I love the fact that Louise O’Neill never holds back with her characters - they are flawed and often unlikeable but you just can’t put her books down.

Sam is an influencer and lifestyle guru and has built her brand on the fact that she is always truthful and honest to her followers. But whose truth is it? When she rights about a sexual encounter with a friend when they we were both teenagers she is expecting her usual adulation from her fans. So when she receives an email stating that the encounter was not consensual and that she is in fact a sexual predator her life goes into free fall.

A very ‘now’ book looking at cancel culture and how easy it is to fall from grace.

I always love Louise O'Neill, so I was really looking forward to this one – and it didn't disappoint. Samantha Miller is a writer, a memoirist and self-help guru who has a devoted fanbase she calls 'her girls'. She guides them through addiction, recovery, boundaries and wellbeing. And on the surface, Samantha seems to be practising what she preaches. She exudes success, serenity and self-love. But when her publisher receives an email from Sam's childhood friend Lisa accusing her of sexual assault many years ago, Sam's perfect world fractures and cracks. As Sam's career is buried under a social media pile-on of condemnation (a very timely aspect of this book, given everyone's obsession with cancel culture), she returns to her hometown to try and resolve things with Lisa. Little by little, the layers peel back and we begin to learn more about the person Sam used to be - and still is.

Gorgeously written and utterly gripping, this is a must read.

Samantha (Sam) Miller has it all – a hugely successful career, millions of adoring fans (her girls), a plush apartment and is about to launch her fourth book ‘Chaste’ but is she about to tumble off her pedestal from a great height?
Louise O’Neill takes on some big issues throughout Idol from eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, the #MeToo movement, sexual assault and consent and abortion.
During the huge launch night of her latest book when Sam should be sailing high she’s brought back to earth with a bump in the form of a very concerning email to her manager with claims against her of sexual assault.
We see very different sides of Sam’s character and persona as we’re taken back in time to Sam’s childhood, the present day and her rise to fame and cult following from her “loves”.
She’s needy, obsessive, conniving, manipulative, and desperate, mean, depressed, and she begins to spiral.
Sam has created her own world, her own story but how much is real and how much is fantasy?
Idol is very much a she said/he said/she said novel and you have no idea who to believe or who is the credible one with much of this being played out on social media as is the case in this digital world we live in.
She’s not an easy character to like but it’s clear quite early on that she’s very damaged.
At times I felt sad for her but at others angry at her shocking behaviour and levels of manipulation.
The tension mounts to really uncomfortable levels when Sam heads back to her childhood town to confront her best friend and ex-boyfriend while tackling the demons of her past in the hope of clearing her name and clawing back her success.
It’s certainly not a book that is easy to read because it’s so dark but I found it a real page turner.

With thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Social media, influencers and all that the main character Samantha portrays does not interest me at all.

Not sure what the author tried to do - maybe it was to show how these people live?

I have just finished reading Idol, which is a novel based around Influencer and Cancel culture. Like many people, I am somewhat fascinated and bemused by this new way of becoming famous. How does it work, why does it work and should we be worried that absolutely anyone can pick a platform, upload a video and start selling to the impressionable youths of today? Who holds them accountable for the promises they sell?

Idol is told through the eyes of one such social media star, Samantha, who is at the top of her game with over three million followers, seminar tours and best selling books to her name, selling the idea of self-healing via universal energies, mantras and so on. The opening chapters read just like a Gabrielle Bernstein workshop and so the novel certainly strikes the right vibe for Samantha's fictional career in the very real world of social media personalities. So far, so guru.

But then it takes a darker turn, for right when Sam should be celebrating her latest win, a blast from the past threatens everything she has built, in the form of an accusatory email from none other than her former best friend from school. This sparks the Cancel Culture-Vultures in droves and Sam has to do something fast to save the career, reputation and lifestyle she has worked so hard to achieve.

So she pays her old friend a visit and unearths a few home truths that she wasn't quite ready to deal with. Back in her hometown, little has changed and she is faced with the subtle jealousy that permeated her friendship with Lisa throughout childhood - the copy-cat ways, buying the same clothes and shoes, even living in an identical house - it all becomes visible to Sam in a way that she can't ignore. Lisa has always been jealous of her and now she is trying to sabotage Sam's career with lies.

