Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I could NOT put this down. Fast paced, scary, queer as hell. There were so many parts that genuinely scared me. Enough for me to make this a daytime only book. Teresa was such a lovely character, and maybe a little too relatable.

The ending felt maybe a tiny bit preachy to me but that was really my only dislike of it altogether.

Rear Window and The Ring feels like an apt description, mixed a little with Unfriended. This was my first novel from this author and I'm excited to check out the rest of their work! Very scary and well written.

I rounded my rating up for this book, since It helped me through a book slump: 3.5 stars overall.

DEADSTREAM is a book about a teen streamer who has agoraphobia, and is unable to leave her house, and on bad days, her room. Theresa’s life is in her computer, where she streams on an undisclosed social media app. Something strange is going on in the streaming world. It seems that a famous streamer Brick has opened a door during the live stream, inviting a deadly spirit into his life, his computer and begins an otherworldly infestation of poltergeist proportions. Theresa is drawn into a paranoid experience, when she begins to be haunted by the same entity that has Brick acting strange.

I liked the concept of the story, I really did. It’s not super deep, but I’m not the target audience for this book, so maybe I’m biased. I like Theresa as a character, following her on her journey was wild at times. At the end of the book, our main takeaways involve an interesting thought: what happens to your online spirit after you die? Can your ghost remain trapped on the internet, long after your IRL form has passed away? What happens to your internet presence after you die?

An eerie concept I hope writers explore more in the years to come.

Final thoughts: Do not- I repeat, DO NOT- read this book if you hated that scene from The Mummy. You know… the scene where the bugs crawl under his skin? The climax of the book honestly had me skimming cause, wow, my brain canNOT do buggy things 😭😭

Deadstream had a promising premise and I was having fun while reading it (comparing the book to "The Ring" already had me intrigued). In the end, this book was the equivalent to reading a modern "GOOSEBUMPS" story. The spookiness and anticipation was high in the first few chapters. Reading how Brick was slowly eroding away helplessly was terrifying. Theresa was a great MC and is a relatable character especially to the younger audience the book is geared toward. They had experience a traumatic event and became recluse hiding behind the internet and a online persona that felt more like them. The LGBTQ+ presence in this book on how Theresa was discovering who they were and how it translated to how they viewed streamers/streaming was done so well. The book also did a great job dealing with mental health when it comes to anxiety and how the internet plays a part in increasing fears of isolation or can create a positive community for those needing an escape. It highlighted some good issues with streaming including doxxing, swatting, misogyny, and cancel culture. This would be a horror to a lot of pre-teens/teens who are lookin to build an online identity. As someone who watches streamers occasionally and sees the "parasocial" nature of the commenters, the pages of chat logs had me laughing. I can tell that Mar Romasco-Moore did really good research on how people type and it added the humor in-between the creepy.

Now for the not-so-great part of this book. Theresa/Replay relationship felt a bit rushed toward the end. It would have made the ending feel more meaningful. At most what we got were conversations that ended too quickly so it made me think it was more of a one sided crush. Also, the ending resolution did feel a bit convoluted and silly to me. Not to give too much detail but It felt like that last sequence of events felt detached from the rest of the story.

Overall, I would recommend Deadstream to a younger audience looking for a quick, not to scary read. If you are constantly online and into online gaming culture then this book is definitely for you!

With the rise of social media, streaming, and living one’s life online - the internet has been a place sorely lacking in good horror content focused solely on that. There’s been a few decent games and ARG’s I can think of that focus on the internet as the birthplace of the horror (the game Simulacra comes to mind), but as a whole I find it difficult to find many ventures into this genre to be both believable and entertaining.

Deadstream, in my opinion, has a wonderful start to how the horror begins - slowly, and with increasing believability. With our main character recovering from the death of her friend after a car crash, she’s become agoraphobic and only gets her socialization online - typically through either streaming herself, or watching others stream. As someone who watches a lot of streamers, and has for a few years, I found these parts of the novel to be realistic and believable - the live chat, the reactions, the streamers content and speaking voice - all of which, made it remarkably easy for me to imagine I was also watching this stream and was involved in the chat.

With that note, I will say that I think someone who doesn’t regularly watch streamers online, and isn’t familiar with the kind of chat lingo that comes with it, as well as other typical fandom content on places like Reddit or Twitter, I do think you might be a bit lost during these parts. In being realistic, I do think if you’re unused to the speaking tone and the “chat-speak” that’s common during these things, you won’t get the full picture. However, if you do know these things, I personally found it to be one of the only times I’ve found the inclusion of this side of the internet to be realistic and charming - rather than cringy and painful to read.

