Would You Check the Weird Notification?

Your phone buzzes at midnight. Obviously, this is bad.

Jul 30, 2026

Hi Bookish Friends! 📚📱

There are two kinds of people in the world.

People who see a weird notification and ignore it.

And people who immediately tap it because their curiosity has no adult supervision.

I want to believe I am the first kind of person.

I am probably not.

Especially if the notification says something dramatic like:

You have been chosen.

Chosen for what?

A coupon?
A curse?
A murder investigation?
A free trial I forgot to cancel?

Unfortunately, I would need to know.

Which brings us to today’s question:

Would you check the weird notification?

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Here’s the setup:

It’s midnight.

You’re in bed.

Your phone lights up.

The notification is from an app you don’t remember downloading.

It says:

One new message from: UNKNOWN

You should ignore it.

You should turn off your phone.

You should go to sleep like a healthy, responsible human being.

Instead, the message changes.

I know what you did.

Then a photo appears.

It’s you.

Taken five minutes ago.

From outside your window.

So… what do you do?

A) Open the message because you need answers.
B) Throw the phone across the room and wake everyone up.
C) Take screenshots, turn off location settings, and call for help.
D) Text your best friend, “Something weird is happening,” because apparently they are your emergency plan.

Kim’s Very Scientific Thriller Verdict

If you picked A, I respect your curiosity, but your phone now owns the plot.

If you picked B, dramatic, loud, and possibly effective. I approve.

If you picked C, yes. This is the answer. Screenshot first. Panic second.

If you picked D, relatable. Not ideal. But relatable.What I’m Reading

Why I Love This Kind of Setup

Technology and new medical technology are scary because it feels normal.

A haunted house announces itself.

It creaks.
It groans.
It has suspicious wallpaper.

A phone just sits there looking innocent. So do your Vitamins. lol 😅

Cute case.
Low battery.
Tiny portal to chaos.

That’s what makes tech thrillers fun to write.

The danger doesn’t arrive wearing a cloak.

Sometimes it arrives as a notification.

Sometimes it sounds exactly like every other buzz in your pocket.

And sometimes, by the time you realize something is wrong, you’ve already clicked.

The Real-Life Part

I don’t think technology is evil.

I do think it’s powerful.

And I think stories help us ask better questions about it.

Who has access to us?

What are we giving away without thinking?

When does connection become surveillance?

How do kids and teens protect themselves in spaces that even adults don’t fully understand?

Those are big questions.

So naturally, I turned them into a creepy YA thriller because that is apparently how my brain handles concern.

Now tell me:

Would you check the notification?

Reply with A, B, C, or D.

And please be honest.

I know at least half of us are clicking.

What I’m Reading 📖

This week, I’m reading Killing Sadie by Rachel Peterson, and it got me thinking about belonging — especially the kind that comes with strings attached.

Scream meets Two Sides to Every Murder and One of Us is Lying in this thriller that unspools the truth behind a tragic murder through multiple unreliable narrators who all have secrets to keep. After a deadly barn party leaves Sadie Cooper and her killer, Mason Vreeland, dead, the case seems straightforward…until conflicting POVs from her twin sister, boyfriend, and best friend begin to unravel the truth. As their stories clash, Sadie’s own perspective in the days before the murder reveals a shocking reality she never saw coming, forcing the question of who’s lying—and why.

This book had me hooked on the first page. You don’t know who’s telling the truth. The author did a wonderful job putting in a lot of red herrings. But this book got me to thinking. Most of what Sadie’s friends did was to fit in and keep their friendships.

They want someone to say, “We see you.”

That can be beautiful.

It can also be how the trap closes.

Here is my full review and where you can get a copy of the book: