Andy is an internet addict. He is constantly on his phone staying up to date with the latest celebrity gossip, Facebook statuses, and updating his bowel movement apps. It isn’t until he begins to struggle with insomnia, anxiety, and neck aches that he decides to solve this issue… with a digital detox.
For 60 days, Andy must live without technology. When Andy’s best friend writes a newspaper article about his detox, he becomes a local hero for all the technophiles who are also struggling.
With this newfound pressure of fame, will Andy surrender to this constant technology itch, or will he realise that there are benefits to living offline?
Living in an age where technology is so important in our daily lives, I thought that this book’s theme was really important. Especially during the UK’s quarantine, it can be quite easy to spend all day on our phones or laptops without even realising. This makes the book quite relatable to a lot of us. For me, it was when Andy started googling his symptoms that I realised that I can sometimes have similar tendencies.
Despite the book having quite a serious theme, it was constantly lighthearted and easy to read. Andy is quite a melodramatic character, and everything seems to go wrong for him. This meant that some scenes felt a little bit exaggerated, but this might just be more to do with my sense of humour if anything else.
I think Logging Off really picked up about half-way through after Andy deals with the initial stresses of living offline. The irony of Andy having a fanbase despite his detox and the introduction of Grace picked up the pace of the book for me.
I also liked how Andy, or the narration, sometimes spoke directly to the reader. It made me feel very involved and included with the story, and I felt that I really wanted him to complete his digital detox.
I can imagine Logging Off being a great holiday read, or a great pick-me-up book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Books for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review!
Favourite quotes:
“There will be time to worry about the rest of the world later. There always is.”
“Living a happy life is about knowing how much of yourself you want to let people in on.”
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