Review: Heartstream by Tom Pollock

A unique and addictive YA thriller.

Heartstream Summary

Cat is in love. Always the sensible one, she can’t believe that she’s actually dating, not to mention dating a star. But the fandom can’t know. They would eat her alive. And first at the buffet would definitely be her best friend, Evie.

Amy uses Heartstream, a social media app that allows others to feel your emotions. She broadcasted every moment of her mother’s degenerative illness, and her grief following her death. It’s the realest, rawest reality TV imaginable.

But on the day of Amy’s mother’s funeral, Amy finds a strange woman in her kitchen. She’s rigged herself and the house with explosives – and she’s been waiting to talk to Amy for a long time. Who is she? A crazed fan? What does she want? Amy and Cat are about to discover how far true obsession can go.

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Heartstream Review

The premise of Heartstream is such an interesting one: a YA thriller that centres around a futuristic app that lets others feel your emotions. It’s a concept that seems both plausible and unfathomable at the same time.

It’s this premise that gave me such high hopes for Heartstream, and I’m pleased to report that it lived up to them, but in a very different way than I imagined. In fact I’d say there could be a whole separate book that explores the possibilities of the app itself, but this one touches on it only briefly while instead taking us on a wild ride through past and present.

I had no idea where the story would take me, right up until the final moments when it all finally unfolded. It’s a totally unexpected and suspense-filled delight that I really enjoyed. It was my 9th favourite book of 2019 (I read a total of 34 books last year) and I am excited to read more from Tom Pollock soon.

My rating:
***** 5/5 stars

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