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Social Games Trilogy #1
Block Delete: Book One of the Social Games Trilogy
Blocked. Deleted. Dead.
In a futuristic society where, online popularity determines social status, talentless seventeen-year-old Alexa just can't hack her senior year of high school. She'll never live up to the expectations of her overbearing, image-obsessed mother, her classmates' perfectly curated social media feeds, or her world's strict rules surrounding likes and follows.
Unfortunately, Alexa's government is a vicious algorithm that demands to be fed. There's no room for teenage outcasts in Kora High, where trolls, unfollows, and cancel culture bring on real-world punishments. So, unless Alexa wants to perform the same mediocre charade for the rest of her life, she'll have to risk everything to unplug the system.
It's bad enough that rebels get canceled—exiled. But, if she's not careful, she'll fail her last vibe check and end up blocked and deleted IRL.
And everyone knows what that means.
If you loved Divergent, The Maze Runner, and Shatter Me, you'll instantly lose yourself in this thrilling dystopian world created by Olivia Hillier.
Buy all three books of The Social Games trilogy today
The Social Games Trilogy
Book 1: Block Delete
Book 2: Cancelled
Book 3: Disconnected
In a futuristic society where, online popularity determines social status, talentless seventeen-year-old Alexa just can't hack her senior year of high school. She'll never live up to the expectations of her overbearing, image-obsessed mother, her classmates' perfectly curated social media feeds, or her world's strict rules surrounding likes and follows.
Unfortunately, Alexa's government is a vicious algorithm that demands to be fed. There's no room for teenage outcasts in Kora High, where trolls, unfollows, and cancel culture bring on real-world punishments. So, unless Alexa wants to perform the same mediocre charade for the rest of her life, she'll have to risk everything to unplug the system.
It's bad enough that rebels get canceled—exiled. But, if she's not careful, she'll fail her last vibe check and end up blocked and deleted IRL.
And everyone knows what that means.
If you loved Divergent, The Maze Runner, and Shatter Me, you'll instantly lose yourself in this thrilling dystopian world created by Olivia Hillier.
Buy all three books of The Social Games trilogy today
The Social Games Trilogy
Book 1: Block Delete
Book 2: Cancelled
Book 3: Disconnected
- GenresSuspense
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 20, 2023
About the author
Olivia Hillier
39 books43 followersOlivia Hillier writes stories about rebel girls who change the world. Olivia is an Australian Young Adult Author, born in 1993, in Hobart, Tasmania. Now residing in sunny Queensland, travelling around her favourite side of the country. Olivia conspires and writes Paranormal and Speculative fiction on all things unseen and of course always, as a Libran, her work always comes with a theme of romance. She is the host of the Writers Advice Podcast. You can find more of her books at all good bookstores or listen in to the Writers Advice Podcast on your favourite listening platform.
Keep an eye out for Olivia’s Young Adult Paranormal Romance, The Shadow & Shifter Series. The Social Games Series & The Darkside Series.
You can contact Olivia on her website oliviahillier.com, or search @oliviahillierauthor on your favourite social media platform. To receive exclusive content from Olivia Hillier, sign up to her newsletter at: https://www.oliviahillier.com/freebies
Keep an eye out for Olivia’s Young Adult Paranormal Romance, The Shadow & Shifter Series. The Social Games Series & The Darkside Series.
You can contact Olivia on her website oliviahillier.com, or search @oliviahillierauthor on your favourite social media platform. To receive exclusive content from Olivia Hillier, sign up to her newsletter at: https://www.oliviahillier.com/freebies
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 28, 2023
I received an advance review copy for free from Booksprout and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you, Olivia Hillier for the opportunity to read your book. This was an incredible read. This is the first book of the Social Games Trilogy. I have to say that from the blurb alone, I knew this would be an exciting and incredible story. This YA sci-fi dystopian novel explores the influence of social media. The government is called the Network, which is an algorithm and a person's social media determines their freedom. I loved the writing and the plot. The concept of the follow counts and how they impact their lives. I loved Alexa. I thought she was a brilliant character. To me, her character seems to be breaking away from the influence of social media and trying to find a way to live without it always in our lives. She was relatable. I thought the side characters also added to the story. However, Alexa's journey is by far my favourite. I cannot wait to see how her journey continues in Book Two, Cancelled. The ending was amazing. I can't wait to read Book Two, Cancelled. Also, I want to read more books by Olivia Hillier. Overall, an amazing read.
Thank you, Olivia Hillier for the opportunity to read your book. This was an incredible read. This is the first book of the Social Games Trilogy. I have to say that from the blurb alone, I knew this would be an exciting and incredible story. This YA sci-fi dystopian novel explores the influence of social media. The government is called the Network, which is an algorithm and a person's social media determines their freedom. I loved the writing and the plot. The concept of the follow counts and how they impact their lives. I loved Alexa. I thought she was a brilliant character. To me, her character seems to be breaking away from the influence of social media and trying to find a way to live without it always in our lives. She was relatable. I thought the side characters also added to the story. However, Alexa's journey is by far my favourite. I cannot wait to see how her journey continues in Book Two, Cancelled. The ending was amazing. I can't wait to read Book Two, Cancelled. Also, I want to read more books by Olivia Hillier. Overall, an amazing read.
