Behind the Screen
by Israel Keats
Publication date: January 1st 2019
Publisher: Darby Creek ™ Lerner Publishing Group
Summary:
Hannah’s sister, Alexis, has been acting different lately. For one thing, she’s constantly on her phone when she never used to care that much about it. But after Hannah discovers that Alexis has developed a relationship with a boy she met online, her strange behavior starts to make sense. What’s worse, Alexis plans to skip out on college to run away with this guy. Hannah teams up with her best friend to find out more about the online stranger. What if he isn’t who he says he is?
Source: Goodreads
Thoughts:
“Behind the Screen” by Israel Keats is quick read that I chose from the library in audiobook format. It’s a easy read, described as a mystery. I’m not sure it’s really fair to describe it that way, however, as there isn’t much mystery or suspense, this is really a story of a teenager’s use of social media and internet safety.
The story is YA fiction, so admittedly I’m not the target audience. The story follows a young girl called Alexis. Alexis has been acting differently recently and it doesn’t take long for her sister to work out that it’s because she’s met a boy online. The story that follows sees Alexis’ sister on a mission to find out who this boy is.
This read was just okay for me, the story was quite predictable and there weren’t really any twists or turns to hold my attention. I do think that if the story had been longer, and I wasn’t able to read it all in one sitting, I’d probably have abandoned it mid-read.
I think this book may be suitable for a much younger audience, perhaps middle grade, in an attempt to teach them about safety online.
Overall rating: “Behind the Screen” is a quick and easy read. Although it’s listed as a mystery, this story is not suspenseful. I’d recommend it for middle grade readers but for myself it was a 2 star read.
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