The Bright Side of Going Dark

by Kelly Harms

Overview

From the bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler comes a fresh, funny, and thoughtful story about going off the grid in order to truly live.

As one of the most popular influencers on social media, Mia Bell has lived her life online for years. With her celebrity dog and gorgeous fiancé, she is planning the ultimate virtual wedding—expensive, elaborate, and entirely paid for by sponsors. But off-camera, her world is far from picture perfect. After being jilted by her fiancé and faking her nuptials to please her sponsors, Mia finally has had enough. She heaves her phone off a cliff, ready to live—and maybe find love—offline for a change.

Mia’s sudden absence doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by techie loner Paige Miller, who hacks Mia’s account and begins impersonating the internet celebrity. Paige has her reasons. Her half sister, Jessica, idolizes Mia and desperately needs something to believe in. If taking over Mia’s online persona is Paige’s only means of connecting to her sister, so be it.

Creating a like-worthy life is more fun than Paige expected. But when she grows too bold and is caught in the act, a fiasco ensues that could forever change Mia, Paige, and the people who love them. Because somewhere amid the chaos is an invaluable lesson—one that only real life can teach.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542014113
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Pages:	348
Sales rank:	149,429
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

@Kelly.Harms is the #1 bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler and other novels, and she’s celebrating (bemoaning?) two decades working in the publishing business this year. Kelly lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her excellent kid, her loving Irishman, and her fluffy dog. She enjoys hiking, sailing, beaching, and losing at euchre. She also loves talking to readers in person and virtually, and she can be found at www.kellyharms.com.

Editorial Reviews

Refreshingly, each character is a true-to-life individual with complicated emotions and unique voices. A surprisingly easy read containing a little romance, a lot of personal growth, and an honest look at weighty topics.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Witty, lively, and au courant, The Bright Side of Going Dark will make readers think twice about refreshing Instagram for the tenth time today. Tackling thornier questions of mental health and the toll of constant comparison, this will appeal to fans of Meg Wolitzer and Elin Hilderbrand, who’ll adore the intertwining lives of Mia, her followers, and those they encounter IRL.” —Booklist (starred review)

“The Bright Side of Going Dark is about so much more than the moral quandary of screen time. It’s about grief and loss and anxiety. It’s about mothers and daughters—more anxiety—and about second and third chances. The Bright Side of Going Dark is as dark as it is bright, [and] full of humanity: mobile devices, warts, and all.” —BookTrib

“Even casual users knows how absurd and unrealistic social media can be—yet keep logging on day after day. Kelly Harms takes this dichotomy to new heights in a clever and unputdownable story of two women whose so-called online lives collide IRL. I laughed, I cried, I came away from the experience with a newfound appreciation for life—which is to say The Bright Side of Going Dark is everything I’d hope for in a Kelly Harms novel, and more. I loved every page.” —Camille Pagán, bestselling author of I’m Fine and Neither Are You

“Kelly Harms has once again knocked it out of the park with this charming, funny, topical novel about an online influencer who undergoes an unexpected transformation. I honestly had to put my whole life on hold while I read it—laughing and sighing through the clever twists and turns of this plot. Who among us hasn’t wondered what it takes to be a person who posts photographs fifty times a day? You’ll fall in love with @Mia&Mike as well as the whole cast of wonderful characters. A novel that shines with surprise—and will make you want to turn off your phone and go play with your dog.” —Maddie Dawson, Washington Post bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners

From the Publisher

2020-02-09
A social media influencer goes through a self-imposed electronics detox while another woman hacks into her online identity in an attempt to distract a family member from thoughts of suicide.

Through Mia Bell’s hard work, @Mia&Mike has become a very, very successful brand. Pictey—a social media app akin to an Instagram/Facebook/Twitter mashup—is her platform, and half a million followers await her near-continuous posts and comments. As Pictey has grown from a startup to an offices-in-168-nations behemoth, so has she, evolving from the struggling owner of a small yoga studio to a well-known motivational influencer. However, in quick succession, Mia’s fiance breaks up with her, she hides that fact from her followers, and she fakes her Colorado wedding. Realizing what she has become, she then throws her phone over a cliff to separate herself completely from the account. Paige Miller, on the other hand, is a very well-paid Pictey standards enforcement and quality assurance team member medicating away her debilitating panic attacks. When Paige’s half sister, Jessica, comments on one of Mia’s posts with suicidal thoughts and follows through with a suicide attempt, a series of against-the-odds coincidences lead Paige to Jessica’s side in Colorado and the problematic decision to hack into Mia’s unusually silent account to impersonate her. Author Harms (The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, 2019, etc.) deals openly and honestly with depression, the aftereffects of attempted suicide, and the benefits of medical treatment. Refreshingly, each character is a true-to-life individual with complicated emotions and unique voices. Most readers will be pleased that the storylines wrap up with grand moments and gestures so that hope and joyfulness in the future are the final notes of this tale; some, on the other hand, might find it overly tidy.

A surprisingly easy read containing a little romance, a lot of personal growth, and an honest look at weighty topics.

Kirkus Reviews

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