Broadcast – Liam Brown
(3.5 / 5)
Those who know me know that I am a little bit addicted to YouTube. Every day in short gaps of time that I have (too short to grab a book), I watch short videos on YouTube. I like to think I know who all the biggest YouTube stars are and am subscribed to the biggest channels. Also my absolute FAVOURITE Netflix show is ‘Black Mirror’. So when I read the words “YouTube” and “Black Mirror” in the description of this book I had to see what it was all about.
Minor online celebrity David is approached by a massive technology company to participate in an all new social media concept known as “MindCast”. Every thought and feeling will be streamed live online. Non stop. Initially slightly reluctant, David decides to go ahead and have the MindCast brain implant. This is when things start getting crazy. He suddenly becomes the worlds biggest celebrity. But there is a price to pay for all the attention, and ZERO privacy with his thoughts.
Fantastic concept for a book! I loved that it was futuristic, but at the same time not too far off some sort of reality. It was interesting to see how the fame and constant lack of any kind of privacy got to David.
David himself is a good character. I would say he is quite dislikeable and vain, but throughout the book and with the massive weight that is on his shoulders, you cant help feeling a bit sorry for the poor bugger. By the end of it though I was feeling a bit less sorry for him…
Ok, it was right up my alley, a great concept and I enjoyed the tale of the main character. So why did I not give it a higher rating? Part of the problem for me was the ending. It just didn’t do it for me. I saw the twists coming, and when it ended I felt a bit let down.
The story itself flowed, but became a bit dry by the end. I wanted a bit more grit. A bit more oomph. A few things were left unexplained and I was left overall feeling slightly unsatisfied. HOWEVER, still a fun read!
Would I recommend Broadcast?
Yes I really enjoyed the subject matter. Although I didn’t give it the highest rating, it was still enjoyable and if you like YouTube and social media, you will most probably enjoy it too!
Thanks to the author Liam Brown via NetGalley for a copy of Broadcast to review.
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