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#PleaseRetweet
'The best fun I’ve had with a book' – Liz Loves Books
Social media whizz kid, May Sparks has landed her dream job. Well, not quite, but the salary is great and all May has to do is handle the online profiles of Z – list celebrities who have the tendency to say inappropriate things. Easy, right? #wrong
May’s clients include an ex big brother star (who she's definitely not going to sleep with #neversaynever), a disgraced TV presenter (who wants May to sort out his marriage as well as his Twitter account), and a woman who once flashed her boobs on X-factor. They're all relying on her to turn them into stars. But they're not going to make her job easy.
As May is sucked further and further into her job she begins to lose her grip on real life. Her friends don’t ‘like’ her Facebook posts anymore and even her gorgeous neighbour, who once seemed to be on the same wavelength, criticises her career choice. Worse, May’s clients start getting trolled by an annoying tweep, who May happens to agree with.
Then May’s secret online identity is leaked, causing her to start trending on Twitter. It looks like the status update is over. Unless May can leave the superficial social media word behind and find her own voice again…
Social media whizz kid, May Sparks has landed her dream job. Well, not quite, but the salary is great and all May has to do is handle the online profiles of Z – list celebrities who have the tendency to say inappropriate things. Easy, right? #wrong
May’s clients include an ex big brother star (who she's definitely not going to sleep with #neversaynever), a disgraced TV presenter (who wants May to sort out his marriage as well as his Twitter account), and a woman who once flashed her boobs on X-factor. They're all relying on her to turn them into stars. But they're not going to make her job easy.
As May is sucked further and further into her job she begins to lose her grip on real life. Her friends don’t ‘like’ her Facebook posts anymore and even her gorgeous neighbour, who once seemed to be on the same wavelength, criticises her career choice. Worse, May’s clients start getting trolled by an annoying tweep, who May happens to agree with.
Then May’s secret online identity is leaked, causing her to start trending on Twitter. It looks like the status update is over. Unless May can leave the superficial social media word behind and find her own voice again…
390 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2015
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March 20, 2016
“Tweeting is talking into the abyss, filling a void in your life by avoiding real human contact.”
----Jarod Kintz
Emily Benet, an English writer, has penned a heart-warming tale about twitter and it's minions in her book,#PleaseRetweet, that narrates the story of a woman who manages the C-listed celebs' twitter accounts and that's her full-time job. This story revolves around her life how twitter and celebs' lives dominate hers thereby forcing her to alienate her close friends, herself and her family.
Synopsis:
Social media whizz kid, May Sparks has landed her dream job. Well, not quite, but the salary is great and all May has to do is handle the online profiles of Z – list celebrities who have the tendency to say inappropriate things. Easy, right? #wrong
May’s clients include an ex big brother star (who she's definitely not going to sleep with #neversaynever), a disgraced TV presenter (who wants May to sort out his marriage as well as his Twitter account), and a woman who once flashed her boobs on X-factor. They're all relying on her to turn them into stars. But they're not going to make her job easy.
As May is sucked further and further into her job she begins to lose her grip on real life. Her friends don’t ‘like’ her Facebook posts anymore and even her gorgeous neighbour, who once seemed to be on the same wavelength, criticises her career choice. Worse, May’s clients start getting trolled by an annoying tweep, who May happens to agree with.
Then May’s secret online identity is leaked, causing her to start trending on Twitter. It looks like the status update is over. Unless May can leave the superficial social media word behind and find her own voice again.
May Sparks has bagged the job of her dreams where she can flaunt her skills within 140 characters to keep people interested and to update about some celeb's mundane daily routine and at times maybe handling their crisis situations or bad rumors to give troubles at bay. Her high paid job gives her an almost grand lifestyle of her own, but what she doesn't realize that job could take control over her life. Things get worse when she romantically gets involved with a former Big Brother C-grade celeb contestant, Damian and worse when a talk show host-turned-writer wants her to reunite him with his estranged wife over Twitter. Her life shatters into pieces because of too much tweeting. Can she be able to make her friends and family to re-tweet her life yet one more time?
The story is extremely funny and realistic, and seriously I ha d no idea that celebs don't tweet for themselves, they hire people to do it. That's why I never follow any celebs over Twitter! I really don't trust their manipulative words. Sorry I'm diverting away from the review! Okay apart from this book being an eye-opener, it also harbors an engrossing story of woman in her late twenties whose life goes into downward spiral when she is hired to tweet for some celebs. One look at that apt and interesting book cover, I could not resist myself from opening the book and reading it in only one sitting.
Since the story features celebs so you can expect some crazy mind-F**King DRAMA that made me go ROFL most of the times. The author's writing style is sassy and eloquent and has been properly layered with funny anecdotes and with quite a number of LOL moments. The narrative is toned down to realistic and catchy with a really fast and edgy pacing. The story is so engaging that I could not turn my head away from the book till the last page and remained hooked on to it.
The characters are well-developed and each of them are layered with realism in their demeanor. The main character, our protagonist, May Sparks, is a real charm and the author has highlighted her with a bit of character -growth as she is constantly challenged with tricky situations. The grandeur of her charming and witticism is reflected within 140 characters. Her enthusiastic effort to save the celebs from the mean and cunning fandom gets too heavy on her life and that made me feel sorry for her. But what I did not like about her attitude is her indifference to the man who likes her in real. The supporting characters are as funny and well-crafted just like May.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and anyone who is Twitter-obsessed must give it a read as the author silently screams her message that how too much of social media can have a negative impact on a human being's life.
Verdict: An arresting and hilarious light read that is perfect for the Twitter lovers!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Emily Benet, for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
----Jarod Kintz
Emily Benet, an English writer, has penned a heart-warming tale about twitter and it's minions in her book,#PleaseRetweet, that narrates the story of a woman who manages the C-listed celebs' twitter accounts and that's her full-time job. This story revolves around her life how twitter and celebs' lives dominate hers thereby forcing her to alienate her close friends, herself and her family.
Synopsis:
Social media whizz kid, May Sparks has landed her dream job. Well, not quite, but the salary is great and all May has to do is handle the online profiles of Z – list celebrities who have the tendency to say inappropriate things. Easy, right? #wrong
May’s clients include an ex big brother star (who she's definitely not going to sleep with #neversaynever), a disgraced TV presenter (who wants May to sort out his marriage as well as his Twitter account), and a woman who once flashed her boobs on X-factor. They're all relying on her to turn them into stars. But they're not going to make her job easy.
As May is sucked further and further into her job she begins to lose her grip on real life. Her friends don’t ‘like’ her Facebook posts anymore and even her gorgeous neighbour, who once seemed to be on the same wavelength, criticises her career choice. Worse, May’s clients start getting trolled by an annoying tweep, who May happens to agree with.
Then May’s secret online identity is leaked, causing her to start trending on Twitter. It looks like the status update is over. Unless May can leave the superficial social media word behind and find her own voice again.
