Not as epistolary or as interesting in form as I had hoped, and without that draw I don't think I'll ever be in the mood to read a 400 page parable about gamergate and why sexism is bad.

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caedocyon | 4 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A. E. Osworth

Kind of an exploration of Gamergate. Eliza Bright is working in an up and coming game company, Fancy Dog, when she experiences sexual harassment. She reports this, and things go badly for her from there. The book is told mostly in sort of a Greek chorus of Reddit and 4Chan users; and partly with another interesting group voice.

Not perfect, it's hard to focus on characters with this shifting narration, but it's also an interesting way to look at the issue, and at times it really works.

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banjo123 | 4 other reviews | Feb 11, 2024 |

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth

Featured in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2021/03/29/new-books-by-genderqueer-breakouts/

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emmy_of_spines | 4 other reviews | Sep 8, 2022 |

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth

This remarkable novel of work life and #METOO/Gamergate impact in a video game company is totally immersed in internet dudebro culture and the terrible repercussions for women. Eliza Bright is a new developer at Fancy Dog Games, creators of the very popular multiplayer role playing game, Guardians of the Protectorate. Two other male coders decide to harass her by inserting breast references into her code – hahaha, right? Eliza refuses to play along and reports them to her boss, whose only response is to send them to “sensitivity training”. Fed up when the harassment continued unabated, Eliza goes public and is fired. When one of the men finds her personnel file and posts it to the internet, Eliza is doxxed (all of her personal info revealed) and has to flee her home. In the meantime, the sexist trolling Reddit/4 Chan universe has coalesced and responded with death threats, and one of them is determined to track Eliza down and harm her. She is taken in by a feminist collective that has deliberately sealed themselves off from any online contact, which works until her boss, now contrite and seeking to hire her back as a PR move, inadvertently reveals her location. The story is told in narration and texts from all points of view and remains suspenseful until the end. This is a stunning and wholly memorable first novel by a writer who also teaches digital storytelling.

Quotes: "From his apartment he can see Manhattan in layers, as if it's shedding petals and exposing a center only the luckiest pollinators would ever see."

"We hate being responsible for others. Even being responsible for ourselves is exhausting."

"Suzanne didn't volunteer at all, she was voluntold."… (more)

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froxgirl | 4 other reviews | May 10, 2021 |

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