I just could not get into this book, I am not sure why but I felt it started off strong and then sort of slowed and I struggled to stay invested. I decided to DNF

If you love thrillers you'll love this story. Full of twists and turns. I loved the characters and the plot. The "scares" were good too

The book started out really strongly. We have a murder and a friend group that is directly involved. Everything sounded great, but it slowly lost my interest. The book was kind of all over the place and the characters fell flat. I did like the concept though.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was an interesting premise and it hooked me from the beginning because I wanted to see what happened. I’m torn about my rating because I really enjoyed this book until the ending. I hate endings where you have to interpret what happened. I was completely invested in this book and in these characters and then the ending came and ruined it for me. Overall I really enjoyed the book. It’s a great mystery that will keep you guessing.

I was really hoping I'd enjoy this, but it just fell flat for me. A lot of the times I was confused and stuff didn't make sense. I didn't feel connected to the characters, I'm sadly disappointed.

This story started great but towards the middle of the book I started getting lost. There were a lot of great factors in the book, the flow was great and to start characters were interesting. Unfortunately, I was very confused when I reached the peak of the plot.. There was some what a lack of consistency and description. This had so much potential, it was interesting but I felt like it needed a bit more substance.

I knew this would be the perfect read for me. While it did take me a while to pick up I am so happy I did. Somewhere Around the 60% mark I stopped liking this book and started loving it! I am really upset with myself for putting it off.

This one started out strong for me and then I lost some interest toward the end, It had an interesting premise and drew me in from the beginning. I wasn't as connected to the characters to make me feel more invested in the story as it continued on. It's definitely a good thriller and worth the read.

Meme started out strong murder and a pack to keep a secret between friends. Plot and take action. The plot of the book was interesting but as I got halfway through the book I had to step away and wonder why I was losing interest. Some parts didn't make sense I thought somethings didn't need to be added. And then the ending through me off a little bit because it felt rushed. Like bam! the end. And bam this review is short and quick. Oh but don't get me wrong I would totally read another book by this author.

Thank you to PenguinTeen for the egalley in exchange for an honest review.

(thank you to penguinteen & netgalley for this arc)

'Meme' by Aaron Starmer follows a group of four close highschool friends who have one secret they'll take to their graves: they murdered who used to be the unwanted fifth member, Cole. His abusive tendencies towards his girlfriend, Meeka and fellow group member, and threats of violence led to his death at the hands of the teens he called friends. To make sure if one of them went down for murder, they all did, they bury their phones together and never speak about it again. That is, until a meme using a picture of them at the time of the murder goes viral.

Overall thoughts: I'm giving this book 3.0 stars for it's potential, but 'Meme' fell flat for me. The writing was interesting, and I enjoyed how Starmer was able to write from various perspective, but the book's namesake was extremely weak. In reality, that meme used in the book would not have been popular on any platform, less gone as viral as it had in the book. At times the plot was ambiguous, and the storytelling felt detached at times, so I probably would not recommend this to anyone who enjoys witty or lyrical writing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for my gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Meme follows the current-day story of four teenagers brought together by murder, a murder they accomplished together. Each character had a connection to a "super-bully" of sorts, who made them feel threatened for theirs, and each others' lives. The book begins with their initial panic over what they had done, and flashes back to more back story, and them navigating how to move on from their crime.

The premise is fascinating, and I loved the incorporation of modern day elements (IE high school bullying through online bullies, in the form of memes, etc.). As enjoyable as drama was at times, I also found it lacking a little pizzaz. Perhaps since we already knew most of the "who-dunnit" and why, it just wasn't as enticing? I had high hopes for it to pick back up, or surprise me in some way, but I found the end fairly predictable and slow paced.

Still a fun read overall, but wouldn't be a book I'd purchase for my shelves, but would grab if the library had in stock!

For me, MEME started super strong with an interesting enough premise; I was curious enough to keep going because I was invested in the story. Even though the characters were flawed and a bit irritating sometimes, I still found myself rooting for them, and I also liked the rotation of perspective. What I didn't enjoy was the ending. It all felt a bit lackluster. I think the concept of using memes is fascinating, but the lifespan some have and certain language that gets popular in social media don't have the shelf life for it to be still relevant by the time a book is released. I enjoyed it as a fun Sunday read, but I don't think I would read it if I were a serious mystery fan.

I wanted to like this book as I LOVED Starmer's Spontaneous. But this thriller about four students who feel that their friend deserves to die? Not for me. First of all, these are horrible kids who commit murder. Second of all, the reason for the killing wasn't reason enough for anyone to die. I didn't care if they got away with it. I didn't want them to get away with it. This is not the kind of a message I want to share with my teen students. This is a big no. for me.

