Hello Readers,
Thank you Auggie for reaching out and sending me a copy of Former.ly: The Rise and Fall of a Social Network for free in exchange for an honest review.
Former.ly is a is a techno-thriller, murder mystery and a fantastic read. I love the concept of this book and it originality pulled me in. I mean who wouldn’t be intrigued by a social media platform (Former.ly) where its users share their innermost thoughts, which are stored privately until they die. Once the user dies, their posts are shared with the world, often with unexpected consequences. All the persons Thoughts, feelings and secrets are all revealed. Get me a cup I am here for the pipping hot tea and sign me up.
The story is told in first person from the point of view of coder Dan Roberts as he gets a job at the start-up Former.ly. From the unorthodox interview on the first page of this book as the reader we are along with Dan for this journey. I know I’m not applying for a job at Former.ly but its quite nice to be told ahead of time if a job is going to take over your life. Real life companies should be this honest.
Former.ly runs on strict confidentiality and the seat of its pants. With a brilliant cast of quirky, well-written and believable characters. Flick work’s Public Relations, Kerry the media guy/company camera man, Abhi is a coder. Last of all there are the two enigmatic founders John and Peter. John and Peter are both control freaks, however John becomes a nightmare boss. While Peter is slightly more clearheaded but hardly there as he is often traveling on behalf of the company.
As the business grows the founders are needs more investors, and become ruthless. The cutthroat world of internet start-ups and social networks reveals its seedy underbelly. I personally have no idea about start-ups however I think the descriptions of the haphazard protocols of the start-up office like I don’t know say people living at the office is believable or at least portrayed so by Danes brilliant writing.
Dane writing in this book is perfect for this type of thriller as the story gets darker. Like many reviewers I put on my arm chair detective hat and was sure I was going to figure out how this story was going to end. I would say I was wrong but if this book is Earth I was near Mercury. The ending was both satisfying and realistic which is really important to me with thrillers. There is nothing worse than when a thriller is magically solved at the end because of divine intervention and all the pennies drop at once.
Just a heads up and a little shout out this book is on Kindle
Unlimited if you want to check it out, I get nothing from the shout out I just
don't want you to miss out on a good book.
L x
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reaching out :)
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