Leila isn’t particularly likable and yet she is sympathetic because she's so unbelievably naïve and obtuse, in spite of her brains and computer expertise. It was disturbing and also believable because Leila is reclusive and chooses to spend most of her time online within social media and chat room sites rather than fostering friendships in the real world. I thoroughly enjoyed reading along as Leila meets Tess (through emails and Skype) and begins the process of taking over her personality once Tess has “checked out.” The book is a fascinating exploration of this main theme (assuming another identity) especially as it relates to social media and the internet. So, Adrian, a menacing but charismatic computer chat room founder, easily targets and then grooms Leila to impersonate a woman (Tess) online after she commits suicide…so that family and friends are unaware of her death. Her only intimate relationship was with her mother (with MS) and she has died as the novel begins. She has led a private existence with few (if any) close friends. Leila is extremely bright but a most unreliable narrator as she is sorely unperceptive and socially inept. I loved this creepy, compelling, atypical suspense novel! I was engrossed in the story from beginning to end.
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