Deepfake by Sarah Darer Littman

From Goodreads, 

"What happens when anyone can make a video of you saying anything?

Dara Simons and Will Hochman have everything they've ever wanted. They are the rulers of Greenpoint High's geekdom, overachieving in every way, and it's intense competition to see who will be valedictorian. One the entire school is invested in. That is, until Rumor Has It, the anonymous gossip site, posts a video of Dara accusing Will of paying someone to take the SAT for him.

When the video goes viral, suddenly Will's being investigated, and everyone's wondering how he pulled off cheating on the SAT. But Dara swears that she didn't say any of those things, which seems a little hard to believe since it's her in the video.

Did Will cheat?

Is it Dara saying he did?

Who's lying, and who's telling the truth?

The answer is more shocking than anyone realizes ..."

Goodreads - Deepfake

Technology has progressed so much in my lifetime.  Some of it has been for the better and some has been for the worst.  As a teacher I see my students being affected by the technology and having EVERYTHING literally at their fingertips.  It is so easy for students to hack into someone else's account.  Cyberbullying is a much bigger issue today than it was years ago and kids are much smarter about it and can find ways to cover their tracks.  With all the technology we have, deepfakes intrigue me the most.  I recently watched a video and it was of a guy talking about editing software.  He explained how easy it was and then shared that his face wasn't even real and he proceeded to change his "face" two different times.  It left me wondering if any of them were the actual face of this guy.  Then I realized I had just watched a deepfake video.  A video of someone pretending to be someone else.  I am beyond excited to share my review of this newly released book. 

Deepfake is told by Will, Dara, and MJ in alternating points of view.  All three are in the top three spots in their graduating class and they are all trying to be valedictorian.  Will and Dara have been dating since summer when they worked together at a camp.  They have been keeping their relationship quiet because Dara doesn't want to hear the comments about her beating her boyfriend for valedictorian or vice versa.  Will studied all summer to raise his SAT score and has applied to his Dad's number one choice of Stanford.  MJ had a summer job, but every time she tried to hang out with her best friend Will he just blew her off.  MJ applied to Carnegie Mellon even though her parents told her not to and that she probably wouldn't get in.  Everything comes crashing together when a video is posted by the school rumor account.  The video is of Dara saying that Will cheated on his SATs.  Everything starts to blow up and fall apart as they try to figure out if Dara really did say those things, if Will did cheat, and if the video is even of Dara. 

Spoilers are ahead.  Read with caution. 

This book started off so strong, but as it progressed and the plot thickened I was questioning all decisions that were being made.  I absolutely love the idea of a book being about the "bad" of technology, and even more specifically, deepfakes.  This book had an extremely strong STEM storyline and it was weaved into so many aspects.  Dara was an EMT and wanted to be a doctor.  MJ wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon and really delve into technology.  Will's dad wanted him to go into business and near the end of the book he decided he wanted to go into cybersecurity.  Will, MJ, and many of their friends are in the robotics club at school.  All of the characters in this book are somehow exceptionally bright and are at the top of their class.  I loved that STEM was pushed in this book, but for me it made the whole mystery of who made the deepfake that much easier to solve.  It was portrayed that one must have a high tech and fast processing computer to make a deepfake video.  When in fact there are many apps that can be used to make a deepfake.  As soon as the computer which belonged to MJ's brother was introduced I immediately knew that MJ was the one who made the deepfake.  She was jealous when she found out that Will and Dara were dating and she didn't know about it.  She was upset she didn't get into her first pick college, while both Dara and Will got into theirs.  I think it would have been a more exciting turning point for it to have been Will's sister Sadie or one of their other friends who was just a secondary character.  There was just too much evidence that easily pointed to MJ. 

There were believable points in this book and there were some that made me scratch my head.  One of them was everyone's reaction when they found out who made the deepfake.  Will figured out it was MJ and was basically like "I'm mad, but we're totally still besties."  Like this chick almost ruined your chance at getting into college and you're okay with it?  I would have been DONE with that person if they had tried to ruin my future.  And when Will found out about the video he got super upset with Dara, which is understandable, but he lashed out at her without listening to her.  Of course after he figured out it wasn't her, he tried to suck up and make up with her.  The redeeming point in this book was that Dara was not taking him back after his reaction.  Dara did NOT need that negative and toxic energy in her life.  

This book sounded like it would be really cool, but it was kind of a drag.  The most exciting parts were probably in the first and last 50 pages.  The flashback in the middle of the book wasn't called for and it felt like it was more of a space filler than actually being part of the plot.  I think this book would hit home with some teenagers, but I think it lacks that piece that makes you connect and relate with a book.  I give this 2 stars.