I read Louise O’Neill’s Idol in two sittings with my heart in my mouth as we witness Samantha Miller’s life publicly unravel. The novel lives up to its thriller descriptor. Yet, weeks after finishing it, I was frustrated by how a particular aspect of the story was handled. It’s not something I have seen mentioned in any of the reviews I’ve read, but I still feel this way months later.

From the blurb, we know that Samantha Miller’s career as an influencer is going from strength to strength. Her latest book Chaste is an instant bestseller, and her follower count has hit three million. While promoting Chaste, Samantha publishes an essay about a sexual experience with her best friend, Lisa, while they were teenagers. But Lisa’s memory of that night differs from Samantha’s.

They cannot both be right, so whose version of that night is the truth? As Samantha faces increased scrutiny, she wonders whether the life and career she has built will come crashing down around her.

Idol is a compelling exploration of influencer culture, cancel culture, the Me Too movement, and trauma's effect on someone’s memory. This brings me to my main issue, the dynamic between Samantha and Lisa, both as teenagers and in the present, is complex. Yet, Louise O’Neill never fully engages with how this “she said, she said” story would be viewed or experienced through an LGBTQ+ lens. Neither character is explicitly queer. In her essay, Samantha emphasises that they are both straight.

I get it: For many people, myself included, sexuality is fluid, and the words we use to describe ourselves often change (again, I include myself here). But, for me, the whole thing felt like a plot device that while not Louise O’Neill’s intention ended up being more than a little dismissive of lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and other m-spec women’s experiences of sexual violence.

A dark, disturbing read about an influencer.with a deep past. This novel.was not for me, though it was well written.

Samantha is a self-styled social media lifestyle guru who has built a very successful business following her personal struggles with addiction. Samantha shares details of her past with her followers in the form of an essay about her sexual experiences with her former best friend Lisa and the enduring impact this had on her life. Unfortunately Lisa does not remember the past exactly as Samantha does and it's not before long that Sam's highly public and carefully constructed life starts to crumble around her.
I hugely enjoyed this very well-written book which covers a multitude of very current topics such as cancel culture and the #metoo movement.
The character of Samantha was a complex and not always likeable one and she is a master of manipulation but as the story progresses you see the damage within her and I did find myself warming to her if not exactly 'liking' her.
Overall a good read and interesting to read about the minefield of 'truth' and perspectives and the social media 'justice' system!

Social media influencer Samantha Miller has it all, a large following, adoring fans a successful career. But when she publishes a story about her teenage years and it goes viral - her ex best friend is in contact and is questioning her side of the story.

I’m the culture that we have now of influencers and social media this book was a great hit for me and really illustrated just how much things can come tumbling down around you. With everyone knowing your business it really was a great storyline and plot. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns and really struggled to know who to believe at times. I enjoyed the dual timeline too and how it all built up into a great ending. This was my first book by this author but I’ll definitely be reading more.

This was nothing short of a wild ride.
It was well written and intense at all times, all characters added another layer of mystery and anxiety to the story and the main character was quite hard to like but I still felt sorry for her.
Very good. Would read others from this author.

Idol is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Idol asap.

They say never judge a book by its cover and this was not the glossy glamorous book that it looks. Idol is a very dark and gripping look into consent, social media and the power and influence it can hold over us.

It’s a hard book to review, I enjoyed it and found the themes interesting but couldn’t warm to any of the characters. I kept changing my mind about Samantha which I’m sure is what the author intended. I love a dual timeline in a book and flicking between present day and past kept me intrigued.

Idol is a very thought provoking read which might not be for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it and now need to read Louise O’Neills backlist!

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for the #gifted copy

Wow, a smart, page turner which is modern and reflects on very current issues with social media and influencers and the impact that these have on our lives.

It’s a book that brings up questions about how we remember the past and events. Is it accurate? My Nan always taught me that there’s three sides to every story.

Looking forward to reading others by this author in the future.

A book full of twists and turns that is very relevant in today's social media culture.
Ive just finished this book, once I started I was hooked, I just needed to keep going. I can't say I liked any of the characters but I don't think that we are meant to. All the way to the end I wasn't sure how it was going to end.
There are some trigger points so make sure you have checked these before reading.

I loved this book!! It was my first Louise O’Neill book and rest assured I am going to read her previous books. I went into Idol having read some reviews so I was really looking forward to getting started.

Idol delves deep into cancel culture and definitely shows the dark side of social media and when you are up high on a pedestal how quick things can turn in an instant. It definitely shows how the person you see portrayed online can be totally different to the person in real life. People only share a snippet of themselves online and it tends to be the good parts at times.

The book does include sensitive topics so I’d recommend checking out trigger warnings before reading. It also includes alot about memory and made me think of the age old - your story, their story and then the truth. It shows how people always perceive events in different ways and I think this was done really well.

I had so many theories reading Idol, it definitely is one of those books that has you guessing right until the last page. Every time I put it down I wanted to jump right back into it.

I’m really looking forward to reading more from Louise O’ Neill in the future.

Such a disappointing read. I loved Louise's previous work and had read so many good reviews for this book. Unfortunately it just wasn't for me. Far too vacuous, maybe that was the point!

I'm really unsure how I feel about this book if I'm honest. It didn't grip me enough that I wanted to pick it up all the time but when I did decide to read a couple of chapters I wanted to keep reading to see what happened.

I don't think I really understood any of the characters & back story & I wont be rushing to read more from this author

I was completely hooked from the start by Idol, the novel really kept me on my toes from start to finish.
The characters are so complex and morally grey that you never know who to believe and you're never sure what's happened which meant the book was incredibly tense throughout and compellingly readable.
There are also some very poignant messages regarding sexual assault and society's obsession with social media littered throughout which was really interesting. However, these moments never felt preachy because of the morally grey characters which I absolutely loved.
Definitely recommend.

