Book Review: The Glare

Author: Margot Harrison 

Published: 14 July 2020

Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Horror 

Book summary: 

After ten years of living on an isolated, tech-free ranch with her mother, sixteen-year-old Hedda is going back to the world of the Glare-her word for cell phones, computers, and tablets. Hedda was taught to be afraid of technology, afraid that it would get inside her mind and hurt her. But now she's going to stay with her dad in California, where she was born, and she's finally ready to be normal. She's not going to go "off-kilter," like her mom says she did when she was just a little kid.

Once she arrives, Hedda finally feels like she's in control. She reunites with old friends and connects with her stepmom and half-brother. Never mind the terrifying nightmares and visions that start trickling back-they're not real.

Then Hedda rediscovers the Glare—the real Glare, a first-person shooter game from the dark web that scared her when she was younger. They say if you die thirteen times on level thirteen, you die in real life. But as Hedda starts playing the so-called "death game"—and the game begins spreading among her friends—she realizes the truth behind her nightmares is even more twisted than she could have imagined. And in order to stop the Glare, she'll have to first confront the darkness within herself. 

“I can see you! It’s going to get inside, you too!”

The Glare is basically The Ring meet One Missed Called meets Creepy Pasta. The prefect YA horror story. 

The glare, if a player dies on level 13, 13 times, then they are cursed to die in real life. When Hadda is introduced to the game and then introduces it to her friends and the chain reaction begins and the story definitely starts to get interesting. 

“The expertly balanced reality-blurring storyline and strategic technology depictions seed psychological scares that will linger long after reading.[...] A chilling way to turn screen time into scream time.”—Kirkus, starred review 

There is definitely enough mystery to keep the reader at suspense until the bitter end. The creepiness and the horror of this story definitely does creep up on you, and you don’t really want to miss out on what is about to happen next. Beautiful executed to say the least, The Glare focuses on the dark side of technology, which is very timely, to say the least. The book is not trying to make and judgments about the presences of screens in our lives or anything, but the effect it has on us who does drive the action in a nuanced, compelling way. The mix of excitement and dread that we feel when our phones starts dinging with alerts, all of that is that the heart of the story. 

“I want the Glare back, I wasn’t finished with it.”

Well paced, smart, and super scary. I love how Margot actually reveals who is behind the mysterious Glare game in the second half of the book, without even thinking that would really be the person behind all the deaths. Perfectly presented. Ending was a bit off but an outstanding story all in all.