https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2302239803?book_show_action=false

Holly, cancer survivor is viciously attacked by a man she has just met....he knows her secret, that she never had cancer, and the business she has built around her is based on lies. The book gives us great insight into the awful way social media can harm people, while giving us a back story on holly and Tyler. It wasn’t the best book I have read this year, and I didn’t like either of the characters, but it was a great concept and was easy to read.

I requested to read this book as it had the potential to be an excellent commentary on the whole issue of social media. Within the story, the author made some interesting points about online celebrity and social media, how we don't really know the real person behind the posts, and how women are attacked for having an opinion, and judged if they are not perfect. Unfortunately I felt that this was diluted by the ending which was a little too contrived. Having said that, it was an interesting read, I'm just not sure I would read it again.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers, Bonnier Zaffre, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A really interesting concept especially in our times of obsessively checking social media to make sure we haven’t missed anything. A quick thrilling read

Shame on you by Amy Heydenrych is a story about health blogger Holly who has beaten Cancer from adopting a healthy Vegan lifestyle and Alternative remedies. Who has thousands of followers from her comments and recipes and likes. She has made a living from it and has become a celebrity. Also Tyler, who is a bearing a grudge towards Holly.
One night, she meets a man in a café who attacks her for no apparent reason and her world is turned upside down. She can’t understand why someone who do this too her.
Tyler, who is a doctor and whose girlfriend Frankie who had Cancer followed the advice that Holly gave out, died and now he is set out for revenge.
This is a great story of how we all live in the age of Social media. How we want to be like/loved. We pretend to be people that others who like us to be. How easy it is that we think that everything on there is the truth and how fickle people can be when things go wrong. How nasty things can turn. Also how lonely it can all be. I applaud the author that this will teach others what Social media really means.
Thank you Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for a copy of this book.

We are living in the digital era and it has become the norm rather than the exception for people to post updates and photos of their lives across the many social media channels. Many of these are snapshots of their lives the unedited version but others have been filtered to show people’s lives they way they want them to be seen. Our children in particular are naive and not embarrassed to post pictures of every aspect of their lives using the many filters available. It’s very easy to portray a life online that we want others to think we lead but, as this book goes someway to highlight, we don’t know who is watching and reading our posts and nor do we know what picture they are building up in their minds of the lives we lead. The author of this book hits home about the dangers that people face by plastering their lives over social media. How quickly things can go from hero to zero.

The book itself - This book is well written and fast paced alternating between chapters written from the point of view of the two main characters, Holly and Tyler, both in the present day and in the past.

Holly is a healthy food blogger who has become famous by beating cancer through adopting a vegan diet, researching natural remedies and exercising religiously every day. In the opening chapters she is subjected to a horrific attack by a man she has just met - he knows who she is (after pretending he doesn’t) and she is left terrified, wondering what she has done to make him so viciously attack her. In a short period of time, Holly’s life spirals out of control and she quickly learns who she can trust and who she cannot.

As I said the book is fast paced and you will find that you can’t turn the pages fast enough as you race to find out how the story will end. I strongly recommend that you read this book and share your thoughts.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Books that focus in on social media call my name.  I feel we are all trying to find our way in the brave new world of social media, and it has so many negative aspects that reading further into this whole theme is well worth the effort.  Shame on You by Amy Heydenrych is fictional but it’s well grounded in the fakeness and manipulation of social media profiles.

[book-info]

First Line of Shame On You by Amy Heydenrych

“McDonald’s is an unholy mess of drunks at this time of night.”

My Thoughts on Shame On You by Amy Heydenrych

Let’s get real here first.  I love social media, it’s one of my favourite ways to waste time.  And I’ve been known to vet my photos, so only the ones I’m happy with see the light of day on social media.  However, I also think Facebook, Instagram, etc can be sewers of negativity, hate and falseness.  So I try to find a happy medium, be careful about who I follow, and be socially aware of what I post myself.  But you never really know for 100% what’s authentic and what’s outright lies.  And this book digs deep into that issue.

Holly is insta-famous, celebrated for her clean living and love for healthy food.  Sticking to a vegan diet healed her of cancer, and zillions of fans fawn over her every picture.  Brands have endorsed her, and she sustains herself fully from her blogging life.  Which all sounds fine, it even sounds like music to my blogger ears.

