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.

This book deeply unsettled me in the way that thrillers should. I could only read this during the day, purely because I was so afraid I’d be kept up all night thinking about it.

Influencer Island is exactly what it sounds like - a group of influencers are sent to an island to compete in a Hunger Games-esque competition. The twists and turns practically gave me a pain in my neck because I saw very few of them coming.

This book is so good because in this day and age you could almost believe it, but it’s just that but unattainable that it allows us the escapism so many of us look for in books.

I’d recommend this book if you like thrillers, plot twists and pop culture references.

First I would like to thank Netgalley for this ARC of Influencer Island. The format of this book drew me in immediately. In this first couple pages we see the line “May fame and followers be upon you.” And I was hooked from that point on I always love a good mystery but lately they have been feeling pretty cookie cutter and predictable. The text is laid out as if I’m reading a transcript from a podcast, reading it this way was a new way of reading a mystery/thriller novel and I loved every second of it! It kept me interested and intrigued to figure out the mystery’s of the novel. The novel was very dark and gripping, the format was a huge positive for me while reading this book. I am a big mystery/murder buff so this was like breathing new life into my with the mystery/thriller genre. Definitely recommend for anyone who is a fan of murder documentaries, horror podcasts, etc. The writing may seem erratic and disorganized but it’s truly such an amazing story full of mystery! The last 25% of the book had me absolutely hooked the plot twists and reveals made me openly gasp! I can’t wait to buy a physical copy when the book releases and I also can’t wait to read more work from this amazing author!

3.5/5 stars! Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was amazing. I feel like Squid Games would be more accurate to compare it to than Hunger Games, but it was super interesting and I read the book in just a few hours.

The format was pretty cool, written like the script of a podcast, but it took me a moment to get used to it and sometimes I’d find myself going back to see who was talking or where we were getting the info from (feed, audio clip, interview, etc.) but it was a nice touch I think. Considering what the book focused on.

I gotta say that even though the plot was super intriguing, it felt like I was reading tabloids in the first half and as much I enjoy reading about the occasional celebrity… it almost bored me to read about all of these celebrities and their lives leading up to visiting Influencer Island. It was necessary, of course to lead up to the plot, but it also felt drawn out. Especially because the action didn’t start until about 60% through and then it ended so fast.

The ending was completely unexpected. I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong. I love when books take me by surprise, but I found the ending to be very anticlimactic and disappointing. The build up was great, and then just… yeah. I almost didn’t read the last few sections.

I think I may have enjoyed this more if I had read She Died Famous first, as they tie in together. But I think overall, it was pretty good and I’d like to check out more work from this author.

I found the synopsis for this book so intriguing! I love competitions/games in stories and the podcast format is one of my favourites. Social media influencers on an island, last person standing is the winner…yes please!
I finished this in a day and while it did go off in a strange direction at one point (or a few points 🤣) I actually really enjoyed it. I’d be very interested in listening to this as an audiobook in the future!
This definitely won’t be for everyone but for me I was thoroughly entertained and will be checking out more books from this author 😊

I loved the idea of this book unfortunately I didn’t like the format style.

Influencer Island is portrayed by podcast transcripts and each chapter is a separate podcast episode. This I think will be a love or hate kind of style for readers and sadly I am the latter.

I also didn’t feel like there was enough writing on the actual influencer competition itself, it came across more of Cal trying to feed his obsession of who the anonymous artist Wyatt James is.

The characters weren’t very memorable which could have been helped more if they were given backstories.

I want to start this review by saying I'm unsure why people were so hard on this book for grammatical errors when all currently reviewed copies are ARCs. Most ARCs have not been edited fully and will be finalized before their release date. The author even sent out an email about the updated edited version today.

Moving on I am so thankful for this book and Kyle Rutkin. I have been in a slump this month and nothing much was holding my attention other than rereading some of my all-time favorite books until I started this book. I was immediately captured by the format in which this book is presented and tried to figure out the mystery before key things were revealed to me. I loved that you got different perspectives because the book is written like a podcast/interview so you're not stuck with just a certain set of POVs, but you get different perspectives about what was happening at the same time from different voices. I think this book would make a wonderful Audiobook and if Kyle Rutkin ever decides to go that route I will be eager to hear the story told to me that way even though I already know how it ends.

The only fault I found with this book was that I wish that certain parts had lasted longer. I felt like a lot of contestants were eliminated super early on in one big swoop and it would have been just a little better had they not been eliminated so soon. It would have given more time to experience the contestants and I felt like there could have been more told about how they were all connected. I don't want to say much more because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone that is looking forward to this book. I feel like this is a perfect summery isolated island mystery/horror that shows just how corrupt the social media lifestyle has made us as a society. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for something fresh and new.

