I believe that John Boyne is able to surprise and delight me more than just about any other writer I’ve read. His ability to structure complex but compelling storylines, to introduce and bring alive appealing characters and above all his willingness to take risks is astounding. Take the last three books of his that I’ve read: The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a heartrending story of intolerance and self-transformation; A Ladder to the Sky had the feel of a psychological thriller, a book perhaps best read whilst lying prostrate on a Mediterranean beach; A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom provided an epic journey stretching across two millennia which I found hard to follow and which, to some extent, I’m still trying to unpick. And yet somehow I loved all of them, rating each a 5 Star read. So what next? Well, what about modern day satire on people’s obsession with social media and what the author sees as the intolerant left’s over the top reaction to anything that clashes with so-called ‘woke’ culture - yes, that should do the trick.

Boyne introduces us to the Cleverley family: George, Beverley and their three children. George is a television personality and self-acclaimed national treasure. Beverly writes shallow romantic stories, or rather she hires a ghost writer to do the actual work based on a very sketchy outline and using her tried and tested formula. The children are an odd mix: a socially challenged teacher who is being bullied at work by the same boy who bullied him at school, a daughter who spends virtually all her waking hours wondering how to increase her social media ‘likes’ and an arrogant teenager who hustles lonely men out of significant sums of money. There’s very little plot to the book, it simply tracks a short period of time in the life of this group – a downward spiral that seems to have no bottom.

It’s just the sort of book that I thought I’d hate, and yet I kept picking it up and reading a little more and before long I’d ploughed my way through most of it. It made me think but even more so it made me laugh. On one level it’s simply a pointed attack on the role overt political correctness has had on modern society. Poor old George, for example, believes himself to be a dyed in the wool liberal, but he cant keep up with changing terminology and keeps putting his foot in it. And as a white male of a similar age, I confess I have some sympathy with him, particularly when it comes down to matters of gender identification. But Boyne manages to soften the edges by demonstrating real comedic talent in pulling together a number of linked strands in the manner of a farce – it’s preposterous that all these things should so impact one family and yet it’s all highly amusing.

Once again, Boyne has delivered up a book that has surprised me. It’s fun but at the same time he’s stirring the pot on the cultural divide that exists around this issue. It’s another of his books that will almost certainly divide opinion but I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Echo Chamber is a contemporary novel set in the world as we know it with its obsession of social media and its effect on the dysfunctional family "The Cleverley's".. It is a laugh out loud read, a brilliant observation of our current times and more. A recommended read as always by John Boyne.

The Echo Chamber is a contemporary novel set in the world of the pandemic with its obsession to wokeness, social media and its effect on the dysfunctional family "The Cleverley's".. It is a laugh out loud read, a brilliant observation of our current times and mores.
John Boyne cleverly (pun intended) comments on the social habits of many of us, though in an exaggerated way. It is a great read and very enjoyable in these dark times when many are struggling.
I enjoyed it, though I must admit I am a long term fan of his work.He draws his cast of people so well that you are immediately invested, and can identify with his characters, admittedly some more than others.

Not my cup of tea, personally. I'm a long-time John Boyne fan, and I thought I could follow him into a satire, having enjoyed his sense of humour in previous books, but this one was just way too farcical for me.

When I read A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, I liked most of the book but had a couple of complaints. Namely that some of the characters had a very pointed discussion about cancel culture and wokeness that felt gratuitous and out of place, and that the characters in the later chapters ventured into farcical caricatures. The Echo Chamber is like John Boyne took those two elements and turned them into their own book.

The Cleverley family are utterly obnoxious. Each has their own vices, in some way linked to a critique of modern culture. Sometimes I agree with Boyne, other times not so much. I, like him, abhor performative wokeness. The kind where instagrammers and Tiktokers posture, express their morality with social justice hashtags in exchange for likes and follows. I also dislike when people sit behind a screen nitpicking at others' language without lifting a finger themselves.

But most of the jokes didn't quite hit the spot for me, which is not great for a humour book. This was amusing:

'I think I might make a brilliant poet,' she said. 'I live like a poet, don't you think?'
'Only in the sense that you contribute nothing to society,' replied George.


And the one about penguins. I also snorted a little at the Twitter users who tweeted horrendously ugly comments hashtagged with #BeKind. Too close to the truth.

Overall, though, it was all a bit over the top and too on the nose. It's obvious that these criticisms stem from Boyne's own experiences with his book about a trans girl. Maybe if you don't know that, it'll go down better.

P.S. I hate when people say they are "fiscally conservative but socially liberal" as if economic policy doesn't have any direct social consequences.

