All the Lonely People really blew me away and made me think. It had queer rep and explored issues that really make you think. Online bullying is something that is far too prevalent these days and it's something that needs to be addressed more.

I think a lot of us readers will see ourselves in Kat. A lot of us struggle socially, or have done at some point in our lives, and I for one have WAY more friends online than I do in real life (I mean I think that's true for a lot of us). So it's easy to put yourself in Kat's shoes, which makes this story all the more hard hitting. When she's attacked by an alt-right online campaign... it kinda of made me nauseous, in a good way? Can you be nauseous in a good way? I mean in the way that, it was written so well and addressed something that real people go through. It's sickening to be reminded that people deal with this, but also it's not something that we should bury our heads in the sand about.

All the Lonely People alternates between Kat's and Wesley's POV. I really enjoyed reading both of their perspectives. Us readers we are also expected to suspend disbelief with the idea of the 'fade', which added a really interesting take to this story. It really brought these issues to the forefront of our attention and really addressed a lot of the issues youth today are having to deal with. It made for a very interesting and entertaining read.



We learn a lot about these characters throughout the story, and they both grow a lot. We are with them when they discover themselves, what kind of people they really want to be as well as their sexuality. There are also a few side characters and though we don't get in depth info on them, we learn enough about them for them to be well developed.

I don't want to go into much detail because I really don't want to spoil it for you guys, you really just need to read it!

I enjoyed this book. It dealt with a myriad of modern themes - online presence, loneliness irl, broken and blended families being a few. It also covers the old themes - friendship, romance, misogyny, guilt, peer pressure. Told from a split perspective of Kat and Wesley the book appears to be one where the protagonist and the anti-hero get together in the end, he redeems himself and they fall in love. I was ready with my eye rolls I tell you. But Owen bucks that trend and the resolution to this fantastical tale is much more real world believable. 

The premise of the tale - Kat disappearing as her classmates upload doctored nudes featuring her face on someone else's body - seems far-fetched. And it is however this is the only fantasy element to the story, everything else in grounded in real-life and reads as realistic. A very difficult thing to achieve in a fantasy situation. 

I enjoyed this book - would recommend it to teenagers as not only a cautionary tale but also a guide for how to deal with those who seek to harm you. Forgiving is one thing but forgetting may not be so easy, which is your right as the wronged party. Those who do harm you should accept this and move on. A good example has been set in this book. 

I received an ARC from netgalley. 

*set to auto-publish on release date*

Actually 4.5 stars.
Kat's world comes crashing down when someone hacks her website and humiliates her on-line. Worse than that though, as the people who did this, did it in front of her, in her own school classroom, thus compounding her torment. She rapidly deletes her online presence and wishes that she could so the same off-line, feeling devoid without her internet presence to shore up her tragic real life.
Wesley, one of the boys who instigated the online attack, is shocked when he sees Kat's reaction in real life. It's different seeing the person affected, rather than just hiding behind a screen, and this in turn affects him. But he needs to fit in and that is the life he chose to fit into the friends he chose to join. Even though he is starting to really regret things.
Meanwhile, Kat is fading, her real presence is slowly going the same way as her on-line one and she is slowly disappearing from the world, both physically and in the minds of those who knew her. Wesley however remembers her all too well and doesn't want her to go. But can he find a way back for her before she fades completely out of existence? That is, if indeed she wants to come back to a world which has sadly let her down.
This is a strange book but very topical in this day and age. We are all guilty of forgetting at times that there are actual people behind the on-line accounts that we interact with on a daily basis and the difference between what we would say to a real person and what we type to a virtual one does get somewhat blurred at times. So it is no shock that Wesley reacts as he does when faced with the consequences of his actions. But then again, his life isn't all that great which goes no way to defending what he did but does allow a smidgen of understanding at wanting to project a different persona away from home.
There are a few more characters in the book that all come across as feeling very real but I won't go into detail here for fear of introducing spoilers. Suffice to say that the author does a really great job of his portrayal of young misfits who just can't find their place in society and feel like they will never fit in.
The fade itself is, I guess, a gentle way of wanting out of life without all the stigma surrounding suicide as the person involved just seems to get forgotten by everyone who knew them. This is a concept that I actually found very interesting, especially with the added extra part that I won't mention here (spoilers) but am glad that it is fiction as it would be far to easy for people to just give in if it really existed. Although, having said that, how do I really know it is fiction being as how no one remembers those who fade... food for thought...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I loved this book, it was such a great portrayal of teen life and loneliness, the idea of the fade was intriguing and I really enjoyed the way it was written. I loved Kat and Safa and Wesley as they were brilliant complex characters. Overall this was a brilliant unputdownable book that gave me all of the feels. Plus chapter 29's title is ace :]

All The Lonely People has a lot of potential but for me it ended up falling a little bit flat for a couple of reasons.

The biggest issue I had with this book is that it took a love interest to bring Kat back from the fade. I am personally just not a fan of the whole love can solve everything philosophy although I enjoyed the fact that Wesley ended up with a group of friends at last.

The other slight issue I had was the portrayal of online friends. As someone who works online, I think the description of trolling and right wing groups etc was done very well but I felt like David was quite harsh and made it seem like the whole of the internet was a terrible place and that the focus of making friends should be on making real life friends. I've made plenty of good online friends and think sometimes that is the only option for some people and it almost felt as if online friends were entirely dismissed as being a legitimate form of friendship.

Despite these couple of niggles the book is fine and the concept of the fade is very interesting. The mystery element was great and I really enjoyed finding out what happened to previous people that had faded. I also really enjoyed the message of the hidden box everyone has. inside them.

I also really enjoyed the diversity of characters in this book including the lesbian main character, that was very well done.

I wasn't expecting this to take the fantastical twist it did, but that's my own fault for not reading the whole blurb; I was too excited at seeing a new David Owen title. I've been a fan since Fallen Children last year. This one, despite its fantasy overtones, is just as gritty and real as Children, and, like it, manages to shine a light on problems that have become so common place in the last few years that we rarely think of them as problems anymore. The characters were real and relatable, including the side characters, which isn't easy. This is a brilliant read and I'll be eagerly awaiting the next novel Mr Owen graces us with.


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

This is a more fantastical book then I was expecting, but that's no bad thing. I liked that having an online identity was not demonised, except by some clear trolls. It's very important to many young people nowadays and it's good for them to see it's alright.

The story was interesting, if a little confusing in a few places, and David Owens has made it onto my must read list.


I received an ARC 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.


I’ll put it up on my blog, amazon and goodreads around the time of release.