May Sparks has bagged the job of her dreams where she can flaunt her skills within 140 characters to keep people interested and to update about some celeb's mundane daily routine and at times maybe handling their crisis situations or bad rumors to give troubles at bay. Her high paid job gives her an almost grand lifestyle of her own, but what she doesn't realize that job could take control over her life. Things get worse when she romantically gets involved with a former Big Brother C-grade celeb contestant, Damian and worse when a talk show host-turned-writer wants her to reunite him with his estranged wife over Twitter. Her life shatters into pieces because of too much tweeting. Can she be able to make her friends and family to re-tweet her life yet one more time?
The story is extremely funny and realistic, and seriously I ha d no idea that celebs don't tweet for themselves, they hire people to do it. That's why I never follow any celebs over Twitter! I really don't trust their manipulative words. Sorry I'm diverting away from the review! Okay apart from this book being an eye-opener, it also harbors an engrossing story of woman in her late twenties whose life goes into downward spiral when she is hired to tweet for some celebs. One look at that apt and interesting book cover, I could not resist myself from opening the book and reading it in only one sitting.
Since the story features celebs so you can expect some crazy mind-F**King DRAMA that made me go ROFL most of the times. The author's writing style is sassy and eloquent and has been properly layered with funny anecdotes and with quite a number of LOL moments. The narrative is toned down to realistic and catchy with a really fast and edgy pacing. The story is so engaging that I could not turn my head away from the book till the last page and remained hooked on to it.
The characters are well-developed and each of them are layered with realism in their demeanor. The main character, our protagonist, May Sparks, is a real charm and the author has highlighted her with a bit of character -growth as she is constantly challenged with tricky situations. The grandeur of her charming and witticism is reflected within 140 characters. Her enthusiastic effort to save the celebs from the mean and cunning fandom gets too heavy on her life and that made me feel sorry for her. But what I did not like about her attitude is her indifference to the man who likes her in real. The supporting characters are as funny and well-crafted just like May.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and anyone who is Twitter-obsessed must give it a read as the author silently screams her message that how too much of social media can have a negative impact on a human being's life.
Verdict: An arresting and hilarious light read that is perfect for the Twitter lovers!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Emily Benet, for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
August 13, 2015
Absolutely NOT my sort of thing this, upon first perusal. I mean on top of a lot of other things it has Romance. I don’t do romance. Except in this case (and one or two other rare ones ) I kind of do. Fun I like. And this was the best fun I’ve had with a book when it comes to sheer laugh out loud moments in a long long time.
I was tempted in by the whole social media aspect – I spend many happy hours online as my daily to do list disappears into the black hole that is Twitter and it is a place rife with the possibility of stories to be told. Ironic things happen there, scary things, hiliarious things and of course many many cat pictures.
With precision and witty insightfulness, Emily Benet takes apart our Twitter lives by giving us a character whose whole life becomes one long tweet and facebook status – when May starts her new job and has to juggle pretending to be many different people hilarity ensues, she ends up in all kinds of trouble and any reader along for the ride is going to be spitting tea out, insanely giggling on the bus and often nodding along in quiet agreement with some of the observations.
Poor May. Really. With her phone surgically attached, an endless need to check all her notifications, her world one of many balls in the air not really helped by the personality of her personalites – some of whom are nasty some of whom are vaguely ridiculous ALL of whom you will recognise as having similiarites to someone you have seen online.
From feeling validated by favourites, wondering if you are just not interesting if no-one responds to your status update, to accidentally thinking in hashtags, all the wonderful realities of any person who spends a lot of time online are right here and not exaggerated to caricature levels- just put into a wonderfully heartwarming story and one woman’s journey to the other side, where perhaps it might be said that there are more important things than Twitter…
Nooo…surely not!
If you’ve ever lost 3 hours when you meant to only be 10 minutes checking your messages, if you have ever rolled your eyes at the completely stupid things people tweet then wonder why the hoards descend, if you’ve ever clapped your hands over your eyes having sent a random thing out into the internet ether that you really didn’t mean to then you will love this book.
If you like a story with realistic characters doing the things we all do, love a tale of hilarious woe that lifts your spirits, if you are fond of witty dialogue and a bit of a an ironic dig at human nature then Emily Benet’s #PleaseRetweet is definitely for you.
I loved it.
#PleaseRetweet
August 6, 2015
Since I can't resist new shiny books, I am going to read #PleaseRetweet by @EmilyBenet next for #HIReadathon
@EmilyBenet The first tweet of this book has made me snigger in recognition!
@EmilyBenet About 3 pages further on and I'm smiling and sniggering again. I have a feeling this is going to be great!
Just finished the prologue of #PleaseRetweet by @EmilyBenet and I'm laughing and smiling along with it.
#bookbloggers its on Netgalley now!
The above are my first impressions as I started to read #PleaseRetweet. Although I do interact regularly with authors on twitter, I don't normally tweet four times in 10 mins just about the prologue of a book I have just started. This should give you some idea how much I enjoyed just the start of this book.
And my enjoyment didn't end there. I kept up that level of laughing and smiling, and engagement with the story the entire way through. I found that #PleaseRetweet has perhaps made me think I may be just "slightly" addicted to social media, but unlike May in the story, I am at least not trying to be 5 different people at the same time.
May Sparks is fabulous with social media, her personal twitter account has around 7k followers, and she is now working in a job where all she has to do is be on social media all day. However due to the new Platinum package her company is offering, she is essentially ghost writing 4 C-List Celebrities twitter accounts, all in their voices, but to stop them from doing anything else to destroy their profile.
She is addicted to her phone and tablet, and is continually refreshing all accounts to see what the current responses to her words are. When she isn't doing that she is thinking about what she could take photos of, or tweet for them, and to some extent she even starts thinking in #hashtags.
May is so obsessed with work, that her friends start having a problem with her, as does her flatmate, and May doesn't even recognise a man who could be interested in her, instead trying to matchmake him, so that she is left alone with her phone.
Over my lunch break, I had been reading more of this book, and came across May's school style grading system to gauge reaction to the tweets she sends. And then an hour later the above occurred, so I just had to send a tweet!
@EmilyBenet Just had a RT from an egg profile pic, and instantly thought of the twitter grading curve in #PleaseRetweet
The celebrities May is pretending to be on twitter range from the ex big brother contestant who had to leave the house after a rather embarrassingly placed injury, an X-Factor audition failure, who ended up flashing the judges and reckons her breasts will get her fame, an author who is trying to sell more books and get back his wife, after he cheater and also a young songwriter who is perfectly happy not to be on twitter at all, until his publicist gets involved.
Between getting involved in their dramas, some of which are hilarious, to May starting to feel like she may be dealing with more than she can cope with, and her increasingly strained relationships with anyone in her personal life, you have a remarkably entertaining and fabulous book.
