I love everything that Louise O’Neil writes and this interrogation of influencer culture was nothing shy of perfection. It was atmospheric and unsettling and made me feel frenzied. 5/5 highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this arc before publication.

I found this book hard to get into and to be honest even though the book surrounded social media and social influencers I just didn't like it. I don't feel like the characters were developed enough either.

I don't think I was the target market for this book as I didn't really enjoy the whole social media influencer thing. Not as gripping as her other books.

This was a great book!
I thought I knew where it was going but I was so wrong… Packed full of unreliable characters, you’re trying to work out who’s telling the truth the entire way through.
I just couldn’t put it down!
A thoroughly well written story, I highly recommend reading it. I’ll be on the lookout for more books by this author now.

This was a tense read and so accurate in the power of social media. A unique and interesting read enjoyed the characters and back story of when they were young.

The world's obsession with influencers is something I don't really get, but this book gets behind the story and make you understand how it works. Nothing is as it seems, and memories are not even what they are. Recommended for anyone who loves a good read.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Random House UK in exchange for an honest review.

Idol is such a hard book to describe. On the surface, it is the story of Sam, a wellness guru who has become popular with lost, broken women. One day her world is shattered when her childhood friend accuses her of sexual assault when they were teenagers. Desperate to clear her name, she rushes to visit her and effectively tries to force them to become best friends again.

This is a complicated book. It is hard to say I enjoyed it. Sam is a deeply unlikable character (entirely intentionally) and the subject matter is equally bleak. As the story goes on, it builds into an absolute mess which is incredibly interesting but not easy to read. Having said that, I really was gripped by this book. I would say it was well-written and, although I felt like the other characters could have been developed more, Sam made for an unusual main character.

With all this praise, there are a few caveats however. The overall message of this book is...uncomfortable. It ends in a bit of an odd place and I almost wish we'd spent more time near the end of the book to truly dive into the emotions and events that were going on. Josh and Lisa were begging for more of their side to be heard, and I think that would have really added some clarity and depth to the issues being talked about here. As it stands, something is missing. It's not huge but it is there. I also think some people will struggle with what this book is saying, and I think that's a fair interpretation.

Overall, I 'liked' this book as much as you can with this kind of deliberately uncomfortable read. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next, and it held my attention throughout. It wasn't perfect but it's definitely worth a try, particularly if you're a fan of Louise O'Neill's previous work.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

This book was a fantastic page turner and really delved into the influencer idea.

Samantha was an unreliable narrator and from the get go was clearly a narcissist but it was hard to truly hate her at the beginning. She definitely had charisma and was a very well written character.

Louise O'Neill clearly knows her subject matter and the book as a whole is extremely griping and well written.

The weaving of influencers, social media, anti vaxxers, #metoo and alternative therapies was very well done.

The second half loses a little bit of focus but the story unfolds very well.

Think this would be a great beach read.

It would be 4 stars if it hadn't ended so abruptly.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for an the of this book
A great read which was addictive and a very well written plot and characters. This really held my interest. I like Louise's writing style and highly recommend her books.

In this book, we are introduced to Sam; a social media influencer who has been accused of sexual abuse
Whilst I did enjoy reading the book, I did feel that the books pace was a little out. A lot of the revaluations were done very early on; not leaving much for the rest of the book. However, I really did enjoy the book

Samantha Miller is an influencer with over 3 million Instagram followers; her cult like following though is put under scrutiny when a former friend accuses her of sexual assault. Samantha remembers the night in question and her version of events is so wildly different from her former friend's that she returns to her hometown to persuade her to retract but whilst there more of the past comes to light. Is the truth always the truth and can we really trust our own memories?

