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Cam Girl

Leah Raeder (Goodreads Author),

Elliot Wake (Goodreads Author)

3.66 · Rating details · 1,971 ratings · 501 reviews

Vada Bergen is broke, the black sheep of her family, and moving a thousand miles away from home for grad school, but she’s got the two things she loves most: her art and her best friend—and sometimes more—Ellis Carraway. Ellis and Vada have a friendship so consuming it’s hard to tell where one girl ends and the other begins. It’s intense. It’s a little codependent. And not ...more

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Paperback, 422 pages

Published November 3rd 2015 by Atria

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· 1,971 ratings · 501 reviews

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Oct 21, 2014 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: new-adult, 2015, arc, contemporary

If two people could make each other smile and laugh and forget all the pain and darkness in the world for a moment, why should we feel ashamed of it?

A couple years back, I did a "New Adult Experiment" and attempted to find the hidden gems amid a genre full of, um... crap. One of those gems was Raeder's Unteachable - a lyrical, different kind of romance.

Since then, Leah Raeder has released two more books - Black Iris and Cam Girl - and I think it would be a disservice to potential readers an ...more

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Dec 04, 2014 Navessa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: strong-themes, broke-me, all-the-feels, lgbtqia, new-adult, favorites, poc-mc

Full disclosure: I've been drinking.

Okay, so here's the thing. Leah Raeder is a really good friend of mine, but it should be noted that this fact in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

Oh, and it should ALSO be noted that I'm reviewing the version that I beta-read, not the finalized copy. There's a reason for that, which I'll get to a little later in this wine-fueled word vomit.

Maybe?

If I don't, someone please comment and remind me to do so when I sober up.

Thanks in advance.

WARNING: I' ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Leah added it · (Review from the author)

Update: November 20, 2015

Full blog post to come, but I had to share a sneak peek of this with you guys...

Cam Girl got a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Along with Black Iris, that's two stars for me in one year.

Not bad, eh? brb losing my shit

---

Previously:

---

Update: March 31, 2015

Just finished writing this tonight. Can't believe I've written three books for traditional publication already.

Unteachable was brash, impudent, and brave; Black Iris is dark and brutal and uncompromising. But Cam G ...more

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Oct 26, 2014 Baba rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, f-f, the-anticipation-is-killing-me, new-adult-or-young-adult, leah-raeder, transgender

3 to 3.5 stars. Posted September 10, 2015.

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I walked from the patio down to the sea, the whispery sweep of waves like jazz brush drumming. Strands of tinsel moonlight floated on the water. The anxiety and unease in me all gathered into an ache at my elbow and I felt as if I could fire bullets from it, or set it on fire, or rip it out of the socket. Wasn’t sure whether I wanted the badness out or if the badness could stay as long as I escaped. Pain makes a body a prison, the same way desire does

...more

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Dec 27, 2014 Aimee ♥ | Aimee, Always rated it really liked it

Shelves: holy-shit-that-ending, might-make-you-shit-bricks, let-me-gouge-your-eyeballs-out, did-not-see-that-coming, swoony-book-boys, eye-roll, love-triangles, predictable, arc, nails-are-gone-from-biting

7 Reasons Why You Should Read Cam Girl

1. Cam Girl is intense as fuck, in more ways than one. For one thing, this book does sort of have a mystery aspect to it, which, let me tell 'ya, is a HOLY-MOLY-GIVE-ME-ANSWERS-NOW kind of mystery. It's also intense in a way that Leah Raeder clearly doesn't shy away from the nitty and gritty, and also points out a few of the things many of us don't normally talk or think about.

2. Cam Girl talks about all these societal in social issues in such a raw manner. ...more

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Mar 30, 2017 Jaidee rated it liked it

Recommends it for: those in the mood for a queer psychosexual thriller

Recommended to Jaidee by: a lesbian bartender

Shelves: three-stars-books

3 "diamond in the rough" stars !!!

2017 Read Where I Wished I was Editor Award

For the moment, please disregard the 3 star rating.

I am so excited to have discovered Elliot Wake, formerly Leah Raeder who is an extremely talented author who happens to be a trans man and a very handsome one at that. I know, I know the fact that he is handsome is irrelevant but since this is a psychosexual thriller romance I had to mention that as well :)

We raced to the end of the pier, screaming for no other rea 3 "diamond in the rough" stars !!!

