But What About the Poor Lyft Driver???

 

TITLE: Deadstream

AUTHOR: Mar Romasco-Moore

PUBLISHER: Viking Books for Young Readers

PUBLISHING DATE: April 1, 2025

PAGES: 320   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: After surviving a car accident that claimed the life of her best friend, Teresa is now terrified to leave the safety of her bedroom. Since then, her only solace and window to the outside world has been the online community she found through streaming. 

But one night, the safe world Teresa created starts to break down. A shadowy figure appears in the background of her favorite's streamer's video, and his behavior mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this figure could be . . . especially as it begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to "open the door" and let it in—including Teresa’s own. In order to save herself and the rest of the internet from this relentless entity, Teresa must venture outside of the mental and physical walls she’s created. But will she be able to conquer her fears before anyone else loses their life?

MY THOUGHTS: I usually like middle grade and young adult horror and like to pick it up from time to time.  However, this book kind of missed the mark for me and while I didn't dislike it, nothing really grabbed me and, in a few weeks, I'll probably have forgotten all about it.  

When the book opens, we learn that Teresa experienced something which has led her to become more and more isolated from the world.  The book discusses her being in therapy and her parents trying to assist her cope with what she experienced but I'm not sure anyone was really paying much attention to how bad things have really gotten for Teresa.  Her only comfort is from the streaming community.  She signs on daily and is making a name for herself as Replay.  Replay has a few close virtual friends and that's about her only support network.  One night, something happens to a famous streamer they all watch - Brick.  While streaming, Brick is told to open the door behind him on a dare.  When he does, he sees no one but the people watching him see a mysterious figure.  Days later, Brick is basically comatose in front of the screen and no one in the streaming community takes it seriously.  That is until it starts happening to people all over the world. 

Teresa takes it upon herself to find out what is happening because she now thinks this mysterious figure is after her.  Others are so quick to buy in and it's hard for Teresa, who won't even leave her bedroom, to be believed.  However, when her best streaming pal Ozma goes comatose as well, Teresa has to confront her fears, leave her home and make a road trip, the one thing she fears the most, to try to save her.

This book sounded really interesting, and the author tackled a lot of heavy topics such as mental health and gender identity. However, I found it hard to buy into the streaming world - maybe because that's just not something I am into.  The last 30% of the book did pick up and I liked the supernatural element once it hit but it was just a bit too late for me by then.  Also, there is a scene with a poor Lyft driver who was never addressed again.  How rude!  If you like YA horror and this sounds interesting, consider picking this one up, especially if the community streaming world interests you.

MY RATING: 3 PAWS