However, her life is nothing like she portrays.  Yes she loves food, and is zealous about her clean lifestyle, but her only validation comes from likes and comments.  Only she eats her meticulously prepared food, she has no real friends, no real life.  Only a one-dimensional flat-lay existence.  Worse she is hiding a secret, and somebody knows.

On the very first page, Holly suffers a vicious attack and that sets the tone for a tense, stressful read.  Someone is watching, someone has been in her home, and someone wants to slowly torture her by letting her know that.  I was thoroughly freaked out.

I had a love/hate relationship with Holly.  Or maybe that should be a pity/admiration relationship. I dream of a lifestyle that would be fully in insta-perfect moments, but I’m old enough to know better.  Clean living is a goal of mine, but with a side of chocolate, and a far more balanced approach.  But still I admired her grit to follow her dreams, and transform her life.  However I despised so much of her inner dialogue, her actions and her values.  Hello, conflicted.com.

But the theme was bang on the money.  Because of reasons, Holly experiences a public shaming.  While reading this book, there was an actual case in the media here about a UK blogger who approached an Irish restaurant basically looking for a freebie.  The restaurant then named and shamed the blogger on their social media, and it became trial by internet trolls.  So reading this book at the same time that all this going on made the book even more relevant and thought-provoking.

All that aside, I found the found a book an entertaining read, with well-developed characters, and a plot that held me captive. The dual narrative between Holly and her attacker allow you a full insight into just why the characters behave the way they do.  And it kept me engaged from beginning to end.  With an ending that made me close the book with bulging eyes.

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Who should read Shame On You by Amy Heydenrych?

If you enjoy books with social media themes, and that deal with bang on trend subjects then you might enjoy this.  Fans of authors such as Holly Bourne (especially her book How Do You Like Me Know?), Lisa Jewell and Lucy Clarke should also appreciate it.

Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book for review consideration.  As always, no matter what the source of the book, you get my honest, unbiased opinion

I think this book had a strong concept and it was very well written. I liked the main character and her story but I found it quite predictable... I knew what she did and I knew how the story was going to develop. The ending and the final line were brilliant though! Would love to see what the author comes up with in the future!

Holly is a social media sensation. She relies on her online presence to make a living. But her story is not as it seems. This story is about the dangers of social media and not believing everything that you hear. The overall plot of the story is good. It is interesting to read about how people with a big online presence are viewed and believed. The dangers of social media come across in this book. I felt that it was a bit long and rambling in places but still a good read.

Holly is a health blogger. She has become famous after defeating cancer by means of her healthy vegan recipes, meditation and natural remedies. She gets thousands of likes and positive comments on her posts and has many followers. She is an influential celebrity and she likes it. In fact she craves it!
But she has a devastating secret. A secret which would ruin her image if revealed and someone is going to do everything in his power to make Holly’s life insufferable; to make her pay for what she has done.

This story is told from Holly and Tyler's point a view. the book switches between past and present so you get an excellent back story as to why events take place in the present day. Creepy in parts but a real page turner.
I strongly recommend this book and it does remind you of the power of the internet and how internet life is a glossy, pimped up version of reality.

Brilliant book and very glad I read this. I was given a copy of this book by net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book. Brilliant story and I loved the main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

I did not get on with this book in the slightest. Very early on I guessed what Holly's shameful secret is, The book tries to suggest potential reasons for this deceit, but rather than adding an extra layer to the story, it felt like a confused jumble of ideas thrown on the page in the hope that one would stick. I found Holly to be very unlikeable and obvious.
Cluttered in with the story are various heavy handed ideas about social media in contemporary society, these stick out like a sore thumb, and rather than create depth, detract from the flow of the book.
Tyler is unhinged and very one dimensional. There was an opportunity to create a flawed villain, but he is simply fuelled by hate.