I would recommend #PleaseRetweet to anyone who loves social media, anyone who loves celebrities (especially their rises and falls to fame), and to anyone who is just looking for a fantastically fun book. #PleaseRetweet is one of my most enjoyed books this year.
Thank you so much to Harper Impulse and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
@EmilyBenet The first tweet of this book has made me snigger in recognition!
@EmilyBenet About 3 pages further on and I'm smiling and sniggering again. I have a feeling this is going to be great!
Just finished the prologue of #PleaseRetweet by @EmilyBenet and I'm laughing and smiling along with it.
#bookbloggers its on Netgalley now!
The above are my first impressions as I started to read #PleaseRetweet. Although I do interact regularly with authors on twitter, I don't normally tweet four times in 10 mins just about the prologue of a book I have just started. This should give you some idea how much I enjoyed just the start of this book.
And my enjoyment didn't end there. I kept up that level of laughing and smiling, and engagement with the story the entire way through. I found that #PleaseRetweet has perhaps made me think I may be just "slightly" addicted to social media, but unlike May in the story, I am at least not trying to be 5 different people at the same time.
May Sparks is fabulous with social media, her personal twitter account has around 7k followers, and she is now working in a job where all she has to do is be on social media all day. However due to the new Platinum package her company is offering, she is essentially ghost writing 4 C-List Celebrities twitter accounts, all in their voices, but to stop them from doing anything else to destroy their profile.
She is addicted to her phone and tablet, and is continually refreshing all accounts to see what the current responses to her words are. When she isn't doing that she is thinking about what she could take photos of, or tweet for them, and to some extent she even starts thinking in #hashtags.
May is so obsessed with work, that her friends start having a problem with her, as does her flatmate, and May doesn't even recognise a man who could be interested in her, instead trying to matchmake him, so that she is left alone with her phone.
Over my lunch break, I had been reading more of this book, and came across May's school style grading system to gauge reaction to the tweets she sends. And then an hour later the above occurred, so I just had to send a tweet!
@EmilyBenet Just had a RT from an egg profile pic, and instantly thought of the twitter grading curve in #PleaseRetweet
The celebrities May is pretending to be on twitter range from the ex big brother contestant who had to leave the house after a rather embarrassingly placed injury, an X-Factor audition failure, who ended up flashing the judges and reckons her breasts will get her fame, an author who is trying to sell more books and get back his wife, after he cheater and also a young songwriter who is perfectly happy not to be on twitter at all, until his publicist gets involved.
Between getting involved in their dramas, some of which are hilarious, to May starting to feel like she may be dealing with more than she can cope with, and her increasingly strained relationships with anyone in her personal life, you have a remarkably entertaining and fabulous book.
I would recommend #PleaseRetweet to anyone who loves social media, anyone who loves celebrities (especially their rises and falls to fame), and to anyone who is just looking for a fantastically fun book. #PleaseRetweet is one of my most enjoyed books this year.
Thank you so much to Harper Impulse and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
June 25, 2017
I really enjoyed this book - nice change from all of the YA books I'm usually reading. It was such a good take on social media / twitter and the power it has on our lives, the need to always feel SO connected, the feeling that if you're not documenting things online, you are actually not living it. A fresh reminder to read if you're feeling a bit of an addict to social media, at times. Refreshing, funny, a teensy bit predictable and a main character that's annoying at times, yet a very insightful book :)
October 18, 2023
Enjoyed this one
November 10, 2015
Originally posted on This Chick Reads
* Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *
#Please Retweet is the first book by Ms Benet I have read, but it certainly won't be my last one. From the moment I saw she had a new rom com out about a twitter addict, I was looking forward to reading it. Ms Benet even did a little blog competition where she let readers decide what the cover will look like, and they had to pick between two, the current one and a very pink one. Being the typical girlie, I did love the other, pink cover, however I do think this one does send a strong message and shows what the book is about.
I read 'PleaseRetweet' while on holidays in Greece and can say it's the perfect beach read. It caused numerous LOLs and was such a fast read. On the surface, PleaseRetweet seems like another fun, chick lit that would appeal to probably female readers in their twenties. It tells the story of May whose work is basically to do social media for some C-list celebrities and help them climb up the society's lists. In plain words, she tweets from their profiles, interacts with their fans, worries how many Retweets or likes her post will have and how to be funny most of the time. As someone who does love twitter and finds this social media a blessing of the modern time, I still would never be able to manage more profiles and impersonate people I don't even know. How do you tweet on someone else's behalf? How do you make yourself sound like him or her? I'm telling you, as easy and fun May's job seems to be, I'd never want to do it.
May is an easy going person, she's a very likable character thought she did give me headaches at times. She does have an unusual job despite being educated to do a more glamorous one, but she's very good at it. However, what did bother me is her need to explain her reasons for having that job to her friends. I mean, if companies who do social media and PR like this exist, and it's not a crime to have such a job, why would I feel the need to justify my reasons for doing it. It could be the fun, the cash or because I still haven't found the right job. But May does sometimes feel bad for doing it. I do understand she starts feeling bad that she's in a way lying to many people when she impersonates someone else, but she mustn't take all those things to heart. Her job position exists because of these people who can't be even bothered to communicate personally with their fan base, let them feel uncomfortable about this.
After starting the platinum package at their company, May is practically glued to her phone, neglecting her own social and virtual life all while worrying about her clients and their number of followers/fans. She does make loads of sacrifices and starts feeling bit overwhelmed with the new client package. Naturally, things will have to go a down line and there will be some troubles May will get herself into, but I wouldn't like to reveal them to you. You just will have to read it for yourself to find out.
'PleaseRetweet' is definitely one of the most unique and refreshing chick lits I've read so far. The topic is very trendy and despite being a fluffy rom com on the surface, if you just ponder on the idea how social media can take over your life if you'd only allow it, you start getting the bigger picture and understand everything comes with a price. It's the modern era, we stopped sending letters, we don't need to wait 2-3 weeks to hear from friends, we use skype, twitter, facebook, whatsapp to keep in touch with our friends and do our jobs. As everything else created by humans, these social medias can be good or evil, depending on how you use them. They're just like a knife, you can use it to make a sandwich and satisfy your hunger, or you can use it to kill someone. Social platforms are not bad in its core, they start haunting you if you don't use them right. They are a tool to make your life easier, they are not supposed to become your life.
So, overall this really was an interesting, funny and fun ride and I definitely recommend it to all chick lit and rom com fans. I applaud to Ms Benet for the unique idea and the ability to portray both the advantages and downhills of social medias in such a light and hilarious way. I was engaged throughout and really enjoyed reading it. Emily Benet is definitely an author to watch out for and I sure will be checking her future novels. #simplyfantastic
September 7, 2015
Originally posted on Paris Baker's Book Nook.
