Book Review: Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Genre:  Contemporary, YA
Release Date: January 28, 2020  
Description:

"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."

Honestly, I don't really know much about the gaming community, but I'm glad I'm not part of it. This book gives a good perspective on the life of a gamer, whose life contrasts greatly to her gamer persona. Divya is a strong girl, who is financially barely scraping by with her single mother. She games with her best friend Rebekah and together they battle against online haters who target them for some unknown reason. In comes Aaron, a boy who games for fun on a computer he impressively built himself, befriends Divya and together they bond whilst gaming. I like the dynamic between the two as Divya is more secretive about her personal life (as she rightfully should be given the circumstances) while Aaron is just out there being freely himself without any repercussions. Interestingly enough both get along really well and I found it cute when Aaron was fangirling about being friends with a famous gamer. 

Now what really irked me were the online trolls who were hating Divya for no reason. Even worse when it escalates really quickly, from cornering her in a live stream game to threatening to release her personal information to harassing her mom and best friend. I don't get why people can be so hateful, but I'm glad it's in the story because it happens in real life. You see haters online all the time who hate someone for petty little things or for nothing at all. I like how Divya deals with these haters as she at first fears for her life, but then slowly comes to term with the fact that she needs to fight back, and it's done in such a glorious way. 

Overall, it's a pretty good read with a light romance that I probably would've enjoyed more if I held an interest in the gaming community, which I don't. 

Overall rating:  3/5