Book Review: My Life as a Hashtag by Gabrielle Williams

My Life as a Hashtag
Author: Gabrielle Williams
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Pages: 288 pages 
Release date: 24 May 2017
R.R.P: $19.99
'I've been warned- in French, no less. By a tram-riding, mermaid-swaying, wolf-eaten, peace-sign-flipping friend. I know she's wouldn't be happy if I stayed out here by the pool, with Jed's nail tracing the length of my neck.
But I didn't want to go inside. I didn't want another drink. I wanted to stay out and see what would happen.'

What's a girl to do when her parents have spit up; her mum's trawling Tinder; and one of her best friends has decided not to invite her to the biggest party of the year, which she then has to watch unfold on everyone's social media?

If you're a girl called MC, you get Mad as hell, that's what you do.

But what begins as one girls private, no-holds-barred rant soon snowballs in the most public way possible.

My review
Thoughts in the book: I remember going through the review catalogue for May Allen and Unwin earlier on in the year and reading the small synopsis of what My Life as a Hashtag was about and immediately falling in love. I love stories that are written for the youth of today in ways that they can relate to not only the main character  as a person but the situations that they are placed in. In My Life as a Hastag readers could identify with any one of the characters that were introduced in some way, whether it be the main character MC who ends up causing a lot of the drama or Anouk who is the both the ice queen and the victim, Harley who is struggling with something huge but doesn't feel he can talk about it or Jed who has no idea what's going on but thinks everyone loves him. The plot line is very on trend at the moment with what is going on in the world.

The social media side of the story showcased just what not to do when your angry. Gone are the days of talking about your problems face to face or writing them in a diary so no one can see, now it's all done on social media where you just blurt out whatever your feeling at that moment, be dammed of the consequences. I have seen many Facebook fights escalate quickly over something that seemed completely innocent to one person but someone else felt strongly wasn't innocent. I know at one stage I was liking some things and wasn't really thinking about the people that it might affect until my Auntie said something to me about it saying she felt it was offensive towards a certain person. I now am really careful with what I post and think twice about a lot of things not only on Facebook but all social media. I am so glad that all this social media that is around now wasn't when I was growing up and through my teenage years.

Rating: 4/5

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