While following Hannah Orenstein on social media, I’ve watched her become a published author, in a totally non-creepy way. Once I received an advance copy of her second novel, Love At First Like, I finally understood her success. It’s because her writing is incredible. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to truly get it because I’ve spent too much time on Instagram and not enough time reading books.
Now Hannah has a new novel about how Instagram has changed our society, so it’s perfect for me! Love At First Like gives new meaning to “doing it for the ‘gram”.
Hannah Orenstein
Once the protagonist Eliza accidentally announces her fake engagement, she tries to keep pretending it’s real. Eliza runs a jewellery shop and after she finds out her ex got engaged, she has a few drinks and tries on a fancy diamond ring. She meant to save a picture of it on Instagram as a draft, but she actually shares it with 100K followers. Suddenly, everyone believes she’s engaged. After seeing a boost in sales, she only shares the truth with her sister, best friend and local bartender.
Everything intensifies as Eliza’s sponsored wedding gets closer. First, she needs to find a groom! The novel is partly a love story about who Eliza meets and partly a story about how she keeps the charade going to sell more jewellery. For example, when she does an interview with ELLE, she focuses on her professional accomplishments, not her love life. No one even knows her fiancé’s name!
As Eliza debates how to keep her business thriving, you may rethink your own relationship with social media. How far would you be willing to go under the same circumstances? How does Instagram affect your personal life? Now that Instagram is starting to hide likes, will that make it easier to live in the moment?
With references to every relevant brand and celebrity, ranging from Urban Outfitters and FaceTune to Meghan Markle and Kris Jenner, Hannah has amazing attention to detail. “Shouldn’t wedding ceremonies be solely about the two people getting married, not forcing your friends to line up like a MySpace Top 8 in matching outfits?” She jokes.
As cliché as it sounds, reading this book truly was love at first like. Thankfully, I disconnected from social media long enough to find out how Eliza’s story ends. To tide me over until Hannah’s next novel, there’s always the BTS content she shares about her real life on Instagram.