2017 Read Where I Wished I was Editor Award

For the moment, please disregard the 3 star rating.

I am so excited to have discovered Elliot Wake, formerly Leah Raeder who is an extremely talented author who happens to be a trans man and a very handsome one at that. I know, I know the fact that he is handsome is irrelevant but since this is a psychosexual thriller romance I had to mention that as well :)

We raced to the end of the pier, screaming for no other reason than that we are alive. Screaming into the face of this cold universe. Against unkindness, against accidents and inevitabilities. Against the randomness of being born into the wrong body or the wrong family, of hurting the wrong hand. Our voices carried over the water long after we fell silent, mine throaty and brazen, hers an avian shriek. At the pier's edge I collapsed, panting. Ellis sat next to me. For a while we stared out at dark water and clear sky, wild with stars.

Some of the writing is so fresh and alive like this previous paragraph and because of this I know that Mr. Wake can become a phenomenal writer that will straddle the line between literature and mass market psychological thrillers. However, this book is fraught with many challenges and I feel that with more work (and much better editing) that this book could have been a minor post-modern masterpiece !! My name for this phenomenom is The Goldfinch syndrome and don't get me started on that now.

What is absolutely superb about this novel is the genuineness and respect that is presented on Queerness in all its forms both in terms of sexuality and gender fluidity. This book presents the entire rainbow from heterosexual vixens and studs, bisexual sylphs and gnomes to lesbian gender fluid geniuses. They came in all shapes and sizes (ooops freudian slip) and in all skin tones. The love that the author has for his characters comes out in ooodles and oooodles.

Some of the writing is so gorgeous but is very inconsistent and at times highly repetitive. The sex scenes are both disturbing and hot. The mysteries are interesting but are not always sensesical in their resolution. I also struggled with the characters themselves who often were not psychologically consistent and congruent. The love between the two main female characters although very passionate and believable was at times overwrought and histrionic that actually took away from the romantic pathos in the story.

Having said this, however, I am filled with so much hope that this writer will continue to grow and continue with what he does so well but will also take greater care in decreasing repetition, aiming for more psychological congruence in his characters and most of all turn down the volume in his violin section. If he is able to do that these three stars will morph into five and his psychosexual thrillers will be an important contribution to this sometimes maligned genre.

My favorite line in the book :

Sometimes someone says "I love you" so clearly that adding the words would only ruin it. ...more

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Dec 10, 2014 Anya (~on a semi-hiatus~) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: los-favoritos, love-is-a-laserquest, reviews-that-dont-suck-donkey-balls, frisson, c-mon-baby-light-my-fire, lingual-pheromone, made-me-cry, lgbtq, na

For the last three days I have been asking myself if I should review this book but in the end, the urge to let the words fly out of my fingers won out.

Here's the thing. I am bisexual. I am a person of colour and I come from a country where homosexuality is a criminal offence which means if I were to make love to my girlfriend, both of our arses would be thrown in jail.

Where's the fairness you ask?

NOT HERE.

I have been attracted to girls ever since I can remember and only in my early teenage years For the last three days I have been asking myself if I should review this book but in the end, the urge to let the words fly out of my fingers won out.

Here's the thing. I am bisexual. I am a person of colour and I come from a country where homosexuality is a criminal offence which means if I were to make love to my girlfriend, both of our arses would be thrown in jail.

Where's the fairness you ask?

NOT HERE.

I have been attracted to girls ever since I can remember and only in my early teenage years did I start developing an attraction towards boys. But living in the heteronormative society that I do, since childhood I was subconsciously conditioned that marriage means a union between a man and a woman. Not between a woman and a woman. Or a man and a man. I know how our society shames/hates/sidelines the LGBTQ+ community and somewhere down the line, it made me a little internally homophobic too. I have struggled with my sexuality for more than a decade. I constantly denied the fact that I liked girls, felt ashamed of myself because I had such 'impure' sexual thoughts and only recently did I make peace with the fact that I liked both boys and girls.

I have faced biphobia. I have 'friends' at the university who wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole if they knew that I was bi. I have had a (previously) close friend make homophobic comments on my person which made me completely stop talking to her and now we hate each other's guts. (In retrospect, I think I overreacted, but that was just my paranoia) I have had boys ask me for a threesome just because they thought I'd be completely down for it since 'I swing both ways'. I know for a fact that lesbians hesitate in getting into relationships with bisexual girls because they think we are just looking for some fun and would run off the moment a cute boy dropped us a line. (My answer is- NO, I WOULD NEVER. When I am in love, it doesn't matter. I don't think about missing out at all. I only have eyes for that person. ONLY.

