I absolutely loved this book! I loved the way it was written in the style of news stories, blogs and a documentary- i was hooked. The characters you great, it made you really hate the ones you were supposed to hate! I think it also portrayed the british media in a very true light!

Nobody has seen or heard from Influencer & mother of two Melanie Lange for months. Her PA, Nell, has posted a series of short videos that she received from Melanie shortly before she went off-grid - and they're fairly ominous, stating that Melanie has been essentially kidnapped and locked away in a remote house by her father, wealthy hotelier Peter Lange. As the conspiracies grow bigger and bigger, what is the actual truth?

Pieced together from snippets of tweets, gossip blogs, a Netflix documentary, Melanie's YouTube videos, testimonies from family & friends, and sessions between Peter & his ghost writer for his upcoming tell-all book, there's just one question: Are you team #SaveMelanie or #HelpPeter?

There's an obvious reason why I wanted to read this book (I'm only surprised that the title wasn't a Britney song) - and there's clear inspiration here. It's for that reason that I couldn't even begin to fathom the notion of being team Jam- I mean - team Peter - but this was well written, and romped along to a satisfactory finale.

At times I felt like there were almost too many voices to keep track of, but I'm sure it'll be easier to tell one from the other in the final edit, I was reading an unfinished proof.

One that will be talked about, no doubt!

Thank you to @penguinukbooks for the Netgalley approval.

What a great book. Was a different writing style to what I usually read and I really enjoyed it. It is told in my a few different characters who are getting interviewed for a upcoming documentary on the main character’s disappearance. I was really shocked by the ending was not expecting it. Will definitely be recommending this book.

Melanie Lang has disappeared and the online world is divided. Is her father protecting a troubled woman or is she being held against her will? Who will you believe…?
The concept of this book is great and I was excited to read it. I also thought the format was interesting, as told through tweets, a Netflix style documentary, YouTube videos and unpublished autobiography. However, from the blurb, I’d expected a dual narrative featuring two unreliable narrators with a big climax and reveal in the ending - which wasn’t quite the case. At times, the format written across multiple characters felt disjointed and slowed the pace of the story for me. The ending also felt a bit rushed and, as I had to push through the slower pace of the book, it didn’t quite pay off as much as I’d anticipated. While there were moments of the book I enjoyed, it sometimes felt more like a documentary on the dangers women face in the media than an absolutely thrilling crime read first, with a social message included, which is I was hoping for.
Huge thanks to the author, L. C. North, and publisher, Random House UK, for this advance review copy. Views my own. 3*

An interesting and enlightening read about the twisty nature of the Press.
A great read which keeps you turning the pages and wanting to read more, even though some of it is quite uncomfortable to read.
I will look out for more from this author in the future

The book is written as social media posts, interviews, diaries. In the beginning it was not easy to read but later I got used to the writing style and couldn't put the book down. The characters psychologically are well developed and unexpected ending. I liked that the author showed that money and fame doesn't make people automatically happy. Generally very good read. 4.5⭐

Although I made it through the whole book it would be disingenuous to say I enjoyed it. Whilst I feel there are some interesting ideas within it and the discourse on the effects of social media are relevant, the book felt quite superficial. It seems more suited to an older YA audience than as contemporary fiction and may find a strong audience there (Copy received from Netgalley in return for an honest review).

I enjoyed this pacy little thriller. Great imaging around the more insidious side of celebrity, the lengths people will push themselves to, toxic media influences, building people up to break them down, coercive control. Kept me up reading it. Incredibly bleak at times. Surprising ending (in some ways).

Enjoyable.

This was an ok reaf for me , it took me
A while to get into it and whilst it wasn’t my usual choice i enjoyed it . Would look for more from this aithor

I really loved this book it was mind bending and I didn’t expect the ending at all…it really made me question what is the truth? There is always more than two truths and this book proves it. The way the story is told though emails, transcripts, Netflix clips is brilliant it’s unique and matches this story perfectly…nothing is real and nothing should be believed…this will make a big impact in 2023 get it on your TBR list NOW

Thanks for the ARC one my favourites from the many ARCs I have been lucky enough to read this year

I'm not a great fan of the fashion for books that mix tweets and interviews with multi-narrator formats and I started this book a bit irritated by the over-the-top offer of so many different sources. That said, once I got stuck in, I learned to live with it, and I'd almost go so far as to say the device worked quite well. I frequently moan about multi-narrator stories where the various voices are indistinguishable - but L.C.North has used different formats to differentiate the narrators really well. I had a particular soft spot for the two twin sisters who kept finishing each others sentences.

Melanie Lange is a character we won't find hard to recognise in multiple real-world characters. Finding early success as a model (I was thinking Kate Moss, though she's a lot older), as the daughter of a hotelier (think Paris Hilton), she got attention for her every move. We learn about the toxic power of the Paparazzi (think Jade Goody) and the unfiltered spite of Twitter and social media (think Caroline Flack and many others) and I'm writing just a couple of days after the release of Harry and Meghan's account of their lives in the spotlight. I wasn't overly sympathetic to them, but this book does remind us that even rich, beautiful, vastly over-privileged people can be hurt by the words of the press and keyboard warriors.

It's not a new theme. I've read several books already this year about the toxic power of social media, but this one combines an approach that's very much of its time with quite an interesting story about family and business and how far some people will go to control others.

