this one was a doozy! 😳

I loved the concept so much that I felt like I was reading a true crime story! an influencer goes missing while on vacation - and of course, all signs point to “the boyfriend did it” 🫣 because let’s face it, they usually did

told in alternating POVs and timelines, we find out more about amelia’s life and how tangled it is with her friends and family. the characterization of how easy it was to become an influencer when you have the means reminded me a lot of COVER STORY, and it definitely showed the not so glamorous part of how everyone is always watching.

while the social media bit was definitely a back seat to the main story, it was the parts I honestly loved most! when the halfway point in the book hit and I started to figure out what exactly was happening, I was almost … disappointed in a way?

of course, I knew not everything was going to be as it seemed, but the ultimate revelations and plot twists felt cheap to me. I wanted more! I wanted drama! I wanted realistic crime stories - not another secret identity one!

however, the style of writing by melissa was absolutely fabulous as usual, and I will continue to read anything she writes!! 🫡

I just was disappointed by the second half of this one based on the fact that the first half was what hooked me in and got me thinking about true crime

thank you to netgalley and union square for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: santa ynez cabernet sauvignon

Going Dark is certainly more than what it appears to be on the surface. At first it speaks of a simple relationship between two people who seem to lead simple lives – and dating each other in what also seems to be a simple act. What you get from their relationship looks easy and happy, or so it seems. And I really enjoyed that – seeing how it changes from looking like an easy relationship to something much more.

I’ll be honest, I was not that interested in Amelia from the beginning. I didn’t like how she was written or how she acted. But then as the story progressed more and more things started to come out about her and she became more likeable. But only a bit because I still found her actions and the path she took not the best one for her, Did I understand why? Yes. Did I like any of it? Not so much. Of course I’m not going to sit here and say “here’s what I’d do differently” because I haven’t lived her life, I haven’t gone through what she’s gone through. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

I think that’s why I rated it 4 and not 5 stars – because I wasn’t a fan of her actions and the reasons behind them. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book. I don’t know if my rating would change if either her actions were different or if I could understand them more.

The characters were interesting to get to know and I liked everything we learnt about them. I am most certainly not interested in influencers – even if they push the narrative that they’re down-to-earth and don’t put on a farce for the camera. For me when you start to gain a large following you’re inevitably going to make the decision to pull back a bit – show less of your life, keep some activities private because they mean a lot to you. You might even take a few classes or courses surrounding anything social media marketing. So all of Amelia’s pushing to show that’s super down-to-earth and doesn’t really care about her following – I didn’t buy it at all, any of her personality. Maybe de la Cruz purposefully wrote her that way, maybe it was just my personal feelings.

Josh was an interesting case as I originally did like him. That also changed as the book carried on. I actually thought I as I liked him less I would like Amelia more – but that didn’t happen, which was interesting to me. I can’t say much without spoiling the book but I liked seeing how he dealt with Amelia going missing and everything that came from that.

We get some flashbacks of another girl who went missing two years ago who never received the attention that Amelia Ashley received. Of course a good reason (for that) is because Amelia is very famous and has other famous connections. I found it interesting the connection the one character (Harper Delgado – whom I really liked and wanted to know more of) made between the two. Both pretty girls, both this and that, but the previous girl had nothing done for her the way Amelia had. It really shows the truth about any missing case, really. That some missing people aren’t deemed as important as others for various reasons – popularity, money, mental state, even race as a reason as to why they are missing – even though the ‘reason’ is lack of evidence.

I definitely want to revisit the book now having read everything so I can see if there are any puzzle pieces to be found before the big reveal. Probably will wait to see if it’ll get an audiobook and reread it that way. I have read a mixed media book as an audiobook before (These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall) so I know that I’ll like another one.

I love mixed media in a book and while I liked what we got I also would have been very happy with even more. Amelia Ashley is an influencer and I felt like there should’ve have been more focus on her posts and her journey as an influencer. Especially as we got more into the story, I would’ve loved to have seen more time dedicated to that.