Idol looks at the often toxic and deeply intense friendships that exist between teenage girls, exploring what happens when these old rivalries spill over into adult life. What happens when one person becomes successful, while the other lives a more rudimentary life and those old wounds are reopened? Can you really forgive someone who has been jealous of you your whole life, determined to take everything that was yours? And what happens when two people remember the same event very differently?

This novel is so skillfully crafted that secrets and lies are revealed in a steady drip, drip, drip of information and back story, each woman giving her version of events, each secret surfacing slowly as the story progresses, making very effective chapter hooks that keep you turning the pages. I read this book in two sittings, because I just couldn't put it down. I didn't know who to believe or which character I was rooting for, because the story was so intricate, just like a lifelong friendship would be. After all, if you can't trust your best friend, who can you trust?

As the two women try to come to terms with their past and the toxicity of their friendship, they are each confronted with truths and lies they thought were long buried. The ending of the book is very satisfying, and also surprising, reminding me that the traitor is always the one you just don't see!

In conclusion, I have really enjoyed reading this novel and the darker side of the social media world it explores. It is a gripping story and would appeal to anyone who has an interest in social media, female friendships and cancel-culture. Definitely a great summer read. Idol is released today. Enjoy.

BB Marie x

This novel was sent to me by the publisher for review purposes. It is released today in both hardcover and digital formats.

Warning. This book can be a trigger for some people. I found this book a tough read because of the triggering content in it. But saying that I did still want to read more and find out the real truth.

The story line had me changing my opinion on different characters all the way through, I won't say too much here because I don't want to give it away! But the ending had me annoyed that I had felt sorry for one particular character.

It also explores the powers of social media and how toxic the online world can be. It explores how issues that are in the limelight can enter its on trial on social media.

An entertainingly dark mediation on the wellness industry, the commodification of 'gurus' and the MeToo movement. Louise O'Neill has created a toxic anti-heroine and has written a gripping and surprising thriller.

I was in a little reading slump and Idol was the book to pull me right out of it. I’d previously read and enjoyed After the Silence by Louise O’Neill so knew I liked her tone and writing style. In Idol we meet Samantha Miller, an amalgamation of so many self-styled ‘wellness gurus’ you have probably seen on social media in recent years.

A recovered drug addict, Samantha uses her past trauma to glean credibility when it comes to giving women advice on how to live a better life and be a better version of themselves. She has become a low-key celebrity, written bestselling books, founded a successful wellness brand, Shakti and crafted a luxurious life based on the idea of a person she is projecting. But who is that person really?

All is not what is seems… what Idol does so well is play on the fake, murky world of social media and its power. It explores the idea that when it comes to reputation, and the version of a person you want to the world to lap up, everything is on a knife edge… the smallest thing can cause a paradigm change.

For Samantha, that thing is her childhood best friend, Lisa. They drifted apart as young adults and now, in their 30s, Samantha is forced to go back to her hometown and confront Lisa after she accuses her of something Samantha is adamant she didn’t do.

This incident makes Samantha take a look at her life, her motivations and try to save herself. But can she?

This is a fantastic, tightly written psychological thriller that explores our idea of perception and memory. What makes Idol so addictive is that you never quite get a handle on Samantha. She’s complex and layered – you sympathise and dislike her in equal measure, she’s flawed yet blazing – it’s why she’s so fascinating to read about.

Idol also covers the intensity of intense female friendship and all the drama that underpins it so well, the way we remember things differently from our friends and how social media comes along as a big old spoon to stir the mess that is already simmering in our lives. Loved it, the perfect summer read.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

This book follows Samantha Miller (online sensation) as she navigates a social scandal in which her childhood best friend questions Sam's version of their relationship and one life changing encounter with each other. We meet Sam at the highs of her tour surrounded by 'her girls' and follow her as she tries to make sense of what she learns from her friend Lisa which forces her back down memory lane and face to face with a childhood and hometown she had tried to forget.

This book was certainly so hard to put down! The pace was fast and the chapters just the right length to keep me wanting more (I finished it in 2 days which is unheard of for me in the middle of the week)!

I really enjoyed the way this book demonstrated the current world of social media that we live in, the way that a person can rise and fall so quickly but also how social media is such an inaccurate representation of the reality the person behind the screen lives. I thought this was executed perfectly both from the side of onlookers but also from the side of the influencer. I particularly felt Sam's relationship with her manager and the way in which this was stronger in her success then in any wrong footings was really interesting and an angle i had never thought of which really helped me to connect to Sam and understand her isolation and the fickleness of many of her relationships.