However, I will admit that a majority of my 4 star rating has come more from this beginning than how this book ended, as once the “reveal” of what exactly was happening was done I was less invested and found the entire thing to (somehow) become less believable. While the idea of something that haunted streamers and sent them catatonic was an interesting take, I think - once we (as the main character) knew the cause, it was suddenly less frightening or interesting. Not to spoil anything, but there was one scene with a character in a car that felt absolutely ridiculous and by that point I was just reading to finish the book, to be completely honest.

While I understood our main character’s anxiety, I didn’t personally think that there was a serious need to have the background of her dead friend being the cause of her agoraphobia - at times it felt out of place, and since this aspect is never fully explored I didn’t think it was necessary. There are many reasons a person may become, or already is, agoraphobic, and I think any could have been explored with our main character and nothing would have changed. The parts in this book that focused on this section of our main character’s past felt less explored or thought out than the rest of the book, and it personally felt to me like a last-minute addition to give a “reason” for her behavior.

I also kind of found the ending to have, while an interesting take on the entire thing, to have felt a bit too cheesy and not for me. However, considering the reasoning for the entire paranormal stream activity in the first place, it does - in a way - fit, but it personally took me out of the story by the time I reached it.

However - as a whole, I found this book to be a fun exploration of horror set in a modern digital age, with the focus being on streaming and the many doors that can - unintentionally - open, both to those streaming and those watching. While I think that this book had a strong start and may have missed the mark near the end, I do recommend it if you were looking for some fast-paced campy modern digital horror, as the premise was extremely well done and (at least for the parts focusing in the streaming) it never cut my immersion.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I received this as an Arc and would like to thank netgalley and Publisher Penguin group for the opportunity to read this book. At first the beginning of the book left me asking what happened to Teresa and why she refused to leave her room, as well as to why streaming wqs so important to her. I was a bit out of place as I have not used any live streaming sites or any of that but once I looked up a few things I knew what was being mentioned. This book was a fast read and part of that is due to the chat pages which were definently needed as it added alot to the story. The author did a very good job keeping me interested in wanting to know what was happening and what's going to happen next. Not sure if it was intentional but I really liked how it portrayed the need some people have to feel liked and to have people pay attention to them, as well as how it could also be negative as well. After the first 20% of the book I really got into it and the book stayed consistent on keeping me engaged. I really enjoyed the part between Teresa and Becks and rhe telescope near the end.

Deadstream offers an intriguing mix of modern internet culture and supernatural horror. As someone familiar with streaming and online communities, I found the portrayal of live streams authentic and relatable. The storyline is engaging and held my interest with its eerie premise and tense atmosphere.

However, I struggled with the format, particularly the sections featuring stream chats. It was often hard to follow, though this could be an issue with the Kindle version rather than the book itself. While the plot was interesting, it was somewhat predictable, and I found myself guessing the twists early on.

Overall, a solid read for fans of YA thrillers with a digital twist, but it didn’t fully deliver on the suspense it promised.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of Deadstream!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🎧 love to stream (or just watch them)
😬 have high anxiety
💻 have a lot of online friends
👻 have ever seen a ghost

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

After surviving a car accident that claimed the life of her best friend, Teresa is now terrified to leave the safety of her bedroom. Since then, her only solace and window to the outside world has been the online community she found through streaming.

But one night, the safe world Teresa created starts to break down. A shadowy figure appears in the background of her favorite's streamer's video, and his behavior mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this figure could be . . . especially as it begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to "open the door" and let it in—including Teresa’s own. In order to save herself and the rest of the internet from this relentless entity, Teresa must venture outside of the mental and physical walls she’s created. But will she be able to conquer her fears before anyone else loses their life?

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was an intriguing read right from the start! I loved the premise, and the fact that this written in such a unique way had me really hooked. It was probably formatted a bit differently on the kindle than it’ll be in print, but overall I was able to read it with relative ease. I learned a lot more about streaming than I ever knew before. I loved the direction this story took as well with the ghost. The ending creeped me out too! I think this could be a really cool movie!

This is like a modern, sort of paranormal version of Rear Window and I love the whole concept! It was a bit heavier than I expected at times but I still enjoyed it

Following the tragic death of Teresa’s best friend, she deals with her grief by isolating herself away in her room with streaming being her only connection to the outside world. This arrangement is working fairly well for Teresa or so she thinks, until one of the most popular creators stages an elaborate stunt with an faux door and a grinning ghost or whatever creepy entity it’s supposed to be, The scene prompts thousands of views. Is this staged drama or something more sinister?