Not one I would recommend. Thanks go to the publishers and net galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Holly is an internet blogger with many thousands of followers. Since her cancer diagnosis she has built up quite the following with her healthy lifestyle posts. It couldnt be going better. This is until Holly us viciously attacked by Tyler leaving her scar for life. What follows is a game of cat and mouse between Holly and Tyler where there can only be one winner.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shame On You by Amy Heydenrych, written from the prospectives if the two principals characters it moved quickly and smoothly through its gripping story. The end did feel like it wrapped up in a hurry but overall I found this book an interesting and relevant to the times read.

Shame On You by Amy Heydenrych.
Holly has beaten cancer by adopting a healthy lifestyle and a vegan diet, now she is an Internet sensation. She thrives on all the attention she has online and everything is a photo opportunity to post for her fans. One night she is attacked and badly injured. Waking up in hospital her first thoughts are of how her fans are taking the news of her misfortune. When a secret she has been keeping is exposed, everything changes for Holly. This book shows how social media and living your life online can have many dangers. I would like to thank NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for my e-copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The plot is modern and totally enthralling. On the face of it, it appears to be a sugary novel about social media, however is actually a dark psychological thriller that pulls you in with each page. I really enjoyed this one.

This is totally different to what I was expecting, and, at first, I found the way it was written a little hard to get into. However, as the story unfolds, I find myself unsure who to dislike or sympathise with most! The story mounts as it goes on and you can almost feel it reaching to a crescendo! The ending was interesting if a little ambiguous, but I would highly recommend this read!!!

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me. I was really hoping it would be sensational.

I didn't really get on with the writing. I really tried to keep reading but the subject didn't grab me. There are so many social media personalities like Holly and I understand she is supposed to be presented as superficial. However I didn't find her interesting enough to read about, and there are many other books waiting to be read.

In today's world of internet celebrity, created by posting the right thing at the right time, and having the face/body that fits this book ticked all the boxes when highlighting the current issues with social media today.  

The main character is a health/lifestyle food blogger, who is easy to imagine as any of the current 'celebrity' instragram experts,  Throughout the book I was picturing someone similar to Clean Living Alice, with her own brand, sponsorship and cookbooks. 

Holly is the Blogger we follow through this book.  Shes blonde, skinny, works out and share her healthy recipes with you on Instagram.  However Holly wasnt always the shining star she is now, as a child she felt unloved and unwanted. She was friendless and unhappy with herself. 

After meeting a handsome doctor in the coffee shop, Holly embarks on a magical first date which ends with her in hospital.   We then follow the rollercoaster to her recovery while flushing out some secrets of her own. 

Unlike a lot of Female led books the main character isnt obviously strong, shes flawed and just wants people to like her, and with social interaction a challenge for her the recognition on Instagram is her focus in life.

I think the crux of the matter in this book is reap what you sow...
The story is told through two main characters; Holly and Tyler. Holly is a blogger and has many many followers since defying cancer through healthy eating and other natural stuff. She pretty much craves the attention all the likes, comments and shares she gets. Tyler is a doctor and we first meet him when he slashes Holly's cheek after picking her up in a coffee shop. But why when he appears not to even know who she is? What follows next is a bit of a cat and mouse game between Holly and Tyler getting progressively nastier and darker as the book goes on and the surface layers are peeled away to expose some really juicy secrets, lies and duplicitous behaviour. As things escalate, you know the crash is coming but it's the fallout that really matters here.
To be completely honest I really disliked both Holly and Tyler pretty much right from the off. Even when the motivations for their behaviour was explained, it had just got too far for me and I think nothing would have swung either of them back into my good books at that point. But, I don't have to like the characters to enjoy a book, and I did enjoy this book. All I need to have is some kind of emotional connection be it positive or negative and I get on just fine and I did connect to both main characters albeit rather negatively!
The plot had its silly moments and also was a tad predictable at times. That said, what was written was executed very well. I found the author's writing style very easy to slip into. It was a bit repetitive at times too but then I guess that's a symptom of both the internet as a media and also obsession, which is quite prevalent throughout. Pacing was good and the balance between description and action also maintained well.
All in all, a good solid debut that kept me interested throughout and left me mostly satisfied at the end. It will be interesting to see what she serves up next time.
My thanks go to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I found this different from what I expected, yet at the same time I did want to read on to find out where it went. An enjoyable read.