Blog Tour: All the Lonely People by David Owen

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Atom 

Released: 10th of January 2019 

Everyone tells Kat that her online personality - confident, funny, opinionated - isn't her true self. Kat knows otherwise. The internet is her only way to cope with a bad day, chat with friends who get all her references, make someone laugh. But when she becomes the target of an alt-right trolling campaign, she feels she has no option but to Escape, Quit, Disappear.

With her social media shut down, her website erased, her entire online identity void, Kat feels she has cut away her very core: without her virtual self, who is she?

She brought it on herself. Or so Wesley keeps telling himself as he dismantles Kat's world from across the classroom. It's different, seeing one of his victims in real life and not inside a computer screen - but he's in too far to back out now.

As soon as Kat disappears online, her physical body begins to fade and while everybody else forgets that she exists, Wesley realises he is the only one left who remembers her. Overcome by remorse for what he has done, Wesley resolves to stop her disappearing completely. It might just be the only way to save himself.

All the Lonely People is a timely story about online culture - both good and bad - that explores the experience of loneliness in a connected world, and the power of kindness and empathy over hatred.

What I Have to Say 

A look at online culture and community and the loneliness and alienation that exists in our society, All the Lonely People brings us the story of Kate, a girl who has had everything taken from her by the cruel bullying of an alt-right group. It delves deep into the feelings of loneliness and depression she feels at having her online identity stolen from her when she starts to actually fade from society, a beautiful parallel that is so well constructed to bring people right to the heart of her feelings. 

It hit me hard, because I know that feeling. I've felt all of Kat's feelings of isolation and the feelings that the Lonely people, a cult of people trying to disappear from the world just like Kat is. There's a feeling of deep depression where you feel like things would be so much easier if you just didn't exist, if you could just fade out of your life and become someone else, someone who has everything easier, who doesn't experience the same pain as you do, of giving up control and just letting someone else take the reigns instead, because it would be so much easier just to ride in someone else's life and not have to make all the decisions anymore. 

This is going to be a long post, but I just have to applaud David Owen on the beautiful balance of this book. The way that it showed the feelings of the Lonely People, Kat and Wesley and in a wider respect, those insecurities that everyone has. He truly showed things that everyone can relate to, but I especially want to talk about Wesley. This is NOT a love story between a member of an alt-right hate group and his victim. It's not even a friendship story. Because how could Kat ever forgive Wesley. It was perfect, the way that he was made to face up to what he was doing and change his ways without absolving him of the things he did or making Kat forgive him in order to help his character growth. It was the perfect way to show this story and give the message that people can change and recover even if they make mistakes or the wrong choices. It's an important message that I really think is important to give.

How has the internet made your life better and how has it made it worse?

As part of this tour, I was ask to think about my own use of the internet. As someone who grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, the internet was a huge part of my life and informed a lot of my childhood, so obviously, I have a lot of thoughts about this. 

The Good 

Let's start with the easy one. I have made so many friends online. As a teenager, it was an easy way to connect with people who I shared the same interests with. I spent so much time online, having fun and talking to people from around the world who I never would have met. 

In adulthood, this has only grown more because as adults, especially adults who work from home or are unemployed, we don't have the guarantee of seeing our friends every day. Sites like Twitter and facebook have meant that I can get in touch with friends who don't live near me and keep up with their lives. I've kept up close friendships with people from Uni who, without the internet, I'm certain I would have lost contact with. I've also made new friends, from foreign countries. I have two particular friends on twitter who I couldn't imagine my life without. They have given me so much and are always there for me when I need them. They are possibly the only people I talk with every single day and I love them so much. 

The Bad 

Okay so the internet isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It definitely hasn't been for me, as much as it's given me some really great things. 

First up, I want to talk about the social pressure. Whilst being able to talk to people every day can be such an amazing thing, there's also a lot of people online who get offended if you DON'T talk to them everyday. It's caused a lot of problems, because while there are some people I can keep up this kind of communication with, these are rare, special people. Most people, I manage better with a casual relationship where we just talk when we have something to talk about. I've had a few people get mad at me for this, because so many people just expect it from their friends. 

Talking of people getting mad at me, online we mostly communicate through text. Which while it can be easier and less tiring to talk this way, you can't always convey tone and meaning as easily as you can in person. Having Autism, this doesn't come naturally to me. So I have gotten into a lot of arguments with people because of misunderstandings whether it's their misunderstanding or mine. It's led me to believe that we really need to work on using empathy with every interaction, if only everyone in the world would subscribe to that. 

So what is my overall opinion of the internet? 

Let's be honest here, I'm a blogger. If I didn't have the internet, I wouldn't be able to have such a great time reviewing books and being part of the bookish community! Of course I'm pro-internet. It's convenient, useful and so much fun. The good parts definitely outweigh the bad. Though as the book shows, it's created a bit of a breeding ground for hate groups and makes it so much easier to bully, send death threats or spread prejudice. As much as I love the internet, I have to acknowledge the negatives. But the thought I want to leave you with is that I wouldn't be here writing this post without the internet! My life has definitely been improved by having the internet in my life.

 I am so grateful to Sophia Walker and Atom for providing me with a copy of the book and the opportunity to be part of this tour.