As a result of this mysterious stream, Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this ghostly being could be. The story gets super creepy as the being begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to open the door and let it in.
If Teresa is to save herself and the rest of the internet from this deadly entity, she must face her real fears and phobias and leave the confines of her physical walls.

This storyline can be quite intense and disturbing at times to read. It’s written as a young adult novel but I think it will have a much wider audience for readers in the genre of weird, creepy, disturbing and spine chilling.

While I thought the book was good, I felt it could have used another round of editing.

Deadstream is about a teenager named Theresa (alter ego Replay) who struggles with severe PTSD and anxiety after the death of her best friend. She does not leave her room, and finds solace in online streaming communities. When a popular streamer starts acting strange and becomes catatonic, Theresa/Replay decides to track down the mystery, and unfortunately, causes the shadows of the interenet to haunt and posses other streamers.

Ok there were a lot of things I both liked and disliked about this book, but the pros outweight the cons. When I was 18 I developed severe agoraphobia, and the descriptions and what Theresa was going through in both her physical and emotional state are almost dead on to how I was feeling. Major props for that. I also have mild aphasia so I struggle to picture books in my head, and because of that, it takes a lot for something in a book to scare me. HOLY COW, did this have me on the edge of my seat! I had to put the book down at one point because I was reading in the middle of the night, and freaking myself out!

Now the cons: I flew through the first 3/4 of the books and it majorly started to slow at the end. Also, I'm normally not a fan of LGBTQ+ texts (love the support and I'm glad everyone can feel seen, they're just not for me), but I think this was done pretty well. Except for the forced relationship; that felt forced and unneccessary.

Deadsteam is a well done young adult horror from an author who truly understands both streaming culture and crippling anxiety. Our main character, Theresa, survived a car accident that killed her best friend and has left her terrified of everything. The overwhelming grief coupled with her anxiety has left Theresa turning more to the online world where she can escape reality by watching creators stream and streaming herself as her alter ego, Replay. One day she is watching her favorite streamer, Brick, when something bizarre happens and then he suddenly goes comatose and stays on stream for hours not moving. It starts infecting other streamers and even Theresa herself which forces her to face all of her demons in an effort to save herself and those she cares about.

The topics in this book were so current to today's culture and gives a real understanding to why so many people are finding safety and community through the internet. I also loved how Romasco-Moore is able to vividly show how devastating anxiety can be. I also want to note that while I am referring to Theresa with a female pronoun there is a great part of the book that talks about gender identity and how Theresa views themselves.

The actual crux of the story was very good. I was instantly swept up into the story and I would read huge chunks of this book without even realizing how much time had gone by. Part of this book is told through chats and video descriptions which really helps the reader visualize what is happening but helps keep up the high pace of the novel. Romasco-Moore also had some intense moments of both panic and horrific moments that had me on the edge of my seat.

This is an intense novel that can be difficult at times to read so please check trigger warnings before starting. Even though this is a young adult novel I think will appeal to people of many ages. Romasco-Moore has a few books on her backlist that sound intriguing so I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.

This was a great book to read leading up to Halloween (aka Spooky Season). It was also a fast read, so I enjoyed being able to knock this off my TBR in less than a day. Although some YA books can be rather frustrating with certain aspects, this book didn't make it seem that way. The characters were interesting, and you knew they were still figuring out things.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author for the arc of deadstream! Totally up my alley with the multimedia and found footage vibe, This is one for the books with suspense, horror and a dash of mystery. 5 ⭐️ no doubt.

The premise of this book sounded promising (if not somewhat similar to the movie 'One Missed Call' or 'Pulse') but I found myself kind of struggling to get through it because of the very confusing way in which it was written. The point of view was sometimes first-person, sometimes third-person -- sometimes the audience was in the driver's seat and it left me fighting to keep up with the plot.

All of it also felt very rushed as the book takes place in the span of just a few days, not giving time for the main character to really build up that sense of fear and paranoia that I think perhaps they should have been feeling. I did finish reading the book, and the epilogue at the end also just felt lackluster.

In all, I think I'd pass on reading something by this author again if this is their writing style.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Deadstream by Mar Romasco-Moore is a third person-POV mixed format YA Queer horror about social media, trauma, and how debilitating PTSD can be. Teresa is still recovering from a traumatic car accident that resulted in the death of her best friend, refusing to leave her room and using the internet as her main point of contact with the outside world. When a shadowy figure appears in a popular steamer’s video and the streamer later goes live in an unresponsive state, Teresa knows something weird is going on even if everyone else thinks it’s a hoax.

