Enjoyed the story of this one and the fact it portrayed influencers in a more negative light and shows that it isn't always true what is shared. Some difficult topics covered along the way.

This is my first Louise O’Neill book and I loved it. It relates the story of a guru/ influencer who is accused of sexual assault. It looks as the subject of memory and differences in what different people remember. Very dark and twisty.

A timely look at social media gurus and influencers - fawned over by thousands of gushing followers, do they deserve this idolisation?

Already being a fan of Louise O’Neill’s writing I was delighted to receive this advance copy. I raced through it, my allegiances flip-flopping as I turned the pages. Who was the villain? Is being cancelled the worst fate that can befall an ‘Influencer’? Do people ever really change?

A highly recommended, very enjoyable read. Sure to be a bestseller!

Loved this book, a real page turner. Would recommend to my friends and family. Sam and Louise shared an experience in high school, Sam sees it as enlightening experience, but Louise sees it another way, this story explores what happens when it becomes their word against each other.

Samantha Miller is a guru/celebrity/motivation speaker with millions of loyal followers hanging on her every word. Her new book is an instant bestseller and her in-person events are always sold out. She writes an essay about her own sexual awakening and wants to show her fans that they too should speak their truth. The essay goes viral but when her best friend Lisa contacts her to say that she remembers things about that night very differently, who is telling the truth? Whose 'truth' is a lie?

Did you ever get a song stuck in your head when you read a book...it just pops into your head and you can't get it out?! Reading Idol, Britney Spears' Toxic just lodged itself in my brain! Samantha Miller is the definition of a 'toxic' person and each of her actions documented in this story are completely self-serving with no regard to anyone else's feelings. O'Neill has created one of the most delectably dark and unlikeable main characters I have come across in a long time and it was very hard for me to feel sympathy for her and how her life spirals out of control.

Miller is absolutely obsessed with her past and her relationship with her best friend Lisa and ex-boyfriend. It's intriguing but equally terrifying to see a grown woman completely infatuated with past events to the point where she is willing to risk everything to try to return to that time. Everyone else has managed to move on but not Samantha. She has everything she could ever want- money, fame, a huge following of young women who are obsessed with her every word- but she can't let go of the past. Miller's life is a car crash in slow motion- the reader will be gripped to see what happens next. I couldn't help but think of the movie Single White Female when I read about Miller's actions!

O'Neill is not afraid to tackle big issues and make her readers really delve into them without any safety net! I love this aspect of her writing and I think Idol is perfectly timed in terms of how it examines the subjectivity of memory, the power of cancelling celebrities and cancel culture in general when allegations are made. The pitfalls of social media are highlighted by O'Neill and Idol should be on any budding influencers radar!

A gripping read from start to finish. People are going to be talking about this book for a long time to come! Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Idol will be out on May 12th - guaranteed to be a hit!

TW: eating disorder, sexual assault, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues. 4.5 stars!

I really enjoyed this book. Samantha Miller is a wellness guru with millions of followers. She decides to write an essay about a sexual experience with her best girlfriend when they were teenagers. But now the friend, Lisa, has come out and claimed that the experience was actually a sexual assault by Sam. In order to try and sort it out Sam goes back to her home town and confronts Lisa. The story is told in 2 time frames and we gradually find out about Sam's troubled life. I love books with an unreliable narrator and this kept me engrossed to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not sure about this to be honest, I liked it but did not like it, found some of the characters annoying but saying that I finished it.

This story follows Samantha Miller, a famous motivation speaker/guru/influencer/idol. She is incredibly flawed and plagued with her own trauma. Her life is upended when after writing an essay of her sexual experience with a childhood friend, that friend emails how she remembers it differently.
The novel then follows Samantha returning to her hometown trying to find a resolution to this accusation and then falling into her obsessions of her childhood: her best friend and her husband Josh.
It tackles a lot of different things such as abuse, trauma, victim blaming, consent along with a dose of idol worshipping. O'Neill cleverly weaves all of this into an exploration of how memory and the reality we conjure up and present may not be true, while also being the world we choose to have.
I spent a long time reading in disbelief at all the actions Samantha did, but she is a person a could believe exists. A woman that is toxic.

What is truth? How reliable are memories?

Samantha Miller has made a hugely successful career for herself as a well-being guru, writer and social media influencer. Girls and young women flock to her for affirmation and advice, encouraged by her story of surviving addiction and abuse. But when she writes an essay about a particular sexual encounter she had as a teenager, her partner in that encounter is furious and the ensuing fall-out threatens to ruin Sam. Returning to her home town on a damage-limitation exercise, she discovers others’ memories of her childhood and teenage years don’t quite match up to hers.

Whose truth is the real truth? As one shocking revelation follows another, I was at turns filled with sympathy and disgust not only for Sam, but for many of the other characters.

I’m new to Louise O’Neill’s writing and intend to seek out more of her work. If this cleverly written novel is anything to go by, I’m in for a real treat.

I really like that Louise O'Neill's books are all different but all tackle important issues.

Idol is an examination of the life of influencer Samantha as she tries to stop herself being cancelled after a serious accusation from her old friend.

The story really pulled me in as you go back and forth feeling sympathetic towards the different characters as more and more of the 'truth' is revealed through flashbacks to the past.

I feel the ending isn't as conclusive as I'd like - instead leaving you with a little doubt over what really happened but I'm some people will enjoy having their own interpretation of it.