For me this was one of those books that once I’d got a few chapters into it, I had to keep reading it, but did I really enjoy it? I’m not sure, yet there was definitely something addictive about it. It follows social media influencer, Sam Miller, who is accused by her childhood best friend of sexual assault. Yet Sam is the poster girl for women and girls standing up to sexual predators, so how can she have been a perpetrator of such a crime? The story goes between the present and Sam’s teenage memories. I couldn’t like her at all, although having finished the book I’m not sure I was meant to. However, I struggled to really like any of the characters as it’s so hard to know who’s telling the truth and who isn’t throughout. In a world where social media is such a powerful influence on so many, I guess this story makes its point that you really can’t believe the glossy lives portrayed there, everyone has secrets they’d rather not share, and who and what can we really believe.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for a review.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

I write this review with a pounding heart, this book has managed to deliver so much tension and power. I could not stop reading it!

Idol follows Samantha Miller, a woman whose career has gone from success to success. However, when her old best friend gets back in touch, highlighting she has a different memory of an event, Samantha’s world comes tumbling down.

I never reread a blurb before I pick up a book, which worked amazingly with this read because it added an extra twist early on. From that moment I was completely hooked. I absolutely devoured this book and did not want to put it down. By the end I had chills coursing through me. Louise deals with some very difficult topics, and yet I was completely swept up in this incredibly harrowing read. It highlights how the life people put online can be so far from reality.

Throughout the majority of this book I didn’t like a single character. But it actually worked really well to keep me engaged and wanting more. By the end there were two characters that really stole my affections, one of which managed to bring a huge smile to my face as they showed their true cunning and strength. This is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time. I wish I could erase it from my memory and read it all again from the start.

I would recommend this to any fans of thrillers but please be aware that there are triggers. I want to thank Netgalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press and Louise O’Neill for sending me a copy of this book so I can give my personal thoughts.

Dark, intense and gritty gritty gritty. I saw someone once say they felt a bit grubby after reading a Louise O'Neill book and I know exactly what they mean. The characters are so realistic, with plenty of flaws and uncomfortable insights into the darker side of the human psyche.

This books deals deftly with stained relationships, the glossing over of your life on social media and the malleability of memories.

I loved for it's shock value, page turning plotline and glossy influencer setting.

An online influencer realises there's a long way to fall when you're up on top. When secrets from the past are revealed that show Samantha in a not so positive light, she makes it a mission to set the record straight, and revisit some old friends who remember the same past very differently.

Sam is not a likeable character. She's a narcissist at heart, obsessed with the image she presents to the world and is not above manipulating those around her to present this perfect front. But what makes her interesting is this idea that she remembers the past so differently from the other people who were there with her. It's a past she's built up her influencer life around but what's the real truth? And just how unreliable is Samantha as a narrator? The story does a really good job of turning the reader inwards, to reflect on their own perspective on what makes a good influencer and how everyone remembers events differently.

However, I will say that this is a book of extremes. As the story goes on, Samantha becomes more of a characature of herself, a parody and symbolism for cancel culture. She sort of looses her way a bit and becomes quite unrealistic as we reach the crescendo of the story and for me it just lost its way a little bit by the end. However, overall this was quite the compelling read.

This was the first I’ve read from this author, despite being intrigued by some of her previous releases. It won’t be my last. This book floored me – it’s an incredibly clever contemporary drama which explores a whole range of topical issues (I’ll get into that), but with the unputdownable pace of a thriller.

The cover may allude to it being a beach read, and it is that in a way – it’s an accessible, easy read – and yet it seamlessly weaves together sensitive and timely topics into a gripping narrative. There’s light and dark and all sorts of shades of grey. And I loved it.

Samantha Miller is a celebrity influencer with a series of best-selling memoirs under her belt and her own lifestyle brand. Her hoard of young, female fans love her and the fact that she’s completely honest about her own problematic past, and the ways she’s shaped her life for the better. Everything is going just peachy for Sam, until an allegation of sexual assualt arises from her childhood best friend.

From there, we move between present day and the late 90s/early 2000s as Sam travels back to her hometown to confront her best friend Lisa and her first boyfriend, Josh – who is now Lisa’s husband. She’s determined to nip this drama in the bud and win her friends back, but there’s much more to this than meets the surface.

O’Neill tackles so many issues in this book, but the main things for me are toxic friendships and memories. There’s a strange, slightly off-kilter feeling reading this as you gradually realise things might not be quite what they seem. Sam begins as a heroine, but becomes dislikable as her obsessions become clearer to the reader. She’s created a persona for herself, built on a troubled past, but what really happened in that past? We all see our formative years through our own personal perspective, but it’s taken to another level in this book.

“Was this what it meant to be an adult, everyone reframing their childhood experiences to paint themselves as the victim?”

This is a story of obsession, fame and memory. It examines the power of social media, the #MeToo movement, woke culture and a whole lot more. There’s definitely triggers for sexual assault, drug abuse and disordered eating. But, it’s a great story – I had no idea where it was all going, but I couldn’t stop reading, and the twisty, dark, abrupt ending left me both in shock and wanting more.

I enjoyed this. but it did lack something for me. The cover is a little deceptive, it feels like it is going to be a bonkbuster summer book, but is set in a wintry town which threw me off a little. I enjoyed the exploration of modern society, of the obsession of social media and a life lived online, and thought that it tackled an interesting subject, but felt it didn't quite hit the mark for me.