The premise of this book really intrigued me but the book sadly just didn’t live up. It seemed to lack a lot of substance. This would have probably worked better if it was an audiobook or set up as a fictional podcast

Influencer Island by Kyle Rutkin is a book told in interviews regarding a deadly contest on a remote island where the more fame you have, the better your odds are. When a reclusive artist decides to make the greatest art installation the world has seen by bringing a group of influencers to an island and live-streaming their experience, millions of people send in videos with the dream of being picked. What ends up happening is a deadly game no one could have prepared for

The author says in the author note that this book was influenced by the infamous Fyre Festival and I feel like being familiar with that event will really help your enjoyment of this book. This book being told in interview format will be very hit or miss with some readers. While I did enjoy this book for the most part, I do think that it suffers from the same thing written transcripts of podcasts suffer from-you don’t feel as much of a connection with the characters because of the writing style. You only get to know about what the characters are saying they feel as opposed to being in their heads and going through everything with them.

The interviews also jump between characters that aren’t together so if you aren’t paying close attention, you will easily get confused. Sometimes it will bounce around between several characters that are all doing different things in different locations within a few pages and you just have to keep everything straight.

I do think that the discussion of internet fame and the lengths in which people will go to become famous is really good in this book. The artist who is bringing everyone to the island reminded me a lot of Banksey but more on the wild side. Wyatt James is known for painting celebrities but the paintings become more and more morbid over his career thus garnering a lot of attention to the message behind the art. There were several lines in this book that felt like very relevant social commentary.

I think this book would make an amazing audiobook as far as the experience goes. Much like Daisy Jones and the Six, some books are just better and more immersive via audio. This book also has the same feel of the Fyre Festival in which each chapter has reveals that seem more crazy than the last. I would recommend this to anyone who is just looking for something kind of crazy to read.

This is an excellent take on society today and its obsession with pretty strangers on the internet. It's written in podcast form, and as someone who doesn't listen to podcasts, I don't know if that's the reason the narrative was so jumpy or not. There would be multiple POVS per page and it kind of made my brain hurt. I also wish I could have read more about the island as opposed to a lot of the things that took place before the island. Regardless, this is a good mystery with some surprise twists.

I think this would have worked better as a podcast.
Whilst the premise is amazing and the story is intriguing, I think the execution could have been better. The characters' relationships sometimes felt flat and, most of the time, I wasn't actively rooting for anyone. There are a few noticeable discrepancies in the grammar, but given it's an ARC I understand why.
Overall, the premise was great, but something was lacking.

I really loved the premise of this book, and it had real potential. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with the style of story-telling, which was presented as a podcast transcript. It felt like the narrative was very surface-level and lacked the atmosphere that could have been generated given the setting and characters involved.
I liked some of the twists and turns throughout the story, and it certainly shed a light on the celebrity culture we're currently experiencing. However, much like the influencers this book was depicting, I felt it was missing depth and made it hard for me to really care about any of them.

This was wild. As the synopsis says, it's basically FYRE FESTIVAL meets HUNGER GAMES written in podcast/interview style.

If you're the kind of reader who doesn't care if there is not a lot of focus on the characters but mostly just on the plot and likes dark cult/conspiracy type of vibes, you might want to give this a chance!

My personal reading experience with this one was that it had a lot of potential and was entertaining and quick to read, but wasn't quite what I wanted. I wish the characters were more fleshed out. All their voices were similar and I didn't feel attached to any of them. All the crazy stuff could've had me gasping but I didn't care about the characters so it felt like things happened very quickly and everything felt quite distant.

Really enjoyed this book. It's sharp and funny and a really dark but poignant look at the role of social media in society. It's written as a podcast transcript which took a while to get used to and maybe not one for you if you like streams of descriptive prose. Also quite gory in places but this is a plus for me. Has a Love Island meets Black Mirror vibe going on.

Unique and very topical, this book takes the “what if” question over the edge. How far are people prepared to go for social media fame? Told in an incredibly creative way, the writing style makes this all too believable. Dark, credible and troubling, this is a must read for people who like tension and thrills!

I didn’t know too much about influencer island before I requested it just that it sounded like an interesting thriller. Well it did not disappoint! I love everything about the dark side of social media and it’s impact on morality.

Influencer Island written in the style of podcasts interview transcripts (I loved this!) and it’s after the fall out of a quite grizzly string of murders- but who is guilty? World famous yet secret artist Wyatt James invites contestants to join him and a group of influencers on an idyllic island- it soon becomes obvious that it’s more than a battle of social media wits and more like a battle to the death.

I was completely enthralled with this book and finished it within 4 hours, I literally couldn’t put it down. Although it had elements of hunger games and squid games it’s format made it unique.

