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

Influencer Island is a fast-paced thriller and suspense novel with plenty of twists and turn. I enjoy it when authors play around with the format of their work, so the podcast-style dialogue set up was cool to read. I haven't read another book written in that style before. There were some moments that the dialogue between two separate "scenes" was overlapped for dramatic impact. Most of these were clear, but there were a few instances that I had to back track and re-read to make sure I was keeping track of everything correctly. In general, setting up the story as a podcast really worked in the favor of revealing information to the reader in a methodical way that kept the story engaging and compelling. It's been a while since I've read a book that makes me say "okay, just one more" at the end of each chapter.

The plot was enjoyable, though definitely graphic as the warnings mention. I loved the meta references to other works of fiction like The Hunger Games. I do wish there'd been a few more hints scattered in for some of the plot twists (though it's very possible that I may've just missed them). Though, I did like that I sometimes didn't see twists coming at all, which can be rare for me.

I'd definitely be interested to read more from Kyle Rutkin, whether that's more from this series or something new!

this was SO confusing to read. the constant switching between timelines, what was going on on the island, what was going on with the missing brother. i just could not keep any of it straight.

I was very excited to read this book based on the premise and the promise for it being a psychological thriller. In that regard it did not disappoint. It was an interesting plot line, with two different individuals lives woven together around one person. It definitely made for plot twists that weren't expected.

The brutality that was done was well carried out as well.

I really enjoyed the commentary that came out of this book. The masks we wear for the world. The brand we curate for ourselves so that's what others see, whether it's really us or not, or truly makes us happy. It was well done. I wish that point could have started to really become clear earlier in the story, but it could also be that I wasn't looking for something like that to come out of this book.

Now for the kicker. I didn't like the format. Major points for creativity and structuring it like a podcast. However, I found it difficult to keep track of everything going on, where we were in the story and how it all tied together jumping from person to person frequently and different timeframes and places along the storyline.

Overall I liked it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. Loved the concept and there were some fun moments but ultimately the plot got too unwieldy and it didn’t hang together.

A dark look at how society worships influencers and how those living the high life would die for followers! This was a cool concept for a story, fyre festival meets hunger games. I found it a bit chaotic and scattered at points but otherwise it was an enjoyable read.

I loved the format of this book, told in a podcast style, however I did find the execution lacking. It jumped around so much between characters who hadn't been introduced properly and timelines that seemed unfamiliar that I was getting lost. It was a pacy book and when you did get glimpses of the horrors taking part on the island it was a shock, but by the end I just didn't care. I wasn't invested in the survival of any of the characters, I wasn't rooting for anyone. All the good intentions completely fizzled out.

Thanks so much to Greater Path LLC for access to this ARC.

As much as the concept of this is strong, this would be so much better being produced as solely an audiobook, as opposed to a physical text.
It's wild, as a story, but I could not get past how difficult it is to follow. With the nature of the text being a podcast transcript, it is all too easy to mix up characters, to get lost in the timelines and setting, which are never clearly defined to the reader, despite the context being important. There are entire "episodes" in which there are parallel conversations occurring in two or more locations, but in the text, it appears as if it is all in one room— which is misleading and grossly changes what you can understand.
Also, as much as I admired the boldness and insanity, the ending simply wasn't believable, and felt random and silly, frankly.
I really think this could be an awesome audiobook, but my reading experience was subpar.

It's a clever idea - who wouldn't be drawn in by 'Hunger Games meets Fyre Festival? - and the format, presenting the book as a transcript of a podcast, works well. The author echoes the the style and format of a podcast perfectly, and it allows him to play around with some really interesting characters. I struggled a bit with the overall concept that people could be tortured or murdered over a heavily publicised livestream without the authorities immediately stepping in, but if you can suspend your disbelief a little, it's a clever take on celebrity culture and our increasingly online lives.

Hunger Games meets… Fyre Festival 😜 Top Influencers compete to get the most followers… those who don’t, wellllllll things don’t go so great for them.
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This book is set up like and interview/podcast.. but I enjoyed the set up

It was fast paced, thrilling, and a bit dark/gruesome. I really wanted to see how everything tied in at the end but it just didn’t fully hit its mark. The characters weren’t super deep and the climax was meh.

This was a fun book and I definitely enjoyed the podcast transcript format of this book. It does start out a bit slow and I struggled to care about any of the characters. However, the suspense of the story kept me reading.
It begs the question, how far would someone go for followers???

While I really enjoyed the setting and plot of this book, it was a bit slow in the beginning, picked up in the middle, then slowed back down at the end. I never really connected with the characters, and it didn't bother me when they bit the bullet, so to speak.

With that being said, the book was suspenseful and did keep me reading to the end because I wanted to find out who the crazy person was behind the mask. It was a decent book, just not as action-packed as I would have liked.

Not for me I'm afraid. I really wanted to like the format of a podcast writing style but it just didn't quite do it for me. It felt disjointed and quite honestly I was a bit confused about what was happening most of the time. I will say that it is a very short book and therefore I did finish it very quickly. I liked the premise and the twist was good at the end but thought it could have been done in a better way.

A very weird read in my opinion!

A controversial artist gathers the world's top influencers on an island. All is not what it seems.

I liked the concept of this book, and really enjoyed the podcast-style format. However, I feel that there could have been a bit more tension built up on the island. Perhaps the format prohibits this.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read.

Many thanks to Kyle Rutkin, NetGalley, and Greater Path LLC for this copy.

I loved this book! Kept my attention with nonstop action and was hard to put down when life called. Will look for more from this author!

Thank you for the advanced copy!

I liked this book. I really loved the format and the main idea. It felt fresh. However, I did have a lot of trouble following who was who, it was quite confusing. But for me that added to the experience.

The book started out strong with an exciting format and potential in the characters. However, it took a long time to get into the story's meat, the island itself. Plus all details ended up tied up at the end of the story all too neatly. It felt like a commentary on social media was way too strong, and the darkness of the book was merely a coating over the theme. It made it hard to then keep my attention towards the end of the book.

Welcome to Influencer Island; a Love Island like influencer competition that descends into a battle royal/hunger games scenario, all orchestrated by the mysterious and elusive Wyatt James. The premise of this had my attention straight away so I was delighted when I was approved for the advanced digital copy!

Influenced Island is a psychological thriller that is as immersive and addictive as social media. I loved the layout of this one. It's done as a podcast where we hear from various characters. Sometimes when there's multiple POVs in books it can get confusing but this was super easy to follow and engaged with the reader throughout. The mystery weaved into this story had me hooked, I needed to know what happened and basically ended up reading this in a day! I love that it takes the concept of an influencer based competition and completely flips it but also gives an insight into how far people would go for fame and a following.
While the ending itself may not have packed as much of a punch as I would've like, it was a very entertaining read nonetheless!

* Please research any trigger warnings before reading *

I always like to try out creative ways to tell a story. This one gets a lot of appreciation for that. There was something that just kept it at three stars for me though, perhaps a mix of the way the story was told and the story itself.

I absolutely loved the way it was written - excepts from podcasts/instagram etc.! The plot was very twisty turny and at times slightly confusing to me, but I enjoyed it and would recommend. I also found the main characters very easy to connect with, which is always something I look for in a book. Thank you for the ARC!