There are no spoilers in this review.
If there are two things that make me want to read a book, it’s sisters and social media / blogging of some kind, so when I found out about Just For Clicks, I immediately had to add it to my endless TBR, because it sounded exactly like the kind of book I’d adore. Spoiler alert: I really did.
A million thanks to Kara McDowell, Amberjack Publishing & NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.
A STORY ABOUT BLOGGING, IDENTITY AND FIGURING OUT WHO YOU ARE
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Just For Clicks tells the story of Claire and her twin sister Poppy, social media stars and vloggers thrown into that online-fame world ever since they were babies, thanks to their mother, a mommy blogger.
Something I absolutely loved in this book was the blogging/vlogging and social media aspect of it all, a topic I’ve always been fascinated about (and not only because I myself am blogging, too. Okay, maybe a little). I found it so interesting to see how overwhelming being a social media influencer and having such a massive part of your life dedicated to that can be.
Told from Claire, one of the twin’s point of view, Just For Clicks managed to tell a story about taking control of your own life when you’ve been under the spotlight for so long, without even having a say in it. I really appreciated Claire’s story and how she wanted to gain control of her own narrative thorough the story when her mother had been controlling it all for so long. What’s real and what’s not, who Claire is and who she is supposed to be, all of these questions of identity in front and behind the camera were so interesting to tackle and seeing Claire’s own struggles about it was very interesting to read about, too.
Claire was a great main character to follow and I immediately rooted for her. I found it also very cool that she was into web design and basically in charge of all the coding of the blog and everything else, because we need more characters like these.
GREAT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS & ROMANCE
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Surrounded by her mother and her twin sister, Claire has an interesting support system around her and the relationships between her and her family were some of my favorites to read about. You know me, I love strong and complex family vibes and it really delivered here.
One thing I adored was her relationship with her twin sister, Poppy. I really enjoyed seeing how close they were, how complex their relationship could be, rocky at times, filled with misunderstandings at other times, protective and also how, well, sometimes the closest people to you can also hurt you the most.
I also appreciated the mother-daughter relationship a whole lot: if it was far from perfect, filled with fights, misunderstandings and secrets, I also, ultimately, rooted for them to be okay.
If I appreciated the family vibes and social media, I had such a fantastic time with the romance incorporated in this book just as well, my absolute favorite kind of romance: it’s slow-burned, it’s growing slowly from meeting to friendship to feelings growing and developing and it’s not without its ups and downs, but I absolutely adored reading it.
OVERALL
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Honestly, I had such a great time with this book, I don’t even know what more to add. It was a fun, quick, endearing read yet it somehow managed to tackle heavier themes of family and belonging and identity, too and I loved that very, very much. The romance was too adorable and if you’re looking for a great contemporary to add to your TBR, I can only very, very heavily recommend that one.
Final rating: I loved it, it’s a 4,5 drops!
Trigger warnings: needles (one scene of blood-drawing), PTSD*
*from now on, I will be doing my very best to include a diversity category in my reviews as well as the trigger warnings one, to highlight diverse characters in the books I read. That being said, I am not perfect and please let me know if you see any mistake or something missing in both of these categories at some point. Thank you and I hope this can be helpful!
Kara McDowell, Just For Clicks, Published by Amberjack Publishing, February 19th, 2019.
Mommy blogs are great . . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom.
Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they’re expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as “just Claire”? And what should Claire do about Mom’s old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don’t sound like Mom’s perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life might be nothing but a sham . . .
- Don’t miss out on my interview with Kara McDowell where we talked about Just For Clicks, inspiration, great characters and book recommendations!
Did you read Just For Clicks? Do you want to?
Did you read any books with blogging / social media included? I’d love your recommendations! Let me know in comments!
Great review! Looks like book has charming characters.
Thank you so much! It really has great characters 🙂
I’m definitely planning on reading that one!
YAY! I’m so glad to hear this, hope you will love it 🙂
Wonderful review! This sounds like such a lovely read, with some really interesting themes. I’m always here for strong family vibes in YA and it will be so fun to read a book about blogging ?
