heart-shaped lies by Elizabeth Agyemang

heart-shaped lies is not a pleasant book but it is an eye-opener for those on the periphery of the digital social media world or those of a different generation to current school leavers. It is a disturbing read and also one that may act as a warning because the protagonists' world is the world of the dark internet, of influencers and vulnerable young people who may become tangled in the lure of the artificial, curated world of the internet and real life love traps. 

The plot centres around three girls who all find out that they are dating Tommy Harding, the internet's most famous prank star. Kiara is the internet official girlfriend. Increasingly and alarmingly, she is pushed into filmed situations that make her uncomfortable and there is an increasing level of intimidation and coercion from Tommy towards her.  Priscilla is Tommy's costar. Behind the scenes, there is a clandestine relationship between Priscilla and Tommy. Tommy convinces her that it is just a matter of timing before Kiara will be dumped and Priscilla and he can be the next internet prankster super couple.  Nevaeh is the quintessential pastor's daughter who Tommy has been grooming online. All three girls converge during a high school class trip to Florida's biggest theme park. It is against that backdrop that Tommy is murdered, his lies are exposed, the girls are accused and reality takes on a very twisted form. 

As a crime novel, heart-shaped lies is text book. Readers get the sense early on that with all the lying and dissembling things are not going to go well. As the story becomes more twisted, the reader is faced with red herrings and false leads. Any of the characters could have murdered Tommy.  All had the opportunity. Macabre and grotesque scenes and vicious behaviour resulting from fractured relationships, drugs and alcohol and teenage passion abound through the student accomodation and the themepark rides resulting in a cinematic nightmare. Young people are hurt and damaged physically and psychologically and the adults, though well-meaning, are duped, out of it and left behind in the chaos.

Full of internet slang, the book vibrates with what is essentially internal, exclusive teenage patter or code. The book is riddled with terms eg "simping". This is the world of hackers, burner phones, IT nerds, blackmail, control and the dark web. Influencers (clickbait junkies) breathe and feed on the oxygen provided by the number of hits and the internet can destroy reputations. On Tommy's death, the internet followers switched from exposing Tommy for being a "toxic wannabe frat boy" to mourning the loss of "the notorious prank star." It seems that there is no sense of right and wrong on the internet. It's basically a killing field where young people can be assassinated by public opinion that is informed by lies.

elizabeth agyemang (lower case internet script) is an illustrator, printmaker and storyteller. She writes romance and fairytales and draws from her African heritage. heart-shaped lies is her debut novel.  Reminiscent of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, heart-shaped lies is a frat house/college murder story with broad themes including envy, manipulation and social class.  heart-shaped lies is a very contemporary frat murder story set very much within the internet social media world. The message of the story is found in the dedication..." To anyone who has ever lost sight of who they are."

Themes: Social media risks, Online dating, Influencers, Friendship, Belief in oneself, Social class.

Wendy Jeffrey