I didn't know this is based on An Unauthorised Fan Treatise, so you can guess my face when I realised why the story sounded so familiar the first few chapters. And honestly as someone who practically lived on tumblr all throughout their teens, reading this was weirdly nostalgic. The fandom culture, the different levels of obsession (and the ...questionable morals that came with that) were truly a you just had to be there moment. The mystery that was developed in AUFT, was finally picked up again in Last Seen Online and I couldn't put the book down for the second half of it, delving into the horrors of fame and power.

(Also I already really wanted to read/watch Loch & Ness while reading AUFT, and it has only grown since then, that show sounds so good)

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

I am incapable of writing a review. There are no words in my brain. Only incoherent screaming and fangirling 😭

I loved the atmosphere, loved the mystery and the tension.

I loved the characters and their comfy, effortless relationship.

The pacing was great most of the time, but I think the ending was too quick, would love some more build up.

I did not love the ending in general, but I was prepared for that. I thought about it before I finished and I came to a conclusion that I wouldn't be satisfied no matter what the ending would be. I did not want this book to end. I did not want the mystery to be solved. Part of why I loved "Unauthorised Fan Threatise" so much is because nothing is clear and we never find out the truth of what really happend. But now that I know everything, I think it loses some part of its charm? Like, it was really enjoyable and the way everything was resolved was clever, but I think I would prefer the solution to remain a mystery 😭

This was such a wild ride! Had the time of my life reading it. "Last Seen Online" goes straight to my 2024 top list and Wren James has earned a spot in the prestigious circle of my favourite authors. Can't wait to read more of their books!

I was excited to read this and it didn’t disappoint.

I loved the combination of murder and social media and think it will be really accessible for my students. I have already ordered a copy to stock in the library.

Thoroughly enjoyable read, thank you!

As someone who loves social media - I loved the way that this was all put into the book. The blogs and comments throughout and I really thought she captured how a ‘fandom’ works. It’s very twisty and I loved that - excited by this being book 1 so that means more, right? I hope so. Grab for your summer read.

24. Last Seen Online by Lauren James

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I flew through this - such a fun but intense YA murder mystery with an unhealthy dose of fandom.

🌴 Mixed media keeping up the fast pace
🌴 Intense fandom and critique of social media/fame
🌴 Murder mystery with twists and turns

I loved the way the mystery was revealed to us as readers at the same pace as Delilah and Sawyer. A great read!

A trippy, thrilling and addicting banger that will speak a little too passionately to anyone and everyone who's ever been a little too chronically online. No notes.

Great book with an excellent story and fantastic characters. I will look out for more from this author.

This book is everything! I have told everyone about it and bought a few copies for my friends!! Absolutely smashed it as an author!!

I had been looking forward to this book for a long time and it still managed to exceed my expectations. A solid mystery but where it really excels is the excellent portrayal of fandom culture.

I laughed out loud multiple times as I recognised things I have seen in various fandoms over the years (and still do) but it also highlights how scary it can get.

A great twist at the end too!

3.5 stars. This was such a fun read. It did take me longer than it should have but I'm not entirely sure if that was just me or the book. I never read the original novella but I remembered seeing it online so it's cool that it got turned into a novel. I would definitely recommend this to fans of the good girls guide to murder series, as it has a very similar plot of trying to find out the truth of a murder that had supposedly already been solved and is told in a mixed media format. I didn't see the end coming and it was pretty wild but I felt like there wasn't enough ground work in the rest of the novel for readers to even attempt to guess at the real killer or Gottie's identity. I also felt that gottie was as much or even more of a mystery than the murder but other than them trying to hunt her down a couple of times, there wasn't as much substance as I would have liked. I did however really relate to Delilah when it came to her struggles with her friends as I've been in Delilah's position. I also loved the queer representation in this book.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Teenager Delilah meets Sawyer Saffitz (son of the Anya Saffitz, aka Hollywood royalty) and she becomes hooked on a decade-old scandal, wher ea young actor on a popular TV show was found dead in mysterious circumstances, Delilah uncovers blogposts written by the mysterious "gottiewrites" and is soon caught up in a world of greed, fandom conspiracy theories and murder. I t's a decent enough mystery/thriller and very pertinent online fandom themes work well but fact it's a cold case makes much of it hard to get truly invested in., as it all feels at a bit of a remove? That said it has good teen appeal, and the writing style makes it a breeze to read.

I was a huge fan of An Unauthorised Fan Treatise (AUFT) when Lauren James first posted the blog, eagerly awaiting the weekly updates, so I was really excited to hear it was being turned into a novel. I was also a little hesitant, however, as a large part of what I loved about AUFT was the sheer genius of telling a true crime story through the medium of a fan blog. Having spent my teenage years as part of various fandoms, I'm familiar with some of the big fandom conspiracies and read many a deranged blog post and PowerPoint. Although I never believed any of the fandom conspiracies myself, I always found them very entertaining, so I found the entire premise of AUFT incredibly compelling and an utterly unique form of storytelling perfectly fit for the internet age.

Last Seen Online does a commendable job of maintaining AUFT's character as a story told through blog posts while also holding its own as a novel. The inclusion of the blog posts and articles as well as the text messages between Delilah and her friends works pretty well. At the start, I didn't think I'd be very interested in Delilah's perspective and thought of just skimming through it to get to the Gottie blog posts that I was familiar with. However, I very soon found myself hooked. I found Delilah to be quite an endearing main character and I was just as interested in her individual plotlines as I was the Gottie storyline. The last quarter of the book could have been improved upon as I found it a bit rushed with a bit too much exposition and info dumping. I wish the reveal had come a bit sooner so more time could be spent unpacking some of the revelations. But overall, I thought this was pretty well done and an enjoyable read. James is really great at writing three-dimensional characters who are equally flawed as they are sympathetic and it's something I always look forward to when reading one of their books.

As a long time fandom girlie, this one was really intriguing for me. Delilah is a great character quick to uncover secrets but equally quick to ignore her own. It's been a long time since I read a YA novel and this didn't disappoint at all!

This was sooooo goooooood!

As someone who is pretty good at playing detective on the internet herself AND is interested in fandom culture and parasocial relationships this was just the perfect blend for me.

Inserting a murder case in a fandom really shows the absurdity of all those theories online. And if you were ever part of a fandom then all of this reads so realistically.

I loved how the two storylines were woven into each other and how at some point Delilah was experiencing the same thing she is currently reading about on a small scale. So clever!

The only thing I didn't quite like as much was the ending. The solution to the murder and everything around it was just ~~spilled~~, no questions asked. That felt a bit to easy.

Also I didn't like the decision Delilah made at the end. But I really hope that's just some sort of cliffhanger that will be solved in another book, because I would read that instantly!!!

4,5 ⭐

An enjoyable thriller about fandom and obsession. A little too much going on, I think the subplots about the main character’s parents could have been cut but overall a fun and gripping read.

I don't usually read YA but I had enjoyed Lauren James's story 'An Unauthorised Fan Treatise', published online, which this is based on. I did find this less satisfying than the original story but it's an enjoyable tale and I'm sure it will work better for its intended audience.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was actually recommended to me by a bookseller that loved it! I really enjoyed it and the cover is absolutely beautiful!

I did enjoy this book, but I wasn’t blown away. The characters and plot felt slightly flat, I wasn’t drawn to it and desperate to pick it up again unfortunately