*I was granted an ARC of this book by Netgalley and Kyle Rutkin. While I did receive this book free all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and not influenced by that at all.*

“They are going to kill us... They are going to kill us all. Please. I beg you. Don’t come to the island. It’s a trap.”

Right from the very start, Influencer Island hooks its readers into devouring the pages as various characters recap their experience on the island, which is told in a podcast format. Opposed to most novels, the aftermath of the contest is revealed almost immediately. Now it’s a matter of finding out what lead up to this chilling conclusion and how each of the characters are involved.

The concept of Influencer Island is truly innovative – think Hunger Games meets Squid Games with a dash of Fyre Festival sprinkled in. In a generation centered around fame, social media and influencers, the story has themes most readers can relate to.

The podcast format will definitely be a “love it or hate it” vibe with the reader. The simplicity of the format makes it easy to read through the story quickly, but it shifts back and forth from past to present which at times can be confusing. Ironically, the story’s main premise is character growth but I found it hard to connect with the characters on a deeper level (and there are many characters to keep track of!)

Enjoyment of this book is going to be entirely dependent on what each individual values in their reading. If you love a fast paced thriller with an interesting villain and an abundance of plot twists, this story is for you!

Thank you to Net Galley, Greater Path LLC and Kyle Rutkin for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this book had me wanting to read it and so when I was granted an eARC I was thrilled. However, the book simply didn’t live up to expectations.

First, none of the characters are in any way memorable. The only things I really remember about them are their names - Cal, Carrie, Tuck, Kiana, Bella, Nicki Mo, Trevor, etc.. But who they are, what they stand for? Not much to tell you because they just weren’t memorable to me. We didn’t get a decent enough background for any character to make them pop.

Second, the POV just bounced around too much. Never knowing which point of view you’d get next or what they’d be talking about now didn’t set well with me. I like to have an idea of when point of view changes are coming and what’s going on. It made it a bit hard to keep track of.

Third, the format. I’m not a fan of books that mimic scripts. While this isn’t a script, it is written in a transcript format for a podcast. One chapter = one episode of the podcast. The problem was, the episodes weren’t planned out well. They all seemed to just go with the flow, whatever the characters wanted to discuss at the time. The action scenes were woefully lacking, almost as if they were an afterthought.

The book is OK and it’s a fairly quick read, but I can’t say I’d want to read it a second time. It has potential, but it needs some work to make it a better story.

I definitely enjoyed the Podcast/documentary setting and it was very fast paced. I read it in one sitting, and it had me intrigued from the beginning. There’s some moment I loved and moments I didn’t love.
There was just some things that were unrealistic and didn’t make sense. It fell flat for me, and I believe if the book was longer it would have helped a lot. Because I do love the idea of the influencer island and the thrill of the game. It’s fun, I had fun reading. Just some things lacked a lot and fell flat, I think it would have helped if the book was just longer, so it could have went into way more detail of characters and certain situations. It had me wanting more.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Greater Path LLC and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Unique, edge of the seat thriller. Vibrant imagery, cunning characters, a story you won't want to put down. Perfectly paced, a story that will stay with you well after you finish.

Influencer Island is a fast-paced, twisted thriller. Think a much darker The Hunger Games. The concept is fascinating - a competition for influencers on an island that millions send in submission videos for. They think it'll be luxe, VIP, rubbing elbows with other elite influencers and celebrities in paradise. What it actually is - battle royale of the influencers. A fight to the death while maintaining social media status. The story is told in podcast format in the aftermath of the island. The contest went offline, so one must listen to an unaired podcast to get answers. And who is the mysterious Wyatt who threw the competition? This was one dark, twisted read and I loved every second of it. Highly recommended!!

I have never listened to any podcasts so when I saw that this book was written in that style, I was not sure what to expect. And for me, it took a little bit of getting used to, since it seemed to jump from one comment to the next, not exactly in order. Once I got used to it, it was more interesting to me. As an older person who did not grow up with the internet, I basically could care less about the number of views and likes on any message I post, nor do I blindly follow the newest trend. However, I also understand that for several people today it is very important. So a story that starts out based on that fact is certainly unique in this day and age. Add in a rather strange mystery and it makes for a wild premise. I finished it, but don't know that I would ever read it again.

This was an interesting premise and format - and those two things saved a story that felt just a touch not-fleshed-out-enough. Overall I enjoyed it and will be interested in what this author does in the future.