This book certainly had so many layers to it, every time i thought i knew where the story was going i was taken down another path. Not necessarily in a twisting turning plot sort of way but in a true representation of the complexity of human nature sort of way and I really enjoyed that element.

None of the characters were particularly likeable but in the same breath they were likeable in all of their faults- they were extremely real if nothing else. I think every character had a perfect balance of being flawed and showing their vulnerability.

This book explores so many tough topics in such a tasteful way although I was a bit disappointed to not see more of Sam and her mum, or the next part of the story.

Overall, I would really recommend this one!

This is fourth book I have read by Louise O’Neill and like all the previous ones it’s gripping from the get go.

Set between the present day and twenty two years in the past this story follows Sam Miller who is a highly successful influencer flying high on everything and anything woke. Sam and her well-being company champion self care, well-being and women rights. She is the author of highly successful books, a guru of self care,has her own well being brand and three million followers on instagram.

The start of the novel sees Sam be accused of sexual assault by her female best friend from high school( O’Neill writings at its best- fresh, intuitive and pioneering) after the publication of her new book which discusses the sexual encounter between the two. We see Sam going from a event to promote her book where she is adored by her fans as this paragon of everything good to returning to her hometown to confront her accuser in order to save her brand. Sam knows there is no way this can be true Sam remembers the night in question and she is a survivor of sexual violence she isn’t that person.


There begins the 360 degree spin with the character of Sam. I went from liking Sam, believing she was innocent , buying into her brand to starting to question her motives, her memories, finding her the worse kind of privileged white women to feeling sorry for her, then to hating her. Louise has written a powerful character here. I was unsure right until the end what I believed and this was due to how Sam was presented. She is undoubtedly unreliable narrator and this makes for compelling reading. Louise has created a complex character there are hints that the fact Sam isn’t what she presents to her public from the start and as the novel goes on her true character is revealed more and more this really makes you question her, there is points in the book where you think that’s been taken out of context poor Sam then you think hang on Sam is deluding herself and the reader .You are unsure what is true and what is lie. Sam very much believes her truth and it’s clear she has and has had issues all her life, she blames everyone but herself for these and uses this to emotionally manipulates people both in her work life and private life. The other characters albeit are only told from Sam’s point of view are written in the same complex way, it leaves you uncertain of who is telling or remembers the truth.

The book explores on how different people can experience the same events in very different ways, and questions how can you figure out the reality of things when this is the case. It asks what is “truth”, is there a “truth” and more worrying can we lie to ourselves into believing what we know is the “truth”.


The issues raised in the book are topical and so important in the world we live into today the idea of cancel culture, sexual assault, manipulation, the #MeToo movement, harassment, drug abuse, eating disorders, woke culture, (cyber) bullying, the power of social media, toxic friendship, fake news, unqualified influencers and the lesser discussed women as the abusers, that in particular is a very interesting take on the #meToo movement and gender politics of today.

It makes for uncomfortable but compelling reading, it’s dark, gripping, unsettling, thrilling, clever, and important. You will be left mulling this over for a while.

Louise O’Neill isn’t a easy voice to read but it’s a voice you have read. Her books address the uncomfortable realities we live with in.


Going flawlessly between today and the past we watch this idol come undone and ultimately gasp as the truth come out.

Thanks the author, NetGalley and Random House for the ARC

This book was… fine. A paint by numbers version of the ‘good girl gone bad’ trope with an unpleasant thread of sexual assault running throughout. It felt very rushed and not particularly polished? Things moved at a million miles an hour and I found the characters to be somewhat underdeveloped. I found it hard to completely enjoy the story considering everyone seems like a bit of a twat.

A gorgeous cover, razor sharp writing, an incisive and topical plot... it's got to be the newest Louise O'Neill book...!

