3.5/5 ⭐️
A look into the world of online romance scams from the woman behind a well known Twitter account documenting them. This story features a lot of true stories.

I thought this was interesting but it wasn’t organized in the best way I don’t think. I wish it had been more thematic like different type of romance frauds/scams. It also gets very advice heavy about halfway through the book, which I didn’t find super helpful for myself (but maybe others will?).

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Keanu Reeves is Not in Love With You is an interesting read- I went from laughing out loud at Ms Holmes’ responses to the scammers to being totally horrified at what some people have lost after believing they were in a true relationship. This book has a lot of humor but it really brings the issue of romance fraud to light and how easy it can be to fall for these kinds of scams. Definitely a cautionary tale.

I see what the book was trying to achieve but unfortunately, I don't think Holmes' writing style is for me. It's a funny non fiction book which is an easy enough read. It's not a bad book and it will definitely appeal to some, it's just not my cup of tea.

I tried really hard to finish it, but just couldn't bring myself to. To me, this read like a really, really long Buzzfeed post.
Catchy title and quirky cover are the two things that drew me in immediatel. I find online scams incredibly fascinating and love to hear first hand accounts from victims, so when I read the premise for this book I was immediately sold. However, I found out pretty quickly this book was just not for me. I skimmed past the screenshots in the first half of the book, where the author engages with online scammers on Twitter - I found incredibly boring reading through the exchanges, which I found repetitive and also not particularly funny.

The second half of the book was marginally better, with the first hand accounts of some victims and some insight of crime organisations that focus on scamming women online, but even so by then I was too far gone, even the victim accounts felt quite repetitive. Altogether, I felt like the author didn't really know what she wanted this book to be, thus making it feel unfinished and very repetitive.

A really funny (genuinely "lol") book, but ultimately not something I nor my store vibe with. The writing was very voicey, and will be a great fit for the right audience.

I really enjoyed this book! I learnt a lot about romance fraud and how it impacts so many people around the world! It’s so sad! The writing was really well done and at sometimes really funny which made reading something with such a heavy subject matter easier to get through. I think what Becky has done bringing all of this to light and educating us about something that is so common yet not really discussed, is commendable and really helpful at giving us the Information about what red flags to look out for and the common scams that occur. I really hope with all my heart that this book can prevent another woman from being scammed.
Thank you netgalley for providing me with an advanced readers copy and all thoughts are mine.

I had a friend who used to mess with people who were trying to scam her and she would show us their conversations. This book has some of that, but a lot more information about these kinds of scams. It really could happen to anyone, and that was why it became less and less funny to me with repetition. I would recommend this for anyone who needs a laugh and also for people who want to think more about the dangers out there and how to avoid them. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

This was an interesting premise and had its moments but never quite lived up to the potential unfortunately.

"Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud" by Becky Holmes is an absolute must-read! This book takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions—from laughter to shock to deep sadness—all while delivering crucial insights into the world of online romance fraud.

Becky Holmes brilliantly balances humor and seriousness. Her personal experiences with scammers, featuring hilarious interactions with supposed celebrities like Keanu Reeves, are laugh-out-loud funny. Yet, the book doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of online scams, providing heart-wrenching accounts from victims and revealing the devastating emotional and financial impacts of these frauds.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed the first half of this book. The writing was silly and fun, I enjoyed the snippets of text interactions. However in the second half, the book took a turn to be a little more serious but kept the jovial and jokey narrative
I kind of wanted to know a bit more about what led people to fall victim to these scams (even though the author says not to say that someone 'fell' for a scam). A lot of blame was given to everyone but the person who actually transferred the money. Obviously they were tricked and this doesn't make them bad people but it feels like all the blame was being assigned elsewhere. One woman actually travelled abroad with a stack of cash and got in a car with two strange men, borrowed money from friends yet seemed annoyed that she lost friends because she lied to them. I just would have liked to know what made someone not question things

If you don’t know who Becky is then make sure you check her Twitter page out as she shares her hilarious exchanges with those “scammers” who slide into her DMs to commit romance fraud.

The book details some of these exchanges which are just pure gold but whilst it is comedic she also discusses in depth the online murky world of romance fraud and those who have fallen victim to them.

There was so much I didn’t know which I found not only fascinating but hugely educational too.