I was browsing options on NetGalley for the #HIreadathon when I stumbled across this bad boy. As soon as I read the blurb for #PleaseRetweet, I knew I had to have it. As always, I was super grateful for auto-approval from HarperImpulse, and within seconds of my greedy eyes seeing it, I had it on my kindle and ready to go, in exchange for an honest review.
I just LOVE the whole idea. I love how current and on trend it is. And just generally as a total twitter-obsessed social media maniac, I just knew this was a book for me.
I proved myself right when I was laughing out loud on the first page, multiple times. Bravo, Emily. Bravo.
May Sparks is pretty up to scratch on the social media front. Her personal account gets some good reactions, so tweeting as minor celebs for her new job comes pretty naturally to her – even if she’s not entirely convinced that it’s actually morally sound to be doing it. Soon she finds the right voice for each of her clients, and starts being able to build their personas in a way to put them in the best light possible – she just has to hope they don’t mess things up for their own images in the mean time! #fingerscrossed
Unfortunately, May seems to have run out of time for her own life as she’s too busy ‘being’ her clients and her friends are not very impressed. (#drama!) With her moral compass spinning faster and faster out of control, and her social life somewhat in tatters, May needs to seriously make some decisions to take control back.
I really enjoyed May as a character, even though she did wind me up a little at times, but that’s what totally worked about her. Her quirky, paranoid personality really tickled me, and I just wanted her to be able to relax a bit! I loved how she tries to rationalize everything in her own head, and how well her inner struggle with what she was doing was portrayed. I really commend Emily on how believable both her good and bad characteristics were. She was a very flawed, but likable, believable character.
This is a super fun and easy read from Harper Impulse, which is what they do so very well, and I definitely recommend it to the modern-day girl who loves a bit of social media! #loveit
I was browsing options on NetGalley for the #HIreadathon when I stumbled across this bad boy. As soon as I read the blurb for #PleaseRetweet, I knew I had to have it. As always, I was super grateful for auto-approval from HarperImpulse, and within seconds of my greedy eyes seeing it, I had it on my kindle and ready to go, in exchange for an honest review.
I just LOVE the whole idea. I love how current and on trend it is. And just generally as a total twitter-obsessed social media maniac, I just knew this was a book for me.
I proved myself right when I was laughing out loud on the first page, multiple times. Bravo, Emily. Bravo.
May Sparks is pretty up to scratch on the social media front. Her personal account gets some good reactions, so tweeting as minor celebs for her new job comes pretty naturally to her – even if she’s not entirely convinced that it’s actually morally sound to be doing it. Soon she finds the right voice for each of her clients, and starts being able to build their personas in a way to put them in the best light possible – she just has to hope they don’t mess things up for their own images in the mean time! #fingerscrossed
Unfortunately, May seems to have run out of time for her own life as she’s too busy ‘being’ her clients and her friends are not very impressed. (#drama!) With her moral compass spinning faster and faster out of control, and her social life somewhat in tatters, May needs to seriously make some decisions to take control back.
I really enjoyed May as a character, even though she did wind me up a little at times, but that’s what totally worked about her. Her quirky, paranoid personality really tickled me, and I just wanted her to be able to relax a bit! I loved how she tries to rationalize everything in her own head, and how well her inner struggle with what she was doing was portrayed. I really commend Emily on how believable both her good and bad characteristics were. She was a very flawed, but likable, believable character.
This is a super fun and easy read from Harper Impulse, which is what they do so very well, and I definitely recommend it to the modern-day girl who loves a bit of social media! #loveit
August 31, 2015
#PleaseRetweet is a fun read, providing an insight into the world of social media where if you're not on Twitter or Facebook etc, you're not normal.
May Sparks has just landed a great job where she gets to hang out on Twitter and handle the profiles of wannabe celebrities who can't be trusted to say the right thing. What May doesn't realise is that her boss, Craig, expects her to be available 24/7 and her clients will all need babysitting in some way.
May's life is then taken over by the constant demands of her boss, her clients and her friends and her life soon begins to spiral out of control and she can't seem to do right for doing wrong. Even when she's not tweeting she's composing tweets and her head is continually full of noise. But soon it's May herself who is trending #WhereIsMaySparks
Emily Benet has written an excellent book containing believable characters and situations which will have you laughing out loud in places. She's really managed to show the addiction some people have to social media, we've all seen them, constantly playing with their phone, refreshing pages, checking how many likes and retweets they're getting and seemingly paying little attention to the things happening around them in the real world.
If you're looking for a light-hearted, entertaining and current read then this could be the book for you. I loved it and I hope that you do too.
With kind thanks to NetGalley and publishers HarperImpulse for the review copy.
May Sparks has just landed a great job where she gets to hang out on Twitter and handle the profiles of wannabe celebrities who can't be trusted to say the right thing. What May doesn't realise is that her boss, Craig, expects her to be available 24/7 and her clients will all need babysitting in some way.
May's life is then taken over by the constant demands of her boss, her clients and her friends and her life soon begins to spiral out of control and she can't seem to do right for doing wrong. Even when she's not tweeting she's composing tweets and her head is continually full of noise. But soon it's May herself who is trending #WhereIsMaySparks
Emily Benet has written an excellent book containing believable characters and situations which will have you laughing out loud in places. She's really managed to show the addiction some people have to social media, we've all seen them, constantly playing with their phone, refreshing pages, checking how many likes and retweets they're getting and seemingly paying little attention to the things happening around them in the real world.
If you're looking for a light-hearted, entertaining and current read then this could be the book for you. I loved it and I hope that you do too.
With kind thanks to NetGalley and publishers HarperImpulse for the review copy.
August 11, 2015
I really enjoyed this. It was so much fun and totally current, completely on-trend for the time we live in. It definitely has me wondering which real life celebs can't be bothered to tweet (in fact, I don't think any of them do except Stephen Amell whom I trust implicitly).
I loved getting to know May, although she was SO obtuse when it came to Alex (or is it Adam? I've had a stressful month and my recollection part of my brain has fallen to pieces. I'm almost sure it's Alex though - either way, it's a four letter fellas name that begins with A). I almost wanted to smash her in the face she was so stupid, especially since this is a girl who doesn't deny how pretty she is (vain came to mind in one scene in particular).
But overall this was a fun, quick read. I liked May, and it was a nice insight into the social media mad generation (of which I used to be part of, but like Alex/Adam I couldn't really care less about any more). Inevitably, like most things, social media gets old (but it does get addictive first) but it's just really never what you want it to be, and I don't miss it.
Emily Benet is such a fun author, and this book is a gem.
I loved getting to know May, although she was SO obtuse when it came to Alex (or is it Adam? I've had a stressful month and my recollection part of my brain has fallen to pieces. I'm almost sure it's Alex though - either way, it's a four letter fellas name that begins with A). I almost wanted to smash her in the face she was so stupid, especially since this is a girl who doesn't deny how pretty she is (vain came to mind in one scene in particular).