I love John Boyne's writing. This novel is timely and almost uncomfortably close to the truth, particularly for the author who has come unstuck by "cancel culture" before now. A must read.

Laugh out loud caustically funny, Boyne takes a swipe at millenials and woke culture.. Topical, clever and well written, I found it very entertaining.

This book was absolutely wonderful, I loved it! I only discovered John Boyne as an author after reading The Heart's Invisible Furies which is one of my all time favourite books. Have read all his latest books since then and I love how they are all different and not formulaic in the slightest.
This one is outrageously hysterical. It features the Cleverley family who consist mainly of hideous narcissistic characters, the eldest son, uniform loving Nelson, is the only one I felt a bit of sympathy for! All they care about is boosting their public image. I literally cried laughing at some of the antics, the sense of humour in this book totally resonated with me. The after eight loving tortoise! The brain surgeon mother of the Ukranian Strictly dancer - as a huge Strictly fan I do have my suspicions on who this character could be based on! I guess you would call this a manic satire on modern life and social media. I honestly didn't know John Boyne could do humour like this, he is a hugely talented writer.
I adored this book.

Funny, acerbic dissection of social media’s influence on our lives.

A family in the public eye unravels. Chat-show host George Cleverley speaks his mind and falls foul of outraged Twitterati. Bestselling author Beverley Cleverley agrees to babysit her Ukrainian lover’s tortoise. Eldest son, Nelson, only feels secure when in uniform. Angry daughter Elizabeth has two personae, and the idiot youngest, Achilles, might prove to be a criminal mastermind.

Some hilarious set pieces interspersed with lulls, plus a potted history of communications technology. Boyne is an entertaining storyteller who skilfully weaves the family’s narrative to a satisfying conclusion.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

Thank you to the publishers for inviting me to read this latest book from John Boyne. I generally enjoy his writing style so looked forward to reading this.

The story focuses on the lives of the Cleverly family, every one of them privileged and deeply dysfunctional in their daily lives. I did not warm to any of them. However, they proved useful tools in portraying the many facets of the flaws in social media, its addictiveness and dependency on it in the world today.

While I didn't enjoy this book as much as other readers here, I liked the social discourse that it generates.

George Cleverly is a stalwart of television interviewing and a self-proclaimed "national treasure".  However his carefully curated reputation is only one tweet away from being destroyed. He and his family soon realise how past perceptions count for nothing in the world of social media. Are we all just one misjudged tweet away from being "cancelled?"

The book is a clever, satirical look into society's reliance on social media. It brilliantly covers political correctness, the desire to be seen as "woke" and the cancellation of people who say the wrong thing, however well intentioned. It made me laugh and cringe in equal measures. Some of the observations really do ring true and it does raise the question, were we all happier before social media?

The characters were self obsessed, entitled narcissists, so pretty unlikeable. The character flaws and scenarios are exaggerated and highlight the often absurd nature of social media. The obsession of posting things for likes and exploiting the vulnerable to show how "caring" someone is, is something I've seen so many times myself.

The dialogue is brilliant and provides many of the comedic moments. It's such a completely different book compared to the other Boyne novels I've read, but it was still an enjoyable read.

I’m a huge fan of John Boyne and read all previous books so jumped at the opportunity to read this latest offering. I was not disappointed. It certainly raised a chuckle or two while reading and what I enjoy is the way each of Boynes books are unique. Wonderful characters and a very entertaining story.

JBs ‘The Echo Chamber’ is social satire, based on the flaws of society’s addiction to social media.

The plot is anarchic, there are a few funny parts, play on words and JBs style of wit, but they sadly... become dry, overused clichés throughout 😬

Ok, I am a big fan of JB novels. But I found this one... Totally different!

It was hard to connect with any of the characters, they’re simply... unlikeable trolls!!

I do recognise the characters are not meant to be likeable. JB uses these characters as the ‘dark side of social media’ or media in general. Highlighting the manifestation of the problematic social media use and the serious repercussions the Cleverley family reap. - Ultimately, there is a deeper message to consider.

I liked how JB crafted the short chapters and how he has written something so different to his other novels.
It did have me thinking... Did he switch it up on his followers (readers) to mess with us, like how social media can mess with you?!

For that reason, I liked it! but didn't enjoy it. 3.5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK for the free advance copy in return for an honest review

I am a huge fan of John Boyne's writing and so jumped at the chance to review this one. Such a surprise and so unlike any of his other books.

