Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsRaises lots of interesting questions about the digital age
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 March 2024
**********CONTAINS SPOILERS*******
When I started this I really struggled with the premise that women lie about abuse. I believe we should believe women who claim they have been abused. I was worried I was reading a mens rights book about women being liars. However the more I read, the more I realised how complex this book is. Yes, we should believe women, however publishing a 'list' on social media is not the best way to go about this. It endangers the very women it aims to protect, subjecting them to abuse and amateurs pulling their stories apart, and ultimately subjecting them to more abuse. The police receive training in how to deal with cases like this, the average twitter user doesn't. However, if the police system was better at dealing with abuse cases, maybe women wouldn't have to resort to posting 'lists'. I loved the line 'if one woman is a liar, we're all liars', which is so true. Ultimately, social media justice rarely helps anyone and makes things worse for victims. The characters were complex and human which I loved, whilst Michael wasn't guilty of the crimes he was accused of, he was guilty of treating Jackie badly, possibly even a type of abuse? His friends discussions of abusive men were awful. Ola's dilemma was interesting, being on the other side of self righteous 'clickbait' campaigning. Ultimately, this novel raises questions about online activism, how helpful social media clickbate is towards social justice (and whether the motives behind it are pure), how people present themselves and lie to and about themselves, male friendships, male mental health, and lots more. I'm still thinking about it now. Thought provoking and complex, would definitely recommend.