The Bright Side of Going Dark

CW: Painful flashback scene to the death of a dog who is put to sleep because of incurable cancer (not a spoiler, MC refers to his loss early and often, but the flashback occurs in the last third of the book). Also two characters who have attempted suicide, one just before the actions of the book take place. Kelly Harms is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Women's Fiction authors. She's funny, insightful, and not afraid to create characters who aren't likeable. Mia is a Pictey (think Instagram) influencer whose world falls apart when her fiance leaves her two days before her highly publicized (and monitized) wedding is scheduled to take place. Paige is a socially awkward (she reminded me of [b:Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine 31434883 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564647507l/31434883.SY75.jpg 47327681]'s titular character) Pictey employee whose job is to flag inappropriate or concerning posts. When she discovers that her much younger half-sister has attempted suicide after posting a cry for help on Mia's account, Paige tries in her own unique way to help, despite the fact that the sisters barely know each other. In a series of slightly incredible coincidences, Mia dramatically drops off social media and Paige decides to impersonate her online, primarily to protect her sister, who worships Mia. Then things get really complicated.When we first meet Mia she appears very shallow and self-absorbed. As she lets go of her online persona, however, we learn that she has suffered several devastating losses and that she became a social media star almost by accident, looking for find a way to fill up the emptiness she was experiencing. Paige is very abrupt and almost cold, but her behavior can be traced back to a mother who cared about appearances only (demonstrating that social media didn't cause this behavior, it just capitalized on it) and a decades-long strategy of medicating her emotions away. She is probably also somewhere on the autism spectrum, although that is never directly addressed. There are numerous strong themes woven into this book - mothering, grief, connection, just to name a few. While Mia learns to develop more genuine relationships than her thousands of followers allow, Paige realizes that she needs people in her life as well. There is a slow burn romance and some serious respect given to the healing power of owning a dog. But most of the biting commentary is reserved for our social media fixation. Here's Mia's ex-fiance describing Mia: “Mia is an internet influencer. She makes her living making everything look better than it is. When life gives her lemons, she makes low-sugar pomegranate-lemon iced tea in a canning jar with a compostable spoon.” And to be more charitable, here is Mia realizing what she has been missing: I'm learning that when I was posting, I had a way to understand what was happening in my life, only a few steps removed from it actually happening. I'd post it, and when the caption was written, that was the story of the event, even if the event was just lunch. If I posted lunch, that meant I'd enjoyed lunch, and it was nourishing or comforting or refreshing or whatever it was. Now lunch is lunch. I taste it instead of telling about it. It happens when I eat it, and it's over when it's done. It doesn't live on in the feed. It doesn't garner ten thousand likes. It's sadly ironic that this book, which warns about the dangers of living too much of our lives online, came out in the middle of a pandemic, when living online is just about all we can do. But even if we can't gather together with our friends, the moral remains: live a genuine, meaningful life, not just one that looks or sounds impressive.