Disappointing
D1V is the star of her glitch channel playing the latest immersive online game - but when the trolls start to descend on her in real life, who can she really trust?
When reading the blurb for 'Don't Read the Comments' I was excited - as a lifelong gamer this was giving me vibes of one of my favourite books - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Although this book is a fun and geeky read which explores the problems of trolling and doxxing I must admit I didn't find it as enthralling as I was hoping. One of these failings sadly comes down to the centrepiece of the novel which is the online game portrayed called 'Reclaim the Sun,'. This game played by both of our protagonists reminded me very heavily of 'No Man's Sky' - a space exploration game which although had a lot of hype when it was first brought out, was then lauded for being well, a bit boring! This I think is one of the problems with a lot of the chapters taking place inside the game - it's just a lot of flying and resource gathering which doesn't really make for a very thrilling read!
I enjoyed the storyline of D1V dealing with trolls and the issues of racism and sexism in the gaming world which are explored. The storyline with Aaron's boss felt a bit predictable and two dimensional though and the twist about his father didn't really go anywhere - I had actually thought of a much better twist for it and was disappointed! The end scene at the gamecon seemed to get so much build up for a bit of a flop ending - I thought what Aaron did to try and help was actually a massive let-down. On the whole I think the book had so much potential but didn't really go anywhere - it was just a predictable YA love story with some gaming elements thrown in.
Overall, I was disappointed with Don't Read the Comments - it had the potential to be a fantastically geeky read but was let down by being a bit boring and heavily predictable. Thank you to Harlequin Teen and Inkyard Press for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
