THIS BOOK IS QUEER. The central romance is an f/f romance. The boy and girl narrators do not get together. All the Lonely People is a warning about the internet and social media's propensity to attract bad seeds, the blurring of the line between reality and perception, and identity.

I had this novel on my NetGalley shelf unread for way longer than I should have and I’m kicking myself now because I very much enjoyed this book. It follows Kat who is very lonely, she has no friends at school but lives for her online friends. She becomes the victim of a cruel ‘prank’ which forces her to close her online accounts and she begins to literally fade away. It also follows Wesley who is part of the group who pranked her but we soon see he’s not like the other boys involved and he feels very guilty. We soon learn that he also has a lonely life and has more responsibility on his young shoulders than he should have. I found this such an insightful novel that really explores loneliness and what it’s like to just want to disappear from your own life. It moved me more than I thought it would and it made me think. The use of the fade is really clever and poignant. This is a book that I keep thinking about it and is one that I’m sure will stay with me. I highly recommend it.

I have mixed feelings about All The Lonely People. There are some great things in it, as well as important takes on our online presence and how gender stereotypes are harmful to boys as well as girls but the way the plot moved forward left me hanging.

We follow both Kat, a victim of cyber bullying who starts physically disappearing, and Wesley, one of the guys responsible for it. While I was glas we had both sides of the story, I felt Wesley had a lot more impact. He has a very interesting journey and Owen does a great job at explaining why a random guy who's not particularly mean ends up launching a whole cyber bullying campaign and gets recruited by an alt-right group. How he got there, and why he wanted to. I would like to point out that the author explains that but never uses anything as an excuse for Wesley. Toxic masculinity gets a huge kick in the metaphorical nuts, though, and I'm so here for it.

Real life consequences of cyber bullying are mentioned, and not just with Kat disappearing. Two other female characters experience it and we know about it: Selena was targeted when she dumped a horrible boyfriend and Kat's favourite Youtuber Tinker experiences it. It's terrifying because we're always told to "not feed the trolls" but sometimes, trolls aren't just trolls and real life consequences aren't just fiction. We see it in the news all the time, from a woman assaulted for rejecting a man to outspoken feminists who "need to be reminded of their real place" in the eyes of "alpha males". And while we encourage people to be kind on the internet because there's a real human being who'll read what we post and might get hurt, the contrary is just as true: behind every heinous post, there's an actual person who means it and might act on it. It is dangerous to think what happens online is not real, as Wesley gets to find out when Kat starts fading.

The fade is an interesting concept. It kinda reminds me of that Buffy episode, Out of Mind, Out of Sight, with the girl who turns invisible because everybody ignores her. To Kat, whose life is almost entirely online, it's merely a physical manifestation of her erasing her online presence. However, I do have some issues with it: I didn't get why some people seemed to be able to see and remember the fading kids while others couldn't. I tried to make sense of it but I couldn't find a satisfying explanation and that bugged me. I also think the leaking box was an intriguing idea that deserved a bit more attention, especially in a book about how our online personality/life is so different than our real life one. Isn't that the problem with social networks?

I'm not sold on the romance, to be honest. I thought Safa was always killing Kat's vibe, so I couldn't see why Kat was so attracted to her. The occasion that really did it for me was the Women's March, when Safa told Kat it was useless to be here since no one would know she was there. I get that she didn't care about the world anymore but Kat did and she was there to support Kat, so why be so negative about it? I also think the ending was a bit of a stretch when it comes to Safa, so I wasn't convinced.

Basically, great concept, not so great execution. I'd still recommend it for Wesley's journey, but I felt Kat's parts weren't as solid. Will read more from David Owen, though, he has interesting ideas.

Thank you so much to Atom and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book!

All The Lonely People is the first book by David Owen that I have read, but I know it won’t be my last. Tackling issues such as misogyny, online trolls, social media (and many more that I won’t name for fear of spoiling the story!), All The Lonely People is a modern YA contemporary highlighting the disillusionment and toxic masculinity experienced by young men today, and how easily they can be radicalised into misogynistic thoughts and actions by their peers and other influences.

The story is told in dual perspective by the two main characters, Kat and Wesley. Seeing as Wesley was part of the group responsible for targeting Kat and harassing her online, it could have been easy to write him off as a troll and nothing more. However, I for one was glad to see that Wesley had a back story, which gave an insight as to how and why he fell in with a bad crowd. Give me all the character motivations. Kat was a likeable character, and I have no doubt most readers will be able to relate to her story of putting the best version of herself online, because really… who doesn’t do that?

