Targeted and Trolled by Rossalyn Warren

I requested this book because, duh, female on the internet here. This obviously concerns me, even if I haven't been trolled before (touch wood). Unfortunately, I didn't notice that it was an "originally internet short", so I was a little disappointed, as I was expected a meatier book.

The good about this book is that it very clearly illustrates the severity of women being targeted on the internet for their gender. Some of the case studies are truly horrifying, and this is something that never should have happened to someone.

Unfortunately, the book does not go into much depth. It's almost as if it's a collection of news articles, with a little analysis inside. Personally, I was looking forward to reading about the causes of such harassment, because to know the cause would be to know how solve this problem at the root.

The other thing that disappointed me was that the book was rather one-sided. I don't mean that the book should be looking at men being targeted, since this isn't the topic, but I feel it's important to talk about the fact that targeting of women by women can happen (and suggestions on what we can do to stop it (do I shout back? Do I back down because she's a fellow woman?) would have been very welcome too). For example, Requires Hate was a woman whose targets were 73% women. And this was very vicious targeting, with death threats. You should all read the expose by Laura J. Mixon, who very deservedly won the Hugo 2015 award for best fan writer. It seems odd to me that this didn't even warrant a mention, given the extent and length of abuse (as well as the identity of Requires Hate).

All in all, this is an adequate introduction to the darker side of the internet (if you are a woman). Personally, I feel that the book should have looked at this in depth (and not be a short) - if the other readers are like me, what's in this is really just preaching to the choir, with the information and in-depth analysis wanted lacking.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.