eric smith – Mithah Reads

Title: Don’t Read the Comments
Author: Eric Smith
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publish Date: January 28, 2020
Book Form: E-ARC
Pages: 368
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Dates Read: Jan 10 – Jan 12
Rating: ★★★★★

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.
Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.
At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…
And she isn’t going down without a fight.
– Goodreads

Omg yall. This book. It’s my first 5 star read of the year and so deserving of every single star it gets. Don’t Read the Comments is a great look at the sexist nature of the video gaming community. That just because you are a female, you automatically aren’t as good as a male. Like, honestly. What do genitals have to do with gaming skill? NOTHING.

I’ve been gaming since I was 15. I started with Halo online, then went to World of Warcraft. I’ve tried various other MMO’s, FPS’s, everything. And no matter how good I am, if I speak, I’m either just trying to find a boyfriend or I’m a boy who hasn’t hit puberty yet. It’s so annoying, so I felt what D1V did. I knew how it was – people saying nasty things about you because they think you don’t belong. It was so nice to have that rep. To have a strong, GOOD female gamer, who didn’t let them see her break. She was so brave and so strong. Even when she got doxxed. If you don’t know about doxxing, check this out. It happened to a lot of females in the gaming/geek world and it it SO.SCARY.

Okay, now you see why the books means so much to me. I imagine it will mean a lot to the female gaming community who are also readers. Let’s get into this book review, shall we?

I first featured this book on my First Impressions Friday post. I read the first chapter and was immediately hooked. I was so interested in Divya, or D1V as she is known online. I immediately felt a kinship with her and her best friend, Rebekah. They were part of the streaming community, which is something I so desperately wanted to do back in the day.

In the next chapter you meet Aaron, a casual gamer who also plays Reclaim the Sun. The descriptions of the game make it sound like No Man’s Sky. Which I immediately had to play. I’ve logged three hours since finishing the book. Anyway…

A doxxing group attacks D1V and her armada of followers. She has to start over in game. She happens to meet Aaron when grinding to level back up. They end up playing together a lot, growing a friendship, then something more.

The romance was definitely in the background of this book. The main focus was D1V and Rebekah and how they have been attacked over and over. Both physically, verbally, and mentally. I think a lot of people don’t understand what it’s like to be in their position until they’ve been there. No, I’ve never been physically attacked, but I have been verbally and mentally.

There were so many great references in this book. All kinds of games, gamer news sites, and pop culture. I think I highlighted about 10 of them! It was so fun to read! The dual POV was so fun, too. I loved getting both sides of the friendship and romance.

I feel like I just rambled at the beginning of this, but this book is so important to me. I was so fortunate to get an ARC. I would recommend this to anyone in the gaming community or who loves geeky things!

There’s also an amazing pre-order incentive going on! Check it out here!

Until next time…

Hello everyone! I am so bummed I didn’t get to post yesterday. Wednesday morning my internet went down and they weren’t able to fix it until today! And we have no cable so there was NOTHING to do around my house. Well, for my husband and child. I got to finish The Center of the Universe by Ria Voros, so that review will be up tomorrow!

Today I’m doing a new post! I first saw this idea on Kristin Kraves Books, who got it from JW Martin! Here’s what Kristin said about the post:

“First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther.

Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.“

Just so happens, I started Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith today! So here’s my first impression and prediction!

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

Okay, so first, this is an ARC. I requested it because I have been a gamer for 15 years. Damn. I have mainly played online RPGs, so this is like me in a book. Also, what gamer hasn’t dreamed of being a top streamer? I know I have! I even streamed some WoW and Hearthstone WAY back in the day.

So I’ve just gotten finished reading chapter 1. This is a dual POV book, told from Divya and Aaron’s voices. Chapter 1 was Divya. I had so many highlights – 5! Which may not sound like much, but I don’t highlight a ton.

Divya talks about her best friend, Rebekah, and how she is big into bookstagram. So there’s a point for this book. She also names all her ships after books she has loved. Her current ship is Heart of Iron. This is by Ashley Poston, who was one of our Words & Whimsy chat authors last year! Exciting to see her get this shoutout!

Now, back to Divya. She is a gamer, who has a stream with over 100,000 viewers. And she’s female. So that’s like, the dream. Super awesome to see that rep because a majority of streamers are guys.

There were two quotes that stuck out to me. I’ll show them here, but keep in mind this is an ARC copy, and these quotes may change by the time of publication on Jan 28, 2020.

“Because that’s my life. Plenty of social notifications, but zero texts or missed calls.”
Okay, I have felt this. felt like all my friends were online but no one wanted to hang out irl. I feel you D1V!

“Hey, anonymous bro, I’m not here to be sexualized by strangers on the internet. It’s creepy ad disgusting. Can’t I just have fun without being objectified?”
Okay, I started playing WoW at the tender age of 15. I didn’t have any online gaming experience until then, and it was another world. Kind of literally. Anyway, my guild was sharing pictures left and right, and talking on ventrillo. My pictures along with my southern accent sent some guys crazy. So I also know how this feels.

So my predictions. I think this will be my first five star read of the year! I haven’t read Aaron’s pov yet, but the reviews about both pov’s are great. I’m already loving all the girl gamer rep and feel a kinship toward Divya. She’s going through alot – I’ll talk more about that in the actual review. I am so excited to get this book read. I predict I’ll finish it tomorrow!

Have you read this book yet? Did my first impression make you put it on your TBR? Let me know!

Until next time…

Tag: eric smith

Don’t Read the Comments ARC Review!

First Impression Friday!