Lisa Mcbroom asked Holly Brown:

I just finished It's Not Over.... It was wonderful!!!! I stayed up til 4 am to finish it!!! The question I have is do you think Social Media and Review Sites are improving communication or hindering it?

Holly Brown Hi, Lisa! I'm so sorry I didn't answer this. I somehow missed the notification. Anyway, I'm glad to answer now, and thank you so much for writing! I would say that there's wide variety in how different social media and review sites operate. The functionality of the sites themselves actually can foster a better or a worse climate--i.e. they can encourage people to be honest without being cruel. While I've had my share of negative reviews on Goodreads, I haven't found the tenor to be brutal. Overall, the discourse is respectful of other readers; there's respect for writing itself. Now, on other sites (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit), I think sometimes free speech trumps all else, and it shows in the way people talk about not only books but other people. There's actually a great book I just read about this (and now I'll go post a review of it) called "Technically Wrong" and it's all about this subject. So maybe it's good that I just saw your question now. My answer would have been different six months ago. Anyway, thank you so much for asking, and for voicing your appreciation of THIS IS NOT OVER. It means a lot!

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