I have been called greedy. Confused. On the fence. Promiscuous. Going through a phase. Seeking attention. "Make up your fucking mind." they said. And I'll be honest, it makes me doubt myself. I am not fully out of the closet. My closest circle of friends know and they continue to love me just the same. My mum knows and I don't think she's completely okay with it but she's taking it in stride. We have discussed this in great lengths and she'd prefer it if I ended up marrying a guy because our extended family is conservative and straying from cultural norm is considered taboo. Because this deeply homophobic society would shun me and my future wife.

I could relate to this book on a visceral level because the protagonist felt a lot of things I have felt too. Vada is a 22 year old bisexual POC artist feminist girl like me and although I didn't agree with a lot of her thought processes/actions, I could resonate with her because I know what it feels like to be so madly in love with a person that it seems as if you are drowning. I know what it feels like to be so fiercely protective of someone that their hurt feels like your hurt.

Leah R continues to stump me speechless with her writing style. It's so lyrically beautiful and soft and tender but hard and guttural at the same time. Because she writes from the heart. Because she writes what she knows is true.

It's still an uphill battle. I just hope that I continue to stay true to myself and love fully and truly. That's the only thing that matters.

...more

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Mar 07, 2018 Selene rated it liked it

Shelves: taboo, new-adult, girl-play, gritty, erotica

3.5 stars

A car accident ends with one fatality. The remaining survivors are two young women. One remembers everything. The other one doesn’t remember much of anything. Or does she?

This book touched on the topics of bisexuality and gender identity. It’s well written but there was endless push and pull between Vada and Ellis. Hurtful lies and deceptive actions were quietly dismissed after a very long buildup and that’s where this story was most disappointing for me. I loved how multilayered the ch ...more

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Feb 23, 2015 Natalie Monroe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kick-ass-heroines, pants-are-snowmen-and-they-are-june, taylor-swift-like-prose, razor-sharp-wheels, love-wins, awesome-author, my-inner-feminist-cries-with-joy, fabulous-five-stars, real-problems

"You know what I learned in all these months? That I built my whole fucking life around you. My entire adult life. Five years. I'm totally lost on my own. You know how terrifying it is, to be that dependent on someone?"

Play Taylor Swift's 1989 while you're reading Cam Girl. Blast it on your stereo, then go for a midnight drive because that's what Raeder's writing makes you feel. Like you're drunk and infinite and glowing neon in the dark.

"Onlookers see the finished result, polished and pr

...more

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Feb 14, 2015 Vanessa J. rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, love-the-cover, new-adult, lgbtqia

I'm not a fan of New Adult. Like, at all. There are too many tropes in that territory and I'd rather avoid the trouble. My resignation to read NA stopped last year when I read my first book by Leah Raeder. Since then, I've read her three novels and they've yet to disappoint. They're this kind of book that's both sexy and addresses important themes inside them. In this case, it goes to sex trade by cam girls and the exploration of sexual identity.

But to add more spice to that, there's also a myst ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 Baba rated it liked it

Shelves: leah-raeder, f-f, netgalley, new-adult-or-young-adult, transgender

3 to 3.5 stars.

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I'm sorry but it seems to me that I have once again made a mess with the different editions. You can find my "review" here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ...more

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Jan 06, 2015 Kelly (and the Book Boar) marked it as to-read

Shelves: buy-this-for-me-and-ill-review-it

Denied the ARC, so someone let me know when this moment happens:

...more

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Jun 19, 2015 Mara rated it it was amazing

Fucking glorious. Review to come soon, but guys, do yourselves a favor and preorder this gem!

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Oct 06, 2015 Jenny rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-reads, emotional-read, romance, reviewed, dark, contemporary, lgbt

“You can fall in love again with someone you're already in love with. It's like waking from a dream within a dream and finding another layer, the colors more vivid, the light more lucid, the fantasy more real. Being in love is an endless loop of waking to reverie.”

