Out of Touch by Elle Grand: ARC Review

“They say there is a place for everyone, but let me ask you something: if everyone’s on stage, who’s left to applaud?”

What is it about internet notoriety that is so desirable to such a large amount of people?  Is it just that amid so much noise, it is so easy to feel lonely if we don’t get internet validation?  Out of Touch is a fascinating exploration of why we post and what we are trying to get out of it.  Is there any enjoyment left in our internet personas and the communities that we have found through the world wide web?  Is there any genuineness left on social media when it seems to be the only way to get going if you want to make a living pursuing a creative route, or maybe even other professional avenues?

Chloe is struggling to make it as a photographer.  She’s okay financially thanks to support from her father, but she’s not getting the respectable opportunities that she feels she deserves.  It makes it even more frustrating when a very popular influencer moves in across the street from her, an individual who can get thousands of likes on photos that don’t have the artistic vision that Chloe’s posts so, which maybe hit 50 likes.  Granted, Instagram hasn’t been her focus. 

Then she spots Birdie Bay, her influencer neighbor, who has built her following with a health-focused narrative, boasting that she’s vegan and abstains from drugs and alcohol, buying cocaine on the street.  She snaps a photo and sits on it for a few days, but decides to anonymously post it after feeling rejected by Birdie.  It gets messy then because in the aftermath of the crisis, Birdie opens up a friendship to Chloe.

One of the things that really hooked me into this book is that I thought the bit blow up was going to happen with 50 pages left, so when secrets started coming to light before we were halfway through I was intrigued by the fact that the normal bell curve narrative style wasn’t being followed.  It allowed us as readers to really explore social media and influencers in more depth.  It gave me time to evaluate things from Chloe’s then Birdie’s, then the other cast of infuencers’, and even Chloe’s boyfriend’s perspectives.  My findings? Nobody is right and social media is indeed a façade that we are just going to have to accept with a grain of salt.

The exploration of social media isn’t a wholly new subject, but given how big a part of our lives it is, it warrants being visited through Elle Grand’s lens. The writing is sharp but not heavy, the right amount that I powered through this in a morning