This was a rollercoaster! To watch Sam unravel as she did was quite something and you just didn’t know what to believe as it became apparent she was an unreliable narrator. Normally I hate books like that because you second guess everything but the fact she seemed to be trustworthy at the beginning made it more tense when you began questioning things as the book went on. I would have liked a little epilogue to see how things had panned out for Sam in the end but felt pleased she got her comeuppance. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange felt an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book, which feels very 'of the moment' in terms of its themes and content. The main character, Samantha, is a celebrity kind of lifestyle guru who has written several books and aims to help her fans live better lives.
Sam's latest publicity stunt is to disclose that she had a homosexual experience with a friend when she was younger. But the friend emerges to claim that this wasn't a consensual event, throwing Sam's world into crisis.
The author does a great job in creating the character of Sam. She is neither entirely likeable nor an evil villain. I found so much of her character sympathetic - she has clearly had some bad experiences and often genuinely seems to be trying to use her influence for the good of others.
But the way the book is written then makes the reader question their first impressions of Sam.
The book focuses on how different people can experience the same events in very different ways, and questions how you figure out the reality of things when this is the case. There are some great moments when Sam is revealed in a much less positive light, and a creepy, disturbing sense that maybe what you thought about the nature of her character could be completely wrong.
It makes for a very disturbing and thought-provoking novel. Other characters in the book, especially Sam's friend Lisa and Sam's mother, are also drawn in a complex way. As with Sam, it's not certain that we really know their true natures either.
The author creates a truly dizzying feeling when Sam realises that the way she has remembered things isn't accurate. The confusion over what actually happened between Sam and Lisa - and for that matter, what Sam's childhood was really like and what horrible episode led her to shoot to fame - keep the reader interested to the last page.
I read this book in just a few days and found I couldn't put it down. I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in the themes and who wants to lose themselves for a while!

A fast-paced, sharp novel that explores the world of influencer and cancel culture. ‘Wellness’ influencer Samantha Miller attempts to save face after her career changes overnight as the result of abuse allegations. Returning to her hometown and facing her past, Sam’s damage control mission will make you question social media stardom and celebrity culture. If you’re on the search for complex characters and audacious antagonists, this book is for you.

I really enjoyed this book, it was the first one I read by the author and probably won't be the last either. It was fast paced, thrilling, easy to follow and I truly believed the characters. Would definitely recommend.

The blurb for this one was so interesting for me. I thought it was going to be a lighter one but it gets darker.

I like social media and I wanted to read about Samantha the influencer and the life she leads as such, the power of social media and how it can make or destroy a person's life. It also tackles the importance of memory and how this and our actions have an impact on others. However, I was a bit disappointed!

I didn't connect with any of the characters and sometimes it felt uncomfortable to read as in the way the characters interacted between them and where the story was going. The voices of the characters were the same to me throughout. I think it had a lot of potential if it had been executed differently.

Overall, it was a dark and interesting read that could have been shorter.

Wow! This is one of those books that just stays with you after you read the last page and you have to go back and dissect what you’ve just read. Sam is definitely not the most likeable character but there is just something so captivating about her at the same time. I thought the author hit on some really important issues and it really makes you think about ‘your truth’ and how the things you remember can be seen in a totally different way to someone else. It certainly gives this book an element of suspense the whole way through, not knowing who’s telling the truth and if they all in fact believe that theirs is the truth. It was such an interesting take on the whole me too movement and I’m looking forward to reading more of her books.

Oh Wow, Idol is a very complicated novel

We read about Samantha, a wellness influencer who has made quite a big name for herself. This all comes tumbling down after her best friend from her teen years makes a shocking allegation

Samantha is a very complicated character, and unreliable at everything she says! I loved reading this book and could not put it down!

I’ve never read a character like Sam, she was so well written. The themes of toxic friendship/relationships, social media vs reality and abuse/#metoo we’re really well explored in the book.
I’ve never read any of Louise Oneill’s books before, but will definitely be buying her others!

SPOILERS FOLLOW.

Louise O'Neill's latest novel, Idol, stars an influencer, Samantha, who has built her career on being a role model to teenage girls. After speaking openly about her own sexual assault and imploring the public to 'believe women', she is devastated to be accused of a similar crime by her teenage best friend, Lisa. The novel is structured in such a way to make it seem that the reader is supposed to gradually realise that Sam is in the wrong about everything, but for me - given the usual stereotypes about influencers and Instagram big names in fiction - this was obvious from the start. I hoped for a while that O'Neill might be aiming for a more complex portrayal of Sam, acknowledging that she has been both abuser and abused, but this unravels near the end. Idol ends with Sam's career being completely crushed after a shocking video is leaked on social media. Of course, given what Sam has done, she 'deserves' this, but O'Neill constructed her and her story; she didn't need to make Sam so irredeemably villainous. This, for me, was a disappointment, especially given that I really liked O'Neill's earlier novels Only Ever Yours and (with reservations) Asking For It and Almost Love. It fits too neatly into a sub-genre of thrillers that I'm starting to think of as Ambitious Women Meet Bad Ends, with a side-order of the Social Media Is Evil cliche. Given O'Neill's feminist track record, I'd hoped for a more original take on Instagram influencers. Not for me.