But overall this was a fun, quick read. I liked May, and it was a nice insight into the social media mad generation (of which I used to be part of, but like Alex/Adam I couldn't really care less about any more). Inevitably, like most things, social media gets old (but it does get addictive first) but it's just really never what you want it to be, and I don't miss it.
Emily Benet is such a fun author, and this book is a gem.
November 15, 2015
#greatread
May Sparks runs Twitter accounts for celebrities with foot and mouth disease. Before long May realises her fake world is overtaking real life, to the point where she's almost composing tweets in her sleep. Her friends and family despair, willing her to literally switch off and take a break. However, May is addicted to the highs of checking out responses to her online activity. Added to this she needs to impress her boss if she wants that promised pay rise. This means working 24/7. Things soon spiral out of control and May finds her (real) self the focus of unwanted attention.
This book highlights the internet obsessed world we now live in. How many of us, like May, want validation that we have something worthwhile to say and crave those likes and retweets to make us feel good? It can become obsessive. If we let it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Emily comes up with next. Whatever it is it will be good. Great stuff!
May Sparks runs Twitter accounts for celebrities with foot and mouth disease. Before long May realises her fake world is overtaking real life, to the point where she's almost composing tweets in her sleep. Her friends and family despair, willing her to literally switch off and take a break. However, May is addicted to the highs of checking out responses to her online activity. Added to this she needs to impress her boss if she wants that promised pay rise. This means working 24/7. Things soon spiral out of control and May finds her (real) self the focus of unwanted attention.
This book highlights the internet obsessed world we now live in. How many of us, like May, want validation that we have something worthwhile to say and crave those likes and retweets to make us feel good? It can become obsessive. If we let it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Emily comes up with next. Whatever it is it will be good. Great stuff!
February 11, 2016
A quirky little book, which is funny at times, but more importantly has made me reevaluate my Twitter life! As a big Twitter fan, I thought this book would be appropriate and I enjoyed the writing and characters. Would definitely recommend for anyone who is a fan of Twitter, celebrity gossip or reality TV!
'It's a make believe world, but I'm still going to be as authentic as I can'.
'Eventually what was fake becomes real. You've gone from being nobody to being somebody without doing anything at all'.
'One day you wake up to the awful realisation that you've lived half your life through an odourless, tasteless, texture-limited screen. That, and you have severe arthritis in your scrolling finger'.
'It's a make believe world, but I'm still going to be as authentic as I can'.
'Eventually what was fake becomes real. You've gone from being nobody to being somebody without doing anything at all'.
'One day you wake up to the awful realisation that you've lived half your life through an odourless, tasteless, texture-limited screen. That, and you have severe arthritis in your scrolling finger'.
September 23, 2015
Well, as I tweeted, I was so engrossed in this book that I missed my bus stop! So definitely a health warning here!
Tons of fun and cheekily current - I was stressing and cringing along with May (in a good way) and groaning in recognition of a lot of my own social media addiction (hashtag selfie).
So if you enjoy #lolz #celebrities #drama #hunkyneighbours #sexonanarrowboat this is definitely the book for you. #lovedit
Tons of fun and cheekily current - I was stressing and cringing along with May (in a good way) and groaning in recognition of a lot of my own social media addiction (hashtag selfie).
So if you enjoy #lolz #celebrities #drama #hunkyneighbours #sexonanarrowboat this is definitely the book for you. #lovedit
July 11, 2020
In a world where so much of the thoughts and actions of the human race are driven by social media, this book could be a biography instead of a work of fiction. May Sparks is your typical social media aficionado. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram…she knows them all and uses them effectively to document her life, as most people who live in this digital society knows all too well. May accepts what she thinks is her dream job, managing the online profiles of celebrities who don’t play so nice online, without anyone finding out.
I honestly didn’t understand the need for secrecy as I have long known that celebrities hire PR people to manage their online accounts not because they can’t but because they don’t have time. Isn’t that what PR are paid to do? Apparently in May’s world, nobody can find out, so of course, the reader already figures everyone will eventually find out. May’s clients aren’t people of integrity in the first place so trying to present them in a positive light online is going to be downright impossible to me.
This book swings between just OK and a good read for me. I liked May and though I thought her job was interesting, I got frustrated quickly at how she allows people to walk all over her, her clients, her boss, her client’s managers, friends, the list goes on and on. What I found annoying is that they are paying May’s company to provide them with an online presence they can’t pull off themselves because they lack human skills like kindness, honesty, restraint and manners but yet they are demanding of May, calling her round the clock, treating her like she’s their personal servant or at their beck and call. Her boss is a sycophantic dweeb, more interested in May taking on yet another client instead of looking out for his employee and having her back. Her friends resent the amount of time May spends on her tablet and phone (HELLO, IT’S HER JOB!) and even go so far as snub her by excluding her from her friend’s housewarming party. Her roommate and neighbors criticize her for the work she does, that she lacks integrity or values, somehow. Her family doesn’t really know the full extent of May’s job, so aren’t critical or negative, but when things get rough for May, she finds it hard to talk to them about what’s really going on.
I started enjoying the story more when things began getting worse for May. I was interested at how things would turn out for her and the path she would choose. I didn’t really understand what the big deal was when her identity was leaked, why people were so upset. For the most part, I thought these people really needed to get over themselves and get a life.
My Final Verdict: The story started out as just OK but became a good read. I liked May and was pleased with how everything turned out. Readers who enjoy stories featuring strong protagonists throughout the entire story and not just in the last few chapters may find themselves frustrated with May. Readers who enjoy stories where the underdog comes out on top will be happy with May’s choices and will be rooting for her as she crosses the finish line.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of #PleaseRetweet from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly didn’t understand the need for secrecy as I have long known that celebrities hire PR people to manage their online accounts not because they can’t but because they don’t have time. Isn’t that what PR are paid to do? Apparently in May’s world, nobody can find out, so of course, the reader already figures everyone will eventually find out. May’s clients aren’t people of integrity in the first place so trying to present them in a positive light online is going to be downright impossible to me.
This book swings between just OK and a good read for me. I liked May and though I thought her job was interesting, I got frustrated quickly at how she allows people to walk all over her, her clients, her boss, her client’s managers, friends, the list goes on and on. What I found annoying is that they are paying May’s company to provide them with an online presence they can’t pull off themselves because they lack human skills like kindness, honesty, restraint and manners but yet they are demanding of May, calling her round the clock, treating her like she’s their personal servant or at their beck and call. Her boss is a sycophantic dweeb, more interested in May taking on yet another client instead of looking out for his employee and having her back. Her friends resent the amount of time May spends on her tablet and phone (HELLO, IT’S HER JOB!) and even go so far as snub her by excluding her from her friend’s housewarming party. Her roommate and neighbors criticize her for the work she does, that she lacks integrity or values, somehow. Her family doesn’t really know the full extent of May’s job, so aren’t critical or negative, but when things get rough for May, she finds it hard to talk to them about what’s really going on.