February 25, 2023
Olivia Hillier sent me an early release of this book, I've already finished it and want to read the next book in the series...
I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, but I very quickly got into it. I love the follow count and how that affects their lives. Always being against it when things don't go their way. I feel like the book connects to real life, we all have some sort of following and influence on others. Some of us have more power than others, and look at what we choose to do with that power. I think this book is a real eye opener in some ways.The twist at the end though, wasn't expecting that... what even is real anymore? 📚
I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did, but I very quickly got into it. I love the follow count and how that affects their lives. Always being against it when things don't go their way. I feel like the book connects to real life, we all have some sort of following and influence on others. Some of us have more power than others, and look at what we choose to do with that power. I think this book is a real eye opener in some ways.The twist at the end though, wasn't expecting that... what even is real anymore? 📚
March 9, 2023
Olivia Hillier sent me her book and I thank her for that because I really enjoyed reading Block Delete so much! The book gave me pretty much The Giver meets Divergent vibes. What the characters were going through felt so real, depending on whether you belong to the Network or the System, the number of followers you have essentially determines how you live. This got me thinking a lot about the struggles that our generation has with social media and the significance of followers and likes in determining social standing and relevance both online and offline.
This book was truly a five-star read, but I only rated it four stars since I didn't have a strong connection to the characters, especially Alexa, the main character. The one quality I found appealing about her was her desire to unravel the Network's mystery, which made me think of Thomas from The Maze Runner!
If you like Sci-Fi Dystopian YA books, this is the one you should pick! I couldn't put it down and it was so easy to read! I really liked the plot!
The plot twist at the end left me wanting to continue reading the trilogy! The book ends on a cliffhanger so beware, you are going to need the second book because the plot is so addictive!
This book was truly a five-star read, but I only rated it four stars since I didn't have a strong connection to the characters, especially Alexa, the main character. The one quality I found appealing about her was her desire to unravel the Network's mystery, which made me think of Thomas from The Maze Runner!
If you like Sci-Fi Dystopian YA books, this is the one you should pick! I couldn't put it down and it was so easy to read! I really liked the plot!
The plot twist at the end left me wanting to continue reading the trilogy! The book ends on a cliffhanger so beware, you are going to need the second book because the plot is so addictive!
July 6, 2023
I started reading books by this author recently and I am absolutely obsessed. As soon as I saw that she was releasing a dystopian, Sci-do book I knew I absolutely had to read it!
I loved following Alexa, getting to know her and how she worked with the governmental algorithm. She was brilliant, and the author really gave her a personality you could connect with, which was brilliant in a world where everything seems completely so connected physically. I love the detail and personality put into characters and seeing how each decided to play the system. It was interesting to read along and find out just who each person truly was.
I loved the perspective of this book, especially when we live in a world that doesn’t seem too far distant from this one. The connection between Alexa’s world and how people interact with social media now, made it so interesting and really easy to connect with the book.
Overall, this was such an excellent read. I cannot wait to read more on the series! It was pure brilliance.
I loved following Alexa, getting to know her and how she worked with the governmental algorithm. She was brilliant, and the author really gave her a personality you could connect with, which was brilliant in a world where everything seems completely so connected physically. I love the detail and personality put into characters and seeing how each decided to play the system. It was interesting to read along and find out just who each person truly was.
I loved the perspective of this book, especially when we live in a world that doesn’t seem too far distant from this one. The connection between Alexa’s world and how people interact with social media now, made it so interesting and really easy to connect with the book.
Overall, this was such an excellent read. I cannot wait to read more on the series! It was pure brilliance.
July 12, 2023
***ARC review***
Really interesting premise. Some years ago a global event caused the world to lose its' memory, and everyone woke up to a new world. The Network and the System govern everything. If you are lucky enough to have some modicum of a following and online influence, you are on the Network and entitled to the benefits of life based of your influence level. If you happen to land in the System, you deal with the leftovers of the Network in a life of poverty. If you are at the top of the Network, you reign supreme and have the power to cancel others and kick them to the System for a while. If you choose to block and delete someone - it equals death.
- "You don't have to be great at anything. You just have to seem great. All you have to do is declare that you're amazing at something and start posting about it."
The FMC sees the issues created by the Network and starts to notice some weird goings on, and recruits a group of unlikely comrades to make some change and uncovers the truth about their world along the way.
- "Just another reason to shut this whole thing down. It's fakes and liars all the way down."
The premise is slightly creepy with just how applicable some of the themes are in our current day and age, and how in the not so distant future we could potentially face some of these things ourselves. The cancel culture element certainly speaks to our current climate.
- "Aren't you sick of feeling as though you're walking on eggshells?"
Even with loving the premise, I still thought there was room for improvement that could push this book over the line from "like" to "love". There were so many concepts and elements that were brought up that I wanted to know more about and could have used so much more explanation or exploration, but the writing moved very quickly on from it. I think with a bit more focus on world building and character development around the FMC, the stakes would have been a lot higher and this book would have left more of an overall impact. There was definitely room for this book to be about a third longer just to explore the really interesting concepts, and I would have been way more invested in the journey that was taken.
