Are You Watching? By Vincent Ralph

Jess is a young woman and star of a YouTube reality show. Ten years previously, her mother was the first victim of a serial killer dubbed the Magpie Man, and she uses her new popularity to flush the killer out. While the world is watching and thus her mother’s murder is getting the attention that she wants it to, so is the Magpie Man, and he decides to add Jess to his long line of victims.

I was in two minds about reading this book, the positives being that it was compared in the advertising copy to Black Mirror, a tv show that I love, and had an intriguing premise, the negatives that it was YA. I don’t have a problem with Young Adult fiction as such, but I do always wonder what it is that makes it YA. Is it that they don’t address difficult subjects as rigorously as adult fiction, or just that the protagonist is of that age group? I decided to give it a go despite my reservations and I am glad that I did as for the most part it does its storyline justice.

The Black Mirror comparisons are apt, the world created by the author being familiar and yet more than a little dystopian. The YouTube show is called The Eye and its premise is that young people are filmed for the viewers, their lives displayed for all the world’s voyeurism. In an age where many young people dream of being YouTube stars and social media influencers, where once upon a time they dreamt of being actors and sports stars (and before that doctors and fire fighters) this is not far from reality and yet slightly sinister. 

Jess is a strong protagonist and her two friends who help her throughout the book and give her emotional support are also good, well-rounded characters. This is a young woman who knows what she wants and refuses to be the victim or the damsel-in-distress. But she’s not a superhero kick-ass character, just an ordinary woman with a strong personality and a determination to see justice for her mother. This all makes for compelling characterisation that forces the narrative forwards.

Other reviewers have said that there are moments where the storyline stretches credulity, and this is certainly true. This to me was the weakest aspect of the novel and reading the book I felt like the author had a tendency to shoehorn in solutions to solve the knotty problems that his narrative had created for his characters. All in all, though, this did not stop me from enjoying this title and it’s certainly well worth a read.

4 out of 5 stars.