My Review
Treasure is the second story in the short story collection Hush from Amazon Original Stories. I recently read and reviewed the first book in this collection, Snowflakes, by Ruth Ware. I absolutely loved that book, so I was pretty excited to dive into the second book, especially when I saw that it was by the same author who wrote My Sister, The Serial Killer. While I haven’t read that book, I do have a copy, and I have only ever heard awesome things about it, so I was excited to read this short story!
Treasure follows a young girl with the same name – she is Instagram obsessed, living in Lagos, Nigeria, and shows how an obsession with social media and having the perfect lifestyle can easily go awry, ending in a tragedy it can be hard to see coming.
“There she is in two-thirds of the picture, laughing with her head thrown back, her golden hair swinging in the wind. It could easily be mistaken for a candid picture by the untrained eye – but she is holding her tummy in, turning her chin just so. She had to reapply the lip gloss several times because it dried easily and you could not see the sheen in the picture. And she still added the Juno filter to make the picture more vibrant.”
We all know someone obsessed with social media – whether it be posting photos of their food, their pet, or spending hours trying to get the perfect selfie to post to show their followers how beautiful they are – usually with captions that talk about how they are effortlessly beautiful or how they don’t have to work to look that great. Maybe they are showing off their surroundings to give you the impression that they live such a luxurious lifestyle, and loving every time they get those likes or followers clinging on to their every typed word.
“‘But you don’t even know these people.’
‘I don’t need to know them – they are my fans.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I am living the life they want to live.'”
But what happens when that social media lands you a follower who is also a stalker, tracking you down that one time that you accidentally leave the location tag on your post? Of course, you won’t be prepared for such a thing – but mistakes happen, and they can often be horrific.
Treasure is going to find out exactly what happens when the truth behind social media posts comes out, thanks to @Sho4Sure catching sight of a simple slip-up on her Instagram account.
Treasure sounded like it was going to be amazing – and it was a pretty good read. I read it in one sitting, and since it was pretty short it didn’t take long. But I didn’t absolutely love it. It didn’t stand out like some other books and stories that I’ve read, even though there was a lot to it – including a really important message that should not be taken lightly.
Be careful who you trust online.
Be careful what you post on your social media account.
I feel like this was written with a specific audience in mind – mainly those who are obsessed with social media culture or those who know someone who is social media obsessed. Personally, I never really jumped on the social media bandwagon. Sure, I have a Facebook account, an Instagram, a Twitter, etc. But I’ve never been obsessed with them, and I really don’t post regularly. I just feel like it is a time vampire, to be honest – there are so many other things I could be doing.
But some people really like to update theirs. And that’s all great – except when you aren’t careful and things don’t go as planned.
Treasure is a good warning for readers of all backgrounds. The characters are relatable – especially the main character, Treasure. The story is also pretty relatable, especially in today’s day and age, where more things you see online have been edited and filtered like nobody’s business.
Definitely check out this short story, especially if you are a fan of social media.
And remember – you never know who is watching your feed!
