Review by Booklist Review
Viv is responsible for her baby sister's death. She's kept the details of the accident secret from everyone, including her parents and best friend, since Riley died three months ago. If Viv can reboot her Twitch channel, where she's a horror gamer girl, she can grow her audience and eventually provide for her parents--an attempt to somewhat make up for what happened with Riley. She downloads a new horror game to try out, but when an NPC (nonplayer character) asks her for a dark secret, Viv tells it about that night, accidentally unleashing a demon doppelgänger into her life. No one believes that it isn't the real Viv telling horrible lies and attacking people--except for the cute goth outcast, Ash. With his help, Viv tries to set right the tangled mess her doppelgänger has created, but doing so will mean finally admitting the truth about what happened to Riley. Schlote-Bonne's debut novel moves fast and doesn't slow down. Fans of Five Nights at Freddy's and other horror games will undoubtedly binge this jump scare--filled story.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The game knows her darkest secret--and it might be trying to kill her. Wracked with guilt over her little sister's recent death, 17-year-old Vivian Reynolds leaps at the opportunity to play an online escape room horror game called Locked In that was anonymously emailed to her. In hopes that her return to streaming will help financially support her parents, Viv starts a practice playthrough by herself to test the waters. When the game asks her to confess a secret, Viv admits that she killed her sister. Uncanny events follow in the aftermath of her surreptitious confession, resulting in her parents and peers losing trust in her. With the help of Ash, a fellow social outcast, Viv becomes sure that a demonic clone is trying to ruin her life by committing heinous acts in her name. Told in Viv's first-person perspective, the story has an eeriness that's complemented by quippy jokes and gaming references. The plot twists are numerous and satisfying, helping to build suspense as readers try to figure out the mystery. Classic horror imagery is paired with a flawed protagonist who reckons with the guilt and grief caused by her habit of lying and her obsession with streaming. Viv's mom is white, and her dad is Japanese American; Ash reads white. A fast-paced supernatural mystery ideal for fans of horror games. (content warning)(Horror. 15-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
