Want to Go Private? (ARC)

I am a big "fan" (I don't know the right word to describe it) of internet safety and when I saw this book, Want to Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman on Around the World ARC Tours (link at the end of the post) I was like, "Sign me up!" Since I was the last one on the tour I didn't get the book in until a couple days ago so the book is already out :'-(.

Summary:

Abby and Luke chat online. They’ve never met. But they are going to. Soon.

When Abby meets Luke online, she can’t believe her luck. He’s nice. He’s funny. He listens to her and he thinks she’s pretty. He even gets jealous of other guys, which is adorable. Without Luke, Abby’s not sure how she’d make it through her first year of high school. Everyone, including her mom and her best friend, Faith, tells Abby that if she just made more of an effort, she’d be having fun instead of dreading each and every day as if it’s a prison sentence. But there’s nothing fun about being the lowest link in the social food chain.

Abby knows she’s not supposed to chat with random guys online. But Luke isn’t random, and he isn’t a stranger. Best of all, he really loves her. So what if she never goes out with her friends anymore and her grades are slipping? All she needs is Luke. Luke is her secret, and she’s his — it’s perfect that way. So when Luke suggests that they meet each other in person, Abby agrees. And then she’s gone. Missing. Without a trace. And everyone is left to put together the pieces. If they don’t, they’ll never see Abby again...

This book was a emotional roller-coaster, just going to say this upfront, so if you don't like books that depress the living daylight out of you, don't read this book. I strongly advise you do though... Let's find out why, shall we?

Abby is just a normal teenage girl -- I like that because it really proves that this kind of thing can happen to anybody. Abby's struggling with the transition from middle school to high school, her parents are acting like jerks, and she's starting to grow apart from her best friend since second grade. And on top of that the loser boy she likes can't even remember her name. But when "Luke" comes into her life on a new social network and starts to chat with her, he acts like he understands her, he acts like he cares about her, which is more then she can say about her real life friends and family. So when Luke starts to become the center of her life, her grades start slipping and she spends most of her time online. She doesn't think twice about it, because Luke is like a very good tasting poison, you love it till your heart stops beating.

Then she turns into a zombie, she can't stand to be off the internet and she'll do anything for Luke. I thought since it's a YA book Littman might spare us of some of the gory details, but they're all there and I'm glad, because it makes it seem a lot more real and makes you want to do anything to prevent stuff like this from happening in the future.

For a book to be great it has to have a great villain. This book does. The way Luke is portrayed makes very believable that this loser would do such terrible deeds.

Though this book is very much of a warning to all the teens out there to be careful about what they do online, it's also a very thrilling read because the book has loads of suspense, though I was tearing my hair out the whole time and fighting the urge to yell out "Why the heck are you doing this, Abby?! You idiot!" even though I've stressed that this could happen to anyone.

The book is split into three parts, the first is from Abby's point of few, the second from Lilly, her (bratty) younger sister, Faith, her BFF, and Billy, her real-life boyfriend, and the third is told from Abby's, Faith's, and Lilly's. I really liked hearing what was going on inside her friends' and family's minds because they're the ones that are doing anything to get Abby back.

This book is a great message to everyone that I recommend parents and teens read together. This book dares to cover something that most authors don't have the guts to cover, thank god it's out there.

5/5

Book Battle Update: This is my 24th book read in the book battle, and it ends in just a couple days! Maddz has read 21 last time I checked, who will pull out on top?

Thanks to Around the World ARC Tours for letting me participate, and especially to Cindy, who's letting me keep this book! You rock, Cindy!