Antisocial

by Jillian Blake

[Leah]

Antisocial is one of those books you’re either going to love or hate. There’s part of me that wants to stand up and applaud it because it is SO on point. People – not just teenagers – put way too much of their life online, or through their phones, but not only that people are bitchy without reason. Every day. On social media, you see people being bitchy/snarky all the damn time, but never to someone’s face. It’s always subtweeting, and I kinda hate it. If you have something to say about someone, be man enough to say it to their face. Or, alternatively, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t bloody well say it.

I was proper into Antisocial. The nosy part of me loved the leaks, loved seeing the Instas get their come-uppance, but such is the way, it wasn’t just the Instas getting leaked; it was everyone. Accusations were flying, and Anna Soler was desperate to not have her messages shown to the world, especially since she just got her friends, Nikki and Rad. Then there’s her relationship with Jethro – torpedoed while she was with now-ex Palmer, but it’s way, way complicated. Here’s the thing: I liked Anna. Her anxiety was well-portrayed, and it seemed true to life, although I am no expert and y’know when it comes to your first boyfriend, maybe things do get a bit intense and everyone else falls to the wayside, but man, did she let her friends go. She was lucky they were willing to at least give her another shot, because that’s a blacklist thing to do, that. Then she goes and nearly ruins it all by sleeping with Jethro! Then she decides she doesn’t actually want a relationship with him! Like howay, girl, get yourself a clue?!?!

The worst part about Antisocial is how real it all was. Something like that could happen – may have already happened somewhere, and the consequences can be catastrophic. Sure, it all starts out as a bit of a laugh, but something like that, fictional or no, can really ruin someone’s life and that’s what really brought the book into stark reality. This book may be fiction, but damn, may it also end up being real one day. Nevertheless, it was a super addictive read. I read it in one sitting, and I really, really liked Anna’s voice. She’s not perfect by any means – none of us are, let’s be real. But I liked her. Yes, she couldn’t make her mind up sometimes, and let others lead her way, but I got over the Jethro thing the minute after I posted that update on GoodReads, because this book isn’t about romance. It’s about friendship, it’s undoubtedly a statement on just how much we as a world are addicted to technology. It’s also about friendship.

Was I disappointed in the ending of Antisocial? It’s so hard to go into everything that went down at the end of the book because spoilers, but it wasn’t that I was disappointed per se. It was more like, “That’s IT?” I wanted to run to Jillian Blake’s door and demand some more freaking ANSWERS DAMN IT. So a good frustrating, and probably the only ending that really could have been, let’s be honest. How DO you end a book like that, after all? This was an incredible read. After a few very “meh” kind of books, this properly got me excited/creeped out/sad. Jillian Blake knows what she’s writing about and I loved every page of this incredible book. It’s a must read for our social media obsessed generation.