I class Louise O'Neill as one of my 'auto-buy' authors. Anything she publishes, I'm going to pick up, whether it's aimed at adults, YA, MG, or probably even picture books. And I think part of the reason behind this is because her writing is so incisive and insightful, it always leaves me with food for thought.
But I'm not sure if I ever actually enjoy a Louise O'Neill book. They are so brutally observant that they can be, at times, difficult to read, and Idol is no different. It's a detailed and layered investigation of consent, social media, feminism, moving away from your childhood home, decisions people make about how to live their lives, and how we can lie to ourselves about our experiences of the past. And it's brilliantly written. But it's so brilliantly, acerbically, observantly written that it can be a bit painful to read.
Louise O'Neill is a spectacular voice. But she's not an easy voice, and this isn't a beach read. This is a thinking, a book that you mull over, an experience that you don't necessarily enjoy with all your heart. The main character, Sam, is not likeable. But neither is anyone else in this book. And that's something common to many of Louise O'Neill's characters. And that's not a critique! Complex characters often aren't likeable. And this is a complex and nuanced book. I read it compulsively, and will continue to pick up O'Neill's books every time she publishes. This is a chewy one. It's definitely one that needs time to consume and digest. And I think it will spark conversations that need to be had. I'm just not sure if I ... enjoyed this.

Big thank you to NetGalley, Louise O'Neill, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and, Bantam Press for the advanced e-copy of this book !

I don't think I caught my breath once during this book the twists and turns it takes alongside the panic of the protagonist Sam, a wellness influencer in the middle of a spiral from grace, means that it's a read that made me get up and walk around the room multiple times. I was truly gripping the edge of the seat and the reveals made me gasp out loud. O'Neill's writing is just SO GOOD it really sucks you in and makes you feel part of the events.

That being said I struggled to truly connect with the characters, aside from Becky and Sam they did not feel well constructed. I know that Sam is claimed as an unreliable narrator within the text and that is why the surrounding characters all feel a bit lacking but there is a point where you struggle to remember anything about the others. They stop appealing and you kind of sigh when they enter the story because you know the next five pages will just feel a bit flat. I would have liked to see more of Sam's relationship with her mother and her friends before it all came to a head and more about those and the truth than in what felt like the last 5 chapters.

I feel we are at that point in influencer culture that it can be written about quite honest and well and I am really enjoying the books spawning from this. I am a big fan of books that explore our parasocial relationships with influencers and this book definitely does that !

When I first started to read this, I thought to myself, this isn't a book for me. How wrong was I, I enjoyed it immensely. Two chapters in, I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days. Everyone is flawed due to their experiences when they were in high school. It goes flawlessly from past to present, and how past events affect the mind, memory, and actions of today. I won't give anything away, however the ending is great.

This book looks at influences and the abuse of power. It’s full of twists and turns with a cast of unlikeable characters. The story was different to any have read recently and I enjoyed the change .

I have just finished this book and I am not sure where to begin as it tackles so many issues in today’s society and this has to be a good thing. The story is about a lady called Samantha Miller who feels she has been put on this earth to help woman to stand up for themselves in every walk of life. She has written books and gives talks with a question and answer theme to make sure “her girls” know that is ok to say no if they are unhappy with how their evening, their job or their friendships are going. They need to be kind but assertive. She is in the process of writing her fourth book and also owns a lifestyle company. Everything seems to be going well for Samantha. Life continues and she is about to tour with the forthcoming book and something goes really wrong for her. She is at the peak of her career and enjoying all the adulation. Out of the blue comes an accusation which stems back to her teenage years and this is where the book really starts to come into its own. Is the accusation true. Her manager insists that she goes to the person making the claim and “sort it out”. Sam travels back to her home town to deal with the fallout but things go from bad to worse and all the drama is played out on social media for the world to see. The book makes you feel that she is not remembering thins clearly or are the people manipulating for their own gain. I enjoyed the book and recommend it as a really good read

3.5 stars rounded up.

Wellness influencer Sam has made her name as a feminist and recovering addict-turned-wellness influencer: she has written bestselling books, has 10million followers on Instagram, has an online company with committed followers forking out for extra content. But following the launch of her latest book, her manager receives an email accusing Sam of abusing her - from Sam's former best friend. Convinced that it was a misunderstanding and the occasion was mutually wanted, Sam returns to her hometown to smooth things over. But the longer Sam spends around her former friends, the more her childhood memories begin to unravel.