I gave my students an extra few reading minutes today so that I could finish this up! I was engaged from the very beginning. Anyone who has gotten caught up in the wave of citizen journalists with cases like the Petito murder should enjoy this one. For the adolescent readers who enjoyed Truly Devious or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, this one will be an excellent fit. It’s timely without being cliche & engaging without trying too hard. Go buy this one for your classroom!

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Going Dark!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
✈️ want to travel to Rome
👀 love YA thrillers
🧭 have a sister
👥 enjoy multiple POVs

• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

Amelia Ashley is the hottest new influencer on the scene, so when she goes missing after a trip to Rome with her boyfriend, Josh, all eyes are on him.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Amelia Ashley is a new and upcoming social media influencer who travels the world and blogs about local cuisine. After a trip to Rome with her boyfriend Josh, Josh arrives home in California alone. His friends are confused though - why isn’t Amelia with him? Suddenly the police are on him and Josh has no idea what happened to Amelia. Where is she? Was Josh involved or is something more sinister happening behind the scenes of Amelia’s fairytale life?

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

I was hooked by this story right from the start! A missing girl? A suspicious boyfriend? I loved the multiple POVs we see as the story progresses, as well as the way it was divided into parts. This is truly a he said/she said kind of story. None of the POVs matched with the others and I loved that! While I did guess what was happening about halfway in, I enjoyed the entire ride this story took me on. I think this could make a fantastic movie. If you love YA and thrillers, pick up a copy of Going Dark!

*Actual rating is 3.75 stars*

Going Dark is about the social media star Amelia Ashley who all the sudden goes dark after a trip with her boyfriend to Europe. Now the question on everyone's mind is - Where is she? And what happened to her?

The story is told through different POV from the present and the past, and mixes ordinary second person story telling with diary entries, blog posts and transcripts of videos. The start was really slow for me, and I didn’t find Josh an interesting character at all. I almost DNF the book just before the 100 pages mark. But then things started to get better. I personally found the throwback and these more unusual story telling ways the most engaging part of the story. In fact, as soon as the big plot point was revealed I found myself glued to the pages. Because even though I now knew, it didn’t ruin the rest of the read. If anything it made the read more interesting, since the backstory and the physiological cat and mouse game to find the truth in the present was so good! Shows that sometimes the truth is buried under multiple layers, and is not something clear-cut or simple.

It was a quick read that anyone who enjoys a twisty-turny mystery and multi-layered storytelling will like.

Oh this books definitely gave me Gone Girl’s vibes and it’s really difficult to write a review without spoilers, so please, do not go on if you want to be completely surprised.

Amelia is an incredibly beautiful influencer that inexplicably disappears while on holiday with her boyfriend. The thriller is very very gripping and I read this book super fast cause I wanted to know how it ended and it’s amazing seeing all the machinations Amelia put in place just for revenge and justice.

Amelia is definitely a genius, but first of all she is a grieving sister and a girl who would have loved living a normal life with her family. This book underlines the injustices of our society, where the disappearance of a famous girl becomes the news everyone speaks about, whereas the disappearance of a normal girl with mental health problems goes unnoticed just because it’s not interesting enough.

Of course, I don’t think it is entirely plausible and it was a sort of a bummer finding out who the killer was, I expected another plot twist that in the end didn’t come.

I was hooked right from the start. Honestly this was prob my recent fave thriller that I have read. It was so good and captivating. I honestly screamed when the reveal happened because oh my gosh it was insane!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Going Dark is a story about Amelia, who didn’t come back home from Rome with her boyfriend Josh. She is missing and there is more to the case than seems.

“WHERE IS AMELIA ASHLEY?”

I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy since the new year and was really craving a good mystery book and this one didn’t disappoint. The ending did feel a bit separated from the whole story, I’ll get back to that later, I still enjoyed reading this book.

The story starts off with Josh going back to America from Rome and his girlfriend missing. At this point, we don’t really know much more than Josh and slowly the mystery of her disappearance comes alive. I liked the writing style and progression of tension and mystery a lot in this book.

