Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication date: April 2025
Rear Window meets The Ring in this sinister YA thriller, in which a teen girl witnesses the livestreamed murder of a popular online streamer by a paranormal entity . . . and could be its next victim.
After surviving a car accident that claimed the life of her best friend, Teresa is now terrified to leave the safety of her bedroom. Since then, her only solace and window to the outside world has been the online community she found through streaming.
But one night, the safe world Teresa created starts to break down. A shadowy figure appears in the background of her favorite's streamer's video, and his behavior mysteriously changes over the next few days before he dies in front of thousands of viewers. Teresa finds herself at the center of a life-and-death investigation as the world tries to figure out what or who this figure could be . . . especially as it begins appearing in the other people's streams, compelling them to "open the door" and let it in—including Teresa’s own. In order to save herself and the rest of the internet from this relentless entity, Teresa must venture outside of the mental and physical walls she’s created. But will she be able to conquer her fears before anyone else loses their life?
I am a sucker for those cheesy horror movies that involve ghosts and technology. Because of that I had high hopes for Deadstream. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. In the book, Teresa was in a bad accident that took the life of her best friend. She now won't leave the comforts of her bedroom. Her view to the world comes through her computer. When a popular streamer seems to be possessed by a ghost, she decides to try to figure out what is going on.
As I said, I had high hopes for this one. However, I was very underwhelmed by the book. I listened to the audiobook so that may have played a factor. I'm not sure that the chat and streaming sections translated well to audio. All of the user names got confusing. Aside from that, the story just wasn't very scary or creepy. I didn't like any of the characters. I get that Teresa had PTSD and was kind of agoraphobic, but her sudden ability to put that aside and travel in an uber to another town didn't ring true and was convenient to move the plot along. Overall the story was slow and disjointed. Maybe it just wasn't for me.
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