Really interesting premise. Some years ago a global event caused the world to lose its' memory, and everyone woke up to a new world. The Network and the System govern everything. If you are lucky enough to have some modicum of a following and online influence, you are on the Network and entitled to the benefits of life based of your influence level. If you happen to land in the System, you deal with the leftovers of the Network in a life of poverty. If you are at the top of the Network, you reign supreme and have the power to cancel others and kick them to the System for a while. If you choose to block and delete someone - it equals death.
- "You don't have to be great at anything. You just have to seem great. All you have to do is declare that you're amazing at something and start posting about it."
The FMC sees the issues created by the Network and starts to notice some weird goings on, and recruits a group of unlikely comrades to make some change and uncovers the truth about their world along the way.
- "Just another reason to shut this whole thing down. It's fakes and liars all the way down."
The premise is slightly creepy with just how applicable some of the themes are in our current day and age, and how in the not so distant future we could potentially face some of these things ourselves. The cancel culture element certainly speaks to our current climate.
- "Aren't you sick of feeling as though you're walking on eggshells?"
Even with loving the premise, I still thought there was room for improvement that could push this book over the line from "like" to "love". There were so many concepts and elements that were brought up that I wanted to know more about and could have used so much more explanation or exploration, but the writing moved very quickly on from it. I think with a bit more focus on world building and character development around the FMC, the stakes would have been a lot higher and this book would have left more of an overall impact. There was definitely room for this book to be about a third longer just to explore the really interesting concepts, and I would have been way more invested in the journey that was taken.
June 28, 2023
I’ve received this book from the author as an eARC. Thank you so much for reaching out.
I must say, when I read the titled I was really intrigued. I didn’t expect the book to be this good. The closeness to our current reality is eerie. The author wrote the book in the future but she’s definitely taken a few facts from our current times and to has included the direction to where our lives are headed. As for the book, each time I thought Alexa was close to uncovering the secrets, she stumbled upon even a bigger one. The plot twist and the major cliffhanger at the end is definitely going to be the main reason everyone will want to pick up book two as well. Very fun read and quite an interesting take on the sci-fi and dystopian world building.
I must say, when I read the titled I was really intrigued. I didn’t expect the book to be this good. The closeness to our current reality is eerie. The author wrote the book in the future but she’s definitely taken a few facts from our current times and to has included the direction to where our lives are headed. As for the book, each time I thought Alexa was close to uncovering the secrets, she stumbled upon even a bigger one. The plot twist and the major cliffhanger at the end is definitely going to be the main reason everyone will want to pick up book two as well. Very fun read and quite an interesting take on the sci-fi and dystopian world building.
June 5, 2023
This modern look at a technologically run world had me consuming this book at such a fast pace. I wanted to know more and learn about the world of Kora, while being drawn into the story and inquisitive nature of Alexa. I'm thrilled to have read this ARC and am looking forward to the next instalment.
Thankyou to Booksprout and Olivia Hillier for allowing me to ARC Read and review this novel prior to release.
Thankyou to Booksprout and Olivia Hillier for allowing me to ARC Read and review this novel prior to release.
March 26, 2023
This is a 5 star Young Adult read for me! I loved the plot and concept. This book really makes you think about the power of social media. Love the MC and can't wait to watch her grow in book 2! Thank you Olivia Hillier, for allowing me to review this arc!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 18, 2023
This book was soooo good. With how much the younger generation relies on social media to tell them what to think, what to like, how to live life, I can see this as our future. I read this book in one day, as I just couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
July 24, 2023
Scary social media possible reality...
A mix of the movies The Net, Demolition Man, and The Truman Show - with a little hint of The Jetsons.
The island of Kora is a society completely driven by your social media followers, likes, and content. The amount of followers you have dictates your place in society, what you have access to, where you can live, buy, etc. It's pretty scary and dark when you look past all the convenience of bots doing everything got you. Alexa (interesting choice of character name...) seems to be the only one that is questioning how The Network and society in general is run and is very determined to find out.
This is part one of a trilogy so it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I had enough of my questions answered - even as convoluted and lacking continuity as they are - that I don't really feel the need to read what is next for Alexa.
Interesting premise that has a lot of potential but needs some polishing.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Hidden Gems)
A mix of the movies The Net, Demolition Man, and The Truman Show - with a little hint of The Jetsons.
The island of Kora is a society completely driven by your social media followers, likes, and content. The amount of followers you have dictates your place in society, what you have access to, where you can live, buy, etc. It's pretty scary and dark when you look past all the convenience of bots doing everything got you. Alexa (interesting choice of character name...) seems to be the only one that is questioning how The Network and society in general is run and is very determined to find out.
This is part one of a trilogy so it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I had enough of my questions answered - even as convoluted and lacking continuity as they are - that I don't really feel the need to read what is next for Alexa.
Interesting premise that has a lot of potential but needs some polishing.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Hidden Gems)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews