This is the second Kelly Harms book I have read and I like her style. She manages to perform the difficult task of writing a not-too-heavy novel with plenty of humor that also deals intelligently with some difficult issues, and keeps things balanced. Entertaining, but also very thought-provoking.

Mia is a social media addict and influencer. Once upon a time she was a yoga instructor who liked to post, but she gained a huge following, gave up the yoga, and sold a little of her soul in the meantime. Now she has half a million followers who are breathless to hear her every utterance. She is engaged and has set up the perfect wedding with no detail left unshared and no sponsor left unplugged. When her fiancee calls things off two days before the ceremony, she decides (partly out of embarrassment and partly out of financial consideration) to pretend that everything went on as scheduled.

She goes to visit her mom who is anti being glued to a cell phone constantly. She tells Mia she would be better off if she just threw her phone off a mountaintop. And in a moment of desperation and stress, Mia does exactly that. She tells her acolytes she will be taking a little time off. She finds out pretty quickly she had been not really experiencing her own life for years -- just framing posts and pictures for the reaction they cause.

In the meantime, Paige works for the company that makes Mia's lifestyle site/blogs possible. Paige is supposed to be vigilant in checking content for inappropriateness, trolling, threats, porn, and possible suicides. She is stunned when her younger sister turns up as an attempted suicide. And the true poignancy is because Paige herself was once in the same situation.

These two stories intertwine because Paige's sis posted her comments on Mia's site. Paige finds out easily that Mia is being dishonest about her wedding and decides, partly out of concern for her sister and partly out of taking on a challenge, to resume Mia's posts.

There are some great insights into mental health and depression found here. And lots of realistic family coping -- with the death of a family member, with distant parents, with old history. And the obvious fact is that someone can be uber-connected online and be living a lonely existence.

Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Mia Bell is a top influencer on social media. She has recently lost her beloved dog companion Mike, and her fiance Tucker has called off the wedding right before the big day.
Because her sponsors have paid for her extravagant ceremony, and worried about losing endorsements, she decides to fake her marriage. Just so she can make everyone happy and then she can "split" with Tucker.
But it all becomes too much for Mia and she ends up throwing her phone off a mountain top.
Paige Miller, who works behind the scenes online, monitoring posts and comments, misses a comment on Mia's page, from her sister Jessica, that is obviously a cry for help.
When Jessica tries to commit suicide, Paige is devastated that she wasn't there for her, and shattered when she must take a leave of absence from work.
On her way to visit her sister, Paige realizes that Mia's site has "gone dark". She decides to hack the account and keep posting for Jessica, who loves and idolizes Mia.
We follow along with them through these painful times, as they learn how to connect with each other in real life.
This was such an engaging and charming story about getting too caught up in social media, and how we can more truly live our lives.
I absolutely loved the end of this book, of the importance of animals and what they can teach us.
An entertaining and humorous look at some difficult topics.
Thank you Lake Union Publishing for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

Kelly Harms, you've done it again! What a moving and refreshing story about grief, mental health, and self-image. All told through the lens of an influencer as well as someone more behind the scenes. (What is it truly like to be the person who posts 30 times a day, or to be the one to scroll endlessly?) The dichotomy between the two women is striking and complicated, but there are overlaps of what kind of life they want to lead, and how they each feel stuck in the routine they've created for themselves as an escape from facing and processing their emotions.

Harms crafts such an authentic story around these heavy issues, while also sprinkling in some hope, joy, love, and finding your unique place in the world. There's such a beautiful balance of hope and grief, real and fake. It will make you want to hug your people and animals tighter...and more often.

The only criticism I have would be that the first third of the book is a bit of a slower read. But I can't even rate it lower, because I don't see how taking anything out would improve it. It's just the slow build of who these people really are, before the main action starts.

This story is unflinchingly honest, and balances the weighty topics with silver linings and hints of redemption. There's a bit of romance, a heap of pets, and a whole lot of heart! This novel shines!

I loved this book about the life of an influencer and what happens when she decides to throw her phone off a cliff. An interesting plot point of the book is that the two main characters don't meet each other until close to the end of the story. This book contains instances of suicide attempts and depression. It deals with family bonding and has likeable characters.

This book surprised me - in a good way! I have to confess it took me a little while to get into it but I ended up very much enjoying it, and it proved to be a great mix of a light and amusing read, whilst at the same time offering some interesting reflections on the power of social media, both good and bad.

