I was really keen for this book based on the synopsis but I think I was hoping for it to feel more relatable to me and it wasn't. I didn't care for the characters. Just not one for me, sadly.

DNF - Althought I was eager to read this book, it didn't end up working for me in the end. I'm sure there is an audience out there who will appreciate the story for all that it holds.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

I liked the idea and set up for this but the delivery was not 100% what i was after. The characters seemed a little too flat in places and didn't feel super realistic to the world of the story. The action was fine but it could've been done in a more interesting way that would've kept me hooked. I feel like this is an interesting read but it just needed a bit more work.

A very interesting premise, but the end results did not stand out in any way for me. While it was an overall enjoyable read, I don't think the book will be something I think about often in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Europa Editions for sending me an advanced copy

"The Other Profile" by Irene Graziosi is a thought-provoking exploration of identity and self-discovery. Graziosi's storytelling is introspective, delving into the complexities of human nature and personal transformation.

Absorbing, well written (and translated) and horrifically relatable. I devoured this book! Can’t wait to see what the author writes next

The Other Profile is a brilliantly eerie story of unhinged women, a real insight into the world of influencers and social media, with a sinister edge that keeps the reader in suspense throughout.

The plot was well-thought out and structured wonderfully, drip-feeding us information in a way that keeps you guessing without being too confusing or frustrating.

I loved the character development, particularly the narrator, and found her likeable and interesting despite some questionable morals. This was a really fantastic novel and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to read and review!

The anthropological nature of this volume is what attracted me to request a copy, and I do think the work is clever but, as with other reviewers, I felt something was sadly lost in translation here. It didn’t intrigue me as much as I had hoped, which is a shame (especially as I have heard fantastic things about the original).

Thank you to NetGalley and Europa Editions for this arc.

Enjoyable and darkly funny in parts. Maia was an entertainingly chaotic character who contrasted well with Gloria's innocent portrayal.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC

I enjoyed this book .
Maia was a fascinating character my only criticism is I wish her character was explored in more detail, I wanted to know more. I liked the strange relationship that grew between Maia and Gloria and its inevitable implosion.
An interesting look at the dark side of
Social Media and the role of influencers. Like others have said , the translation was perhaps a little clunky at times. Yet another time in my life where I regret being unable to speak Italian ( they’ve been plentiful, maybe I should take this as a sign to learn to language) as I’d imagine this would be a darker and more fluid and engaging read when read in language it was written in.

3.5

I think this is one of those books that felt a little lost in translation. The premise was great, and whilst the storyline was OK, the characters came across as unrealistically mature, and almost at odds with how else they are presented. It's had great plaudits in Italy, and I was very excited about it. I think the critical exploration of our relationships with social media was necessary, and interesting to read, but it's not one that will stay with me. But that's ok! Not all books do have to stay with you!

This was an interesting concept. In a world of social media and influencers, are their worlds as perfect as they portray?

26 year old Maia takes a job working for 18 year old wealthy influencer, Grace.

Maia is off the rails, her life is in free fall and she is too dependant on drugs to be in control, Grace is the opposite, in a sense, as she is told what to say and how to act by others, but doesn’t really know who the real Grace is.

I feel that possibly some of the book’s heart was lost in translation as it felt quite stilted and I didn’t care for any of the characters. I also found the drug use irritating and it added nothing to the already vague storyline. Definitely great potential though.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This novel has been on my radar for a while now as I am a regular watcher of the YouTube channel Canale di Venti which is an Italian YouTube channel that explores being in your twenties and relevant topics to younger Millennials and older Gen Z. The author is a regular co-host of the channel and the initial idea for the novel stemmed from the author’s own relationship with the main host of Canale di Venti, Sofia Viscardi.

Maia is a bright 26-year old but, following the death of her younger sister, in her complicated grief, she’s drifting and just going along with the flow following her professor boyfriend from Paris to Milan. Abandoning her degree in the process. Events transpire to land Maia a job as an assistant to an influencer in her early twenties, Gloria. The novel primarily explores their relationship and Maia’s malleable identity whilst slowly unpicking Maia’s grief and rocky relationship with her sister, as well as providing a searing and cutting look at what it means to exist online particularly as a young woman under the gaze and scrutiny of men and relatedly of how social media serves to pit women against women. It is particularly in cutting angle in which the novel excels as well as in the portrayal of Maia’s guilt in not loving her sister more outwardly. Whilst novels depicting living online can often feel very zeitgeist and can become cringingly stilted or dated soon afterward, Graziosi and Rand commendably manage to avoid that feeling and instead produce two brilliant character studies in the form of Maia and Gloria.

I first read the novel in Italian which I really enjoyed but unfortunately the English translation did not really work well for me as whilst the original felt as thought it had a natural voice for a twenty-six year old (I myself am also twenty-six) the word choice in the English translation was sometimes of an overly formal and older register and sometimes this was also reflected in some of the syntax choices. I do think however, that the tone of the piece does present a fair challenge to capture: Graziosi described the tone as ‘acido’ and the cutting nature of that tone matched with the protagonist’s intelligence do certainly make for a challenge. Indeed, Graziosi only found the voice and tone of her protagonist on the third draft. However, with some decisions I was left thinking that a particular word in English has never come out of my mouth - a mouth the same age as the protagonist - which is an experience I never felt reading the novel in Italian. There was also a scene in which a side character was misrepresented, the character is far less progressive in the Italian, than in the English translation which renders him as far less bigoted than the character actually is. This was primarily through the addition of a phrase inexistent in the Italian that was given as a work around to translate a discussion on the usage of neopronouns and neo-affixes. As a queer translator myself I’m very empathetic towards the difficulties and risks involved in such decisions, but here the effect on the reader in the two versions ended up diverging greatly.

I'd particularly recommend this to readers looking for apathetic characters moving through life and grief - think the unnamed narrator of Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation - but looking for something a bit more societally-attuned bite!

This book has very little plot and might be boring for readers who want an adventurous read. The novel deep dives into the parasocial relationships build through social media and how influencers live a life caged in their online persona and how everything we see online isn't the truth. For me, the characters are well-written and the beautiful writing style of the author suits the story.
If you want a light uncomplicated read with complicated characters,this book is for you.

It didn’t highly stick out to me, but saying that it wasn’t bad by any means. It was a read that I got through quickly and enjoyed, and would recommend to anyone looking for a comedy with a slight edge about the influencer world

A story of different perspectives. I didn’t love or hate it, it was enjoyable but didn’t fully capture my attention.

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Other Profile by Irene Graziosi but I actuallly really enjoyed it. Maia is feeling stuck in her life, her job, her relationship and her grief but her perspective starts to change when she starts working for a young social media influencer.