Last year I read Unteachable by Leah Raeder and fell in love with her lyrical and incredible writing;so poetic and beautiful that I just couldn't put it down. And after reading this book,I can say that she is one of my favorite author “You can fall in love again with someone you're already in love with. It's like waking from a dream within a dream and finding another layer, the colors more vivid, the light more lucid, the fantasy more real. Being in love is an endless loop of waking to reverie.”

Last year I read Unteachable by Leah Raeder and fell in love with her lyrical and incredible writing;so poetic and beautiful that I just couldn't put it down. And after reading this book,I can say that she is one of my favorite authors when it comes to New Adult genre.

This book is very intense.The story starts off with an accident which changes everything between Vada and Ellis. The story gets dark when Vada takes up a job as a Cam Girl. In this book both Ellis and Vada-mostly Vada-struggles with gender identity and their sexuality.

“If there's a better definition of love than mutual benevolent insanity, I haven't heard it.”

Cam Girl is not only about love because Vada and Ellis's relationship goes way beyond than that. I loved their cute banter,their fights,their love for each other which was so deep that they would do anything to keep the other from being hurt.And the feels! God,so many feels! Their relationship seemed real even with its flaws,and that's what made it so beautiful.

Even though the characters were messed up,little bit unlikable-I didn't like Vada in many situations,the story was powerful enough to keep reading it.The story can be predictable,but in between all those emotions,mysteries,and most of all-author's beautiful writing,it's hardly an issue.

The most interesting character was Blue,and despite assuming correctly who that person was,it was still shocking the way it was revealed. The ending was actually very unexpected,because even though I know what this book is about,nothing would have prepared me for the ending;and that is not just about the main characters,I also liked the ending to the story of Max.Then there was also an author's note which was very emotional and worth reading.

Overall,I loved this book.And the only reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that some things were repetitive.

“Not a boy or a girl, not any binary, rigid definition of a person. Just my everything.”

...more

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Feb 27, 2015 Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: glbt, drama, netgalley, pretty-cover, new-adult

Pre-read: Ye Gods, I really, really, really want to read this book.

Edit: Might as well start doing my happy dance ahead of time because I got a galley today, guys. Whoo-hoo! *dance, dance, dances*

This will be read in due haste.

Post-read: Finished this a while back, but marking it for today. I honestly wish more NA books could have this skill, depth, and intrigue. I really liked Cam Girl. Still debating on my reflection and rating though. 4 stars will probably be what I settle on.

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Dec 05, 2014 Wendy Darling marked it as to-read

Shelves: adult, lgbtqi, 2015-publication, atria

Because Leah. Obviously.

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Jul 21, 2015 Christy LoveOfBooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley, e-book, read-in-2015, favorites-of-2015

I swear, Leah Raeder's writing fucks with my emotions. It's extremely hard for me to express my feelings, especially when it comes to something I connect with so deeply with. All of her books have hit me in some very profound way, and I get this huge churning storm of feelings and emotions that I struggle to let out. It's just easier for me to swallow them and keep them hidden away. I also feel like whatever I say won't come anywhere near what I truly feel, because a pathetic "I love it" just wo ...more

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Mar 31, 2015 KaleidoscopicCasey rated it really liked it

Shelves: is-this-real-life, read-in-2015, hearts-aflutter, 2015-release, lgbtq, rated-na

THIS BOOK IS RELEASED TODAY
YOU SHOULD GO BUY IT

Leah Raeder books are notoriously difficult for me to rate and review so you'll have to excuse my slight tendency to jump around or ramble. I think that may just be my honest reaction to her stories. Frequently the subject matter ventures dangerously close to where I draw my line, I never agree with the actions of the MC, and most of the time I don't even approve of the ending.
But I will continue to read everything Leah writes.

I know, I'm probably ...more

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Nov 06, 2015 Beverly rated it really liked it

Cam Girl isn’t what I expected, but I can’t say I didn’t find beauty in Vada’s story. What I expected when I picked up Cam Girl was the story about a girl who was broken beyond repair and turned to camming as a last resort. I expected a girl that found herself and love in the boy she met online. While some of that is true, the ending and delivery was completely unexpected.

Vada is bisexual and the story begins after she wakes up from a fatal car accident. There are flashbacks to the accident and ...more

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Jan 31, 2015 Michelle rated it really liked it

Recommended to Michelle by: Atria

Shelves: arc, suspense, 2015, contemporary, contemporary-romance, read-to-review, drama, blog-tour, f-f-book, lgbt

ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

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Bold. Heartbreaking. Emotional. Captivating. Brazen. Sensual.Thought provoking. Leah Raeder is one of those gifted authors who continually knows how to spellbind her readers with her beautiful prose and raw characters. CAM GIRL is unlike any story that I have read. It is bold, risky, raw, gritty and emotionally consuming.

