This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A randomized group of influencers from all over are dropped onto an island and set to compete against each other in a live stream type hunger games style situation. Totally had me guessing until the end. I can totally see this as a movie or tv series. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

✰ ✰ ✰.5

i actually read the synopsis this time and was SO intrigued! i thought the concept was really original!

and i did thoroughly enjoy this book! i read it all in about 5 hours because i wanted to know what happened next SO bad!!

i do have to say the writing format ( a podcast transcript) was a little confusing for me at first but it definitely made the book go a lot faster!
there were a lot of characters involved and i did get mixed up between a lot of them because there wasn’t enough differentiation between all of them, as well as the jumping back and forth between timelines, wasn’t a fan of that. though it did keep me at the edge of my seat

Honestly, man, what a book - and not in a good way! This was so shallow and one dimensional. The nicest thing I can say about this book is that it moved fast and that I wanted to know how it ended - and even that ending ended up being beyond unfulfilling.

I actually really enjoyed this book, I think it reminded me a lot of the book "Daisy Jones.." as far as the format goes, I loved that book and the unique formatting so this one was pretty easy to follow too. I happened to like it but I'm not sure a lot of people who like the traditional begginjng middle and end style will.

The plot itself reminds me of something I'd see on a blumhouse movie, so far out there it'd never happen..and yet..maybe it could, and you can't help but keep watching (reading) except the horror story already happened and what you're reading is the aftermath of the horror story. I think I appreciated the formatting too because as I was following along going to the different people and past and present and the up and down journey of the story I didn't really have time to figure out omg that's the who! And the why! I didn't have the book and bad guy figured out until the reveal. I usually am a sucker for world building and character building but I think with the way the book was written you got just enough to know what you needed as you went along and that was perfectly fine.

Tha k you for letting me read this and introducing me to the author who's books I need to go find and read now.

I can't believe this is only the first book from this author! The format for this story is told almost through a screenplay layout, which I wasn't' sure how I'd enjoy but I LOVED it. The suspense kept going with every page and I really enjoyed how each intricate storyline was tied together. There is definitely a Hunger Games vibe going on, though I did want a little more background into a few other characters and their pasts. There were several twists and scenes I didn't see coming. I read this book in one sitting as I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend, and I look forward to more from this author!

Influencer Island is an opportunity to gain fame and following, but will it come at a cost? This book has a very unique format with the basis of a podcast transcript in the days leading up to and following the dark and demented Influencer Island competition. I also loved how everything and everyone eventually was connected, each contestant and the podcast coordinator was there for a reason. I feel like this book would also make an amazing audiobook. If you loved Hunger Games and wanted a darker twist, this book will probably be for you.

I really loved the story and the concept. What happened if the influencers at fyre festival had to fight to survive? Sign me up! My only issue is I wish it was more in depth it was such an interesting story that I wanted more. More about the characters, more on the challenges, more action.

It's told in a podcast retelling style which it does well I just don't think I enjoy that style of writing. Nothing to do with the story I think that's just a personal preference. It does what it set out to do and that's be a podcast about the events on influencer Island.


If you're on the fence read it it's a great story!

When a social media contest goes viral and then turns deadly, True Crime podcasters try to piece together what exactly happened on this secluded island.

I was so torn on this book because what it does well it does REALLY well, but part of it was just bizarre. I loved the Podcast style format. It made the story very easy to fly through. I enjoyed the way it bounces around, like a podcast would, weaving together interviews with the survivors, the FBI investigator, and a witness, as they uncover yet another cautionary tale about social media. I was 100% in, loved it, found that part to be unputdownable. However.... I absolutely hated the main character, Cal, and his entire backstory. The idea behind 'Influencer Island' being this crazy life or death contest and it's abstract and insane creator where enough to really push the boundaries of suspension of disbelief, so adding the equally insane backstory for Cal was just a little too much for me and it took away from the gritty realism that the Podcast format should have lent it. I wish the explanation for how Cal become involved was something much simpler, so the story could focus on the contest and the aftermath. I think that would have made it much more realistic and given the reader a more uncomfortable feeling about social media.

That being said, the writing was good, and the format was great so I would definitely try more from this author in a heartbeat!