Due to the pacing and the use of group chats, DMs and Reddit posts, this is quite a fast read. It never feels confusing as everything is formatted exactly how it would be on the website or on most devices, but does move at a fairly brisk pace, which is great if you’re not a fan of slower reads or need something to read in a couple hours. All of the pieces slow together and it does follow a fairly logical flow while leaving a bit of mystery for the reader to discover along with Teresa or having their suspicions confirmed or denied.

One thing I really liked is how we open the story with Teresa still in the Questioning phase of their gender identity. It’s not a focus of the novel, but we do get her considering what feels good and why it does but she’s also not entirely ready yet to be they/them offline. This reflected the experiences of several friends of mine and my own, as there is something that feels safer about being they/them online rather than in public even if the culture in many places is moving in a positive direction. Teresa’s crush and closest friend, Ozma, is a transgirl who helps Teresa during some of the more difficult parts of the story, but also is so happily herself that it does make Teresa think about her gender more.

The fact that so many people assumed Brick, the streamer who went catatonic at the beginning of the book, was making things up and then accused Teresa of making things up felt extremely realistic to me. There are so many people online who will create increasingly bizarre situations in order to get clout and attention and some of them veer into territory that I think most of us can agree shouldn’t really be veered into (such as pretending to be stalked). The inability to look away from Brick’s streams despite the fact he is obviously unwell and the hate Teresa got for doxxing Brick (even if she had good intentions) also felt like something I have seen a million times before in real life so I would have had a hard time believing the story if they weren’t there. It’s probably one of the more realistic depictions of the dark side of the internet I’ve seen that goes beyond the fear mongering that does seem to dominate these kinds of stories.

Content warning for death threats and mentions of suicide

I would recommend this to fans of YA horror looking for a story about social media and streamers and readers who grew up watching streamers and are looking for a horror story

I really enjoyed how tense this was and how it blended paranormal and online streaming to tell a horror story. I really enjoyed the overall concept and how everything worked with the streaming element. The characters worked with the story and was engaged with how strong the tension was in this atmosphere. I was invested in what Mar Romasco-Moore wrote and glad I got to read this.

Struggling with grief over the loss of her best friend, Teresa finds herself unable to leave her room. The only thing she finds comfort in are her online friends and streaming. One night while watching another streamer she, along with the other viewers, see a shadowy figure in the background. Soon that streamer starts acting strangely until he dies on screen. Teresa then sets off to figure out what the mysterious shadow figure really is as it starts appearing in with other streamers.

This book was so fast paced. It pulled me in and I didn't want to put it down. You get the chats, the texts, the chat groups, forum articles so things can move quickly. Having her experiencing agoraphobia and seeing the shadow appear in the doorway gave off just enough creepiness. The other horror imagery - ants crawling over her, maggots, etc I felt were just enough horror for a YA novel and didn't take it too far. There was another scene that had me gasp- I just wasn't expecting what happened to that driver.. Exploring her grief and moving forward without making a huge jump, showing it takes time to heal I think. was handled really well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mar Romasco-Moore and Penguin for the ARC!

This was such a great, twisted, dark and crazy unique book! Incredibly well written and like nothing I’ve read previous! Amazing job!

2.5

This had so much potential but I just felt like the writing was bad. I also felt like I had no reason to care about what happened in this book.

Y'all, this was BAD.

When Teresa's best friend Becks is killed in a car accident, Teresa becomes a shut-in, staying in her bedroom all the time, watching livestreams, building her social media channels, and doing a bit of livestreaming herself. When livestreamers start to become catatonic and die, she suspects a paranormal entity is at work...

This had potential, but the execution wasn't that great. I wasn't crazy about a lot of the characters, especially how so many of them were ~LGBT~. Honestly, that's probably realistic, considering how trendy that is nowadays... but it got old really quickly.

I also didn't like the whole romantic relationship with Ozma at the end... like, what?! I thought they were just good friends. Ozma wasn't a replacement for Becks, but that friendship allowed Teresa to see that her life could go on without her best friend. All of a sudden, when Teresa and Ozma met in real life, they were making out and in love? Seriously?! That was just gratuitous and stupid.

Overall, this one was a stinker! Hard pass. You can find much better stories elsewhere.

NetGalley provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.