Told from alternating perspectives by Mia, a social media influencer , and Paige, a somewhat socially awkward young woman who works for the social media app Pictey, but who by and large eschews social media herself. Their worlds collide when Mia decides to stop using social media and Paige ends up impersonating Mia and updating her feed. Harms does a great job of creating flawed but likeable characters, and her ability to make this a fun, laugh-out-loud at times read whilst at the same time touching on issues around social media and mental health made this a book I would happily recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Last year I read The Overdue Life of Amy Byler and absolutely loved it! I recommended it to every one I know—especially moms because it really hit the nail on the head when it comes to how all consuming parenting is.

I was over joyed to see what Kelly Harms was coming out with another novel and was eager to start reading it even if it did sound a bit different than her previous book.

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler brought a lot of heart and realism to the story and I was impressed by how emotional it was. I think a lot of readers write women’s fiction off as a fluff category but with Harms’s books there is never a lack of emotion and it most certainly isn’t fluff.

Summary
As one of the most popular influencers on social media, Mia Bell has lived her life online for years. With her celebrity dog and gorgeous fiancé, she is planning the ultimate virtual wedding—expensive, elaborate, and entirely paid for by sponsors. But off-camera, her world is far from picture perfect. After being jilted by her fiancé and faking her nuptials to please her sponsors, Mia finally has had enough. She heaves her phone off a cliff, ready to live—and maybe find love—offline for a change.

Mia’s sudden absence doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by techie loner Paige Miller, who hacks Mia’s account and begins impersonating the internet celebrity. Paige has her reasons. Her half sister, Jessica, idolizes Mia and desperately needs something to believe in. If taking over Mia’s online persona is Paige’s only means of connecting to her sister, so be it.

Creating a like-worthy life is more fun than Paige expected. But when she grows too bold and is caught in the act, a fiasco ensues that could forever change Mia, Paige, and the people who love them. Because somewhere amid the chaos is an invaluable lesson—one that only real life can teach. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
Harms has such a great sense of humor and finding a connection between her readers and her characters. I love seeing the little bits of relatable humor in this story line as well as how the characters react to life circumstances. As we live in a world of social media and influencers, this book nailed all the pressures that comes along with living your life online. I know that as a blogger for over ten years, I have seen the changes of social media and the importance of branding first hand so this book really connected to me right away.

I have a number of friends who are also really into social media influencing and are always looking for the next post or the next pic or ways to stay one brand and relevant to their audience. I myself try to take a more relaxed approach but I certainly am not immune to getting into the social media trap and I loved how that played out in this book. It made this book relevant to so many readers.

This book deals with some pretty big issues such as phone addiction, but doesn’t make it feel oppressive or heavy in the plot, but rather it allows different topics to remain big issues (mental health, phone addiction etc) that readers can read as much or as little into it as they feel comfortable with. There is humor in this book to break up some of the more tense topics and feelings too, which helps keep it positive.

I read this book in just a couple of days. I loved the plot and the characters so much and of course the message (put down your phones and enjoy life). While I might have connected with The Overdue Life of Amy Byler a little more, I still found this book entertaining, relevant, and important. Another must read by one of my favorite authors!

Book Info and Rating
Kindle Edition, 341 pages
Expected publication: May 12th 2020 by Lake Union Publishing
ASIN B07WNHLD4Q
Free review copy provided by publisher, Lake Union Publishing, in partnership with Tall Poppy Writers/Bloggers, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: womens fiction, chick lit

Very intriguing story line, very much in the moment. I liked the way the author handled the vulnerabilities of all the characters. Mia Bell, internet influencer life has gotten of hand. She's living the shots, meaning the pictures she stages for her online persona, but she's miserable, unhappy, and not really living. Both her brother and her dog has died and her hippy-ish mom lives far away in the Colorado mountains. Sisters Paige and Jessica, both have attempted suicide. Paige's attempt was when she was a teen. Now she works at the online company where Mia is an internet star. Paige is barely functional unless she's doing her job. I got vibes that maybe Paige is high functioning, which just makes her day to day, even more tough. Jessica, a college student, her suicide is a cry for help and thankfully her big sister Paige rushes to her side. Even secondary characters such as the hunky neighbor of Mia's mom and his daughter are vulnerable through the death of a loved one. I truly love Ms. Harms vivid, quirky characters, always a big draw for me. You will find yourself cheering every single one of these characters on.