I started enjoying the story more when things began getting worse for May. I was interested at how things would turn out for her and the path she would choose. I didn’t really understand what the big deal was when her identity was leaked, why people were so upset. For the most part, I thought these people really needed to get over themselves and get a life.
My Final Verdict: The story started out as just OK but became a good read. I liked May and was pleased with how everything turned out. Readers who enjoy stories featuring strong protagonists throughout the entire story and not just in the last few chapters may find themselves frustrated with May. Readers who enjoy stories where the underdog comes out on top will be happy with May’s choices and will be rooting for her as she crosses the finish line.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of #PleaseRetweet from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 14, 2017
This was good, but PLEASE don't read the bio. For some reason it gives away something that happens in the last 5 chapters?
August 20, 2015
The book started very promising - as funny and light, and I immediately warmed to May, our main character. She was quirky, sassy and clever, and she really knew what she wanted from life and she had great friends - but as soon as she started working for Craig, the story slowed markedly down and, I don't know, I can't put my finger on what was wrong, but there was something wrong for me. It didn't have my whole attention and I truly couldn't care less about the celebrities that May was taking care of. Maybe it was the celebrities fault - they were really brilliantly described, but really, I couldn't take care less about their pompous egos, them being concentrated only on themselves, on their weird, totally unacceptable claims, and I have no idea if the real celebrities are like this - if they are, then really, respect to all who must work with them. And they were only Z - list celebrities! How big egos must people have to behave like they did!
But of course the book was totally current and spot on, in times where we mostly communicate through social media, and yes, it makes you think about the way you are with them. I myself used to spent a lot of time on Facebook or Twitter, although I've already reduced this time, and I really can't understand people for whom it's their whole life - fortunately, I have my own life and can live without internet, but it looks like our characters couldn't. I'm not sure if May, if given a choice, would put her mobile down - she so much reminded me of those masses of people who are sitting at the table in a restaurant and instead of communicating with each other, they concentrate on their phones - so yes, in this respect, this novel tackles it really greatly. But the story itself felt a little too flat for me, and I found myself skim - reading without a feeling that I've missed something.
"#PleaseRetweet" gives a great insight into the social media, and the generation that is mad about them. May is the perfect example of such person, addicted to her mobile and tablet, hitting refresh button every five second because she doesn't want to miss anything new, but not seeing how her friends are drifting away, and how she doesn't recognise that a man can be interested in her. No, what counts for her is if her clients are trending on Twitter and who has posted a new status on Facebook.
What I didn't understand is why people condemned May so much, and not those celebrities that she faked to be on Twitter. I mean, it was her job and she only did what she was told to do, right? I also didn't see anything wrong in her bringing one of her clients back with his wife - she didn't know their background and she believed what she was told. So why this hate campaign against her?
Altogether, I really get what this book is about and what the author was trying to do, it's just that it didn't work for me. You know, the writing was not bad, the idea of the book also, but I just couldn't connect with the characters and the story itself. Of course, it is a modern, up - to - date, enjoyable read and it already has many positive reviews, so probably it's again a case of "it's not you, it's me", so please, just try this book for yourself, you may fall in love with it.
Copy received from publisher in exchange for a review.
August 22, 2016
I absolutely loved this book! It’s such a fun, contemporary novel that is so apt for the social media age we now live in.
May Sparks is a social media expert; her job is to run the twitter accounts of C-list celebrities who either cannot be trusted to run their own account, or they’re completely clueless when it comes to social media. Her job sounds like it would be fun and easy, what could possibly be hard about being paid to be on twitter all day? Well, it all quickly begins to unravel for May when tweeting as these celebs starts to take over her whole life, and ultimately the lines begin to blur between her real life and the lives of the celebrities she works for. May finds she has no time for her own twitter account or her real life friends and it all begins to spiral out of her control.
May is a brilliant character who I’m sure anyone who has spent time on twitter will identify with. I think we all occasionally think in hashtags these days, or feel compelled to take photos of everything that happens to us so we can share with our followers. We can’t help but feel a flutter of excitement if we get retweeted a few times; or if a celebrity replies to us, or even better follows back! I often found myself chuckling as I recognised some of my twitter traits in SparkyMay. I know I’m guilty of planning on just having a quick scroll through my timeline only to realise a whole afternoon has disappeared. And I’ve occasionally retweeted sappy motivational quotes! Oh, and twitter and my real life blurred in a big way when I met my husband on there and moved to the other side of the country to be with him many years ago, and it all stemmed from a certain celebrity’s short-lived book club (for real!).
I can’t think of another book that has ever made me laugh out loud as much as #PleaseRetweet did. It’s such a brilliant take on modern life and how twitter can easily take over if we let it. I’m recommending this book to everyone!
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I’ve now bought my own copy as I know this is a book I’ll read again.
May Sparks is a social media expert; her job is to run the twitter accounts of C-list celebrities who either cannot be trusted to run their own account, or they’re completely clueless when it comes to social media. Her job sounds like it would be fun and easy, what could possibly be hard about being paid to be on twitter all day? Well, it all quickly begins to unravel for May when tweeting as these celebs starts to take over her whole life, and ultimately the lines begin to blur between her real life and the lives of the celebrities she works for. May finds she has no time for her own twitter account or her real life friends and it all begins to spiral out of her control.
May is a brilliant character who I’m sure anyone who has spent time on twitter will identify with. I think we all occasionally think in hashtags these days, or feel compelled to take photos of everything that happens to us so we can share with our followers. We can’t help but feel a flutter of excitement if we get retweeted a few times; or if a celebrity replies to us, or even better follows back! I often found myself chuckling as I recognised some of my twitter traits in SparkyMay. I know I’m guilty of planning on just having a quick scroll through my timeline only to realise a whole afternoon has disappeared. And I’ve occasionally retweeted sappy motivational quotes! Oh, and twitter and my real life blurred in a big way when I met my husband on there and moved to the other side of the country to be with him many years ago, and it all stemmed from a certain celebrity’s short-lived book club (for real!).
I can’t think of another book that has ever made me laugh out loud as much as #PleaseRetweet did. It’s such a brilliant take on modern life and how twitter can easily take over if we let it. I’m recommending this book to everyone!
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I’ve now bought my own copy as I know this is a book I’ll read again.
April 1, 2016
I wanted to like this book, but it fell flat for me. Thing is - you know those movie trailers where you figure you've seen all the best bits already and so don't need to watch it? This was the case for me with this book, because the blurb tells you everything already (I mean, the big blow-up happened at 86% in the book; I checked on my ereader!)