CAM GIRL pushes boundaries and allows readers to explore their sexuality. It is a story that makes you questi ...more

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Dec 22, 2014 Keertana rated it really liked it

I never know what to say about a Leah Raeder novel. It made me uncomfortable. It was difficult to read because I kept wanting to stop, to leave these messy, unlikable characters with their dark flaws in the pages of the book. It made me think, late into the night, unable to make sense of myself, the characters, or the world. And all of these are good. It is so rare to find a book that makes me reflect, that forces me to take a long time anguishing over the language, that genuinely shoves me outs I never know what to say about a Leah Raeder novel. It made me uncomfortable. It was difficult to read because I kept wanting to stop, to leave these messy, unlikable characters with their dark flaws in the pages of the book. It made me think, late into the night, unable to make sense of myself, the characters, or the world. And all of these are good. It is so rare to find a book that makes me reflect, that forces me to take a long time anguishing over the language, that genuinely shoves me outside of my comfort zone.

I both love and hate Raeder for her ability to do this; I relate to aspects of her novels, always, but I always want them to be a little less dark and messy and them so they can fit into the tropes I know and am comfortable with. I am so very glad that Raeder does not do this disservice. Not to me and not to her readers. She writes the stories she wants to write--the stories she wishes were being told--and I applaud her for that. Plus, her prose is gorgeous and the topics she tackles are hard-hitting and challenging to understand and discuss in a complex manner, which she always manages to do. It's so rare to see queer characters--those who identify along the spectrum of "queer" and do not always fit into the categories of LGBT but rather LGBTQIA--and I am so grateful that Raeder writes the diverse stories she does.

This doesn't mean that I loved Cam Girl without reservation or would even read it again--I wouldn't--but it does mean that it made me re-consider a wide range of topics I simply hadn't spent too much time thinking about. Whether it be gender, sexuality, or the sex trade, Raeder covers so much in this novel--densely packing it with meaning and feeling--and I can't really describe or fully discuss it without ruining the story. Raeder almost has too much going on--Vada, the main character loses function of her right hand in a car accident, disabling her for life and ending the career she thought she had as an artist. But Vada is also in love with her best friend, Ellis, yet she clings on to the hope of a future where she marries a man. And then Vada and Ellis have a falling out--over Vada, the accident, the true story of that night--and Vada is approached by two young entrepreneurs to cam for them. From there, the story only gets more complicated--Vada's empowerment and agency through her role as a cam girl, her feelings for Ellis which won't abate, her involvement with Max, the father of the boy who was killed the night of the accident, and then her late-night chats with "Blue" who pays her for her time and thoughts, not her camming skills.

It's intense, it's messy, and I wish Raeder had taken on a little less, only so that I could fully wrap my mind around it all. But, it works. It definitely works and its message is strong, beautiful, and full of hope. Needless to say, for readers familiar with Raeder's work and her brand of dark--as in mentally, emotionally dark, going to places you won't be familiar with, necessarily--and fans of Black Iris, Raeder's latest is definitely up your alley. I'd suggest readers new to Raeder's work to pick up Unteachable first--it's the most heteronormative and familiar of her works to other New Adult tropes--but if you're looking for New Adult that explores disability and difficult topics of LGBTQIA then this is a must-read. I don't look forward, necessarily, to what Raeder is putting out next but I'm eager to pick up yet another thought-provoking, emotional read by her. ...more

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Jul 27, 2015 *P*u*r*p*l*e* Masochist rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, this-author-rocks, violence-abuse-pedophilia, very-fucked-up-characters, beautifully-written-disaster, hot-steamy, tortured-hero, mystery, interesting, dark

* Buddy-Read Review with Beatrix posted on Way Too Hot Books.

"All art comes from pain."