Becky manages to balance perfectly the humour she brings to each page and also the severity of these crimes and how we all need to be more aware.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this or not but it was a really good read.
Really funny and interesting
I don’t really listen to stuff about scams etc so it was enlightening also
A good read

This book was pretty interesting, with just the right dose of humour for me: with a dash of fun, but without detracting from the topic itself which, all in all, is quite serious. It's nothing academic, stemming instead from the author's personal dabbling with Twitter and other online endeavours, and deciding at some point to make fun of the scammers (why not get a laugh out of them, after all) and, from there, to see if she could engage some of them into revealing more about their motives and their methods.

In a way, it was nothing really new to me (I've been a follower for years of several YouTube channels, including Sandoz, about various online scams, so most romance-based types of fraud is something I understand well enough now). Still, it provided an entertaining read, and, more important, it could be of real value to someone who has just started to get interested in this, and needs to learn the "basics", so to speak.

The book also emphasises how it's not about being "too naive" or "too stupid" (you know, the typical victim blaming our societies like to indulge in--I wonder if the same people who say that would also call themselves stupid for allowing themselves to be mugged in the street). You can be a police officer or with a whole life of romantic relationships and experience behind you, and still have a blind spot. Indeed, it is very easy to think that from our little corner of safety, when we're not confronted to it ourselves, sure... but no one is ever completely immune to having a bad spell, a tense period in their life when they could do with a friendly and/or romantic shoulder... and scammers of all kinds are very, very talented when it comes to smelling a prey and pounce on it, insinuating themselves into the chinks in the armor. (People saying "this will never happen to ME because I'm too smart": good for them if their lives are so perfect that they never find themselves in a spot where they could become vulnerable... but, nope, it's still not about being smart. Also, let's not become complacent, that's how we also become easier to manipulate.)

I would've liked the book to devote a little more room to scammers' circumstances as well, though, especially when it comes to South Asia: there is a real dimension of human trafficking going on as well (people getting lured into "scammers' compounds" on the false pretense of a genuine job, and finding themselves held there against their will, literally enslaved and forced to scam others online for fear of being beaten, or worse). It's not all black or all white here. But I guess this is a good topic for another book, after all.

I enjoyed this book and it made me laugh. As a regular listener to Radio 4, in particular the programme You and Yours which covers all sorts of scams including dating ones, I was familiar with many of the things in this book, but I still enjoyed it.

Brilliantly written and laugh-out-loud funny, I was not disappointed, Such a good read. 5 stars from me.

A silly tongue in cheek exploration of internet romance fraud, equally as funny as it is educational! Full of humorous texts, unique stories, and interesting anecdotes concerning romance fraud and it’s pernicious role in society today.

Man...I did not like this at all, and I think it stems to the writing style. To sarcastic and self-aware, which took away somewhat from the serious subject matter. Could have been really good. I think people will be suckered in by the title too.

A funny book that made me proper lol in places whilst dealing with the serious issue of romance scammers.

This was funny and ell put together. I don’t usually read books like this but it was a nice pallet cleanser for me. Definitley some LOL moments, but also eye opening!

Keanu Reeves is Not in Love With You is a clever and funny book about the growing phenomenon of romance scammers on social media platforms.

Becky Holmes dives into the world of fraud and fakesters when it comes to online dating, how susceptible we are to the dangers of it and how little action is taken against it, both proactively and retroactively. We get to meet victims, investigators as well as scammers themselves as Holmes shares candid, comical, tragic, and often enraging true stories of these cons.

The book had me laughing out loud, swearing at the swindlers, and wondering if my best mate's next date really is with James from Sheffield. An easy read with important information that makes you think about how we interact on the internet, how big our individual digital footprints are, and how devastating the consequences can be.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this book's ARC with me.

A fascinating insight into the world of romance scams, including the women who have been caught up in the scams and their friends and family (Becky Holmes says that she chose not to cover male victim romance scams this time but may do in the future)- the charities and police teams trying to intervene, and even some of the scammers themselves.
Its so interesting , I had no idea how high the cases of fraud were in the UK and how little action there is taken against it; and all the time women who are caught up in it are left feeling stupid and embarrassed for falling for lies and flattery.
Becky Holmes' writing style is so easy to read, and the chapters are interspersed with some of her own interactions with scammers - they are a hilarious and welcome break from the sadness that comes through in the other sections.