Listen to a sample
We Had To Remove This Post
- Author
- Hanna Bervoets
- Narrator
- Khristine Hvam
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 26 May 2022
- Run Time
- 2 hours 45 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Fiction in translation, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction, Violence and abuse in society, Digital and information technologies: social and ethical aspects, Impact of science and technology on society
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
'The dank underside of social media, its cruelty and delusions . . . superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle' - Ian McEwan, author of Atonement
'A glimpse of the foetid underbelly of the internet' - The Times
We Had To Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets is a chilling, powerful and gripping story about who or what determines our world view.
To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst — but Kayleigh needs money. That’s why she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn’t allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed.
Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens. Yet Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend — and for the first time in her life, Kayleigh’s future seems bright.
But soon the job seems to change them all, shifting their worlds in alarming ways. How long before the moderators own morals bend and flex under the weight of what they see?
Examining the toxic world of content moderation, the novel forces us to ask: what is right? What is normal? And who gets to decide?
Translated from the original Dutch by Emma Rault.
'Taut as a thriller, sharp as a slug of ice-cold vodka' - Irish Times
'Fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish' - Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things
'An acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today' - Ling Ma, author of Severance
Critics Review
-
Acid-dipped novella . . . a glimpse of the foetid underbelly of the internet and a sobering consideration of who is deciding what we see, and at what cost.
The Times
-
A chilling page-turner . . . the unreliable narrator gives it a strong literary heartbeat — and it’s richly suspenseful too. With a few deft strokes [Bervoets] manages to incorporate all of the ills of social media into one concise story . . . utterly haunting.
The Sunday Times
-
The setting alone is compelling and has always been in need of an accomplished novelist’s attention . . . The dreamlike climax of the final pages is beautifully wrought. Men might usefully confront in Bervoets a writerly intelligence at once so tender and so willing to look into the abyss.
The Guardian
-
Bervoets' neat dissection of morality is as taut as a thriller, sharp as a slug of ice-cold vodka.
Irish Times
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
Surprising and enigmatic . . . intriguing and frustrating . . . As we spend more and more time in the trickmirror of the internet, how can we know what or whom to believe?
The New York Times
-
A very modern tale about the dark side of the internet.
The Times 'Best Books of Summer'
-
Hanna Bervoet's slim, compelling novel We Had to Remove This Post addresses the foetid morass of social media . . . Bevoets is often acidly funny, especially when demonstraring the workers' mordant, jockish humour.
TLS
-
The dank underside of social media, its cruelty and delusions . . . Hanna Bervoets has richly obliged in this superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle novel of mental unravelling.
Ian McEwan, author of Atonement
-
Extremely gripping and intense edgy queer novel
Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes The Form Of A Mortal Girl
-
This novel gives us an acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today, a job that extracts an immeasurable psychic toll. Fascinating and disturbing.
Ling Ma, author of Severance
-
An astonishing and compelling cast of characters, drawn together through circumstance, separated by the same. The novel is fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish and grief-stricken, but also tender and wildly moving.
Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
-
I thought it was incredible and has real cult potential.
Tik Tok
-
Powerful, discussable, and a harbinger of a voice-in-translation to watch.
Booklist Starred Review
-
Scathing, darkly humorous exploration of the impact of VR, IR . . . Bervoets just gets it. This is, unironically, a novel for our time.
Kirkus Starred Review
-
Magnetic . . . Bervoets frames the story like a mystery, slowly revealing the fractured relationships and circumstances that drove Kayleigh away from her job.
Publishers Weekly
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Hanna Bervoets
- Narrator
- Khristine Hvam
- Duration
- 2 hours 45 minutes
- Release Date
- 26 May 2022
- ISBN
- 9781529087260
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Fiction in translation, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction, Violence and abuse in society, Digital and information technologies: social and ethical aspects, Impact of science and technology on society
Synopsis
'The dank underside of social media, its cruelty and delusions . . . superbly poised, psychologically astute and subtle' - Ian McEwan, author of Atonement'A glimpse of the foetid underbelly of the internet' - The TimesWe Had To Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets is a chilling, powerful and gripping story about who or what determines our world view. To be a content moderator is to see humanity at its worst — but Kayleigh needs money. That’s why she takes a job working for a social media platform whose name she isn’t allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed.Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens. Yet Kayleigh is good at her job, and in her colleagues she finds a group of friends, even a new girlfriend — and for the first time in her life, Kayleigh’s future seems bright.But soon the job seems to change them all, shifting their worlds in alarming ways. How long before the moderators own morals bend and flex under the weight of what they see?Examining the toxic world of content moderation, the novel forces us to ask: what is right? What is normal? And who gets to decide?Translated from the original Dutch by Emma Rault.'Taut as a thriller, sharp as a slug of ice-cold vodka' - Irish Times'Fast paced and thrilling, violent and nightmarish' - Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things'An acid glimpse into a new form of labor existing today' - Ling Ma, author of Severance
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.