This book had the most amazing opening line. However, I did not feel the rest lived up to the opening.

My Thoughts:

“I sucked twelve c*cks in Magaluf.
So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety-six people have seen me do this. They might include my mother, my father, my little sister, my grandmother, my other grandmother, my grandfather, my boss, my sixth-year biology teacher and my boyfriend of six weeks, James.”

Helen Fitzgerald pulls no punches from the first line of this book, a contemporary novel that explores the consequences of a drunken indiscretion gone viral.

Su Oliphant-Brotheridge and her sister Leah, are celebrating the end of A-Level exams in Magaluf when a few too many drinks on their last evening abroad, results in Su on her knees in a nightclub. When a recording of the incident is uploaded to the internet, Su panics and goes into hiding, hoping not only to avoid, but also to protect her family from, the worst of the inevitable notoriety.

“#shagaluf is trending worldwide on Twitter. If you type the word slut into Google, I am the first news item to appear.”

It’s a nightmare scenario for any parent. To their credit, Su’s parents -Ruth and Bernie, are more concerned for their daughter’s wellbeing than shaming her for her mistake. Even as it begins to affect their own professional and personal lives, they frantically attempt to minimise the fallout which threatens to derail Su’s future. When it’s clear they losing the battle, Ruth, a court judge, grows increasingly furious that no one can be held legally accountable for the viral video that has caused such destruction, and takes matters into her own hands.

“Xano, you have been found guilty of filming the sexual assault of my daughter. You have been found guilty of sharing abusive images. You have been found guilty of sharing lewd images without consent. You have been found guilty of destroying the life of Su Brotheridge-Oliphant. Guilty of destroying her self-image, her confidence, her friendships, her past and future relationships, her sexual well-being, her career, and her entire future. In relation to destroying my career: guilty. My life, everything I’ve worked for, fought for, and loved: guilty. And last, on the count of the murder of Bernard Brotheridge: guilty.”

Meanwhile, Leah is ordered to find her sister and bring her home. Fitzgerald explores the troubled dynamic between the sisters as they wrestle with feelings of resentment, jealousy, guilt, and blame.

“I’ve spent years pussyfooting around you and all you’ve done is treat me like dirt. Did you spike my drink because your friends started liking me, Leah? Were you mad about that? You feel left out, that the order of the universe was shaken? Did you shout “go, go go” because you wanted me back in my place, because it was such a blast to watch me ruin myself?“

But this is really Su’s story as she tries to reconcile what she has done with who she is. It’s a compelling narrative which I thought Fitzgerald presented well...until the last few chapters.

“Don’t let it be the thing that defines you.”

I understood Su’s desire to search for her birth mother, but finding her was ridiculously easy, and the situation devolved from there. Similarly Su’s flight of fancy, after her return to Magaluf, was a bit silly.

Aside from those final missteps, I thought this was a well paced, thought provoking and relevant novel. Not her best, but I found it engaging.

Sorry this book wasn't for me. I could not connect with the characters.

When Viral was released, all the hubbub was about its opening sentence; six words that set the scene for the whole book. And yes they do have a huge impact. But this book is so much more than these rather unique opening six words; it’s the journey of a family affected by these six words.

Su-Jin is desperate to get the relationship back with her sister and will do anything to fit in with her sister and her friends. She is the total opposite of her adopted sister which makes her life so much more difficult. Her sister is a bully, making snide remarks, excluding her, ignoring her. She goes from a prim and proper studious teetotal teenager to excess drinking in Magaluf, make up and skimpy clothes. How far would you go to fit in?

This book is one you cannot pigeonhole. But one label you can give it is “page turner”. The way the author kept jumping between Su-Jin to her adopted mother kept me reading as their lives dramatically and rapidly fall apart; would there be a reconciliation? Would this family be fractured beyond repair? Viral has a different sort of intrigue and suspense. The writing style was enticing to read and gripped my interest throughout. I’ve got a few of Helen Fitzgerald’s other novels lined up on my kindle so they may have to be tackled in 2018!

Many thanks to Faber & Faber and Netgalley for my copy of Viral.

Viral by helen Fitzgerald.
When Leah Oliphant-Brotheridge and her adopted sister Su go on holiday together to Magaluf to celebrate their A-levels, only Leah returns home. Her successful, swotty sister remains abroad, humiliated and afraid: there is an online video of her, drunkenly performing a sex act in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it.
Ruth Oliphant-Brotheridge, mother of the girls, successful court judge, is furious. How could this have happened? How can she bring justice to these men who took advantage of her dutiful, virginal daughter? What role has Leah played in all this? And can Ruth find Su and bring her back home when Su doesn't want to be found?
Fantastic read. Loved characters. The story was shocking. Couldn't put it down. A thrilling and shocking read. 5*. Netgalley and faber and faber.