The fact that the podcast the twins made became controversial and resulted in near riots outside their home seemed unrealistic. I get that people get fired up over crazy stuff on the internet, but this was over the top. ( )

Savannah and Thomas are seventeen-year-old twins who live with their grandmother, Maggie, after their mother Bess died four years ago. They have a podcast interviewing Maggie's variety of dinner guests, but one evening they get the idea to start a new podcast in which they hunt for their biological father, a man whose identity Bess never revealed. But then the series takes off, and they have to deal with the newfound fame - and notoriety - that their very public search draws.

What can I say? I read this compulsively over a weekend and was invested in knowing how the story would turn out for Savannah, Thomas, and Maggie. The third-person narration switches between their perspectives, allowing the reader a fuller understanding of their motives and knowledge. I really liked all of the characters, the exploration of family, and the commentary on the good and bad of social media and the way it brings parts of our lives into public view (though maybe not quite as thoroughly as the twins' podcast does). A good choice for book clubs. ( )

Thomas and Savannah are high school seniors, twins, living with their grandmother since their mom died a few years ago. And they've decided that now is the time to find their father, whom they've never known and whom their mom never talked about. At all. Like, they don't even know his name. They have the brilliant idea to conduct their search via podcast, thinking that the more people who know about their search, the better the odds of someone knowing who their father might be. Things don't go as smoothly and happily as they'd planned, though, as they learn a bit about the world, their parents, and themselves.
It's a neat idea for a novel and I wanted to know how everything turned out, but in the end I was fairly disappointed. Anthony drops several big foreshadows that then don't pan out to a reveal that matches the hype. So, an interesting idea but with a fizzled ending. ( )

This book grabbed my attention right from the start but quickly lost me. I loved the unique storyline, interesting characters, and play on today’s social and viral tendencies. It may have been timing but this book started to miss the mark for me about 1/3 of the way through. The story became a little hard to follow and I found my attention wandering. I wanted to love this book, and while I loved the idea of it, it didn’t end up as a favorite for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

the writing is fine, the plot is solid enough. there's just a big gaping hole where the emotional connection should be. i didn't care at all about the characters or how it turned out or what happened along the way. it was entirely missing for me. by the end i was slightly more invested so almost bumped this up to 2 stars, but decided that i just didn't care enough. i found myself straying in attention, not going back when i missed something. so i'll leave my rating, but will note that this isn't really bad; i just wasn't into it.

(didn't jack email both thomas and savannah in the first place? so much tension relies on thomas keeping a secret that jack contacted him, but jack contacted both of them. i don't care enough to actually check, though.)

there is really some good writing, though. actually quite a bit. i'd read something else by anthony; this just didn't really work for me. i'd want to see if she was able to better establish an emotional tie from reader to story/character, and if she can, then i'd keep reading her. if not, though, i probably wouldn't give her a third try.

"He rapped his knuckles on the linoleum countertop, hitting the spot where someone's long-ago misplaced hot pan left a bubbled scar. The sound echoed hollow rather than solid, and Jack couldn't help feeling reminded, yet again, of how badly his life was falling short."

the audio reader, lauren fortgang, is quite good. ( )