All The Lonely People questions how we use and interact with the internet, and examines the issue of loneliness in the digital age via two different experiences of it. I cannot stress enough that All the Lonely People isn’t a “boy saves girl” kind of story, and it definitely is not a love story either. I’m trying not to say too much, but you should know that All The Lonely People features some queer representation and I’m. here. for. it. I wish I could have put clap emojis in between the words of that sentence, just like the young people do.

All the Lonely People is a warning about the internet and social media's propensity to attract bad seeds, the blurring of the line between reality and perception, and identity. It's a hybrid of the young adult, coming-of-age and fantasy genres, specifically magical realism. Owen explores many important topics throughout the novel, including cyberbullying, self-identity and the dissociation between online actions and the real-world consequences of said actions. The internet is a playground for those with criminal tendencies and a haven for those who are lonely; when the two collide all hell breaks loose. Here, trolling, flaming and bullying leads to protagonist Kat deleting her social media accounts and results in her feeling as though she has lost her identity. As her friends had pointed out Kat's behaviour is actually very different online to how she behaves in real life, as are many others, and some people are indeed guilty of forgetting that behind that online presence or persona is a real, feeling person who could be heavily impacted by their actions. This is effectively an analysis of online culture using fiction as a device to get the message across.

Shortly after ending her time on social media Kat begins to fade in real-life both physically and from the minds of those she calls friends and family. The fade itself is an interesting concept that allows a person to disappear without all of the ramifications that come with suicide. I don't want to explain too much as this mysterious idea is one of the main reason I decided to pick this book up. This is a gritty, topical novel in which the characters, both major and minor, are beautifully drawn and very relatable with their features and flaws. Compelling, well written and a perceptive story on the dangers of the internet and social media, Owen has a knack for exploring topics that really affect young adults but in a way that both young and old will enjoy. I also appreciated that the ending was not the type we regularly see in novels, namely the happy ever after. Here, the conclusion is realistic; however, there is hope for the characters' futures, and I like that a lot more than something unrealistically joyous.

Many thanks to Atom for an ARC.

This was such an interesting and unique read. The book talks about loneliness in the digital age and I think that the fade was the perfect metaphor to capture the feelings the author wanted to describe.

Kat starts experiencing the fade after being bullied on her social media accounts. The reason why she's the target of these violent acts is because she gave a presentation in media studies about misogyny on Youtube and toxic masculinity, and she also called out a famous Youtuber that a lot of people watch.
Throughout all the book Kat has to fight the fade in order to return to her true form. In the end she will succeed with the help of Safa, a girl who so desperately wanted the fade to happen but then later realized that making contact with others and being present is what she really wants and needs.
Thanks to the fade Kat is able to make a difference, be present at the women's march in London and also stop something that might have gone really bad.

What I appreciated about this book was how themes were dealt with. This book talks about toxic masculinity, peer pressure, bullying (cyber and in real life), misogyny, feminism, social media presence, fandom and the beautiful thing is that it doesn't hold back. The book tells you the good and the bad and it doesn't sugarcoat it. I've never found a book that dealt with this variety of themes in such a good way and that's why I'll make sure to check out David Owen's other works.
I highly recommend this one!

Interesting and original idea for a YA novel which touches on many timely issues including men's rights activism, revenge porn and the power of social media. There is also a magical realism aspect which adds a sci-fi/fantasy edge. I would recommend this for older teenagers.

The notion of ‘the fade’ requires a reader to suspend belief for a moment (it’s fiction, so it’s not hard to do) or alternatively using this plot line as a metaphor for feeling invisible in society; this book discusses an important topic in our digital and social media reliant age.

Its contents cover much of our youth’s issues, that have seemingly extended into adulthood as well, that is: bullying - both physical and cyber, peer pressure, hatred and intolerance of those who are different/have different views, and anxiety and depression.

Social media may not be to blame, but the use of social media, being able to distance oneself with a profile, and a keyboard, courage bolstered by fake or no personal pictures, is the same age-old shitty ‘putting other people down to make yourself feel better’ attitude that is has always been.

There’s a message in this book, one of hope, of finding and sticking with those who you can connect with, with whom you can be yourself, accepting yourself as who you are without shame, and ignoring those who seek to bring you down. No one has their stuff together 100% of the time, some people are just better at hiding it. I hope this message reaches a wide audience.

Thank you to David Owen, Atom and Little Brown Book Group UK, and NetGalley for an arc of this story in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me at the title and I was so excited to see it available on Netgalley. I was introduced to David Owen’s work last year; his writing style won me over completely and All the Lonely People is no exception.
It’s a refreshing change to have a YA novel presented in third person. Especially with having two view points to switch from, it makes for a perfect omnipresent perspective.
While the message is clear and so uplifting, I couldn’t help myself feeling a little in fear; I identified with Kat so much that I needed a good outcome for her. It kept me on edge and glued to the page.