Such Lovely Skin (Review)

Information:

• Author: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
• Genre: Thriller, Horror, Contemporary
• Page Count: 304
• Year Published: 2024

Read This if You Like:

• Doppelgangers and demons
• Video game streaming
• Horror Games
• Characters who actually want to fix their mistakes
• Quick Paced novels
• Clear modern day settings
• Simple morals/themes
• Pop culture references and slang

Synopsis:

Viv is ready to get back into streaming. After a miserable summer filled with guilt, she knows that a good horror game and her decently-sized fan base is enough for her to escape her regret altogether. And the game Viv picks out for her return looks like a great fit- it even asks her to share a secret. But the simple command of “tell me a secret” leads to Viv sharing all the details of the horrible mistake she made months ago- and then a doppelganger starts to slowly take over Viv’s life. It starts innocent enough at first, even if Viv is angry that the mimic is taking over her streams, but it soon escalates as it’s clear that the demonic mimic is more dangerous than it first appears. Stopping the demon is going to be complicated, especially with no one believing Viv- and the fact that she can’t outrun her mistakes forever.

Review/Opinions:

It’s natural that there’s going to be a bunch of young adult novels based on modern trends and social media. After all, there’s the chance that it will motivate a young adult who doesn’t read a lot to pick up your novel because it has social media in it. (Honestly, I’ve never seen this happen. None of the major Booktok novels are about online celebrities.)The YA thriller sphere is the place where the majority of social media based novels are, and Such Lovely Skin is one of the few books in this niche that focuses on a video game streamer and not just a general lifestyle influencer or true crime podcaster. I have absolutely no interest in watching strangers play video games, but I thought the mimic plotline in this looked unique, and I honestly like reading simple YA thrillers sometimes. Anyway, this was decent. When I first finished this book months ago I thought it was very flawed, but I think that I’ve come to actually appreciate it in a way, because it works as a thriller with shocking twists. However, because I am a critic, I sadly still need to mention the issues with some of the other stuff here, because it’s…. not the best. Let’s start with a positive.

Unlike most thrillers, where the focus is just on the characters being smart enough to stop or find a villain, this one has an actual moral. And it’s not deep social commentary, it’s an actual moral, like one you’d find in a fable or a kid’s cartoon. I’m going to keep the moral vague because I think it makes part of Viv’s arc obvious, but I originally hated the theme because it felt so basic and something we would’ve all learned by middle school. But after some thinking, I thought having a simple life lesson wasn’t as “cringe” as it looked at first. After all, life lessons are life lessons. Sometimes, it’s good to restate the basics. My whole issue is how the moral in this novel is applied.

Alright, time to get brutally honest: Viv is a jerk.

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. On page, Viv isn’t a mean girl. She’s flawed, but a major part of this book, and the reason for this book’s theme, is her learning to improve herself. That’s better than most flawed characters. But the main reason for Viv’s improvement was because of a huge mistake she made months ago. And when her mistake is finally addressed near the end, it’s just not treated with as much urgency as it should be. (Yes, this is a VERY bad mistake.) And the reason it’s not treated in the way it should be is because the author wanted to use the moment as a teaching experience for this basic moral and show how it helps people. In addition, the focus on the moral made the climax feel a bit underwhelming, it got a bit too in the way of the final moments, which isn’t the best in a thriller where tense finales are a key part of the genre, and it’s a bigger issue here when you have something as intense as a demon. Again, I don’t hate the very basic theme. I think it’s good to have something in the middle of the YA theme spectrum, where nearly every novel is right on the ends, which are “no theme, just a good time and you gaming the benefits of reading a book” and “Deep social commentary about the issues in today’s world”. It’s just that the author applied the theme in some ways that don’t work for me, even if it helped make good character development.

Moving on, one of the major problems that can come up with any YA novel focusing on online lives is when the novel leans a bit too much into its modern day setting. And that… kind of happens here. I’ve written a few reviews where I’ve gotten critical of there being too many brand names or references to popular media, but I think here it’s not the biggest issue. Sure, maybe Viv owns a pet snake named after a real-life anime character just to add to the stereotypical streamer image, but it fits because that’s who Viv is- a stereotypical streamer (which actually is a major reason for her flawed character). However, even if it fits with the modern-day angle, there is no reason for any book, YA or not, to have dialogue or narration that opts to use “def” and “wtf” instead of the full terms they represent. I will confess that I speak in abbreviations sometimes, but this style of speech doesn’t really work in a prose novel. Also, “wtf” does not have the same impact as when you actually write out the full swear, even if you think it does. Plus, there’s a couple of edgier jokes in here that didn’t fit at all.

And on the topic of underdevelopment of writing, let’s also discuss the underdeveloped characters. There wasn’t a single character here that really stood out, and they all seemed to have one purpose or defining role, mostly based on typical archetypes. Viv was easily the strongest character because of her guilt and how she was able to change, but she’s still written as a basic Twitch streamer with an obsession with getting followers and a love for pop culture, down to there being a line about the very few Japanese words she knows all coming from anime despite being Japanese herself. Bri is a very basic best friend character who only exists to help Viv feel supported, and the only other side we see of her character is her being skeptical about there being a demon. And Ash, the love interest, is a stereotypical goth character, written so Viv can first see him as a total weird kid (which was probably the part of her character I hated the most), and then he’s conveniently the one guy who can help Viv, which naturally causes a romance to happen. And this romance isn’t even redeemed by being super cute or anything. I wouldn’t say any of these characters, or the other basic ones, are worth being removed from the story or anything, but it would’ve been so much better if they were a bit more unique.

Anyway, I feel like I’m making this book feel more like a teen drama about video game streaming, but don’t worry, I remembered that this was a supernatural thriller. And the major thing I liked about this book was that it actually was a great thriller. Finally, we have a YA novel that doesn’t take 50 pages for the first thing connected to the conflict to happen. Right at the end of the short first chapter, Viv is about to do the thing that causes the giant mess of demonic doppelgangers to get started. And then there’s a constant tense atmosphere, with a bunch of chapters ending on a good twist. There’s also a bit of a dual timeline aspect with some chapters set a few months in the past. Yes, these chapters are focused on Viv’s very bad mistake that isn’t addressed well enough, but the way they build up to a big event is extremely anxiety-inducing and I think the author does a good job at developing that. I also noticed I haven’t really discussed the fact that there’s a demon mimic creature in this, and I think that was down pretty well too. It was satisfying how we saw this mimic go from what appeared to be a slightly more annoying version of Viv to something genuinely terrifying. And even if doppelganger stories are a common trope, it felt fresh when you added in the idea of it coming from a weird horror game. The only flaw I found with the thriller aspect was the climax I previously mentioned that felt boring since most of it connected to discussing the main theme of the story and not ending this creepy demon story with a bang. But for 90% of the novel, this is quite tense, twisty, and fun.

I went into this review thinking I would end up writing a bunch of paragraphs expressing pure disappointment that overshadowed my positive points, but I think sitting with my thoughts for a bit helped me appreciate the book more despite its several flaws. This is definitely one of those books where your opinion on it will mostly depend on if you tolerate the common YA problems of a story feeling too connected to today’s trends or basic teen characters. It will also depend on if you are okay with some major things being addressed unrealistically or a basic theme. But if you just want to check out a tense thriller with a bunch of shenanigans, or are just interested in the story of a teenage livestreamer, I think this novel will probably be for you.