A social media app called Pictey is what Mia's life revolves around. She racks up followers and sponsorships like mad by forming her life and posts around what seems most perfect at the time. She even found herself the perfect fiancé -- that is, until it all fell through. Mia "takes a break" to try to regroup after her perfect life crumbles, and wonders what her life is all about now. At the same time, a Pictey employee named Paige polices inappropriate content in the app, and runs across an anonymized comment on one of Mia's posts. Thinking nothing of it until the next day, she finds out that her sister attempted suicide, and it was her comment on Mia's feed that had been flagged by Pictey's systems. Mind reeling, Paige does the only thing she can think of: She takes over Mia's account. The old adage holds true though, and no good deed goes unpunished. Can Mia, Paige, and Jessica get a life in this era of social media, or will they be consumed by it?

I appreciated that this book explored the dark side of social media and its unintended consequences. Too often we see perfection on our screens and expect something reaching for that in our own lives. Too often we forget that most of what we see is manufactured and usually accompanied by off-camera and off-post frustration, anger, and disappointment. The Bright Side of Going Dark explores what happens when we step away from negative aspects of online life, and asks us to reflect on our own usage of social media through its cautionary tale. As for me, I think it's important to step away for self-care when we feel overwhelmed or frustrated by the outside world, and social media is such a double-edged sword at times, that it's difficult to avoid getting cut. I recommend this book if you're even slightly interested in the premise.

If you love light-hearted women's fiction with a deeper underlying message, Kelly Harms' latest novel is the perfect book for you. The Bright Side of Going Dark is the story of two troubled women, each attempting to do what she considers the right thing in a complex and often unforgiving world. It's a book that will make you tear up in places, but it will make you smile quite a bit as well.

If you ask Mia Bell, she'd tell you her life is as close to perfect as anyone can get. With half a million followers, she's one of the most popular influencers on social media, and she absolutely loves sharing her life with each and every one of them. She offers online yoga classes, reviews health and beauty products, and takes tons of pictures of every aspect of her life. On the outside, she has it all, but inside, she feels pretty bleak. You see, was jilted three days before her very public wedding, her beloved dog and devoted sidekick Mike has died of cancer, and her relationship with her mother has been strained for years. The world waits with bated breath for her next post, but Mia herself feels she has nowhere to turn in her time of sorrow.

Paige Miller is a tech-savvy single woman in her thirties, who happens to work for the social media platform Mia uses. When Paige's younger sister Jessica posts a cry for help on Mia's profile and attempts suicide, there's a part of Paige that blames Mia for Jessica's problems. When Mia's profile goes dark, Paige hacks into the account and begins posting things on Mia's behalf. She knows it's wrong, but she's afraid Jessica won't be able to handle Mia's online absence, and she's desperate to offer her a kind of light in her emotional darkness. As you might imagine, what starts as a way to reach out to the sister she hasn't been close to since childhood soon spirals out of control, leaving Paige, Jessica, and Mia in an incredibly awkward situation.

Are you wondering why Mia suddenly abandoned her social media and had no idea Paige was impersonating her online? Well, the answer is very simple: she literally threw her phone over the edge of a cliff in an attempt to reconnect with the things that really matter. It wasn't an easy decision to make, and there are times she regrets her actions, but as the days pass, Mia finds life out of the social spotlight to be quite refreshing. She slowly begins to mend her relationship with her mother and even starts spending time with an attractive single father who lives down the road.

Kelly Harms' writing is chock full of heart, but not in a way that feels cheesy or fake. In fact, parts of the novel resonated quite deeply with me, a person who interacts with the world from my computer most of the time. She does a great job portraying both the perks and the pitfalls of social media without preaching to the reader.

Mia and Paige aren't always easy to like, but even when I questioned their decisions, I was never pulled out of the story. Everything they do makes perfect sense, given the situations in which they find themselves. Paige is incredibly awkward in her dealings with the world, and I cringed on her behalf more than once, and Mia seems self-centered at times, but her inner vulnerabilities are plain to see.

If you enjoy stories that demand quite a bit from both the characters and the reader, please give The Bright Side of Going Dark a try. It was a perfect book for this point in my life, offering me everything I didn't know I needed. I read it in a single evening, and I plan on picking up Ms. Harms' previous novels as soon as I can.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent bookstore
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Loved, loved, loved it! This is a funny and lighthearted read with quirky characters I just adored. This book delicately deals with the issues of attempted suicide and internet addiction and provides the reader with hope and inspiration that tough times do pass. This book is a winner!

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union for sending me an advanced e-copy of 'The Bright Side Of Going Dark' in exchange for an honest review.