The book is written and told in multiple POV’s and formats, such as Youtube video transcripts, blog posts, vlog transcripts, diary entries and regular chapters. It really paints the picture of the social life and gives some insights in the characters. I liked those added formats.

The way the story was told, felt a bit divided or separated from the main plot; finding out where Amelia is and what happened. I liked the information, but often it felt to long. For example, part II in the book (around 10% or 34 pages) consists only of the Youtube videos and blog posts, all from before they went to Rome. At that time, I didn’t really understand the connection to the story (to be honest, a lot still is unknown in that regard after having finished the story…) so it felt like a break from the story itself. Later on, part IV is only consistent of diary entries, which do paint a bigger picture, but also felt to long. I think a better mix between them all would’ve benefited the story better.

The characters are very diverse and different from each other. With so much different characters coming along and the different writing formats, it was a bit hard to really get a feel for all the characters. Their personalities also seemed to have changed, which I wasn’t really a fan off.

The reveals and twists were really well done and executed. I liked them and they did take me by surprise! Just a few lines before the reveal would it sometimes occur to me what really was happening and the suspense getting to that point was so good!

The ending itself wasn’t really satisfying and it feels disconnected from the story. I can’t really say more than that because it would be too spoilery.

Overall, Going Dark is a mystery thriller that keeps you on your toes guessing what truly happened.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

The book started out promising with interesting premise but I lost interest pretty quickly. The subplots with side characters were underdeveloped. I think it could have been better if there was a little more focus on the development of side characters.

A solid fast-paced mystery that will fit in most YA collections. The book begins with Josh returning home from Rome and leaving his girlfriend Amelia, a well known social media influencer who creates travel and food content, who didn't make the flight. At first Josh thinks nothing of Amelia missing the flight, but then he quickly comes under suspicion that he had something to do with her disappearance. As more evidence comes to light, it seems like he really did kill her. However, not all is as it seems and Amelia is not who she said she was. Some readers may find the story difficult to get into, but the second half of the book picks up the pace and the twist is wrapped up in the end.

𝑮𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 was a fast read once I got into it, but the first few chapters dragged a bit. The characters are in college, but the book is clearly marketed towards the younger end of the YA age range based on the writing and evokes a teen version of 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 (Part 5 is even actually titled “Girl, Gone”).

First, the pros. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the social media aspect of the book — beautiful influencer missing, blog posts, YouTube transcripts, and the like. I also really appreciated the social commentary regarding white woman syndrome and how the media can make or bury a case based on an individual’s appearance alone.

As far as the cons go, I found the characters themselves largely unlikable and 2-dimensional. Harper in particular was a too-convenient player with no real connection to the other characters aside from being a super hacker that happened to go to the same college, and was far too willing to put herself into certain positions for someone she didn’t even know. I’d have liked to have seen a less obvious character or method of furthering the investigation, or lack thereof.

I also felt that the ending was very rushed, with the entire plot being tied up too neatly. It wasn’t bad, it just felt anticlimactic. I wanted more character revelation, more dialogue, more WHY. The 180 that the antagonist makes is so fast despite a few dropped hints throughout the book that the conclusion wasn’t as satisfying as it could have been.

While 𝑮𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 had its intriguing moments and kept me entertained for a few hours, it was an average read and fairly forgettable for me, but good for those times when you don’t want to think too much.

Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz is a wickedly clever young adult mystery novel that I recommend going into with as little as information as possible. I feel like the less one knows going in, the more exciting read will be had. I didn’t know much before I started & I was so curious & intrigued I zipped through this in an afternoon because I had to know what happened! There’s quite a few twists & turns & I enjoyed trying to solve it as I read. I appreciated the underlying commentary the story provided on important issues but I will keep to vague because of spoilers!

Beloved YouTuber & Instagram influencer goes missing under mysterious circumstances & her followers get #WhereIsAmeliaAshley trending. Amelia & her boyfriend were on an European vacation with the trip finishing in Rome, but what happens when they get in a quarrel & her boyfriend Josh boards the plane home & she doesn’t?!

If you are in the mood for a quick, easy to get lost in & curious young adult mystery, then I recommend checking out Going Dark!

