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.
Heartstream is a dark look into fandom, fame and obsession. And boy does it get very dark. I’m a huge fan of Tom Pollock’s writing, and his ability to really put us into the heads of his characters is astonishing, and he does seem to enjoy putting them through the emotional wringer, cranking the tension up firmly to eleven from the off.
I bought Heartstream on the day of publication and finished it in a single sitting. Impossible to put down, the story is utterly absorbing and the characters beautifully drawn. You could easily see this as an episode of Black Mirror, with its near-future tech all too scarily plausible. The pack mentality of the internet, and the lengths people will go to from behind a keyboard is all too sharply displayed here, and at times makes for very uncomfortable reading.
Highly recommended.
Tom’s previous book, White Rabbit,Red Wolf is also well worth checking out, and his Skyscraper Throne trilogy is just superb.
I urge you to go read them all!
Heartstream by Tom Pollock is published by Walker YA.
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