The Bright Side Of Going Dark - Book Review

The Bright Side Of Going Dark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Fiction
Author:  Kelly Harms
Published in:  May 2020
Buy at:  Amazon

Review

'The Bright Side Of Going Dark' is about turning off the dark side of life to see the bright side. Mia is an internet celebrity and her real life is far from picture-perfect. When her fiancé jilts her before the wedding, she is devastated by the thought of sponsors who would have been paying for her wedding. She finally calls it quits on social media by throwing her phone off the cliff. Paige, a coder, hacks into Mia's account and starts posting using her account. She is doing it because her half-sister, Jessica, follows Mia as her idol and has attempted suicide. Paige is trying to help her sister believe from Mia's social media posts that there is a life full of imperfections even for "picture-perfect' looking celebrities and people don't even try to enjoy the imperfections.

A thoughtful and intriguing story of our addiction to phones and the harsh realities of social media. How does your screen time look like? Have you ever tried to stay abstinent from your phone and enjoy real life? The author presented this theme in a very amusing and remarkable way by creating the fiasco of events which lead to social media influencer giving it up all to live the "real" life.

The book not only deals with the addiction but also with other issues like clinical depression, estranged relationships, loneliness, and heart-breaks. The author has penned them down with such subtlety that they never seem to overwhelm the reader while the story progresses.

The characters are relatable and so well developed. Being a programmer myself, I felt Paige's character so relatable in terms of carrying laptops all times and coding certain apps to negate the possibility of ideation. The alternate narration from Mia's and Paige's perspective is commendable. Going through the mind of the influencer and the hacker, the reader feels entrusted with the story at all times.

The book seems appealing to a younger audience in the beginning but it escalates from the halfway and deals with serious issues poignantly. My first book by Kelly Harms and certainly not the last.

I would recommend it to everyone who likes to read a light story with a message, strong characterization and canine companionship.