Massive thanks to NetGalley, Union Square Co. & TBR & Beyond Tours for the arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

Trigger warnings: This book mentions &/or contains murder, missing person, violence & injury.

This was a 3.5 star read for me.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for a fair and honest review**

The front cover sold this book to me before I'd even read the description, kudos to the designer. I love a good mystery story and the fact that it had a modern twist (social media influencer goes missing, boyfriend suspected) meant I happily dove into this title as soon as I received it.

I enjoyed the way that the story unfurled and that we were learning more about the missing woman along with the keen young journalist. I did guess the twist but that's not unusual for me. I thought the author did an excellent job of building the tension, especially at the end.

At first, I was really bored, to the point of reading a chapter and putting this book off for two weeks. Until I reached page 100, and then I finally got into it. I ended up reading the entirety of the book (minus the first chapter) in one sitting. I enjoyed the vlog transcripts, it made it more fun to read.

There are multiple POVs and parts, and we follow 3 different characters: Amelia, the missing influencer; Josh, the boyfriend/suspect; and Harper a hacker.

The story is enjoyable, it's an interesting mystery that is both predictable and yet not. There were some twists that I didn't see coming, so that was fun. One of my complaints is that the information we get is very info-dumpy. I would've preferred if it was slowly integrated into the story. Secondly, I disliked the ending. It was very abrupt, I swiped to the next page assuming there was an epilogue and no, which personally I feel would've been better. Also, the big confrontation was boring, after everything she just stands there, which was not what I expected.

Overall, an enjoyable mystery and a fast read.

I absolutely devoured this fun, suspenseful YA mystery!

Where is Amelia Ashley? That is the question on the news, on social media, and on everyone’s lips when the content creator goes missing instead of returning from a romantic European vacation with her boyfriend Josh. Josh got on the plane and came home without her, and his odd actions make him the prime suspect in Amelia’s disappearance. Her millions of followers will not let this one go unsolved.

I think this one is best gone into blind, knowing only that small amount of information. Let’s just say it is twisty, fast paced, and so fun to read. It is told in multiple perspectives and uses the addition of transcripts of Amelia’s past YouTube videos and blog posts to weave a layered mystery. An exceptionally well done YA thriller, where the characters motivations are understood and the dialogue is realistic and well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First off I would like to thank Union Square Co. Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy!

This book was a ride! From start to finish it was non-stop it was beautifully written. The twists and turns were shocking. I was surprised by many of them! The characters are well flushed out and have a lot of depth. It a journey to go through the different perspectives and it truly kept you on your toes while you were reading!

The thriller aspect, the mystery, the suspense is all well-balance and truly enjoyable to read.

Melissa de la Cruz is one of my favourite authors and I am once again reminded why. Her ability to tell a story through so many different perspectives is just so amazing and it always leaves for such a cohesive story,

Well worth the read if you like books like One of Us is Lying or anything alone those lines! Also just worth the read for the mystery alone!

This fast paced and suspenseful story about the disappearance of content creator Amelia Ashley started a little bit slow, but about a quarter of the way through really started picking up. Near the end I couldn't put the book down and was excited to see if I had figured the mystery out. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Melissa De La Cruz or other suspense fans.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

In this twisty, suspense-filled novel, Amelia goes missing at the end of a trip to Rome, and her boyfriend Josh is the prime suspect, both for the police and her followers on social media. He seems innocent, but is he hiding something?

This book really surprised me- I thought I was going to hate it after the first chapter or so. I mean, who leaves his 19 year old girlfriend in Europe and flies home? Get past that, and you’ll be hooked. It’s a relatively quick read, and I recommend it for YA/new adult suspense fans.

Wow! I loved this page turner slash secret revenge story! De la Cruz does a masterful job setting up a blindside to the antagonist that the reader only starts to suspect far into the book. The book explores the ideas of creating (or recreating) one's self online and how far social media can take a person. It is perfectly timed with the recent events and docuseries about Anna Sorokin and thus will be a highly popular book for young adults and adults alike.