What starts out as rather insubstantial fluff, matures as the book progresses to develop into a book with some strong themes and thought provoking messages.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

An interesting look at how the media and public treats celebrities, keeps you turning the pages until the very end

The Ugly Truth is an exploration of celebrity and the media and public's fascination with it.

Melanie is a character whose celebrity and its pitfalls is all too familiar with incidents and dramas that made me think of the Free Britney movement, the media's treatment of Caroline Flack, Cheryl Cole and a toilet attendant, and all those famous women who've been elevated high only to be knocked down.

This is a fascinating read for the most part and clever with it. The reader is being voyeuristic in reading private narratives and gleaning gossip from others in a novel that shows how social media and gossip is destructive.

Not so much a thriller as an expose and deep insight into the cult of celebrity.

I've read quite a few novels now about social media and influencers and the like and I think I'd rather take a job cleaning toilets than be an influencer. Melanie is a young woman who was talent spotted by a modelling agency at the age of 15 and who is thrust into the spotlight with her every move being documented. This is the story of how 19 years later she disappears. She claims she is being held prisoner by her controlling father, he claims she's in rehab.

The story is told through diary entries, transcripts of a Netflix documentary and an interview with her father etc and is thus a bit disjointed going backwards and forwards between different formats and past and present. The author however does a good job of keeping us on track and it doesn't get too confusing although the formatting at times doesn't help (not the author's fault!).

I expected more from this book. I think we are set up to believe that there are at least two unreliable narrators here, so I found the ending a little disappointing. There needed to be much more of a reveal and it all seemed a little rushed at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I’ve read a few of this authors previous books (published under Lauren North) and really enjoyed them and when I saw The Ugly Truth and read the blurb I knew it would be something I would like.

Told through transcripts, interviews, podcasts, twitter and a Netflix document The Ugly Truth introduces us to Melanie (Mellie) Lange. An ex-model, business woman, mother, entrepreneur and influencer who has spent most of her life under the scrutiny of the press and media. When a video is uploaded to her YouTube channel showing Melanie claiming to have been kidnapped by her father and held against her will for the past 6 months Social Media literally implodes.

No-one has seen or heard from her in months, her best friend is frantic, her ex-husband is concerned and her 2 young boys are devastated, however her father Sir Peter Lange says she is fine – she’s safe in a hospital after having a mental breakdown. Who is telling the truth?

WOW.. I absolutely LOVED this book. I loved how the story is slowly unwrapped and revealed to the reader through different sources, reading the differing versions from the best friend, the father, the ex-husband, the friends, the followers, the public.

The Ugly Truth looks at the danger of social media, the downside of fame and how a pack mentality can make or break someone. Topical and relevant and thoroughly addictive I would definitely recommend this book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Ugly Truth is told in my favourite epistolary style, through tweets, transcripts and emails, so it didn’t take me long to get into the plot and try and establish exactly what has happened to Melanie. The book kept me entertained until half way when it got a little repetitive. From the blurb, I kind of expected two unreliable narrators and for my opinion and loyalty changing with each transcript. I did get that to some extent but not as much as I had hoped for. Every character was toxic and suspicious. There were some really good potential plot directions but a lot of the time nothing came of them.
It kept me reading until the end and it had important comments about the toxicity of social media and press….but it didn’t grip me and I didn’t root for one of the characters like I wanted to.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review and advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

One of the world's most famous faces, Melanie Lange, has gone missing and the world is asking where she is. The daughter of a successful hotelier Peter Lange, Melanie has been a model and a business success in her own right over the years, but the media have always been more interested in her as a source of gossip, doorstepping her for photos and trailing her to see who she's with; its a lot to cope with. Her father says he is looking after her for her own health, but can we believe what he is saying?

Told in a series of extracts from podcast interviews, email extracts, case notes and other 'evidence', 'The Ugly Truth' shines a light on the grimy media world, the pressure that it can put on people and how it can make or break someone. You are pulled between being Team Melanie, and Team Peter,
Its a really interesting way to tell a story which is becoming more common in crime fiction. For me, it didnt always quite hit the mark, some of the middle section felt quite repetitive and unnecessary, and didnt add to the story. I found there were some other storylines that were hinted at that could been explored more too, though these are minor niggles and overall I enjoyed it.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4

Such an excellent book - I’m really loving this new sun genre of mockumentuary stories - told in texts, interviews, reports and social media posts. I’ve read a few like this now and would love more. This was one of the best ones.

I found this book disturbing in the way in which life can be controlled by others and also how social media can drive people to behave in a certain way.

A good read and an insight into how living your life is more important than what strangers think of you

Nineteen years in the life of an intelligent, beautiful and wealthy woman , Melanie, moving from motherless teenager to young mother under a harsh and unforgiving spotlight . Her life portrayed by the media with toxic brutality, followed by fans and critics with a relentless drive showing little care or awareness of whether truth or fiction. A troubled fragile relationship with father and sister compounded by an unhealthy dependency on a close female friendship . Psychologically she would have been aware any relationship was to some extent based upon and only surviving with the reliance on Melanies infamy, wealth and contacts . Relayed to the reader as quotes for a Netflix series dependent on recollections of the very people instrumental in the rise and fall of this tragic individual. A story of our age, when selling news is dependent on mass media intrusion into celebrities lives where an ever increasing appetite for celebrity notoriety overcomes any requirements for truth, reason or decency. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.