Influencer Island is a jaw-dropping, fast-paced and satisfying read. If you're curious about the dark side of technology and doing whatever it takes to be the alpha of likes and follows, this book is for you! You are thrown into the burning fire of action and drama. The chapters have an unconventional podcast narrative style, which can be painful for some but not for me. I reckon this will be an excellent audiobook. I immensely appreciated Kyle's risk of driving this suspenseful plot forward. Some unexpected moments are a perfect hook for readers to unearth and truly decipher what happened on the Island. So many of the characters are superficial and callous but can get overwhelming, and given the narrative style, they become less memorable. I couldn't predict the ending, and it was shocking and satisfying. A 4-star read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Greater Path LLC for giving me an ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

This book had so much potential. I was really intrigued by the premise-- Black Mirror meets Fyre Festival meets Hunger Games. I loved the podcast format and the racing plot- even when the timeline got confusing at times, it had me hooked and trying to figure out what would happen next.

However, I was extremely disappointed. The twists fell flat. I was expecting some intricate mystery about how each person on the island had a hand in Tuck's disappearance.. only to find that Tuck had actually been dead for years. Even though there seemed to be a lot of clues that Tuck was still alive. I was also very disappointed in the revelation of Wyatt James' identity. There was no backstory or clues that would lead to that child actress (I forget her name) becoming this masked figure. Absolutely no build up. It just left me confused. It felt like the whole explanation was rushed into the final chapter, which left me with so many questions. Here are a few...

How did Wyatt James stumble upon Tuck as he's taking his last breaths, and just happened to have his paints and a canvas with him to paint the moment? Like who carries their paints, brushes, easel, canvas etc. at a music festival?? And how did Tuck have time while bleeding out to tell Wyatt every memory he ever had of Carrie?

Some positive: I really liked Carrie as a character. She was resilient, in touch with her emotions, and wasn't like a typical female main character who is only looking for romance. (Also not sure why Cal was in love with her after like a week).

Anyways, while I was disappointed with the last ~30% of the book- I am glad that I read it! It only took me two days because I was so intrigued and wanted to know the ending.

Sold as Squid Game meets Fyre Festival, Influencer Island takes a seemingly fun social media competition and turns it into a deadly social experiment led by a mysterious avant-garde artist. Ten influencers are sent to an island paradise, lured into entering the competition by sun- and booze-soaked Instagram videos posted by the most popular social media stars. But the competition goes offline, and by the time investigators find it, nearly everyone is either missing or dead, corpses found in the most gruesome scenes of torture imaginable. One podcaster is determined to figure out exactly what went down on that island and bring light to this terrible scene.

Although this book's premise sounded promising, there was so much that was off or poor about the execution. It's written as the script of a podcast, which sets it up for failure on delivering important elements like a coherent plot/timeline, exposition, character backstories, etc. All the characters felt generic and interchangeable to me. I couldn't tell anyone apart, nor could I give you a good description of why the podcaster protagonist does what he does, nor could I tell you that I was invested in any of the characters' outcomes by the time I trudged to the end. The book just felt a bit hollow. For example, although there are descriptions of disturbing, gruesome acts of violence, the description is presented as just that - as a reader, often what makes things disturbing is your investment in a better outcome, then that expectation being subverted by something horrible and unexpected. This gives you that horrible outcome, devoid of any of the investment in the characters or what happens to them.

The "moral of the story" is also just overdone - some performance artist is sick of the veneers that influencers display, so he orchestrates their brutal murder for all to see? That story has been told and retold. There are too many elements in here that are thrown onto the page, from the true crime podcast angle to the Banksy angle to the romance subplot that was uninteresting to the missing-brother subplot, it was too much to pack into 200 pages, and none of these lines were executed particularly well.

Thank you to Greater Path for the eARC via Netgalley.

Thank you to Kyle Rutkin for the arc. Much appreciated.

Whenever I hear the word "influencer" a piece of me dies inside.

When I heard that a book about a group of "influencers" getting slaughtered on a reality TV show -set on an island in the Bahamas- was coming out, I said "sign me up!" To be honest, I was expecting something a bit more Laymon-esque. This book is not that.

The story -for the most part- is a script for a podcast, by a reporter trying to find out what happened to the celebrities on the island, the whereabouts of the reclusive artist who founded the project, and his involvement in their deaths.

The characters -who are as shallow and superficial as you would expect- and their backstories, are focused on a bit too much. I wanted a Splatterpunk-Battle-Royale, damn it! Instead I got a straight-up podcast-investigation of the events leading up to something similar to one.

With all that being said... I quite enjoyed some of the investigation side of things, the missing brother, and a conspiracy plot that I won't spoil . It was a quick read too -around 3-4 hours- which means that I must have enjoyed it.

Interesting concept and I appreciate the unique format but overall it felt unfinished or better yet unpolished. By no means a bad book or story but I did find it hard to feel the weight of what happened to each character- not that we were meant to necessarily fall in love with any of them but I didn’t feel connected.

I will say that this did a great job of taking a very topical issue and making it into an interesting story without being too heavy handed with “the point.” Felt dystopian in all the right ways while still very relevant to today.

