This one was right up my street especially with the social media, influencer world we currently live in. You’re thrown into the storyline and given a real insight into behind the scenes of fame, being an influencer and all that comes with that from both the positive and negative side. Loved Heather as a character and her feisty, no bulls%#$ attitude. If you are into social media and all that comes with it you’ll enjoy this one. It moves at a steady pace that keeps you engaged and turning those pages. It’s definitely a good one on audio.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheWinner

This is a story that is very much of its time and captures the essence of today’s obsession with reality TV and social media influencers. Heather, a trainee teacher, is the latest shiny thing to have been selected in the Triple F lottery and is now expected to live a luxury lifestyle provided by the organisers provided that she doesn’t drop her popularity rankings. The dram becomes a nightmare however when Heather realises that there is a saboteur with inside knowledge who is manipulating the influencers’ secrets and vulnerabilities to bring them down. There are a number of morally compromised characters who have the motive and inclination to do this and Heather sets out to uncover them. A interesting concept and a twisty plot but maybe a little slow-paced and long-winded at times.

Thanks to HarperCollins UK audio for the opportunity to listen and review the audiobook.

The Winner is the first book I have read by C J Parsons but was drawn to it by the interesting blurb.

The audio version was also superbly narrated by Lucy Walker-Evans.

Heather, a trainee teacher at a local school lives a bit of a normal everyday life until she wins the Triple F lottery, "The rules are simple: live the lifestyle of your dreams and win £5,000 a week for the rest of your life, plus six months of fame on the country’s most popular app – as long as you’re not bottom of the rankings. Lose your followers, and you lose everything."

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't one of my favourites, but I'd definitely try another book by this author.

A big thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio | HQ for the opportunity to listen t0 this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The book is riveting, suspenseful and unputdownable. Characters had a poignant back stories. The plot is interesting. As the tagline says, ‘Be careful what you wish for...’ There is a program called Triple F, it stands for Fame, Fortune and Followers. Heather was happy when she got an opportunity to live her dream life and leave her past behind. Though, it’s not how it seems to be and people are mysterious and have hidden facades. As well as people have secrets. The cost of fame is life. I particularly liked how the author has shown characters back stories and their hidden facades. So many unfortunate things happens with Heather. And after wishing for a peaceful and glamorous life, she gets tangled in the web of deception and manipulation. I didn’t see those twists coming and ending was so unexpected. The narrator did a good job. This is a kind of book which will keep you guessing till the end and make you question everything.

Many Thanks to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley

I enjoyed this thriller, which had an air of John Marrs about it. Heather has won the TripleF lottery, and is plunged into stardom, but has to keep her follower numbers up or she’ll lose everything, not just her autonomy and control over her life.

Beneath the shiny, love island-esque surface this is a dark read; parsons is scathing of influencer culture and there are a LOT of trigger warnings (suicide, mental health, addiction).

Thank you to hq stories for my audio version of this; the narration was brilliant.

Engaging thriller that will have you guessing until the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the pubisher for this ARC in exhcange for an honet review.

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Winner. This fast paced thriller had me hooked from the first chapter and I was so keen to find out what was going on to all the winners. If you like your thrillers with plenty of twists and turns and darker themes, this one's for you.

This is a really decent and thought provoking audiobook - the 'winfluencer' theme feeling highly relevant in current times.

The story is about Heather, a student teacher who hits the big time when she wins a slot as a 'winfluencer' (similar to a gameshow where the public rank contestants based on the appeal of their social media presence). Heather experiences highs and lows in her new lifestyle, but also uncovers some unexpected trolling that is altogether more sinister and leads to some amateur sleuthing in addition to asking some big moral questions!!

This novel is well written and features some interesting characters who have been well crafted by the author.

I enjoyed the narration - this really worked to bring the story to life.

All in all, a decent thriller that I would happily recommend.

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this novel in exchange for an advance copy.

Who hasn't dreamt of winning the lottery? "The rules are simple: live the lifestyle of your dreams and win £5,000 a week for the rest of your life, plus six months of fame on the country’s most popular app – as long as you’re not bottom of the rankings. Lose your followers, and you lose everything."

When Heather wins she can't believe her good luck. But it turns out losing 'everything' is more likely than it sounds. Something sinister is happening to the winners.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC/audiobook!

This was a super fun, engaging read. Heather, a hard up trainee teacher, is selected by the TripleF lottery to receive £5000 per week for the rest of her life; as long as her follower count doesn’t drop under 500k!

I like the way the story unfolded, and felt it was pretty true to what I imagine would happen to a lottery winner

I knew there was an underbelly and I was excited to discover more as Heather’s influencer numbers grew. Because of course the troll numbers grew too!

As some point during the book, I believed every single person was a big bad troll and didn’t trust anyone! I think Heather could have done with being a little more mindful, but the follower numbers quickly became an obsession - for all the WinFluencers!

Audiobook narrator Lucy Walker-Evans deserves a shout out for being so entertaining! Her voices were fantastic, especially Steve and Lara! Hilarious

Although this wasn’t a deep and meaningful read, there were definitely some interesting moments where popularity and power were threatened

I would have liked a more shocking twist, something to stop me in my tracks! Nevertheless, this was a super entertaining read with a lotta heart

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

This started strongly, a great premise for a book and the opening chapters were well paced and engaging. However about a third of the way in I was waiting for something to happen and for the book to kick up a notch and it didn’t happen.