Dark, raw, thought-provoking, erotic, poignant, inspiring... but above all beautifully written. It's such a complex, powerful and skilfully written story that makes me feeling inadequate to even write a review about it, that's why I'll keep it short. I thought it will be pretty impossible to dethrone Black Iris, but L. Raeder has yet again stolen a piece of my heart with Cam Girl and set the level ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Beatrix rated it really liked it

Shelves: real-problems, realistic-fiction, beautiful-writing, read-in-2016

**Buddy-Review with *P*u*r*p*l*e* Masochist posted on Way Too Hot Books.**

What a strange world where we pay people to listen to our problems, and pay them to fuck themselves while we watch, and pay them to save us.

Once upon a time (okay, when I read Unteachable) I fell in love with Leah Raeder’s words. And ever since, I await her next novel with delightful anticipation. It’s like (s)he has this deep, profound relationship with words, and we, as readers, should feel lucky we get to read what ...more

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Nov 09, 2014 Aestas Book Blog marked it as to-read

Shelves: not-yet-released

A new Leah Raeder book!!!!

It's about a talented young artist, struggling to make ends meet after a series of catastrophic setbacks, who forges a deep connection with a mysterious client who wants her camgirl performances to himself and who forces her to reconnect with the demons of her past. ...more

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Feb 27, 2015 Lala BooksandLala rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer

This book is exactly what is seems - an erotic new adult novel about a webcam girl, with some dark themes and gender/sexuality discussion - but it's also so much more than that, a depth I haven't seen in new adult since...well, the last book I had the pleasure of reading from this author!

"Sometimes I bought into the black-and-white mentality, too. It was easier, picking a side. Not fighting to be recognised as a fluid, nuanced individual, but simply accepting a premade label, a prefab identity." This book is exactly what is seems - an erotic new adult novel about a webcam girl, with some dark themes and gender/sexuality discussion - but it's also so much more than that, a depth I haven't seen in new adult since...well, the last book I had the pleasure of reading from this author!

"Sometimes I bought into the black-and-white mentality, too. It was easier, picking a side. Not fighting to be recognised as a fluid, nuanced individual, but simply accepting a premade label, a prefab identity."

You get immediately get sucked into Vada's life and her struggles with her sexuality, career, relationships, physical limitations and guilt. Basically Vada and her best friend/girlfriend Ellis were in an accident that ended tragically, leaving Vada emotionally and physically affected. Throughout the story, we get flashes from the past and gradually get insight into the truth of all that went down that day.

But besides the accident, we have the present day storyline, which has Vada working in the sex trade, a career that tends to have a negative connotation. We get to see both sides of the webcam world, which is powerful - the intense and creepy you expect, but also the control and empowerment cammers can feel.

If dealing with her job choice and people's idea of her isn't enough, Vada is also struggling with a lot more- her sexuality being at the forefront. We see Vada struggle with her own vs. her mom vs. Ellis vs. society's idea of who and what she is meant to be attracted to, and trying to figure out just how to identify. She is all about Ellis, but then "Blue" comes into her life, an extremely possessive webcam client who wants Vada all to himself - and she feels a connection to him like never before.

All the characters, from the major roles to the minor ones, were done well and written so thoughtfully that it's hard to choose a favourite. Surprisingly, this didn't overall feel a book about Vada - it felt more about the people in her life, especially Ellis, who is going through a lot of her own struggles. Seeing Ellis from Vada's perspective was the most interesting and moving part for me, and while yes Vada was a complex and interesting character all on her own, I found myself more interested in the people she interacted with.

The writing in this book was solid yet again - the use of such beautiful language, the kind we got from Black Iris - but mixed with really purposeful wording and important topics. Everything flowed together so well, and never felt like its intent was to educate - yet it really did bring up under spoken about subjects and under represented characters and handled them in such a great way. There are conversations about the sex trade, sexuality, gender identity, gender roles, women of colour, people with disabilities and many more- the book opens up conversation and let me dive into topics I maybe don't think about as much as I should.

"Girls are taught that our bodies are currency, that we owe them to men for being nice to us, for giving unasked gifts to us, for not assaulting and raping us."

The way this was written felt a little like a mystery, I was trying to connect the dots, and kept convincing and unconvincing myself of who was pretending to be who and what really happened during the accident. Not that Cam Girl is necessarily full of twists and shocks, but I still got that edge-of-your-seat feeling and really enjoyed the pace and depth to the story. Predictable or not, the reveals are not what make the story - but the journey to get there - the devastating pain and the great love - beautifully woven together by the author.

