Rekt by Alex Gonzalez is an internet psychological thriller—honestly, a genre that feels like it’s gearing up for an amazing run over the next few years. The book dives into Sammy’s spiral after losing his girlfriend in a car crash, leading him into the twisted depths of a dark web site where real deaths are watched and bet on. It’s disturbing, raw, and feels almost too close to reality for comfort, especially if you grew up watching things online that you probably shouldn’t have.

Sammy is easily the best part of the story—his downward spiral is morbidly relatable, and being in his head feels like those 3 a.m. moments when your mind takes you to dark places. The tension is real, the violence is visceral, but the story itself, particularly the mystery of the site chinsky, is what kept me going. The pacing felt off at times, and while I loved the concept, the last stretch didn’t quite hit like I wanted it to. Still, it's a wild ride, and if you're into dark internet thrillers, it’s worth checking out.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Hooo this was rough. The concept was interesting, and I think it was explored really well, I just had a hard time getting through it as it was so depressing. Which, all in all, it hit the mark in terms of goal. A depraved look into toxic behaviors, grief and the depths of despair.

Rating 3.5/5

Rekt is such a horrific, mind-bending, and unfortunate story that is so close to reality it’s terrifying. With themes of death, grief, and mental illness, it highlights the bleakness of the internet and the haunting of real life nightmares. I truly never want to read this book again. There is no place scarier than the internet.

For fans of online horror, No Sleep, and creepypasta.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!**

This book is going to stick with me for quite a while… This book is scary for the simple fact that, this is something that could happen. There are probably plenty of people who spend their time online watching and paying for this kind of disturbing material.
You don’t realize how dark and scary the internet or people can be until you come across a book like this. There are real people on the internet scarier than any monster you have ever read about and this book taps into that very well. This book has me looking at my social presence online and wanting to step back…
However, if you grew up on creepypasta and loving spiraling down a horrific rabbit hole then this book is for you! Highly recommend if you want something fresh to read in horror. But be prepared, this book is dark and at times can make you emotional.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, and I also hated it. This novel delves a lot deeper into grief, depression, longing, and deep emotional depravity in a way I did not expect. I also don’t think I really “got” most of the story. But I could not look away or stop reading; I kept being drawn back in, similar to Sammy not being able to stay away from Chinsky even though he knows it’s not healthy for him.

I recommend this book, but I’d add the disclaimer that you really need to be a decent frame of mind when you start it, because otherwise you might find yourself spiraling alongside Sammy.

I thought that the most frightening thing about this book is that it's something that potentially could really happen. No doubt there are thousands of people who spend nearly all their time online watching this sort of disturbing material.

Sammy, the main character, has had to deal with several tragedies in his life. His way of coping, albeit unhealthily, is by watching videos online of people being tortured and murdered. One day, he opens a mysterious link that sends him on a downward spiral.

While much of his book kept my interest, I do admit I got bogged down in the middle of it. Nearly all of the characters in the book are unlikeable, and I felt that I almost needed a break from it at times. There are some graphic depictions of torture, death, accidents, etc.. There was one description in particular involving a baby that was really hard to read.

Oh yeah, this one is definitely gonna stay with me for a while. As someone who has been deeply entrenched in the internet for at least 18 years, but has largely avoided this gruesome side to it, I was incredibly drawn in by the premise of this book. I think rekt provides such an interesting look into toxic masculinity, grief, and the horrors of the internet (and the desensitization to such horrors). I loved being in Sammy's head, despite how disturbing it was to be there sometimes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

Unfortunately, I would self-conciously consider myself chronically online. So I was intrigued by the premise, even if I don't read a lot in this genre.

This book is classified as horror and it was in fact horrible to read. Because it's not that far off that the things described in the book could happen IRL. The internet is a scary place. And because the thoughts of the toxic-masculine protagonist feel like they can - to some extent - be found in a lot of men nowadays as well. The downward spiral he goes through feels authentic.

Apart from that I felt that the book had a few lenghts. Also, it didn't get to me the way I think it could have. But maybe that's a me problem, as I'm rarely impressed with horror stories.

All in all 3.5 ⭐

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I’ve been hearing about this book a lot lately (or maybe just from Paul Tremblay?) so I was thrilled to get the ARC from NetGalley and not have to wait. Plus it’s Spooky Szn!

Intriguing premise: a man’s GF dies in a car crash and he’s sent a link to a website with a video of her death. Which leads him to more and more death videos on the site. (Ah, the internet.) Some death videos are real, some are fake, he becomes obsessed.

The concept is pretty fascinating, as everything unfolds and people track down the actual reason for the site and those behind it.

This is definitely a good real-world-horrors horror novel. Especially if you’re interested in the Chronically Online culture. It’s bleak AF, but that’s the world, right?

This is a disturbing story about masculinity and it was a weird read. I think it was a bit disturbing in all honesty. The watching of dark videos of death and torture online is insane and gross and disturbing . I was very turned off from this book

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and especially the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book!!

There is places on the internet scarier than anything I could make up. There are real people in those spaces that are scarier than any monsters I could imagine. I think this book taps into that dread really well. 4.5 stars.
I loved this. I never want to read it again. I want to wipe all my social media and tape over all my cameras.

Highly recommend if : you read a lot of creepypasta when you were 13, or just love a good helplessly horrific spiral.

This was dark and for me a little emotional.
The internet, the dark web, the toxic masculinity, it all hit too close to home.

This was horror, but horror that makes you really think about things, but still drawing you in, making you tense up, and reaching out and getting you and maybe your soul at this point.

Definitely reccomend, especially if you want something fresh to read in the horror world

This was a wonderfully done horror novel, it dealt with toxic masculinity and the internet perfectly. The character felt like characters from real life and glad everything worked with the story. Alex Gonzalez does a great job in creating a tense atmosphere and enjoyed the way everything was written.