Loved this - one of those that you can't put down, am unreliable narrator andots of glamour to take you out of your normal life!

This was an interesting read on how someone's carefully curated brand can fall apart very quickly. I enjoyed this book and could not put it down and was still thinking about it a few days later.
Thank you to Netgalley & publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a write up.

this book was a gripping read with fantastic relevance to social media, i could definitely see things i’ve thought about the dangers of being an influencer going on in this book. though the characters were not always likeable, i feel like that added to the sense that not everything you see online is as it seems. fantastic writing and very relevant to today’s online world - i loved it!

I thought this would be an interesting reading but I was left quite disappointed. It wasn't something I expected to be based on the short description and I couldn't connect to the characters at all. Anyway, I liked how it talked about memories and the way we remember things from the past and how everyone can have a different perspective based on their feelings at the moment.

An interesting book that explores the power of social media. It also explores how destructive social media can also be when in the wrong hands. It kept me engaged throughout and I actually quite enjoyed not liking the main character Samantha. It is thought provoking and exposes how flaky influencers popularity can be.
It was also interesting to see how our different memories about events can lead to quite catastrophic results.
I would definitely recommend this book if you would like a modern day tale about idol ism and ego.

'Idol' is the kind of book you will stay up late to finish. The characters are flawed, so don't go into this thinking you will fall in love with them. However, that is what makes this book so enjoyable. The thing that makes it so interesting is how unreliable Sam is and how your own POV can sometimes be misleading. It is a powerful novel that will make you re-evaluate everything you have said and done and question whether you have also twisted your own memories to fit a narrative.

Another amazing book from Louise, dealing with topical subject matter in a thought provoking way with the added element of some unexpected twists along the way

This was a tricky one. It was uncomfortable to read at times and I didn't warm to any of the characters which I really find hard going.
This book focuses very much on current issues with social media, influencers and the cancel culture. Maybe in my mid 40's I'm just too old for it.
I struggle when I'm not sure who I'm meant to be routing for in a plot as for me there was no "good guy" in this story. I was left feeling quite sad at the behaviour of all characters.
#idol #NetGalley

The idea behind the book was promising, but I'm afraid I found it rather boring. I didn't warm to any of the characters, and although the book raised a lot of topical issues, it all felt forced, and a bit too long. Very disappointing.

As a fan of Louise O'Neill's books I was really looking forward to this book. I loved the premise of the story, how remembering one event can differ from one person to the next. The book touches on influencers, consent, abuse of power, cancel culture and how, just like that you're on your own. It's intense and tough to read at times but also very compelling.

A riveting read introducing readers to the world of social media, a young woman and influencer. Samantha Miller is at the peak of her career with sell-out tours and best selling books she is adored by her millions of fans. Her new book “Chaste” just been released and life couldn’t be better. It only takes one troll to start the ball rolling to Samantha’s destruction.
Having to face demons from her past and face some horrific home truths Samantha’s memories are not what they seem.
This was a great read with intriguing characters who draw you in. It is both gripping and unnerving.

Wow, wow, wow!! I love Louise O Neill!! Another fantastic story by great Author. The story follows Samantha Miller who's hit 3million followers online but then it all changes. I was hooked and kept reading late into the night. Thanks net galley for the E book of Louise O Neill's Idol

OH. MY. GOD.

Stop what you are doing and read this book.

Part coming of age story, part dissection of the power of a social media star and at its core the theme of 'truth'. As the adage says;

There are three truths, my truth, your truth, and what really happened.

It's 2022 and the social media darling Sam finds herself on shaky ground. She has recently published a new book to great acclaim and a revelatory essay published where she details her lesbian experience with a friend as a teenager has garnered huge attention. However, her manager has received an email stating that the friend in question remembers the night very differently. Sam has to return to her childhood home to speak to her friend and get her to retract the claim, which she vehemently denies, or risk being cancelled.
The narrative alternates between the present, where Sam and her friend are building up to talking about their memories of the night in question, and 22 years in the past slowly leading up to the night in question. There is a bruising inevitability to the story; I almost couldn't read to the end as I could see that no-one was going to emerge unscathed. However, I needed to know exactly what happened and what the fallout would be.

The revelation, though shocking and upsetting, brings a sense of relief. I hadn't't realised just how tense I felt reading those final chapters.

It is an incredible book and one I will return to again, to see if I read it differently knowing the truth.