It's hard to write about this book without including spoilers. What I will say is that the author does a great job of slowly revealing the truth and changing your opinion about the characters, gradually revealing who the unreliable parties are. There's also some interesting comments on the wellness industry and influencers and the responsibilities and power they hold (which I found particularly interesting following my newfound obsession with Maintenance Phase podcast - though of course it doesn't go into quite as much depth as that). I do wonder what the author wanted us to feel at the end though - given none of the characters were particularly likeable or trustworthy, I was left with mixed feelings at the end and then berating myself for feeling that way. But perhaps that's part of the point - it would be much easier to believe a certain side and feel a certain way if one person was an outright victim.

A bit of a CW: I do wonder how someone who had been through post-natal depression would react to the way other characters viewed Lisa for her experience of it (though I don't think it was ever explicitly called that). Given I know people who have hidden their PND from friends and family for months because of the stigma surrounding it, I felt like this was potentially an unhelpful portrayal of it. It's a very difficult subject to unpack as just one part of a book like this and I also understand why it was included - both to help you form opinions of other characters and to show Lisa's vulnerability. But I do wonder how it would make a reader feel who was going through that at the time, or had done recently, given it didn't really feel like there was a second, more understanding/sympathetic/less patronising perspective given. Also, this isn't the only subject that felt like the conversation around it lacked a little nuance - but you can't do everything, and this isn't the sort of book you would expect to!

Overall this is an addictive thriller, than addresses the '#Metoo' debate from an interesting and lesser-discussed perspective. If you like books with unreliable narrators, unlikeable characters and are wary of online, unqualified 'wellness' influencers and are looking for something that will keep you turning pages, then this is one to put on your summer reading list.

A different concept for the thriller genre but I’ll be honest the cover is the best part.I will not be reading any more by this author

Wow just wow! This book was a journey from start to finish, it certainly wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Written from the first hand experience of Samantha, a social media influencer and a celebrity who ends up having to revisit her past after a essay she writes brings back terrible memories for both herself and a friend from her past. This book follows the story of the two women and their relationship. This book drew me in from the off and explored some tricky topics. I was genuinely shocked with the ending but it didn’t take away how well written this book was!

'I'm a human being...I'm flawed. I've never pretended to be anything else. But we put people on a pedestal, don't we?'

Wowowww! This is one of those books I'll always be thinking about.

We follow influencer Samantha Miller as her latest book release Chaste sets to propel her career to new heights, until an email from her ex best friend accusing her of sexual assault surfaces.

This is definitely a book you read for the plot, I wouldnt say that any of the characters are particularly likeable, but the need to know what happens keep the pages turning.

Sam is a typical influencer, getting to choose what flaws to show to the world, pushing the agenda that anyone can achieve their dreams if they work hard enough while coming from a more privileged background, and telling young girls how they should be living without following her own advice.

Louise was very clever in writing Sam in this book, she feels so real shes almost independent of Louise's writing. Sam tells the reader a lot about the type of person she is while Louise shows the reader a different story through her actions towards others, highlighting Sams hypocritical attitude - for example, she acts bitchy towards women she sees as competitors while in the same breath talking about how she advocates for strength between women rather than competition.

Actions like charging for a website meant to help people recover from addiction and being a rich bitch and only tipping $5 further speak volumes as to her character. I went through phases of disliking her to pitying her to feeling wholly disgusted by her. She emotionally manipulates people and blames everyone in her life for her issues, we even learn that she altered her past to appeal to lower and middle class girls. As the book progresses the reader increasingly questions the story that Sam projects as the truth.

Theres so many important aspects to this book; the idea of cancel culture, sexual assault, manipulation, the #MeToo movement, harassment, drug abuse, eating disorders, woke culture, (cyber) bullying, the power of social media, and all of these topics get seamlessly interwoven with the plot. Its such a layered and thought provoking book surrounding our current society, you could write pages exploring its different topics.

One of the most forthright themes in this book is the idea of memory and "the truth". What is the truth? Is there more than one truth? Does the truth vary depending on peoples recollections and point of view? And what about the idea that you can lie to yourself for so long that your idea of the truth warps? This idea that there's no such thing as "THE truth" makes for an unsettling thought.

I loved this book so much and honestly, nothing I say can encapsulate just how amazing it is. You just need to read it yourself to see.

Thanks to netgalley and the author for providing me with a copy! It's definitely earned a place on my shelves, I'll be talking about this book for a long, long time.