This was a really interesting subject matter which I thought would be difficult to read and at times it was but I'm so glad that I did. The subject matter was a difficult one but the writing was so skilful that I felt I had to read to the end of the novel to find out what actually happened on that fateful night. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

Huge fan of O'Neill and this became an instant "go to TBR" book. There's nothing more I could say about her works than what I've already written for Asking for It and Only Ever Yours. Idol is heavily focused on cancel culture, the power of social media, consent, and essentially, the life of a celebrity that we can never understand. There's a reminder that idols/celebrities aren't always what they seem. What goes on when the camera goes off is something the public eye will never be aware of unless it's ugly, and sometimes the person is not all glitters and glamour as we wish to believe of them. Such is the essence of "Idol"

The story and themes weave together so effortlessly, told through alternating past and present timelines. It's not exactly fast paced, but the reader inevitably will want to find out what exactly happened between the two friends. The audience is given a glimpse of a celebrity's world beyond that of videos and articles and the lens of social media. As someone who has idols to love, this book is unflinchingly sharp and honest when it came to reminding me personally, that no one can know everything about a person - celebrity or not.

While this is indeed fiction, the characters and setting is very much representative of how a well known public figure can be placed so highly, and yet seem to be standing on a sword's edge. Well worth the read and the ending is honestly a memorable one.

Idol, Louise O'Neill's latest work takes a swipe at a certain type of social media influencer and their sheep like followers. A page turner billed as a twisty thriller, I saw the twists coming a mile off but still enjoyed the ride. The final 50 pages ramp up the action and make you squirm in places as our protagonist faces their fate. An enjoyable romp.

Gripping read about the world of social media and the cult of celebrity. The main character Samantha has become famous after an essay she wrote about a sexual assault in her past went viral and she now has millions of followers online hanging onto her every word.
But her past threatens to catch up with her when her old friend reappears and suddenly everything is being questioned to the point where you don't know what to believe. You won't want to put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling, addictive read. A very well written plot. that held my interest throughout. I'm a big fan of Louise O'Neill's writing.

Idol takes an interesting look at the current instafamous, sponcon world of social media influencers. As usual O'Neill doesn't shy away from hard-hitting topics and within Idol she opens conversations about eating disorders, mental illness, sexual assault, the #metoo movement and cancel culture.

It wasn't my favourite Louise O'Neill book as it had a surface level vibe at points but still a very readable and insightful look at some less appealing aspects of our current society.

I always find Louise O’Neill’s books sharply insightful and darkly compelling and Idol is no exception. The story follows Samantha Miller, a sort of self-help guru/influencer, idolised by millions of young women. However, after she publishes an essay about a teenage tryst with her childhood best friend, her highly curated career starts to fall apart, because her friend doesn’t remember the incident in the same way Samantha does. Her friend, Lisa’s, recollection is much less pleasant and Samantha finds herself at the centre of a media storm.

Idol is at times a deeply disturbing and unsettling read. It makes the reader uncomfortable in a sense, asking difficult questions about truth, memory and perception. It also perfectly pierces the bubble of idolising a figure on social media that, in reality, you know nothing concrete about. Samantha is a character that readers will likely and rightly despise at times, however there is also a sort of undeniable dark fascination present in a way that makes it hard to look away, like observing a car crash. Idol is a book with no easy answers and Louise O’Neill is an author that is incredibly skilled at creating thorny and complex stories that will play on the mind of her readers long after they close the book. Razor-sharp, layered and intelligently written – I would highly recommend Idol.

Unflinching, clever and completely riveting.
IDOL interrogates our relationship with our heroes and explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online. And it asks us to consider how two memories of the same event can differ, and how effortlessly we choose which stories to believe.

Arrrrrhhh I hate to say it but I think I'll definitely be in the minority here in saying I could just not get on with this one. I'm not even 100% sure why but it just didn't suck me in and I found my mind wandering numerous times.

I loved the eye catching cover, I was completely drawn to the blurb and the other author reviews pulled me in but it just wasn't meant to be.

This is a novel that deals with ALOT of issues, don't get me wrong I believe that these issues need addressing, talking about and bringing to the forefront BUT having them all in one book took its toll on my brain! Toxic relationships/friendships, addiction, sexual abuse to name a few.

I didn't connect at all with the characters to the point I felt actual hate towards Samantha, what a complete b*tch she is!

I also struggled with the pacing of the storyline, it felt very 'stop start' which I found really frustrating.

As I said, I'll definitely be in the minority here and I can see why other readers will really enjoy it, it's a case of 'it's not the book, its me'.

With thanks to netgalley and Random House UK/Transworld

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A compelling, compulsive read. A great well-written plot. that held my interest throughout. Recommended.