'The Bright Side Of Going Dark' is about turning off the dark side of life to see the bright side. Mia is an internet celebrity and her real life is far from picture-perfect. When her fiancé jilts her before the wedding, she is devastated by the thought of sponsors who would have been paying for her wedding. She finally calls it quits on social media by throwing her phone off the cliff. Paige, a coder, hacks into Mia's account and starts posting using her account. She is doing it because her half-sister, Jessica, follows Mia as her idol and has attempted suicide. Paige is trying to help her sister believe from Mia's social media posts that there is a life full of imperfections even for "picture-perfect' looking celebrities and people don't even try to enjoy the imperfections.

A thoughtful and intriguing story of our addiction to phones and the harsh realities of social media. How does your screen time look like? Have you ever tried to stay abstinent from your phone and enjoy real life? The author presented this theme in a very amusing and remarkable way by creating the fiasco of events which lead to social media influencer giving it up all to live the "real" life.

The book not only deals with the addiction but also with other issues like clinical depression, estranged relationships, loneliness, and heart-breaks. The author has penned them down with such subtlety that they never seem to overwhelm the reader while the story progresses.

The characters are relatable and so well developed. Being a programmer myself, I felt Paige's character so relatable in terms of carrying laptops all times and coding certain apps to negate the possibility of ideation. The alternate narration from Mia's and Paige's perspective is commendable. Going through the mind of the influencer and the hacker, the reader feels entrusted with the story at all times.

The book seems appealing to a younger audience in the beginning but it escalates from the halfway and deals with serious issues poignantly. My first book by Kelly Harms and certainly not the last.

I would recommend it to everyone who likes to read a light story with a message, strong characterization and canine companionship.

When Mia, a social media influencer, takes a break from posting, social media "behind-the-scenes" guru Paige hacks her account and posts on her behalf. Much to their mutual surprise, this "life swap" teaches both of them valuable lessons on what is really important in life.

If you're looking for a fun, cute, light read, then Bright Side might be just what you're looking for! It was a little too chick lit for my tastes, but I enjoyed the premise and seeing how it would play out. The ending was super sweet, adding a half star to my 3 star review, and it might just make you question your own personal relationship with social media!

Trigger Warning: (view spoiler)

3.5 stars

Location: Los Angeles, California but mostly Colorado

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.
Kelly Harms has written one of the most incredible books in The Bright Side of Going Dark! I was inclined to like this book anyway because I really enjoyed The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, but to say I loved it is an understatement. This book is so much beyond the blurb on the book jacket. It’s honestly difficult to discuss without giving away too much. Harms does an artful job talking about some very heavy and weighty issues like mental health, relationships, suicide, and death, but also joy, love, and finding your voice and footing in the world. She is able to strike the balance for joy and sorrow and good and bad in a way that it feels real. I related to a number of things in the book especially the weight of grief not just when we lose our people, but when we lose our animals. I enjoyed this so much that even though I had a copy I still pre-ordered the ebook and then bought the audible version too.

For me this book was a 5. But I think if I were rating it based on how others might feel about it, I think I would give it a 4. This year seems to be the year of social media being the main plot for several books. And I've read a lot of them. For some reason, I connected with this one a bit more than the others. Yes, my phone is pretty much my life. Not that I can't do without it but more that it holds everything! So I could understand the panic when one of the main characters becomes phoneless. I've also seen how social media can connect and disconnect people. This is shown quite nicely in the story. But probably the kicker for me was Mike the dog. Yes, a dog. A little three legged dog loved a whole lot by one of the main characters. That hit way too close to home for me. I could really relate. Probably the only problem I had with reading this book was that I struggled to separate the main characters and would have to reorient myself at the beginning of each chapter. But, I think that was more me than the writing.

Savor the offline experience and read this book! I inhaled The Bright Side of Going Dark in a single weekend.
This is a fresh and funny story about going off the grid in order to really feel alive. Popular social media influencer and yoga teacher Mia gets jilted at the altar and hurls her phone off a cliff. Techie manager Paige hacks her account to impersonate the celebrity. The shit hits the fan and the women learn lessons about creating content versus discontent. . Lighter writing but deeper themes in content. A great quarantine read!
Thanks to @netgalley for my free digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Bright Side of Going Dark is a light-hearted fun read, with captivating characters that feel incredibly real and relevant to society today. It draws you and makes you laugh out loud.

