both good and bad.

I personally loved this book. The author is a great storyteller and the timings of the story is perfect. You can sense the humor in the plot line and the characters were normal people who are quiet relatable. I don't want to give away spoilers but I would love for all women fiction lovers and people with active media presence to give it an honest try. The book comes out this year and I will highly recommend it to everyone who loves good storytelling with relatable characters and good plot and an insightful message that the author gave through this book.
The pressure of social media and a picture perfect image in today's world is beautifully executed in this story. I felt very strongly about this story and I love the way the author executed it. Hope you all like it as much as I did and though this was my first Kelly Harms book it certainly won't be my last.
Happy reading!

In the dark side of living in the Internet space, this book capitalized on what people really need to be happy and themselves. I enjoyed the evolution of Mia, Jess and Paige.

Kelly Harms has a knack for drilling down to the core messiness of modern American womanhood. The women in this book are discrete, but could easily be different sides of the same, broken-but-normal personality. This whirlwind page-turner takes us from California to Colorado as two characters zig-zag through an intertwined, mentally-unhealthy existence fueled almost entirely by social media. They leave loved ones old and new drowning in the wake of their numbness to reality only to discover that living one’s best life occurs offline. Maybe an obvious message but still an appeasing one to witness the characters stumble towards, especially given the frank depiction of the mental toll of perfectionism.

The Bright Side of Going Dark looks into the power and influence of social media of our lives, which is so prevalent to today’s society. The novel is told from the alternating points of view of Mia, a social media star, and Paige, a member of the Safety and Standards team for the social media platform Picety. While Mia’s life appears to be “picture perfect” in her posts, she has recently been dumped by her fiancé and is forced to fake her wedding to appease her sponsors. Fed up with her virtual life she leads, she throws her phone off a cliff and begins to live off the grid. When Paige notices Mia’s absence, she begins to impersonate the social media star after hacking into her account, and soon finds herself in too deep.

While this novel is a fun, heartwarming, and light read, it also addresses much more thought-provoking topics like the power of social media, reconnecting with family, mental health issues, and finding yourself in the world. The Bright Side of Going Dark is a quick read, and definitely made me think about my own technology use and making sure to always take the time to step away and “smell the roses”. I would definitely recommend you read this book when it comes out in May!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

With The Bright Side of Going Dark, Kelly Harms is officially on my "must buy" list. Social influencer Mia finds herself at a crossroads in terms of her life as a social media influencer. And, this puts her on a collision course with one of her followers and her sister who are at their own moments of crisis and then self-discovery. What these women juggle with is identity in a disconnected world. It's something that had me thinking about how to connect when there's so much pressure to stay "connected."

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this book and it felt like a really timely read. In the age of overexposure on social media, the main character finds herself needing to cut off from her social media accounts. What ensues is a cute modern day story on the consequences of her actions. While I am not raving about this book, I would recommend it as a cute book to read before bed. Not too thrilling, nothing that will keep you up at night. But, the characters were likable enough and the plot moved along at a graceful pace.

Excellent book!! Great writing, interesting store line. Kept me wanting more! I would definitely recommend this book to friends and book clubs.

Though I’d read the plot summary of this book I was still a bit surprised as I was reading. The author’s style is witty but also relatable and completely enjoyable. There were also several heart-string-pulling sections that came across as entirely believable. This was one of my favourite reads of the past few months.

Fun and entertaining with a thought-provoking message about social media and the troublesome role it plays in our lives. While I didn't enjoy this story as much as Kelly Harm's previous book, it held my attention.

I had previously read The Overdue Life of Amy Byler (and enjoyed it), so I was excited when I got the opportunity to read the advance copy of another book from the same author.

Mia is a social media influencer whose entire life is driven by her phone and online presence. Everything from her workouts to her food choices to her wedding planning is done with a mind to building her brand and gaining sponsorships. As one of the top accounts on her platform, all is going great for Mia until her wedding falls apart at the last minute, threatening her livelihood. Initially, she tries to keep up the appearance (online anyway) that nothing is amiss in order to maintain her image and not jeopardize the obligations she has to the vendors that sponsored everything from her dress to her cake and flowers to the venue in exchange for the online attention a social media star like Mia would bring. Eventually though, Mia heads for her mother's home to regroup and try to figure out how to move forward. Mia tells her followers that she's taking a short break from social media, and then a series of events leads to her ultimately tossing the phone (and all ties to the technology and online presence that define her) off the side of a Colorado mountain. From there, Mia begins to see what life might be like if she were to actually get out and live it.

At the same time, we get the story of Paige, an IT worker tasked with reviewing flagged content from the social media platform that Mia utilizes. Just as she is signing off for the day, a flag comes in on a comment from one of Mia's followers - a suicidal girl who happens to be Paige's more or less estranged younger sister. It isn't until the next morning though that Paige learns of the comment's author, and her sister Jessica's thwarted suicide attempt (thanks to another worker who reviewed the comment and called for help). Paige and Jessica haven't had much of a relationship since Jessica was a preschooler, but Paige is forced to take a couple weeks away from work, and she decides to drive to Colorado to see her sister. When Mia's account goes "dark", Paige uses her IT skills to hack the account and starts posting as Mia as a way of keeping Jessica (who thinks Mia hired Paige to post on her behalf) happy. It works well until Paige accidentally "butt posts" an entry that was never meant to be seen, and her path finally crosses with Mia's. The fallout forces both Paige and Mia to confront their issues and decide what kind of life they really want for themselves going forward.

I found this book to be similar to the other I read from this author in that it was a light, fun, heartwarming read that broached on some thought provoking topics without being heavy. In that regard, no, it doesn't give some serious topics (like mental health and depression) the seriousness they might deserve, but it still serves to draw attention and hopefully spark some conversations. It also got me really thinking about how (and how much) I utilize social media and technology in general, and if there might not be a healthier balance where they are concerned. The book was predictable and the characters were more "character" than real life people, but none of that stops the book from being an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

Kelly Harms is a sneaky good writer. Her stories are full of winks and wit and whimsy, but don’t think for a moment they are light or, worse, lite. Because the moment you let down your guard (“Wheee—what fun!”) she clobbers you with a wrecking ball of reality, the stuff that hurts deep down.

Her latest, The Bright Side of Going Dark, appears to be about the dilemma that social media poses for most of us: we shouldn’t like it as much as we do, and we don’t, not really, except all the time, apparently. The intertwined storylines of Mia, Paige, and Jessica address this dilemma in a fresh, nuanced way, and it did get me thinking. But this novel is about so much more than moral quandary of screen time. It’s about grief and loss and anxiety. It’s about mothers and daughters—more anxiety—and about second and third chances.

Running through those themes, cinching them together with a red hot needle is one idea: the awkwardness of emotional pain. How much should it hurt? How much will I let it? How long until it’s wallowing? Who needs to know about it? Who needs to be shielded? Everyone—even me?

Awkward, right? And quintessentially human. Like laughter, and this touching, engaging story.

I absolutely adored the Overdue Life of Amy Byler so I was extremely excited to receive an ARC of this book.
It definitely hasn’t disappointed. This is filled with more extremely loveable characters. It has been utterly impossible to put down.

I have finished this book in just two hours and I have really enjoyed it. This definitely might be my new favourite by this author.

I have found that it has been hard to track the characters on occasions. But overall this is a completely enjoyable book.
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was *so* excited about this because I loved _The Overdue Life of Amy Byler_. But after reading a little over half of this, I set it aside. It was too preachy and the characters were inexplicable.