I would like to thank the publishers and Net Galley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

'Idol' is a very topical read and one that focuses on the fragility of memory and the importance of recognising how others perceive things. For the first half of this book, I was intrigued by the direction and keen to read on. I am not sure what happened in the second half but my interest waned and whilst I did not lose interest, I was disappointed with how events turned out.
Sam as our main character is an unreliable one, it fits with the book perfectly but it did impact on my feelings towards her. All of the characters are fragile and flawed, I did not like them but nor did I really connect to them. '
'Idol' had a promising start that tailored off. It remains an important and powerful read.

I think it was probably more my frame of mind rather than the writing but I just couldn’t get into this book at all, I couldn’t take to the characters and I found it quite a dark read, maybe as I say it’s down to how I am feeling, I would be happy to read more books by this author. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this early copy.

Crikey, it’s good!

Wow - I haven’t read Louise O’Neill before but I’m hoping her back catalogue is HUGE because if Idol is anything to go by, I’ll want to devour everything else in it.

We follow Sam, the Idol of the title (although her idols are also key) - an empowering life guru with millions of young women following her - as she seeks to reconnect with her childhood best friend. Sam has written about a special event from her past in a press article but her long lost friend claims the story didn’t happen in the way Sam claims and that actually, Sam is guilty of something terrible.

Please get past the opening chapter or so, where we see Sam at an event, speaking to crowds of adoring young women - if life gurus are your thing or ‘telling your truth’ is something you would say, you’ll probably be fine but as a woman of a certain age (a decade older than Sam and probably two or three older than her followers (social media followers - she’s not a cult leader….) I cringed for much of the opening chapter.

It doesn’t last long though and when Sam stops feeling sorry for herself and decides to go and sort things out with old best friend Lisa, the story comes alive. And what a story it is.

The unraveling of the story is quite slow but in a ‘this is so good I don’t want it to end’ way and I found it fascinating to read the story from different perspectives.

I can’t say too much more without straying into spoiler territory and I definitely don’t want to do that - set aside a few hours to read this as you probably won’t want to stop once you start!

Thank you to #Netgalley for a preview copy.

This is a brilliant book that makes you think - I understand that's a cliched term, but never has it been more true than in reference to this book. You come away from this book re-evaluating everything you thought was the truth. You see glimmers of yourself in each character, and it's not always a favourable view. A brilliant book - needs a content warning, and potentially a darker front cover? The front cover gives me young, carefree, potentially even YA vibes which doesn't match the content of the book.

This book gripped me from the start. I loved how well it was written and how easy it was to read. I found the characters very real and the story line had unexpected twists and turns. Excellent story telling, it would make for a brilliant drama series if it were to be adapted for TV.
If you were ever interested in influencers on social media, read this book. A really good riveting read I would recommend!

Louise O'Neill is back with another masterpiece in writing, as Idol takes a world we have all become so familiar with and shines a spotlight of a microscopic level on the world that has us all enamored. As she dives into the self help universe, that is as much spectactle and chance as it is actual advice, we meet Samantha Miller. Her lifestyle agenda is taking over the world, influencing all of 'her girls' (the name she gives to her loyal followers) into what thy should do with their lives, what they should wear, what they should eat and most importantly how to be their best selves. But as the spotlight of the world keeps shining on her, a moment from her past comes back to haunt her. After sharing a story with a magazine about her own sexual awakening as a teen, the other party involved raises the alarm that everything that happened back then was not as rosy as it came across in Sam's article. As she faces a return to a life and town she left behind, what will she find out about not only herself but also her own truth. Who does the lifestyle guru turn to when her own life gets thrown up in the air.

O'neill delivers another stunning captivating novel that focuses unflinchingly on a subject that everyone wants to read more on, and she captures the most beautiful, shocking and heartbreaking moments in a refined and skilled tone that makes you fall into the world of idol and obsess over it. An immediate double tap heart from me.

Samantha Miller, a wellness guru, entrepreneur and influencer, has written a magazine article about a sexual experience which happened to her as a teen, which has gone viral. During the promotion for her new book, Chaste, the friend she wrote about gets in touch to dispute Sam's version of events. She says it wasn't consensual. Sam vs. Lisa is now the hot topic. Whose truth is the real version of events?

I am completely divided on where I stand with this book. I finished it in a day. The first half had me wanting more, I couldn't get enough. And then it got a bit repetitive. But still, I finished it very quickly, and the emotional complexity was compelling enough to keep me reading.
I don't care for unreliable narrators and I didn't care about any of the characters, they were all awful and often made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe that was the point. It definitely worked for the story though.

This book is ultimately a fabulous social commentary on social media and cancel culture, as well as how childhood traumas play a part in influencing a person's character, and how memories are very individual and can be twisted to fit your own narrative. A lot of themes are covered, and are cleverly knitted together. A warning -  there are a LOT of triggering topics here, and I hope these will be indicated at the beginning of the book.