And then the remaining 14% of the book take you from the blowup to what happens next...except it feels really rushed, all over the place, and there doesn't seem to be a real basis for what actually happens. I mean, why did May suddenly say enough was enough to her boss Craig...when she's been in tougher, more sticky spots before but still stuck through? I got the feeling the book was more to push to that blowup, but then, the book needed to end, so there you have it - strings tied every which way.
Speaking of the ending itself, I get the purpose of an ending that doesn't come with a pretty red bow. In this manner, this story reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada. The book ending was not the happy/light ending of the movie, but back to the book's ending; In Devil, the heroine, well, you can see she's going through this disconnection, becoming something she isn't, and this is something that makes her realize she cannot keep on as she is. And that's the empowering moment for her, and for the readers, in Lauren Weisberger's story.
But in #PleaseRetweet, I felt none of this journey leading to the ultimate destination. I imagined @SparkyMay would make her comeback (though she supposedly never left - but where did she go?). We are led to see @SparkyMay as this strong, snarky, solid-in-her-opinions person, but then she totally disappears. Where to? And May never comes into her again. That ending made me go, Couldn't they have found something else to do? It leaves a huge question mark about the future - bit like the rug being pulled under your feet after you've slugged through the whole book to find out how May is gonna come up on top of all this. Truth is, she doesn't, and that's the real shame.
And then the remaining 14% of the book take you from the blowup to what happens next...except it feels really rushed, all over the place, and there doesn't seem to be a real basis for what actually happens. I mean, why did May suddenly say enough was enough to her boss Craig...when she's been in tougher, more sticky spots before but still stuck through? I got the feeling the book was more to push to that blowup, but then, the book needed to end, so there you have it - strings tied every which way.
Speaking of the ending itself, I get the purpose of an ending that doesn't come with a pretty red bow. In this manner, this story reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada. The book ending was not the happy/light ending of the movie, but back to the book's ending; In Devil, the heroine, well, you can see she's going through this disconnection, becoming something she isn't, and this is something that makes her realize she cannot keep on as she is. And that's the empowering moment for her, and for the readers, in Lauren Weisberger's story.
But in #PleaseRetweet, I felt none of this journey leading to the ultimate destination. I imagined @SparkyMay would make her comeback (though she supposedly never left - but where did she go?). We are led to see @SparkyMay as this strong, snarky, solid-in-her-opinions person, but then she totally disappears. Where to? And May never comes into her again. That ending made me go, Couldn't they have found something else to do? It leaves a huge question mark about the future - bit like the rug being pulled under your feet after you've slugged through the whole book to find out how May is gonna come up on top of all this. Truth is, she doesn't, and that's the real shame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2016
Won this Through Goodreads First Read.
May Sparks is a social media pro. When she lands a job helping c-list celebrities with their social media profiles she thinks she in her element. But with the stress of her new job and her need to be on line 24/7 her work-life balance takes a serious hit. Though this is nothing compared to the rabbit hole her job is about to throw her down. With a pay rise being dangled in front of her like a proverbial carrot, May is no longer helping celebrities with their Twitter accounts, she is now a personal tweeter. Having to become the voice of her clients isn't exactly what May signed up for. #stressed #unsure #whatamidoing
This amazing book is not only extremely current it is also wonderfully funny. A surprisingly quick read #PleaseRetweet had genuine laugh out loud moments that left me smiling from ear to ear.
As someone who has multiple social media accounts I could easily relate to May. The excitement, dread and need for instant gratification is something that people on social media can really relate to in this day and age.
As a character May was definitely flawed and that really appealed to me. Her flaws/quirks made her a really believable character. Emily Benet has also done a marvellous job creating a great collection of diverse supporting characters to really ground this book.
The whole concept of this book was amazingly well crafted. With great writing, loveable characters and an amazing plot this book was an extremely entertaining read. In the world of social media all I have left to say is...
#winning #lovedit #greatread #PleaseRetweet #EmilyBenet #awesome #buyit #hashtag #LOL #2manyhashtags
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
May Sparks is a social media pro. When she lands a job helping c-list celebrities with their social media profiles she thinks she in her element. But with the stress of her new job and her need to be on line 24/7 her work-life balance takes a serious hit. Though this is nothing compared to the rabbit hole her job is about to throw her down. With a pay rise being dangled in front of her like a proverbial carrot, May is no longer helping celebrities with their Twitter accounts, she is now a personal tweeter. Having to become the voice of her clients isn't exactly what May signed up for. #stressed #unsure #whatamidoing
This amazing book is not only extremely current it is also wonderfully funny. A surprisingly quick read #PleaseRetweet had genuine laugh out loud moments that left me smiling from ear to ear.
As someone who has multiple social media accounts I could easily relate to May. The excitement, dread and need for instant gratification is something that people on social media can really relate to in this day and age.
As a character May was definitely flawed and that really appealed to me. Her flaws/quirks made her a really believable character. Emily Benet has also done a marvellous job creating a great collection of diverse supporting characters to really ground this book.
The whole concept of this book was amazingly well crafted. With great writing, loveable characters and an amazing plot this book was an extremely entertaining read. In the world of social media all I have left to say is...
#winning #lovedit #greatread #PleaseRetweet #EmilyBenet #awesome #buyit #hashtag #LOL #2manyhashtags
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
November 9, 2015
I came across this book after the Author Emily Benet responded to a tweet i had posted on Twitter about my book addiction and the fact i can’t stop buying them. We had a conversation through a few tweets and she seemed so lovely so i had a nosey on her Twitter and saw she was an author. I read the blurb of the book and thought it sounded intesresting. I’m so glad i did! This was such a fun contemporary novel and so on point about how social media can rule your life if you let it.
This book had me laughing and gasping at some points! Meg the main character was brilliant and infuriating all at the same time. I’ve got friends exactly like her that just won’t leave their phones alone no matter what they’re doing. So i know what it feels like to be Claire and Emma and how frustrating it is to be talking to someone who is paying no attention to you because they’re too busy on their phone! Emily has got all of these characters spot on! And well Alex…. need i say more! Straight from the off i loved him and hoped for him to show meg the error of her ways! There are definitely some funny moments through there journey through the story!
I would highly recommend this book its so current, enjoyable and such an easy read! I also love the cover (Even though at the moment i only have a Kindle copy) It’s so eye catching and cute! I NEED to add a copy to my bookshelf soon!
This is a 4/5 for me :)
Laura ☮
laurawantsmore.tumblr.com
This book had me laughing and gasping at some points! Meg the main character was brilliant and infuriating all at the same time. I’ve got friends exactly like her that just won’t leave their phones alone no matter what they’re doing. So i know what it feels like to be Claire and Emma and how frustrating it is to be talking to someone who is paying no attention to you because they’re too busy on their phone! Emily has got all of these characters spot on! And well Alex…. need i say more! Straight from the off i loved him and hoped for him to show meg the error of her ways! There are definitely some funny moments through there journey through the story!