Samantha Miller is an influencer. To promote her new book, she writes an essay about a sexual experience she had with her best friend, Lisa, when they were teenagers. However, years later the girls have grown apart and Lisa isn’t happy about Samantha’s relating of the incident, which she remembers differently and not fondly. When Samantha realises that Lisa believes it wasn’t a consensual experience, she returns to her hometown to confront her friend and more importantly, to save her reputation.

This was a pacy read with a few twists along the way to keep the story ticking along. With all of Louise’s books, the protagonist is flawed and not particularly likeable, but if you don’t mind that, you will enjoy this look at lifestyle influencers, cancel culture and the #metoo movement.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my this book left me gasping as I realised I had been holding my breath as I finished it and it was just brilliant. The story is one of a toxic friendship and how memories can become blurred if you let them but it’s about much more than that also and completely impossible to describe without spoiling it.
I loved the characters although I don’t think love is the right word perhaps I should say I loved the way they were written more. It’s a very topical story with Samantha Miller an influencer who has the world at her feet , she can do no wrong, she is idolised but and there’s a big but is this the true Samantha!
The book drew me in I never was sure of what was going to happen or what had happened, Samantha set’s herself on a pedestal and hell it’s a long way to fall when everything starts to crumble, she is a wonderfully written character and so is the story.
So a book that just thrilled me I loved everything about it, it’s one not to be missed in my opinion and as I said it’s toxic but ever so addictive!
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A brilliant read - totally in touch with the current zeitgeist - the insta influencers, the well-being gurus, the need for ‘likes’, the identities created for social media. Samantha Miller is an apparently perfect but inherently flawed central character and as we gradually learn her truth, we feel different emotions about her in turn. It makes you question whether everything you remember was really the way you think it was. I really enjoyed this novel and I’d be keen to read other titles by Louise O’Neill.

Loved how much this book kept me on my toes! I didn’t know who or what to believe from start to end. This book has a well-written, complex protagonist and an engaging theme around the power of influencers and how they choose to portray themselves. Very clever and very current.

Samantha Miller has millions of girls following her every move and her thoughts on everything on the internet. However, an email is sent to her agent from her former best friend, accusing her of sexual assault during a high school party. Desperate to save her reputation and her career, Sam heads back to her home time to persuade her old friend to withdraw her allegations. Sharp writing and contemporary themes make this an original and engrossing read.

Really enjoyed Idol! Great relevance to the social media influence of today and the effects it can cause. I loved reading a book from the perspective of an influencer with today’s high standards on image and popularity, Really likeable characters and an author I’ll look to read more of! Thankyou so much to Netgalley for the ARC!

This is a great story of growing up, friendship, mistakes, love and hate.

This book follows Sam an up and coming influencer when her past catches up with her. The story felt up to date and current. It begins by finding out about how life if now for the star and then also switches back to the past and her growing up with her best friend and how something small in the past can come back to haunt you

I enjoyed the tension and raced to finish to find out exactly what had happened and who the 'leak' was

My thanks to Netgalley for my copy of Idol, a real novel of our times which addresses our propensity to put social media celebrities on pedestals and then take great joy when they fall from grace in these days of cancel culture. Whilst Samantha did not come across as a particularly pleasant person it was still intriguing to watch how she dealt with the problems that were thrown her way and wondering whose recollection of past events could be trusted.

This reads just as you would expect from a Louise O Neill novel. It's scathing, cutting, and not entirely complimentary towards social media, bullying, victim blaming, and cancel culture. It kept me completely hooked right up to the last page, and as more events unfolded and truths were told I found myself less able and less willing to put the book down.

Be aware before picking this up, this isn't a book with characters you'll fall in love with. Everyone in this book, particularly Sam herself, is extremely flawed and unlikeable.

However, I do feel Sam wasn't written effectively. She is 40 years old, but acts much younger – perhaps mid 20s? That was one of my only gripes towards what was overall a phenomenal book.

I loved ALMOST LOVE (although I haven't read any other Louise O'Neill) so thought this would be up my street.

The novel follows Samantha Miller's growth as an influencer and celebrity, who writes non-fiction and leads a healthy lifestyle. She writes an essay about a sexual experience in her teens, which goes viral. Her best friend from her teenage years gets in touch to say that she disagrees with how Samantha has portrayed her in this essay, and the story of what really happened unravels from there.

I found the sections about Samantha Miller's 'girls' grating after a while but did enjoy the Lisa/Samantha plot so that motivated me to keep reading. I wanted to like it more than I did!

(Not posted to Amazon/Good Reads etc).

Samantha Miller is a single successful author and influener with over three million followers on social media. Her sell out shows are even more popular and she thrives from the adrelaine of this mass following. She knows what her young fans want her to say and she knows what they want to hear. During one of these live performaces she is questioned by an anoymous fan about an essay she wrote about a relationhip in her past. Apparently someone else has a differenct view of how the events unfolded. What will it take to defend and protect her reputation? Someone is not telling the truth.

Louise O Neill does not shy away from topical conversations around sexuality, consent, bullying, harassment, cancel culture, mental health and the me too movement. She observes the power and obsessive cutlure around social media and depicts the true reality around the branding and marketing of influencers that we are exposed to.

This was true to form to Louise O Neill's writing style. The flawed toxic and manipultive character of Samantha would make a great discussion for any book club.

TW . Bulimia,rape and scenes of a sexual nature. This was a bleak reminder of the pressures and culture young people are exposed to on a daily basis.

Special thanks to NetGalley for an Arc in return for an honest review.