ARC Review: Meme

Author: Aaron Starmer

Genre: YA Thriller

Release Date: 09.08.20

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Source: E-ARC via NetGalley

My Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis: “No one is going to miss Cole Weston. A loner without friends or family and an unhealthy obsession with the darker corners of the internet, Cole had become increasingly violent toward his ex-girlfriend, and threated to do so much worse. So it was only logical–only right, really–that his former friends took it upon themselves to rid the world of Cole Weston.

Now, Logan, Meeka, Holly, and Grayson are forever bound by Cole’s body, buried under the cold Vermont earth. The failsafe should any one of them consider betrayal: their old phones, buried with Cole, disconnected from service, and each wiped clean except for one file–their video confession.

As expected, no one misses Cole. Or even realizes he’s gone. But a few days later, the meme appears. It’s a stupid meme, old school and not even funny. But every terrible joke has one thing in common, the same photo–a screenshot from the confession video still entombed six feet under with Cole. “

Wow, this book was such a wild ride. It was a whirlwind story that kept me guessing. No matter how far into the book I got I never felt like I had any idea what was going on, everything was complex and put together to be absolutely addicting. I read most of this in one sitting without even realizing how quickly I was getting through it. Every chapter brought more questions than it did answers, especially considering the narrators. Meme is told from three different point-of-views all of which are unreliable and make this story even more intriguing. It felt like walking through the story on uneven footing, just grasping at any clues to put the puzzle together.

As much as I did enjoy the story, there were still a few things that took away from that. It took me a long while to get into the story. I think I was 30-40% in before I started digging it. I’m glad that I didn’t give up on the reading (because clearly, this was fun to read) but it took a long while to get there. At times it was also hard to remember who was narrating the chapters. The characters didn’t have distinct voices and if I wasn’t consciously remembering who was narrating I often would forget and be unable to figure it out without checking.

Lastly, I have mixed feelings on the ending. It was underwhelming overall. While it did still have some twist, I felt like things could’ve been kicked up a notch to match the way the story had been built.

So, all in all, it was an enjoyable read. I had a fun time reading this even with the time it took to get into the story and troubles with the povs. It’s a quick story and would be perfect if you’re looking for something spooky!

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an E-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.