I’m surprised by how much I liked this story. The blurb made it sound generic but the narrator brought the audiobook to life in the best ways.

3 stars.

My review will posted on Instagram, Amazon (audible) and Goodreads on 24th November.

What do a load of influencers attending an Island festival laden with supermodels do when the festival turns out to be a sham? Pretend they’re having a great time of course so their social media accounts look like they’re having a great time.

A highly satirical mash up of Lord of the Flies and Fyre Festival, this book shines an unforgiving light on everything that is wrong with influencer culture. The characters are shallow, unlikeable, self-obsessed and whiny.

Although it’s a humorous expose of modern society I felt like something was missing. Part of me wanted Rafi, the main character, to have a bit more backbone and moral integrity, but she is just as bad as the others!

Narrator did a brilliant job at capturing the different personalities.

This was a quirky modern take on the lord of the rings/fyre fest and I loved it!
A group of teenage influencers arrive on a desert island having spent a small fortune expecting luxury, showbiz parties and celebrities only to find the island deserted. You know it’s going to go crazy and I was invested all the way 😊

I listened to this on audiobook and really loved the narrators voice! Soothing and slightly accented.

Goldy Moldavsky is an author whose books are usually pretty wild, and Lord of the Fly Fest was no exception. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop. It was like a trainwreck but in a strangely enjoyable way. This book is out now, so you can buy or borrow a copy from wherever you like. But I personally got my audiobook through the publishers and NetGalley. So thanks for that.

Rafi is a podcaster desperate to make it the big time. She plans to do that by finding out what happened to the missing girlfriend of the famous musician, River Stone. To get that opportunity, she spent all her money on a ticket for Fly Fest, the exclusive music festival on a Caribbean island. But when they get there, the festival is nonexistent, and the guests are stranded. Rafi is okay with this if she can get that interview. But as things take a dangerous turn, she realises they need to get off the island if they wish to survive.

Obviously, this story was inspired by Fyre Fest, among other things. It felt very random, and the type of people the guests were can be pretty frustrating. You just sit there wondering how people can really be so stupid or selfish. And yet…it just made me laugh at times.

This book was weird.

That’s all I can really say. If Lord of the Flies was written now, I can’t say it wouldn’t end up like this, and yet I’d still be surprised by things like people using pig poop as makeup. It was really…something. Reading about it made me wrinkle my nose. I can’t imagine being surrounded by it.

But this weirdness was what made the book so enjoyable. Event-wise…nothing much actually happens. If the characters weren’t all such big personalities, I might not have wanted to keep reading on. Sure, there were scenes and truths that I’m not sure are believable. Especially the twist that gets one of them out of there near the end. But I found myself eating it all up.

Honestly, I probably should have written this review the second I finished this book. Now, a few days later, I can’t remember exactly what I liked or even if there was anything, in particular, I disliked, as the whole thing feels like a fever dream.

As I said, I read the audiobook of this one, and I’m glad I did. The narrator did a good job, and listening to it was a big reason why I got through this so quickly. Once you start, you can’t stop, and I’m not sure I would’ve felt the same with a physical book. But I’d have possibly still enjoyed it.

Overall this book was a fun read. Would I recommend it? Honestly, I’m not sure. If you’re at all intrigued by the concept then pick it up. But it’s not exactly a thriller that most people would describe as amazing. It’s just one that’s a bit of fun.

The narrator was fantastic. They acted the story, which made it extra entertaining. I’d recommend this book on audio form.
This is a YA thriller with lots of satire, and revolves around Rafi (was it Rafi or Safi?) and the discovery of what’s happening on the island and uncovering the murderer. 100% recommend this audio. I had a fantastic time. Thanks to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to enjoy this ahead of publication.

4.5 Stars

Lord of the Fly Fest is a Lord of the Flies retelling based on the infamous 2017 Fyre Festival. Rafi spends all her savings on a Fly Fest ticket to interview famous musician River for her podcast. Upon landing on the Caribbean island, she quickly learns she and the rest of the concert-goers have all been scammed. While the influencers work on saving face online, Rafi sees this as the perfect opportunity to investigate River. However, when influencers start going missing, Rafi is adamant there is a killer amongst them, and that she knows who it is!

Goldy Moldavsky seriously serves the tongue in cheek humour with this book, knowing just how far to push the influencer jokes, without being offensive.

Barrett Wibert Weed has done an excellent job of narrating this young adult mystery. Written by Goldy Moldavsky, Lord of the Fly Fest is set on a once deserted island where a boat full of party goers arrive to find their exclusive Fly Fest is not happening. Rafi being the main character, desperate to get an interview with River, the dream boat musician who she thinks is a killer, tries her best to keep everyone on the island to give her time however, can disappearing influencers, mysterious voices of supermodels and no food change her mind?

Very much for the younger generation, influencers, tik tok and faking it are the currency here, perfectly listenable to story with suitably unlikeable characters. 3*
Thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and Netgallet for the AAC

I couldn’t get into this unfortunately, thank you for the opportunity to read, It just wasn’t for me,

Goldy Moldovsky, the author, has a wonderful and quirky imagination. This is an brilliantly absurd, take on the internet influencer generation. Humour abounds as people flock to the island Fly Fest music festival only to find that it is not quite what they expected. Shut off from civilisation, or as they would say the internet, life starts going downhill. Until the influencers start influencing; they don’t want to be shown up, and everyone else suspends common sense belief - example, at one point wild boar poop is being used as a bronzer!! Into this comes Raffi, a very small scale blogger desperate for a big break truth revealing interview with Australian pop star - River Stone; is he the murderer that Raffi thinks? As people and sensible behaviour start to disappear, is anyone going manage the island to leave the island? Thanks to Harper Collins Uk Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.