This was quite different and I enjoyed it. It really makes you think about who is watching while we're online and how damaging the idea of popularity and the spotlight can be to so,e individuals.

Thanks so much Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange of my honest review!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

As both a streamer and horror lover, when I read the premise of this book it sounded right up my alley! and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
The story is about Teresa, aka Replay, a girl isolated and haunted by the death of her best friend, who starts watching streamers and becomes a streamer herself as a way to cope and feel connected to the outside world, until something happens live to her favorite streamer, and she obsesses over trying to solve the mystery, is it all an act? or is something supernatural really going on?

The story really got me hooked from the start, I really enjoyed how the aspects of streaming and using different social medias like discord, twitter, etc. were presented visually in the book, it made it feel all the more immersive. The way the mystery unfolded was very well done, and it kept me on wanting to read to know what happens next.
I really liked that Teresa and her streamer friends were part of the LGBTQ community, as a queer streamer myself it really resonated with me about how streaming can serve as a way to show your true self online that you can’t really show in your everyday life.
Also liked the commentary about how being behind a screen really gives people free range to be their worst selves, either sending awful messages or becoming spectators to others’ misery.

Overall very great read!

Creepy, Addictive, and Impossible to Put Down!

The story follows Teresa, a traumatized teen who barely leaves her room after a tragic accident, finding comfort in online streaming. But when she witnesses a popular streamer’s *horrifying* on-screen death—caused by some kind of shadowy, supernatural force—things get seriously disturbing. The tension is so well done—you feel Teresa’s fear as she’s forced to face her worst nightmares, both online and IRL. The mix of modern streaming culture and classic horror had me hooked, and the ending left me shook.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me an early copy of Deadstream.
Deadstream follows Teresa as she navigates life after the death of her best friend. She has a hard time leaving her room and finds solace in streaming and the people she meets online. Then things start happening to her friends and she is needed to figure it out before things happen to more of them.
I really enjoyed this story. It kept me entertained and guessing thru the entire book. I flew thru it! It was well written and the story was well thought out. I will definitely be picking up more from this author.

This was an eerie and thrilling YA horror. I think this is very fitting with today's teens and their focus on all things technology. I myself love watching let's plays and the thought of seeing a streamer get haunted and die on camera gives me goosebumps.

The majority of this book takes place in our MC's room, which I feel is very impressive. It gave the story a claustrophobic atmosphere and really put us in the MC's head.

I really enjoyed the bit of mixed media we get in this, and I feel like it really helped get me more invested in the story.

The ending was a little anticlimactic considering the intensity of the buildup, but I still think that this is a solid YA horror that will appeal to a ton of readers. Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

Definitely not a book to read in the dark with a bedroom door partially cracked. I kept looking to see if something was standing in the doorway. I enjoyed how creepy this was! And I really liked the formatting with the chat messages. The representation was also very good and I liked how it wasn't a huge deal.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

(Rounded up from 3.5 stars)

I enjoyed this one! It did not go the direction I expected it too for the reveal, but it was a fun premise. I enjoyed the gender and sexuality exploration subplot, I found it made the characters feel more human and more compelling. I also enjoyed the way the social media layout and content was included! It added to the experience. Sidenote: If you are creeped out by things happening to people's eyes (like myself), you *may* want to pass on this one, or at least be ready to skip a couple of paragraphs (no spoilers though!).

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for this ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin RandomHouse, and Penguin Books for this free copy of "DeadStream."

Teresa is depressed about her friend's death and panics at the thought of leaving her house, so her only connection to the world is watching streaming channels online.

Her favorite channeler is called Brick. But while watching, Teresa sees a shadow figure come through a door behind him and then Brick becomes unresponsive.

But what happens when a shadow figure and mysterious door also appear in Teresa's feed?

This book was creepy on so many levels. Of course, the shadow figure and what happened afterward. But also the isolation that people feel and their reliance on technology to help them connect. And how that can be manipulated. And wondering how many people are like Teresa and feel so alone.

Open the Door...

This book was a lot of fun and a little weird. Unfriended meets twitch streaming. How do you escape an entity that's infesting the internet when the internet is EVERYWHERE?

A new twist on hauntings and viruses that kept my attention from start to finish. There were a few weird POV shifts that left me confused at times, but I think it was a really unique experience. This book has a little bit of everything from the paranormal to body horror and I was impressed.

This was a really creepy read! I enjoyed the setting and how the ‘evil’ really was able to creep into our everyday life. The characters were very relatable and the development of them was done very well.

The formatting of the book might be difficult in the e-version but playing around with formatting really fixed it. A lot of the book is told through chats/texts so it can be a pretty quick read as well.

This was a fast read that is said to be The Ring and Rear Window adjacent. It was interesting, and I was curious enough once I started to keeping reading. Teresa is a character has experienced her own trauma and is struggling to work through it as she also investigates these creepy incidents. How the social media aspects were formatted was interesting and made it realistic which further draws you into the story. The plot was suspenseful but no major shocks. A decent YA horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Here we have a horror story that revolves around social media or, to be more specific, the streaming world. Social media horror is one of my favorite subgenres I love to read the different ways it can go horribly wrong. This was told in a mixed media format there were parts with group texts and even some video streams this might have been my favorite part of the book it made me feel I was watching the streams with them. Although this was described as 'The Ring' meets 'Rear Window', I don't think that's very accurate. The horror in this is lacking a little. I wish there were more spooky moments thrown in here. There was also a romance subplot that felt a little forced. On the plus side, this was filled with lgbtq+ rep ! If you're an older person who likes to read Ya from time to time you might want to leave this one with the younger generation unless you're well versed in the streaming community or know of the latest internet lingo. I think the audience this book is meant for will really resonate with it.