I thought this was too long and while the concept was interesting there just wasn’t enough happening plot wise, I kept waiting for the twists but they never occurred.

The narration was good and that kept me listening. Overall though this wasn’t for me.

A fun exploration of the modern-day phenomenon of “fame without talent” and what it means.

Three Word Review: trainee teachers triumph

This is a case of “be careful what you wish for” and did you really need it?
It’s also a case of “not everything, or everyone is what they seem”.

I have to say the plot was exceptionally good and really kept me invested to keep listening along with the narrators voice which made certain things stand out.

I was routing for Heather a determined woman!

Influencers, social media etc I don’t think how much we are unaware of how this affects our daily lives as we allow it. Some with drastic consequences.

I loved this book much more than I ever thought I would.

Why 4*? I hear you ask.

Personally I think over 400 pages to “get there” was just a tad drawn out.

If you like reality shows, social media, mystery and suspense and not like reveal surprises, then I’d say look no further. This book has it all.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Winner by C.J. Parsons, an audiobook narrated by Lucy Walker-Evans, is absolutely original storyline about current world, social media influence and hunt after likes and followers.

Let's start with narrator!
You are the pure talent, Lucy Walker-Evans. I had to make sure there weren't multiple narrators, as the voices, accents, intonations and overall delivery were outstanding.

Back to the story!
This journey was really tough! C.J. Parsons captured the issue of greed for fame through social media. I can already see how some brains will be ticking to create the new project as since TikTok nothing big landed on the social media market.

Heather is a trainee teacher, and she loves what she does, but she is looking for more. Getting the 'Triple F' lottery win, she felt like she had a big, bright future ahead of her. She was not prepared for a dirty game behind closed doors!
Heather's determination and feeling for justice are stronger than ever.
She understands this is not a time to give up, but unfortunately, the Troll hits where it hurts the most. Does Heather know who's playing the dirty game? Can she find all answers?
The final twists will leave you with an open mouth! This is hell of the mess!

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio, for this audiobook!

Phenomenal! I absolutely loved the premise of this - Fame, Fortune and Followers - it seems to be the way that so many people are trying to live their lives as influencers in real life and in the story, trainee teacher, Heather, gives it a go and is picked as one of the winners!

£5k per week and a celebrity lifestyle, helped by advisers to help with your lifestyle, social media, the press and your image. Just make sure you don't mess up, because if you find yourself ranking at the bottom, you're out and you lose it all.

Heather is doing well, but after one of the other influencers takes her own life, someone starts threatening Heather and outing her secrets online. Who knows about Heather's past and why are they targeting her?

Some clever twists and an eye-opening insight into the celebrity and influencer world. Loved it!

Lucy Walker-Evans did a fabulous job of bringing the characters and the story to life.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, C. J. Parsons and HQ for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A very interesting insight in to social media and fame! Gives you a different take on it. I felt the main character could have been developed more and was abit 1 dimensional. The story was paced well and did keep me invested.

First the narration was absolutely amazing. I was so impressed.
I love all books about influencer culture because I am like the opposite of that. I am too real online and off. I am a no makeup and no filters person. I will TMI everyone (but only appropriately).
And influencers are fake and we have to keep telling children that because they do not get it.
Anyway, I will admit to getting my mind off track a few dozen times as I tried to decide if Dylan was hot or a "bad guy."
I just could not decide.

This book is well read, and the narrator puts effort into making sure all of her characters sound different and clearly definable. I enjoyed the premise of the book, and was rooting for the main character throughout, at times it moved a little slowly, but I was kept interested until the end. Thank you for this arc

I was intrigued by this title and description and listened to this one very quickly and it started out really well and I enjoyed the narrator. I did find my attention lessening about half way through as I wanted more to happen and found the pace a bit slow and then rushed up a bit at the end. The plot was definitely different & I did enjoy it but just didn't love it as I found it a bit flat after the half way mark, I did rate this at 3.5 stars and would be interested to see more from the author in the future. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this audio arc.

I really enjoyed this book. Heather, who is initially working as a teacher, finds herself immersed in the public eye after becoming a finalist in a competition she never thought she had any chance of winning.

Alongside various other contestants, they all embark on a journey where they are winfluencers having to upload details such as dress, makeup, home ideas, etc, where they are all ranked depending on social interaction

This all takes a very cynical turn when it's clear it isn't just a little bit of standard trolling going on. There is something much more sinister, and Heather is determined to find out what. Someone knows all their secrets, each person's life who and why would someone wish to sabotage or cause any harm to them, a fellow contestant? A jealous stalker? A colleague, an ex of a contestant, the possibilities are endless, and this novel will have you going through all possibilities till you may or may not work out he truth of the matter before the end...

This book does cover some difficult areas such as addictions, mental health, online abuse, and more so, in this respect, be aware if you have personally been sensitive to these subject matters in your life.

This was well narrated and easy to follow each character flawlessly without hesitation of who is who.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Collins for this ARC in return for an open, honest review, all of which are my own opinions.