This galley was provided by Atria - thank you! ...more

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Oct 02, 2015 Justine rated it it was ok

Shelves: boring, why-the-hype, 2015, contemporary, new-adult

Meh. This is easily the worst Raeder book so far. I saw potential with Unteachable but it seems that her new books are not really for me. As usual, the prose in Cam Girl attempts to heighten the mood by using lyrical prose like with Raeder's other works but this time I thought the writing was verging on the purple end of the scale. Raeder writes beautifully, don't get me wrong. The writing in Unteachable was perfect, Black iris also had its moments of good writing (although some metaphors in the Meh. This is easily the worst Raeder book so far. I saw potential with Unteachable but it seems that her new books are not really for me. As usual, the prose in Cam Girl attempts to heighten the mood by using lyrical prose like with Raeder's other works but this time I thought the writing was verging on the purple end of the scale. Raeder writes beautifully, don't get me wrong. The writing in Unteachable was perfect, Black iris also had its moments of good writing (although some metaphors in there verge on purple prose too) but here in Cam Girl, it felt as if the author tried so hard to produce poetic musings in every step of the way. There were some far-fetched metaphors that don't really serve much purpose. I have also noticed Raeder repeatedly using nebulas, galaxies, stars, froth etc, in all her books. It's getting tiring and repetitive already. I wish she can think of other ways to make her prose lyrical. Metaphors make novels beautiful but only when used deliberately like in All the Light We Cannot See. The author's Unteachable is also a good example of metaphors used deliberately. But with Cam Girl, I thought the metaphors were interjected randomly and thrown all over the place.

Another qualm of mine is the preachy tone that the narrative took. If Raeder was planning to incorporate her own beliefs and ideologies on this book, then I wish it had been done in a more clever and subversive way instead of the in your face kind of preaching about LGBT and romance.

These are all small qualms though and maybe the real reason this didn't work for me is because I wasn't invested in the story especially the characters. They are your plain old Raeder characters.

Vada's basic characterization is just the same as her other protagonists. They're all brash, impudent, lacking in morals, confused, whiny and unreasonable at times. I wish the author could construct a different kind of protagonist than the ones we've witnessed from her. Her protagonists have some small tweaks in terms of characterization but I feel as if they're all grounded on the same basic characterization of forming an unlikable protagonist with zero morals. At this rate, Raeder is becoming like another John Green because they can't move on from their characterization formula (but at least she doesn't craft carbon copy characters like JG but still . . .)

There were too many sex scenes as well and it became repetitive in the long run. It felt like erotica at times thus making it lacking in depth and complexity compared to Raeder's Black Iris. I almost wanted to skim read some of them just to get to the actual story.

All these flaws are probably what made Cam Girl such a dull and boring read for me. I guess it's time to reduce my expectations on her next books. ...more

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Sep 14, 2016 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it it was ok

FINALLY finished this after months and months and months. This definitely didn't live up to how much I loved Unteachable and Black Iris and tbh I'm pretty bummed about it. I felt like the plot was messier in this book compared to the other two, which is odd considering that's usually something I would say about an author's first book, not their third. Either way though, I enjoyed this well enough in comparison to all other new adult things, but I feel like I hold Elliot Wake (formerly Leah Raede ...more

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Nov 11, 2014 Pavlina Read more sleep less blog rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, best-cover

ARC provided by Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

...more

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Sep 30, 2015 Ursula Uriarte rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015

Without a doubt one of the best books I've read this year... My review will be up on the blog on November 12 ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Joce (squibblesreads) rated it it was amazing

4.5 stars.
Finished during Diverseathon in September :)
This is the first time in months that a book has really wrenched my soul out and I can truly say that I LOVED this and highlighted so many passages that I want to revisit. It's not an easy read with very few likeable characters but they all had so many facets and every word and event added something new to their structure. Ugh, so good. ...more

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About Leah Raeder

Leah Raeder

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LEAH RAEDER is a writer and unabashed nerd. Aside from reading her brains out, she enjoys graphic design, video games, fine whiskey, and the art of self-deprecation. She lives with her very own manic pixie dream boy in Chicago.

(And she still writes pretentiously lyrical fiction.)

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“This is what they don’t tell you about losing someone: It doesn’t happen once. It happens every day, every moment they’re missing from. You lose them a hundred times between waking and sleep, and even sleep is no respite, because you lose them in your dreams, too.” — 43 likes

“I dream of you in colors that don't exist.” — 25 likes

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