This is a satirical novel about our love affair with social media through the lives of a single dysfunctional family, and what a family. There is not a single likeable family member. The father, George Cleverley - aged 60 - is a 'national treasure' on the BBC. His wife, Beverley, is a 'writer' to lose the term very loosely. She employs ghost writers and tell them the story she wants them to write. As for their three children - who are all still loving at home - the eldest, Nelson, is socially awkward and has a thing about wearing uniforms, the middle child, Elizabeth, is surgically attacked to Twitter and her raison d'etre to to get the blue tick and more and more followers. As for the youngest, Achilles - described as an 'idiot' by his family - is narcissistic and spends his time chasing girls and engaging in a little extortion. When a tweet made by George is pounced upon by the woke brigade, then what follows is an unravelling of the family as events start to spiral and they find that they are connected in more ways than just blood.

This is such a funny read and John Boyne examines our reliance on social media, political correctness, the woke culture and the campaign to have people cancelled for a remark innocently made. In fact, you could almost imagine the same 'characters' that john Boyne is satirising turning around and wanting to cancel him.

However, despite the humour, this is a book that is, in my opinion, a warning about the way that, for some, social media has become more important than actually living a real life - that there is a need to turn the phones off sometimes.

I loved this, such, at times, a real laugh aloud read.

George Cleverley is a celebrated talk show host who loves it when people recognise him. He and his wife Beverley and grown- up children Nelson, Elizabeth and Achilles, all three of whom he has tried and failed to eject from the nest, live a very privileged existence.
All five are quickly revealed as dreadful characters, each with their own speciality unsavoury inclinations. Beverley when she is not bringing a new meaning to ghost writing, is having an affair with her strictly celebrity partner, apparently oblivious to the countless others being entertained by him simultaneously, Nelson has issues, including impersonating police and medics and necessitating counselling, Elizabeth has an alter-ego spewing abuse on social media and Achilles has a side- line in blackmail.

You do not have to worry about what level you are reading The Echo Chamber at (hopefully), because this is full-on, over-the-top ridicule. When you start to wonder which matters more, going to a Leper Colony to help, or the number of followers this action produces on Instagram, it might be an indication that we are all veering off in the wrong direction.
The entire novel is fast-paced, and the dialogue is particularly frenetic and exhausting for both cast and reader (except for the unfortunate doomed tortoise) and I enjoyed every single word of it from start to finish, maybe not as much as the writer did.
This does not feel like classic John Boyne, but this is brilliant, flashy showing off and I loved it.

I am a huge fan of John Boyne's novels. They are all so unique, diverse and beautifully written. The Echo Chamber is no exception.
Filled with plenty of humour and satire with a glaring relevance to our obsession and reliance of phones and social media, people's actions and the consequences they lead to.
I highly recommend this brilliant and highly relevant read.

*A big thank-you to John Boyne, Random House UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
Mr Boyne is one of those authors whose books I always look forward to. After being granted the arc, I put aside the books i was reading and .... Well, the novel is good in the context of depicting a family whose members are unlikeable, to put it mildly. The world in which they live and their thougts and deeds are million years away from the world I live in, not being on any social media at all. That was probably one of the reasons why I could not appreciate their weird relatiuonships with each other and with the unreal world which they believe to be real. The book tired me and although as a reader I accept unlikeable characters, this times it was all too much for me. Perhaps if there was some light and positive vibe for a short period, I might have enjoyed this book more.

This is dark humour and parody of the highest order. At home we speak of life BSP ( Before Smart Phones) and since. This is a cautionary tale of the downfall that the modern world can impact on people and the need to continually evaluate where we stand as a society in relation to ethics, language and morals. The Cleverley family live in a privileged bubble of celebrity and wealth and over a series of incidents we observe their demise all subtly showing the ways in which the phone exploits and ruins and lives. How the phone controls lives and subsequent consequences make the reader squirm but you are pulled into how much further they will throw themselves into self destruction. John Boyne has written a novel that will cause much discussion but most importantly highlight how technology can be - if you chose to let it -the master of lives for good and bad. The plot is anarchic and at times very funny but ultimately there is a deeper message to consider.
On an aside I don’t use any social media apps😁
This would make an excellent text to discuss with 15-18 year olds or in fact all adults

The satire borders on the farcical at times, and made me snort out loud a couple of times, but by taking aim at so many targets, it risks sounding like the very online rants it makes fun of. Nevertheless, an entertaining read, always fun to let rip with such unpleasant characters who are completely self-absorbed and unaware. And if it helps to increase the reputation of Ustym Karamliuk...

Brilliant writing by the ever talented John Boyne. It's full of satirical humour in a world where everyone is attached to their phones .Social media being the order of the day it tells the story of a rich but dysfunctional family. John Boyne never fails to bring something different to the table. Very highly recommended.

I love this book. Hilarious, satirical and a page turner too. Perfect critique of our obsession with celebrity and social media. Buy this for your friends and family.