It’s also made me chuckle that I’m writing this review to promote on social media about a book where your life depends on social media- oh the irony

Please read of your a fan of squid games, Hunger games, podcasts or gruesome thrillers

Thank you @netgallery and publishers for a digital copy of Influencer Island to read and review

Oh man! The premise sounded so good, and I love interview style stories, this one seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately I found it quite slow paced, with a number of drawn out mysteries. If it was just focussed on what happened on the island, it would have been better in my opinion. The characters felt flat, like they were all reading from a script, so maybe the interview style isn’t the best option for this kind of story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kyle Rutkin, and Greater Path for a copy.

A bunch of influencers fight to the death, all for the sake of fame and millions of followers on social media. I was rooting for the protagonist, Carrie, from the start and despite the podcast and found footage style of storytelling, I enjoyed all the murrrrderrrrr and justifications behind them.

Does it make me want to have thousands of followers doting on my every word and action? Hard pass.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC and for allowing me to read this in advance. :)

Actual rating: 3.5/5

There's something very entertaining about reading a book about influencers fighting to the death... Guess I'm no different than the millions of people who tuned in for the competition on Gl!tch. lol

I would've liked to experience things from the POV of the characters as things happened but I understand that the amount of exposition given works better in a podcast format. Alternating between backstories, mystery solving and murderous fun at the island can be a bit chaotic but it also means the story is never dragging too much or there's too much action happening out of nowhere.

SPOILERS DOWN HERE

I didn't like much that like 3 of the girls were obsessed with Tuck. I wish there was something better connecting these girls than some dude. Cal falling in love with Carrie was unnecessary and from my point of view didn't seem to serve a real purpose in the story. I wish Wyatt's identity had been hinted at more often earlier in the book - Cal hits a wall in his investigations to uncover Wyatt's real identity and he kinda forgets about it after. So when it was finally revealed I was like "oh yea we were trying to find out who Wyatt was, weren't we?"

Despite these complaints, I would still recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers, murderous island fun, and quick & entertaining reads.

If you loved Squid Games then you will love this book!

This book has a fairly unique storytelling style and is told in the format of a podcast and it’s definitely worth the risk of writing in this style as it works really well. For me it was almost like reading the transcript of a crime documentary.

So what if your life actually depended on likes and followers? Well, welcome Influencer Island where having the most likes and follows will save your life. How far would you go to be famous?

A group of top influencers are invited to an exclusive island plus another 10 wannabe influencers competing to be chosen to attend a mysterious competition held on this island by a mysterious artist, Wyatt James. But it soon becomes apparent that things are quickly turning dark.

I read the bit saying that “Due to the graphic nature of the novel, 18+ are recommended.” and got quite excited, however it isn’t that graphic, it’s on the same level gore as Chris Carter, Karin Slaughter and Chelsea Cain so don’t let that bit of the book blurb to put you off reading this book.

The book is really well paced, and the writing really keeps you fully engaged from the first to the very last page. I devoured this book in one sitting as I just couldn’t put it down, so I highly recommend reading Influences Island as it’s definitely one you won’t want to miss.

An easy five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read

Influencer Island will be published soon on the 30 July 2022 and is available to preorder now

A massive thank you to the author Kyle Rutkin, publishers Greater Path LLC and NetGalley for my digital acr

Thank you to NetGalley, Kyle Rutkin, and Greater Path LLC for my arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

In short, Kyle Rutkin's "Influencer Island" is if the Fyre Festival was a bloodbath with social media influencers. The narrative is told through podcast transcript with each chapter being a podcast episode. I saw some reviews that said this took some time to get used to, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the formatting was interesting and different. That said, I kind of wish that an audiobook ARC of this was available cause I think that would have worked great with the format. Other than that, I fairly enjoyed this. Was it predictable? Yeah. Did I have fun reading? Also yeah.

I will say that while social media is at the heart of this novel, I did find myself detoxing from my social media accounts while I read this just because of the importance of it throughout the novel's narrative. One thing that could have been better (and I'm not sure if it was like a conscious or a creative choice) is the characters. The characters are pretty flat and static and honestly, by the end of the book I didn't really feel like they changed all that much.

While I enjoyed reading this, I do think that a different format would be better for this book. By that, I mean that I think this could have worked great as an actual podcast show or even like a mini-series on YouTube but I do think that as a book I don't think it reaches its full potential.

It is a quick and fun read but it's far from perfect.

"May fame and followers be upon you."

What would you do for eternal fame and followers, to join the ranks of the world's top celebrities and influencers, to live every single dream you could only conjure by scrolling through your social media? Kyle Rutkin answers these questions and more in his newest release, "Influencer Island''.

I'll admit, I was unsure how this book would sit with me at first. Prior to my attempt at running a bookstagram, I was an internet model. I'd had enough of hearing about influencers, likes, comments, tweets, you name it. Little did I know, I was in for quite a different ride with "Influencer Island". Told in the form of a true crime style podcast, "Influencer Island" is the perfect blend of cultism, competition, mysterious artistry, and hard hitting investigative journalism. From the very first page, I was completely hooked, and I wasn't satiated until I consumed the entire thing. Forget the weed, I had a new addiction.