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF GOING DARK by Kelly Harms is a novel that brings challenges of life and individual and social perceptions into focus with clever and witty writing. This novel brings into focus life and how technology has changed not only the way many people tackle everyday life, but also how a lot of social media presents a curated view of life: all the good with none of the bad. Harms does this using two characters that at first glance are total opposites, but at a deeper dive, you realize how alike they really are. Told with alternating narrators, this novel will definitely make you think.
Mia found her niche as an online influencer. On a new platform, her account became so popular she was able to make a living promoting items while interacting with her public. Her fans are invested in her and her life, checking in multiple times a day to see what interesting and/or beautiful thing she is doing. When her fiancé breaks things off the day before the wedding, Mia is thrown into a tailspin: She has an obligation to her sponsors and followers. Her followers come to her for happy and inspirational posts, not the unhappy stuff. As she tries to regroup, she turns to her Mother who encourages her to take some time off and reassess. After telling her followers she is going dark for a couple days, she goes to the extreme and throws her phone off a mountain.
Paige appears to be the complete opposite of Mia. She works for the social media company that Mia has her profile on, working with flagged and unflagged content, removing harmful or obscene items, and escalating anything that might need intervention. Spending hours looking at some truly horrible stuff, the company has strict rules about limits and Paige logs out as required, just as she starts looking at a flagged post on Mia’s profile. Luckily, it rolls over to someone else who acts quickly and saves the person’s life…who just happens to be Paige’s half-sister. Guilt-ridden and forced to take time off, Paige heads to the area where both her sister lives and Mia has been posting from. Paige is angry and ready to expose Mia as not so perfect, but as she starts to really get into things, she realizes that Mia may not be what she believes, and as she reconnects with her sister, she enlists her help in keeping Mia’s online presence active.
Paige and Mia’s lives are on a collision course as they navigate through their new realities, dealing with all the emotions they have buried that have gotten them to this point. Both these characters have relied on technology instead of actually living life, so it’s interesting to watch how their lives change as they integrate and interact with people. Mia, used to the public eye, must get used to doing things without using her phone. Paige must put herself out there and interact with people, making friends and repairing her relationship with her sister. Harms does an excellent job at showing how reliant the characters are on technology and how it is replacing experiencing life.
I really enjoyed this novel and it really made me step back and think about how reliant I am on technology, especially now, as we are physically distancing from people and have to rely on technology for school, interacting, ordering…
This one will not only keep you turning pages but thinking long after you turn the last page.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
#TallPoppyWriter #TallPoppyBlogger #BloomReads #TheBrightSideofGoingDark

In this novel we're mostly dealing with Mia, a social media influencer and Paige, who is working for the same social media platform as one of the online quality ensurance agents looking through flagged comments.

Mia is extremely shallow, judging and extremely obsessed with her social media presence in the beginning of the book. Paradoxically she says she wishes her followers wouldn't place so much importance on her posts, but in reality she does care.

From there we follow Mia and Paige working through their issues and their paths cross, well kept secrets are coming out in the open and buried memories come to light.

Kelly Harms did a fantastic job of portraying both characters and problems that arise with our modern day consumption of social media and the "discontent that content online can create" and rising mental health issues in teens and young adults.
I loved Mia's mother a lot and she was by far my favorite character in the story.

Content warning for suicide, mental health problems, panic attacks and death of a pet (man, I cried reading this particular scene).

Altogether an extremely important book with plenty to discuss.


Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with the eARC.

The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms is available now.

It took me a little bit to get into this one but once I was in it, I really connected with the story and the characters. I saw myself so much in Mia, Paige and Jessica. From trying to find a balance from social media and phone dependance to anxiety disorders to depression... it really hit home for me. There was a lot of wisdom sewn in to the story. It felt like it could be an important read for a lot of people but at the same time it was not too heavy to still be very much enjoyable. Bonus points for the dogs! The author did a great job with this one! I recommend checking it out!

Trigger warning: Depression, Anxiety, Suicide

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Bright Side of Going Dark is a wonderfully told tale of the positives and negatives of social media and off good old human interaction.

Kelly Harms has a great way of getting a reader to follow along, form their opinions, and bam, the story turns. It turns in an intriguing way, taking the reader along and sneakily sucking them into the character's new reality when it turns again.

I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed this book and how many times I found myself stopping to think and evaluate where my social media use would fall in a chart of pluses and minuses.

If you have ever thought about or followed 'influencers', reality TV stars, or your friend who is a power user of social media, you will likely enjoy this story. I'd highly recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. All thoughts are my own.