When Cole Weston, the school's erratic and violet bad boy threatens a group of friends, they decide they have no choice but to stop him. They think their plan is foolproof--until a still of the foursome confessing--a fail safe they were going to hide with Cole’s body as collateral against incriminating each other--is turned into a meme and goes viral.

The book shifts between the perspectives of the four friends, Grayson, Meeka, Holly, and Logan, as their perfect plan comes apart. Rather than work together to determine the origin of the meme, the teenagers devolve into paranoia and suspicion, starting their own inquiries, reneging on agreements, forming dubious external alliances, and blaming each other for the breach in security.

Meme is action-packed and fast-paced, and an entertaining look at the dissolution of trust and loyalty. I liked having alternating points of view; however, I thought the characters were a bit stereotypical and underdeveloped, and I wish each character had a more distinct voice. Through the example of a famous meme, Boyatee, that Cole was obsessed with, Starmer also explores the impact, often negative, of internet fame. While I was in general intrigued by the last chapter, I did want more closure to the ending.

Try if you liked One of Us Is Lying.

Unlikeable kids. Logan, Grayson, Holly, and Meeka murder their "friend" Cole and video record their confessions on their phones. They bury all evidence in a hole on Meeka's family property.
Then a meme starts spreading of them from a screenshot of their video. They start to wonder who saw what they did and how?

I was invested through most of this but the ending had me wtf... It doesn't tidy everything up.
The kids aren't great kids at all. The meme isn't that horrible, just kids being cruel and making up rude sayings to go along.

Also, who has a freaking "hack club" in their high school? Why would you teach teenagers how to hack computers.... Not a good idea at all!

I thought this book started out great and I was initially every excited and felt hooked from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the book failed to keep me as engrossed throughout as it did in the beginning. The characters felt flat and their relationships felt a bit "meh" to me. I also thought the pacing was inconsistent. It was a fast read, so I finished it, hoping it would pick back up eventually. It never really picked back up and I felt the ending was abrupt and just didn't feel finished. The first part of the book was great though, and it had potential to be a great thriller, sadly it did not live up to this in the rest of the book. I'd probably give this one a 2.5, but I'm rounding up.

Meme is a contemporary thriller that follows four teenagers in small-town New England, Logan, Meeka, Holly, and Grayson, following their murder of their former friend Cole, allegedly in self-defense. I often wonder if the reason why I’m helplessly drawn to YA thrillers is because they serve for me as a reminder that my bad social experiences in high school could have been so much worse, and this is one such story. Starmer describes Cole as exactly the kind of teenager that makes me fear for generation Z–a loaner who runs with the wrong internet crowd. In fact, it’s the dark web that threatens to incriminate Logan, Meeka, Holly, and Grayson: a picture of them saved along with their confession on the phone that they buried with Cole seemingly resurrects as a meme.

Meme alternates between the first-person points of view of all four teenagers, which could certainly be confusing for some people, but I think that it helps to round out the story and explain Logan’s , Meeka’s, Holly’s, and Grayson’s unique motives for wanting to murder Cole. I especially liked the inclusion of Meeka’s perspective because she is Cole’s ex-girlfriend and is forced to reckon with the not-so-great person that she became. With its social media and dark web elements, Meme is truly a thriller for the modern age, but it’s more psychological in nature so it won’t necessarily keep you up at night. If you’re looking for a unique thriller that isn’t too scary, I definitely recommend Meme.

I really tried to get into this book and maybe I'll go back to it again and give it another try but I couldn't connect to anything about it. The characters felt really flat and the writing just wasn't my style at all.

This book felt pretty dark to me. I thought maybe it would be like Pretty Little Liars or One of Us is Lying but it just felt disturbing. Overall there was no remorse and the characters were very unlikable. I only occasionally read thrillers so someone who reads more may enjoy this one more than I did.

Thanks to Netgalley & Penguin Teen for allowing me to read this book.
3 stars

Meme by Aaron Stramer sounded like my kind of book. YA thriller/murder mystery, I mean that’s one of my favorite kinds of reads!

And while the start of the book was great, the concept of the story was very interesting. The whole meme aspect was exciting. But I sorta lost interest in the middle of the book. I had high hopes that the story would pick back up by the end, but I just didn’t care for the characters or the story.

This had so much potential to be a great thriller but the characters were just so unlikeable. And while I don’t like to spoil things, I will say the ending was unsatisfying in so many ways.