Remind Me to Hate You Later
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
A story about the pressures of social media, the lengths influencers will go to for fame, and the grief of losing a loved one to suicide, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Gayle Forman.
Seventeen-year-old Jules grew up in her mother's spotlight. A "parenting influencer," Britt shares details of her daughter's life-pictures, intimate stories, insecurities, all-to a point that becomes unbearable to Jules.
And suddenly she's gone.
Natalie has only barely begun to grieve her best friend Jules's death when Britt announces her plans to publish a memoir that will dissect Jules's life and death. But Nat knows the truth behind Britt's "perfect" Instagram feed-Jules hated the pressure, the inauthenticity, the persona. There's so much more to Jules than Britt and her followers could ever know. As Nat connects with Jules's boyfriend, Carter, and their shared grief and guilt bonds them, she becomes determined to expose Britt, to understand what really happened, and who is to blame.
In a world that feels distorted by celebrity and the manipulations of social media and public opinion, Natalie and Carter need something real to hold onto. Remind Me to Hate You Later is a moving account of grief, depression, complex relationships, love, and the search for truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A thoughtful meditation on social media and its effects on mental health, this moving novel by Mason (Between the Bliss and Me) follows the aftermath of a teenager's death by suicide. Though her mother regularly documents 16-year-old Jules's life to the five million subscribers of her parenting blog, Jules believes that her mom hates her: "She's hated me since the day I was born with a hole in my heart. I was imperfect from the very beginning." Though Jules is optimistic about a future with her caring boyfriend Carter and dreams of attending Le Cordon Bleu to become a chef, her self-harm, which she uses to cope, worsens. When Jules dies by suicide, the first-person perspective shifts to her best friend, Nat, who struggles to cope with Jules's death and becomes singularly focused on showing Jules's mother how her social media obsession affected her daughter's self-worth. Through varying voices—Nat's narrative reads as distant compared to Jules's inherent expressiveness—Mason presents an intricate look at the grieving process's myriad forms in this harrowing novel, which addresses themes of blame, regret, resentment, and shame, and how these difficult feelings can affect families and friendships. A beginning note contextualizes the issues addressed. Ages 14–up.
