Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith Published by Inkyard Press on January 28, 2020
Pages: 368
Goodreads
Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…
And she isn’t going down without a fight.
Video game streaming online is one of my favorite things to do. Since I have been living at my dad’s the past 10 months healing from the intestinal perforation that I suffered back in December of 2019 I have not been able to stream myself. I do enjoy watching other people stream as well. So, when I come across books where that is part of the plot I get super excited. The story is told by two main characters Divya and Aaron. Divya, and an already established streamer with tons of fans and even sponsorships. We meet Aaron who we find out is a fan of hers where they meet totally by chance.
I enjoyed this novel immensely! Not only is it well told but it highlights many things about streaming. This includes the dark side of streaming. Trolls are an ever-present reality for any streamer. We are not really told online how to deal with trolls beyond banning them from our channel for example. What if they get wind of our real-life identity for example? What should we do? This book delves into things like that. I hope this book becomes something many streamers reads at some point for that reason.
Have you read this novel? Let me know what you thought!
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