This was creepy and I had a great time reading this! I really liked the use of all the different kinds of texts, chats and screenshots throughout the story because it made it really immersive. I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Mar Romasco - Moore, Penguin Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Deadstream follows Teresa, a chronically online and agoraphobic teenager, who after surviving a car accident that killed her best friend, is too scared to even leave her bedroom. Finding solace in her online friends and streaming, things go wrong one day after her favourite streamer goes AWOL, seemingly haunted by a ghost.

This is a good example of great idea, very poor execution. The plot and twists are very predictable and repetitive. The author fails to make me care about the characters and the brief romance subplot felt shoehorned in to tick a LGBT box for the sake of it rather than any attempts at true representation which I really dislike.

The narrative style was all over the place. The horror elements were not particularly scary or even creepy. It also lacked suspense and atmosphere.

Maybe I'm just too old for YA horror now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Because I recently read a book with a similar premise that I enjoyed, I was excited to read this one, While it was interesting enough to keep me reading, I did find myself skimming though some parts. YA is always hit or miss with me, and I couldn't fully connect with these characters. I was hoping for more horror rep and less gaming references, but I knew that was a huge part of the plot going in, so that's on me. I did appreciate the elements of mixed media in between the chapters, and I thoroughly enjoyed the nod to one of my favorite horror movies, The Ring. I do thanks Viking Books for the early copy that is out now.

It's been months since Teresa left her room—not since her best friend died in the car accident she survived. Since then, her only form of social connection has been the viewers on her livestreaming account. One night, her favorite live streamer's feed shows a mysterious door behind him, but the door only appears on screen. In real life, he never sees the shadowy creature emerging behind him until it's too late. Days later, he dies during a live stream after hours of catatonic staring into the webcam. Now Teresa must figure out what's causing a string of similar deaths to occur before it comes for her, too.

If I was a teen, I would be terrified by this book. (Let's be honest, as an adult, I was terrified by this book.) I didn't finish the only R.L. Stine I picked up and I couldn't even look at the covers of Animorphs on my way to the YA Fantasy shelf.

Youth has never been a protection from life's misfortunes. Inevitably, Young Adult books distill the grim reality of the world teenagers have inherited—tackling topics like climate change, income inequality, and social isolation. Stories help young people understand and process life's greatest challenges in the safety of a fictional world. They give them the language to understand them and the resolve to overcome them. Importantly, stories teach them the morals (adults would like them to learn) from the struggle.

Deadstream doesn't shy away from difficult topics like anxiety, PTSD, gender identity, and grief. Teresa struggles with agoraphobia and is too anxious to leave her room; many teens today feel socially isolated by the shift away from in-person to online community and their mental health suffers because of it. Teresa experiences grief, loss, and PTSD from a severe car accident that killed her best friend. Many teens today struggle with feelings of grief for losses outside their control. Horror has a unique way of helping us contextualize these experiences, providing a reflection of the emotional depth we experience in real life.

Deadstream blends psychological horror with digital-age paranoia in an eerie, timely premise. Teresa, a reclusive teen scarred by trauma, becomes ensnared in a chilling mystery that unfolds through livestreams and viral terror. The novel taps into modern fears of isolation, online identity, and the blurred line between reality and the virtual world.

Romasco-Moore delivers an engaging setup, and the early tension builds well, particularly through the disturbing imagery of the shadowy figure infiltrating streams. Teresa’s internal struggle with agoraphobia adds depth, grounding the supernatural horror in real emotional stakes.

However, while the concept is strong, the execution sometimes stumbles. The plot can feel repetitive, with the "entity in the stream" motif losing impact as it recurs without significant variation. The pacing drags in the middle, and some supporting characters lack development, making certain emotional beats feel underwhelming. The climax, though tense, leans into familiar tropes without offering a truly surprising payoff.

Overall, Deadstream is a solid read with a compelling premise and some genuine chills, but it doesn’t quite push far enough to stand out in the crowded YA horror genre. Fans of tech-based thrillers will find enough to enjoy, but others may wish the book had explored its dark corners with more daring.

This book was very interesting. I loved the idea and think it was executed pretty well. I was curious how they were going to use streaming in a horror way but I believe it was done in a fun/face paced way that kept you a bit on the edge of your seat.

I loved the premise of this book and cross between the Ring and Rear Window except make it modern. It also reminded me of the movie, Host. I also enjoyed the diverse set of characters, I just wish they were developed a little more. Otherwise this was a quick fun creepy read!

What an incredible read this was! ‘Deadstream’ was a terrifying look at what supernatural beings could do with technology and send those who use it into an absolute spiral. There were multiple times this book creeped me out and made me get up to walk around to shake the feeling of being watched. For this being a debut novel and a Young Adult genre title, I cannot wait to see what Romasco-Moore does in the future, as this was an incredible way to burst onto the scene.