Kyle Rutkin takes what could have easily been a simple, basic concept, and contorts it into this terrifying, and oddly realistic narrative that makes the reader question their own morality, should they ever find themselves with intensely difficult choices. "Influencer Island" is no 'this or that' game, or 'would you rather', it's not a game at all really, but a series of puzzle pieces scattered about, begging the reader to form the entire picture. Not a single moment in this story invites its readers back in from the ledge, instead leaving behind trails of physical and psychological carnage leading to the ultimate jump: THE ENDING, where the truth is revealed and there's no going back, no matter what.

To say "Influencer Island" has become one of my FAVORITE books, doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. This title was creative, and well planned, with every twist and turn executed precisely. The tone was perfect, the characters were absolutely realistic, and the entire mood of the book was just PERFECT. A woman possessed, as soon as I finished, I went looking for more, and found myself immediately starting the prequel "Tik Tok Gone" and I may or may not already be halfway through, review to follow. In the meantime, "Influencer Island" comes out in just a few short days, July 30th to be exact! I also want to give a huge THANK YOU to Kyle Rutkin for the brilliant read, and Greater Path for publishing it and granting me access, and of course Netgalley for connecting us! I also want to call attention to Anamaria Stefan for bringing "Influencer Island" to life with imagery that was so on point and beautifully designed.

If you have or plan to read "Influencer Island", please reach out with your thoughts! I'd love to discuss!

I just really wanted to like it, but ended up not being able to connect to any characters or find much interest in the story. The premise was great, and so was the idea of using podcast scripts to tell the story, but I didn't much care for the execution.

Premise: An artist invites the world's top influencers and celebrities to an island to live in Paradise and to have a chance to gain millions of new followers...when they arrive at the island they realize that his motives are much darker. Not everyone will leave the island alive.

My Thoughts: There was something about this book that made it impossible to put down. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I loved the premise, and the competition, and the horror of it all. It makes you wonder what social media is turning us all into, and how far a person would go both in the name of fame and art. Overall, I enjoyed it and was entertained the entire duration of reading. I recommend this one to fans of #murdertrending and The Hunger Games.
However, I was slightly disappointed that the actual "game or competition" didn't last longer, and I wish that we were given more backstory on the characters so that I could connect more with them. I was so hooked by the premise and the "what's going to happen next" feeling of the book, but I never really connected to the characters enough to care which way the scales would shift to. In the end, this didn't matter because I still binged the book in about 3 hours.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for gifting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took me a little while to get into but I did really enjoy it . Think of hunger games meets Squid game.
We have the storyline of happenings on the island and the story of the investigation.
I would of liked more of the island action, it would of given it more intrigue and kept it at a faster pace .
Characters were built up well with good backstories.

Overall I loved the premise of the book and it did have some really good scenes. I feel it could of just been a bit more … a little more of the island action and scenery would of made it better.
Worth a read . Release date July 30th.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the free review copy.

Influencer Island is a book about internet Influencers and dark art. There is more than one mystery at its core.

First of all, I love the podcast format of the book! I love podcasts and while reading the book, I had a different voice in my head for each person. Give me all the podcast books!

Cal is the main podcast narrator and his podcast is about a game called Influencer Island hosted by the mysterious artist Wyatt James where Influencer will be competing to gain followers. This brings up the question: How far would you go to gain millions of followers? Throughout the book, we are unraveling clues to who Wyatt James actually is and what happened to Tuck who is another main character, Carrie's, brother.

This is a fast-paced book that piqued my interest from the very beginning. There is a lot of suspense and plenty of gore. This book really hits home during a time when most of the world is competing for online followers through all the different platforms and while being a dark thriller/horror book, it's also a bit of social commentary. This one is definitely worth checking out!

⭐⭐1/2, rounded up.

I requested for this on a whim simply due to the amusing premise. A group of influencers are selected and go head to head in some competition on an island. But this competition is to the death and last influencer standing well, gets bragging rights for surviving, obviously.

So this is like a massive mix of Squid Game plus Hunger Games where a handful of folks are thrown onto an island with the promise of something like the Fyre Festival, only much deadlier. Told in a sort of podcast script manner, recollecting the experience of the survivor/s, it was rather confusing but you get the hang of it after a while. It is gory and disturbing and intense enough. Throw in some cult-like hullabaloo and this whole Battle Royale slash Saw plot. I was fascinated with where everything was going at first but after a while it got quite tiresome and the ending felt quite underwhelming. Maybe because I was expecting a big shebang of a reveal after the twist. The many many characters also didn't leave much of an impact on me, similar to how alot of influencers are in real life i guess. Hurhur.