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll give this book a try sometime and that you’ll love it 😀
Greattttt review ❤
Oh thank you so much! 🙂
I haven’t heard of this book but it really sounds like a great read and I love the cover. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! Great review! 🙂
This was a great story for sure, I hope you’ll want to give it a try 🙂 thank you so much, Raven! <3
What a brilliant review! Very current themes here! Social media take so much of our time and sometimes it takes a part of our soul! xx
I have to agree with you on that. I love books exploring these kind of topics so much 🙂 thank you my sweechie! <3
Amazing review, Marie! Just for Clicks sounds like an incredible novel and I loved hearing your thoughts on it! Complex family dynamics are what I live for, and I also am intrigued by the social media aspects of this story! Can’t wait to check it out! ☺️
Oh thank you so, so much Kelly, so happy you enjoyed it! I hope you’ll love the book 🙂 <3
you’ve made me really want to read this one! I’m so excited that there’s a character who’s into web design; I’ve never read a book where a character was into that aspect of blogging.
I found that so interesting, more often than not we just get the story about the blogger in front of the camera, it was nice to see a main character passionate by web design for a change 🙂
I hope you’ll love this book! 😀
I’m currently sitting here scratching my head trying to think of books I’ve read that included social media. Like, I know I’ve read some, but none come to mind. I think it’s because I usually don’t like how that aspect is handled, and when I dislike a book I tend to forget it. But this one sounds nuanced and well done, so I might just check it out!
Ohhh, I hope you’ll check it out 🙂 I always enjoy a great book featuring social media, or internet, or internet relationships overall, I hope you will, too 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Malka <3
Fantastic review, Marie 🙂 You already know how much I want to read this. I am just waiting to finish my current reads and then definitely starting this one 😀
Oh thank you so much, Sim! I hope you’ll love it as much as I did 😀
Great review for this book Marie, like I said in your chat with the author post I will definitely be adding this to my TBR list and after reading your review I’ll try and get around to it sooner rather than later. 🙂 Just for Clicks sounds like the kind of books I’d love, I enjoy books with blogging/social media related storylines (yes because of the blogging aspect for me too) and it sounds like it adds a different element to Claire’s character development which I can’t wait to read myself. 🙂
Again great review, and I’m glad you enjoyed this one too. 🙂 ❤️
Thank you so, so much,Beth! I hope you will get a chance to read this book soon, it was really amazing, I had such a great time reading it 🙂 <3
I’m dying to read this! It sounds AMAZING.
It was such a fantastic book, I loved it! I hope you will too 🙂
I read this book too and whereas I liked it, I think I didn’t connect with it as much as you did. However, I did love the sister-friendship! I love books about sister relationships, don’t you? Mine doesn’t blog like yours, but she gives me great book rec’s and I mention her quite a bit when she’s also read a book. It was hard not to like that aspect of it. Great review!
Oh I adore books about sister relationships, too, they are some of my favorite books of all times to read. I just find it so great to read about siblings relationship, maybe because I have such a great one with my sister, too 🙂
It’s so great that you’re getting book recs from your sister, too! Bookish families unite, haha 🙂
Thank you so much, Deborah! <3
Great review, Marie! Happy to see you really liked this one. Hopefully I’ll be able to finally start it later this week. 😀
Thank you so much, Ashley! I hope you’ll love it, can’t wait to hear what you think of it! 😀
This sounds like such an amazing book, and I am glad you enjoyed it so much! We definitely need more books about social media, so it’s exciting that this exists. Great review, Marie!
Thank you so much, Kaleena, it was a great book and I agree, we need more books with these kind of themes 😀
Ahh this book sounds absolutely adorable, I will definitely be putting it on my TBR! It seems like the perfect soft, contemporary read ahah. ? Lovely review!
Thank you SO much! I really hope you’ll pick it up and will love it as much as I did 😀
Great review, Marie! I think books about social media / Internet-lifestyles are really important all-in-all, because they’ve become such an ingrained part of daily life for us now. This one sounds really interesting because it deals with family dynamics, and I love such books. Thanks for the review. 🙂
Oh I so agree with you, these kind of books dealing with social media are so important and I need more of them! 🙂
Thank you so much for your comment, Aimal! ❤️
Great review! I will be adding it to my wishlist. 🙂
Oh thank you so much, Becky, so happy you enjoyed it 😀
Oh I really like the sound of the blogging/vlogging aspect of this- it sounds very relatable. This sounds really well done. Fantastic review!
This was such a fantastic book, I hope you’ll give it a try 🙂 thank you so much! <3