I've not seen or read anything else like this. A thought provoking and interesting read that will have you hooked!

Many thanks for the ARC!

This was slightly different to my usual genre of reading- there was a real darkness to Sam’s character and I was guessing all the way through who might be behind the online attacks.
It was absolutely realistic though and you could imagine it actually happening in the social media/wellness obsessed world that we live in.
I enjoyed reading about Sam and Lisa’s relationship and it was so interesting to explore how differently they remembered their youth.
An enjoyable and unusual story, would definitely recommend.

When I started to read Idol I wasn’t sure if I would continue, but the high quality of narrative and story telling made sure that I stuck with it and I’m so glad I did - definitely a novel with characters who will remain with me for a long while.

Quite brilliant actually.

Many thanks to all concerned for letting me read and review this terrific novel.

Imagine being worshiped by millions, having teenage girls hang off your every word and follow every practice that you recommend to them. This is the life of Samantha Miller. Her whole world is built around her image and her girls. At the peak of it all she writes an essay about an intense sexual experience she had with her best friend. Her friend remembers it differently and Samantha's world is threatened. What would she do to save it?

This book is fantastic. It's a stark insight into the world of influences and how they manage their image. It's more than that though it looks at friendships, the role your parents play in shaping you and how your adolescents really is a stepping stone towards the adult you will become. The writing is brilliant, ending every chapter on a cliff hanger which made me read way passed my bedtime. I started the book feeling sympathy for Sam and actually once I learnt more I still felt that for her but for different reasons.

This is going to be the book of summer 2022 I'm sure!

I don't think I have a big enough vocabulary to accurately convey how good this book actually is. It is without doubt a thought evoking story - not only illustrating the subjectivity of memory, but also highlighting how we interact with others and how social media affects our lives. The story also covers sexual abuse, drug abuse, toxic friendships, envy and more besides. With this book covering such contemporary topics, it is easy to see how a diverse range of people would benefit from the content - there is definitely a lesson to be learned about the power of social media in this day and age.

This is a fast paced novel which I could not put down and it is without doubt one of the best books I have read in the last 12 months. I hope it does exceptionally well when it is published on May 12th - I would most certainly recommend buying a copy and I can't thank NetGallery and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers enough for allowing me an advanced copy. This is the first book I have read from Louise O'Neill, but I will be checking out her others for my next read .....

Really enjoyed this by Louise O'Neill, an interesting take on influencer culture and the #MeToo movement. Also interesting themes of wellness, and how people's memories of events can differ or be warped. The main character was not likeable, but I feel as though that was intentional!

Samantha has made it to the top. With approaching 3,000,000 followers on social media, from a small town, Samantha is now living in the city, running her own business as a health guru, promoting a vegan lifestyle and preaching self-belief to her adoring fans.
At the launch of her latest book an email arrives with accusations about Sam’s past life, allegations which, if made public, go completely against everything Sam’s company advocates. Sam must try to deflect the charges and so returns to her childhood home town and faces demons she had tried to forget.
Sam appears to have it all but is so clearly still carrying baggage from her teen years, which she can’t even be honest about to herself. She could be forgiven, but at the risk of loosing followers, and what is most important to Sam?
A comment on our vacuous 21st century lives where clickbait and social media likes are deemed more important than integrity. But behind all this, there are damaged people needing help and love.

A highly successful social influencer believes her curated narrative and denies her past. But her former best friend may have the power to destroy her. Good for fans of thrillers on the topical issues of sexual consent and the power of social media. With thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Gripping, fascinating, couldn't put it down. It starts out as a satirical social commentary on the power of Influencers but has many layers, regarding self-harm, assault and delusion. Samantha Miller has made a career telling young girls how to live their best life. She has 3 million followers, sold a few bestsellers, and her events are fully booked. She is the guru in her sphere. She is on top of the world, and shares her "sexual awakening" as a teenager with the world, when her ex-best friend contacts her, accusing her of sexual assault, threatening to bring her world down.

Samantha is a magnetic character, full of charm and confidence and self belief. She can achieve anything. In comparison, her best friend Lisa is broken, a shell of her teenage self. What happened to both these woman and how did each end up like they have when they were once the closest of friends? The characters are all believable and the story takes the reader on a roller-coaster of emotions - empathy, compassion, pity, disbelief and perspective. There are two sides to every story and then there is the truth. Its impossible to put this book down until you know the truth.

A very relevant story that illustrates the cancel culture as well as the dependence and obsession with social media. Full of deceit and selfish acts, the characters are deliciously flawed. Thoroughly engaging throughout.

Samantha Miller has it all.
She is a mentor to a large population of young women, her “girls”, she is the face of a brand, Shakti, author of best-selling self-help books, has countless followers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. She has “people” to arrange every part of her life.
But then, her world falls apart when she is accused of sexual assault by a childhood friend.

Despite the fact that Sam is in her early forties, and this accusation was from 20 years previously, she comes across as a petulant teenager who is so used to getting her own way, she finds it difficult to have any empathy for any other view.

When she returns to her hometown to address the problem, it becomes very clear that her “truth” is maybe not the way other people remember things.

This book is a salutary lesson in what happens if you believe in your own publicity, and how fickle public opinion can be.
It should be a must-read for all “influencers”!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read this book.