The
Bright Side of Going Dark
by
publication: May 12th 2020 by Lake Union
Publishing
From the
bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler comes a
fresh, funny, and thoughtful story about going off the grid in order to truly
live.
As one of the
most popular influencers on social media, Mia Bell has lived her life online
for years. With her celebrity dog and gorgeous fiancé, she is planning the
ultimate virtual wedding—expensive, elaborate, and entirely paid for by
sponsors. But off-camera, her world is far from picture perfect. After being
jilted by her fiancé and faking her nuptials to please her sponsors, Mia
finally has had enough. She heaves her phone off a cliff, ready to live—and
maybe find love—offline for a change.
Mia’s sudden
absence doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by techie loner Paige Miller, who
hacks Mia’s account and begins impersonating the internet celebrity. Paige has
her reasons. Her half sister, Jessica, idolizes Mia and desperately needs
something to believe in. If taking over Mia’s online persona is Paige’s only
means of connecting to her sister, so be it.
Creating a
like-worthy life is more fun than Paige expected. But when she grows too bold
and is caught in the act, a fiasco ensues that could forever change Mia, Paige,
and the people who love them. Because somewhere amid the chaos is an invaluable
lesson—one that only real life can teach.
My Thoughts…
I almost passed
on reading/reviewing The Bright Side of Going Dark, let me say that would have
been a mistake for me. I have been
struggling with focusing on my reading, nothing is really holding my attention
until Kelly Harm’s book. I started
this book, I quickly became invested in the characters, and I found the story
easy to follow. There were times I
would sneak away just to read a few more pages or, hopefully, another chapter.
While I am not
a social influencer, there are times that I feel like I am hooked to my
screen. I loved that Mia, a social
influencer, makes the difficult decision to step away from her life on
Instagram. It was amazing to see her
bloom into a real person, a person who had friends, who did not photograph
everything, and a person who could see her life for herself not just as her
followers see her. The story opened my
eyes to what I am missing when I sit with my phone or tablet open while the
family is around. I really like that
with Paige’s side of the story you could see how someone who didn’t spend a lot
of time on social media and then starts to spend more time was losing herself
and losing time that she couldn’t make up.
While it could be fun, for a bit, to be an influencer there is so much
more to life and The Bright Side of Going Dark shows just how much is missed
when your stuck behind your screen.
The other part
of this story is the anxiety, grief, and family. The generation gap between mother and
daughter, the age difference of sisters, the fiancé calling off your wedding,
and the cute neighbor with the adorable daughter are all added aspects to this
story. I definitely recommend picking
up your own copy.
No comments:
Post a Comment