I would highly recommend this book its so current, enjoyable and such an easy read! I also love the cover (Even though at the moment i only have a Kindle copy) It’s so eye catching and cute! I NEED to add a copy to my bookshelf soon!
This is a 4/5 for me :)
Laura ☮
laurawantsmore.tumblr.com
November 21, 2015
A witty, insightful and fun read, #PleaseRetweet holds up a mirror to our social media obsessed age. We follow the fortunes of May Sparks who, at the start of the book, is all about climbing the career ladder, getting a promotion and a pay rise, convinced that is what will make her happy. In the meantime her friendships are suffering, her family get only an occasional visit and she hasn't had a boyfriend for coming up to two years because her work as a social media consultant never stops. When she lands a few C list (as opposed to her usual D list) celebrities to tweet for, May thinks this might be her golden ticket. But very quickly it becomes a slippery slope and we follow May into the tangled smoke and mirrors world of social media, where she holds people's careers, marriages, even lives, in 140 characters, and it all starts to blow up.
I really enjoyed the story, and Emily Benet's writing, with excellent and very believable characters. And it's funny!!! But most of all, after reading it, you come away wondering if anything you see on social media is really all it seems, and feel inspired to have a little hiatus on insta/FB/Twitter while you go for a run, meet up with some mates, or just do something where you really engage with the world as a participant rather than observer, and leave your phone at home.
I really enjoyed the story, and Emily Benet's writing, with excellent and very believable characters. And it's funny!!! But most of all, after reading it, you come away wondering if anything you see on social media is really all it seems, and feel inspired to have a little hiatus on insta/FB/Twitter while you go for a run, meet up with some mates, or just do something where you really engage with the world as a participant rather than observer, and leave your phone at home.
November 7, 2015
Ok, first things first, this is a fun, enjoyable and light read and it's a great book for a holiday. But...
I'm giving it 3 stars because there was something that just didn't quite work for me. To start with, I loved May. I actually identified some parallels /truths between May and her job and me and my own job. At one point I commented to a colleague that I was reading a book that had some distinct echoes to my life (not that I'm managing any celebrity Twitter accounts).
But, about two thirds of the way through I found the story started to become too predictable. I saw plot points coming a mile off and subsequently began to loose my enthusiasm for the book.
That's not to say that it's bad - far from it! Benet has a created a clever, fun-poking novel that is probably one of the first I've ever read that really nails how social media is such an integrated part of our everyday life. So naturally, why shouldn't it be key in a novel about people too? Perfect.
Sadly somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with the story and, for me, it took too long to reach the inevitable/obviously set up plot points.
I'm giving it 3 stars because there was something that just didn't quite work for me. To start with, I loved May. I actually identified some parallels /truths between May and her job and me and my own job. At one point I commented to a colleague that I was reading a book that had some distinct echoes to my life (not that I'm managing any celebrity Twitter accounts).
But, about two thirds of the way through I found the story started to become too predictable. I saw plot points coming a mile off and subsequently began to loose my enthusiasm for the book.
That's not to say that it's bad - far from it! Benet has a created a clever, fun-poking novel that is probably one of the first I've ever read that really nails how social media is such an integrated part of our everyday life. So naturally, why shouldn't it be key in a novel about people too? Perfect.
Sadly somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with the story and, for me, it took too long to reach the inevitable/obviously set up plot points.
August 20, 2015
This is not my usual kind of read at all, but hey, we all have to step away from the norm occasionally – it helps us to appreciate the rich tapestry of life!
And although I would personally stick this in the genre of ‘contemporary chick-lit’ on first glance, and walk past it, I admit to being a bit of a social media whore, so even just the title spoke to me.
#PleaseRetweet is fun and frothy, but makes you think about what is going on behind the social media updates you see on your screen.
In May Sparks (Social Media Guru) the lovely Emily Benet has managed to create a character who is engaging, endearing and well, just normal. And, as we follow her on her foray into the world of C-list celebrities with her career and life balancing on a knife-edge, we can sit back and think “Could that have happened to me? What would I have done?”
Easy-reading, believable characters and some great scenes. A nice break from my usual grimness!
Yes, I read it by the pool in Kos, and a jolly nice time I had too! Great holiday book ;)
And although I would personally stick this in the genre of ‘contemporary chick-lit’ on first glance, and walk past it, I admit to being a bit of a social media whore, so even just the title spoke to me.
#PleaseRetweet is fun and frothy, but makes you think about what is going on behind the social media updates you see on your screen.
In May Sparks (Social Media Guru) the lovely Emily Benet has managed to create a character who is engaging, endearing and well, just normal. And, as we follow her on her foray into the world of C-list celebrities with her career and life balancing on a knife-edge, we can sit back and think “Could that have happened to me? What would I have done?”
Easy-reading, believable characters and some great scenes. A nice break from my usual grimness!
Yes, I read it by the pool in Kos, and a jolly nice time I had too! Great holiday book ;)
August 13, 2015
An enjoyable, funny, modern read. May's life becomes increasingly chaotic as her boss expects her to be available online 24/7 to deal with their "celebrity" tweets. #unbalancedlife. She struggles more and more with her clients, offending one, sleeping with another - and all the time ignoring the obviously hopeful neighbour! #nonesoblindasthosethatwillnotsee.
I loved this story and how it progressed to the denouement and the fall out after that #where is MaySparks.
So many so-called contemporary romances and chick lit only pay a brief acknowledgement to modern mobile technology so it was lovely to read a witty book about what happens when it goes wrong! #goodbook #highlyrecommended
I loved this story and how it progressed to the denouement and the fall out after that #where is MaySparks.
So many so-called contemporary romances and chick lit only pay a brief acknowledgement to modern mobile technology so it was lovely to read a witty book about what happens when it goes wrong! #goodbook #highlyrecommended
August 1, 2016
This book was terrible, it truly was. The positives include that it was ridiculously easy to read (so it was over with quicker). It was painful to read, with a cliched story line that smacked you in the face with its obviousness. The main character - heck, all the characters - are utterly unlikable. Read this if you'd like to waste a few hours of your life.
December 4, 2015
This was a really fun up to trend book that was a fun, easy read! I spend a lot of time online, especially twitter so I especially liked this book. It was fun to read a book that was current. A light, fun romance novel that is a great beach read or easy read.
August 16, 2015
Review to come
September 18, 2015
An enjoyable, light hearted read that gives you a different look at social media and it's many uses. Loved the main characters
Read
March 17, 2016"There must be a way of getting everything done and keeping your social life. I've just not found the right self-help yet."
May 6, 2016
An entertaining story about the way that social media can take over your life. I enjoyed this but it also made me feel rather anxious - a little too close to home, perhaps.
August 9, 2016
Better than it should have been.
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