I thought this format wouldn't do it for me but I actually quite liked it. I love podcasts and thought the entire concept of this book was incredibly unique. Dark, twisted, and entertaining.

I am sorry to say that I was unable to finish this book. The premise seemed like a great idea but I wasn't a fan of the podcast format. It was very hard to read and I was unable to relate to the characters.

I hate to give books a low rating but I have to give this book 2 stars as it is just not the book for me. Hoping that others will give it a chance and have a differing opinion from mine.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me give this book a chance before it is released!

WOW ! A great psychological thriller! Influencer Island is based on the Fyre Festival Debacle of 2017. A mysterious artist similar to Banksy named Wyatt James has gathered the best influencers in the world to assist with the opening of a new resort - Influencer Island.

First, a contest for all influencer want-to-be's to enter. 10 are chosen, including 'Carrie and Kiara, best friends who are poised to be the most dramatic meltdowns on camera -- Carrie has a secret mission and Kiara has a big secret from Carrie.

Add in Cal, a podcast reporter who is obsessed with Wyatt James and whether he was involved in his father's suicide, testimonials from podcast producers, FBI agents and participants themselves and you have a unique and captivating story.
If you like a fresh take on a reality style show, podcast driven book or just a page turner that will burn your hands, Influence Island is for you!
#GreaterPathLLC #GreatPathBooks #InfluencerIsland #KyleRutkin #netgalley #Netgalleyreads

I never really knew if I liked plot driven or character driven books more and this one made it clear for me that I prefer character driven stories. This book focuses more on the plot and the idea that the author was creating than on the character themselves, but even though this was the case I have to say that I really enjoyed the book. It was definitely an interesting concept to have, I personally haven't seen another book that has a story line like this so it seemed unique to me.

I wish that I could have liked the characters a bit more though, since at the end I really didn't care who made it and who didn't. Of course we only get to see their curated personality since they are suppose to be people who only care about their image so I think that the characters not being super likable was most likely done on purpose. Just like how they didn't care about doing anything to get famous we as readers probably should feel what the viewers felt when they watched what happened during the games at influencer island. I was more interested in the artist and who it was since there was so much mystery around them even though they were probably the most well known artist of the time.

Everything happened really fast so there weren't moments when I could feel like the story was dragging on an on. There were multiple little stories that are meant to come together and give a reason as to why influencer island was created. Alone I don't think the individual stories would have been a strong enough reason but together I think that they worked really well and it made it more believable that it could potentially lead to disaster at the hands of someone.

The format of the book was like a transcription of a podcast, so I think the story would have had more impact if I had an audio version of it. Reading it at times felt a bit confusing, specially in scenes where there was a lot happening, and you have one paragraph with one character and then the following on is another character. Even in a podcast I would have found that a bit confusing at times though.

I went through this book pretty quickly so I obviously enjoyed reading it and I would recommend it to someone who is looking for something quick to read.

Influencer Island by Kyle Rutkin had the potential to be a huge hit but instead fell flat. Billed as Fyre Festival meets Hunger Games, Rutkin introduces multiple social media 'stars' all bidding for a chance to be flown to Influencer Island to party with some of the biggest stars in the world.

Before the contest is taken offline, several people are dead and the contest host, the mysterious Wyatt James, is connected to the podcast host Cal Everett....the one person in search of the truth.

Honestly, I wanted this book to be better. It had the potential to be massive. It had everything to be a huge hit. It's all of the keywords that media is looking for... social media stars, islands, contests, celebrities, etc. Instead, these are one-dimensional characters who frankly...are boring.

I think that Kyle Rutkin has the potential to be a great writer with the right editors. I'm sure the next book will be even better.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

Honestly, there's nothing good to say about this book. Firstly from a purely practical standpoint, writing a book as a podcast script doesn't flow well at all, especially when half the time it doesn't even sound like it'd be in a podcast.

My more pertinent point though, is that just read like a man slam dunking on influencer culture so much that he wants to send a bunch of them to an island to get murdered. I thought it was interesting that pretty much all the female characters were incredibly flat stereotypes, who were pretty indiscernible from one another, yet most of the male characters were pretty well developed. I just think this is satire that fell so flat, and fell into punching down on women who are influencers territory with nothing of real value to say, and with references (Squid Game) that won't be relevant in two years time

Also, if your story has Fyre Festival themes, it's a bit too on the nose to make a character called Billy that somehow is even more bland than the real Billy McFarland.

This is probably the most scathing review I've ever written, but it's worth it.

Influencer Island by Kyle Rutkin unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. I love a psychological thriller, but this just didn't grip me at all