I am delighted to share my review for Are You Watching by Vincent Ralph. My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour and for arranging my e-copy of this book.

Let me show you what it is all about…

A page-turning new YA thriller for the social media age, perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and One Of Us Is Lying.

Ten years ago, Jess’s mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.
She was the first of his victims but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she’s using it to catch the
killer once and for all.
The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

This is a very topical read as people spend more and more time on social media. Sharing various aspects of their lives is the norm. But can you use it for your own benefit?

Jess has a chance to use a reality internet show to get more exposure as she tries to gain interest in the death of her mother. The killer was never caught and is known as The Magpie Man. She uses this show as a platform to garner interest in the hope that the killer can finally be caught.

When I first started this book I was a little shocked at the amount of chapters, over a hundred of them. When I started reading I found the chapters to be quick to the point and they flowed into each other really well. They also suited the story, for me it reminded me how quickly social media feeds are quickly updated.

The story starts well and then as viewers on social media start to gain interest there are different sides to the responses. Not all the responses are gone into, instead just key moments are picked out. It would have been very easy to be bogged down and waylaid but instead the flow is kept as the story pans out.

We all know that social media has its good as well as bad sides. But then the threat is elevated as things start to get close, and with this the tension of the story starts to increase.

The story was well laid out and had me gripped as I followed Jess on the hunt for the killer of her mother. This is a story that is aimed at YA readers and it also works very well for adult readers as well.

I enjoyed the tension as I got further and further in the story. Discovering the impact on not only Jess but also her Dad. There are some really poignant moments in the story and it had me eagerly turning the pages.

While this book has a YA target audience, specifically 12-17 years old, I also thoroughly enjoyed it. A mix of thriller, mystery and crime it had me hooked and I would definitely recommend it.

Vincent Ralph has been writing in one form or another since his teens and
always dreamed of being a novelist. He owes his love of books to his mother, who encouraged his imagination from an early age and made sure there were new stories to read.

Vincent has lived in London, Cornwall and Chester but he now lives in his home county of Kent with his wife, son and two cats.

Check out the other stops on the Blog Tour…

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx