Review by Booklist Review
Sophomores Ivy and Harold are longtime besties. While Harold's at Stanford's smart camp for the summer, Ivy becomes addicted to VEIL, a new, artist-centric, anonymous social-media app though she never posts her own art, for fear of rejection. When school starts, a vile anti-gay post changes the tone of the platform and affects everyone at school. By scrutinizing VEIL posts, Ivy figures out some users' identities and, in an effort to lighten the atmosphere and support their art, she gives them gifts based on their posts. When Ivy assumes Harold's on VEIL and determines he's keeping a secret, she throws him a party that turns out to be unwelcome, despite her good intentions, and jeopardizes their friendship. This engaging debut novel tackles the issues of friendship and support, as well as significant matters, such as the collision of anonymity and freedom of expression; respect for individual privacy; and the blurred lines between First Amendment rights and hate speech, particularly on social media. Perfect for readers concerned about accountability.--Jeanne Fredriksen Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Ivy has one best friend, Harold. When Harold goes away for the summer, he leaves Ivy alone. Before he goes away, Ivy constructs an igloo in Harold's backyard with a dome designed to view the stars. The implication is Ivy's unspoken love for Harold. As the summer progresses, Ivy dives deeper into the Veil app. While she never posts to the app herself, she is exposed to art that gives her insight into worlds and people that are new to her. When Harold comes home from camp and school starts again, Ivy sits next to Nate in art class. Nate is a handsome, popular football player who appears to be a fish out of water in the class. Nate has a twin brother, Tag, who has been expelled from school for posting anti-gay comments on the Veil site. Harold starts a Gay Pride Club at school to counteract the negative statements posted to Veil. Ivy's desire to connect with other artists by giving anonymous gifts helps her arrive at various cross roads, and relationships develop as a result. Ivy experiences quintessential teen life in this modern-day drama. Her connection with an anonymous app for artists allows her to grow as she learns to respect autonomy, understand her peers, and meet new people. VERDICT A charming debut for fans of contemporary YA.]-Margo Fryling, Cobb County Public Schools, Marietta, GA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Aspiring artist Ivy has always been happy living in best friend Harold's shadow. But when Harold is away for the summer, Ivy delves into the intriguingly anonymous world of VEIL, an online forum for sharing art. Ivy's shyness and altruism are tested when real life and virtual ones collide in the wake of homophobic hate speech. Debut novelist Enni crafts an unusual story with a memorable protagonist. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A teen explores the trappings of anonymity through social media.In her fiction debut, Enni crafts an intriguing tale of identity formation in which a social media app plays nearly as central a role as the characters themselves. Loner goth Ivy, a straight white girl, finds herself at a loss when her overachieving, certifiable-genius best friend, brown-skinned Harold, a fellow sophomore, heads to a Stanford academic camp, leaving her to her own devices for the summer. Luckily, Ivy discovers VEIL, an art-sharing app where users can anonymously share their creations in a feed that is erased every Sunday at midnight. Primarily drawn to the ephemeral art posted on the site, Ivy soon finds herself captivated by how intimately people will share their lives in an anonymous forum. Ivy, a burgeoning photographer, not only uses the VEIL postings to create her own art, but goes on a mission to discover the identities of those cryptically sharing painful experiences and then help them. Ivy's altruistic quest to be an ally has a wrench thrown into it when homophobic hate speech is posted on VEIL, upsetting the apple cart of anonymous free artistic expression and forcing all in Ivy's world, including Enni's well-meaning protagonist, to re-examine their assumptions about strangers as well as intimates with powerful, sometimes hilarious, results.Probing what's on the other side of personal growth and risk-taking, this timely, engaging novel offers its own rewards. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
