Delicious….
Samantha Miller, wellness guru extraordinaire and internet media sensation, is the epitome of everything to her millions of adoring fans. When a blast from her past threatens to expose Samantha for what she really is, how will she deal? This unreliable narrator leads the way for the reader as we are taken on a, perhaps, glamorous, outrageous, explosive and compulsive path for the truth and the exposing of the internet media facade. This is one to devour in one delicious sitting. Superb.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of Idol by Louise O'Neill in exchange for an honest review.

Louise O'Neill is one of my favourite authors and I've read every single one of her books. So when I found out about Idol, I couldn't wait for it to come out.

It certainly did not disappoint!

The novel follows a wellness influencer who is at the height of her career when an allegation appears to ruin her life. She returns to her hometown to try to find herself again.

Much like her other novels, Idol discusses feminism and flawed women in a nuanced way. It's hard to root for our protagonist as she clearly is just as twisted and wicked as her "haters" are claiming.

After reading several books that I didn't love, when I got to Idol I was immediately pulled into it. I couldn't put the book down! I read it in just one day!

This book is certainly a five stars for me!

Phwoar. This is the epitome of a compulsive read. Glamorous, riveting and audacious - Samantha Miller lives a virtual life millions around the world cannot help but follow & envy. She's built a wellbeing empire, profiting off making others feel good and being the best possible versions of herself. When that empire looks set to crumble, with a revelation from the past by her ex-best friend from childhood, Samantha returns home - a place she swore never to return - to fix things. But can her past actions ever truly be forgiven & forgotten?
O'Neill's books consistently utilise the unreliable narrator to sublime effect, we're forced to spend time with people we would never have chosen to do so otherwise. We become immersed in their murky worlds and oft-aligned with mindsets far removed from our own. That's exactly what happens here. Samantha is a self-appointed saviour of young women, a social media influencer and addict of all kinds with ever-questionable morals. O'Neill delves into her mindset, removing layer-by-layer and exposing uncomfortable truths about how much we ever really know about anyone.

.....her best book yet?

this read is so compulsive/exhilerating/thrilling/f**ked up!! imagine those Alix chapters in Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid but ITS AN ENTIRE BOOK OF BATSH*T CRAZY RICH WHITE WOMAN! super nuanced and interesting take on cancel culture + influencer culture.

Samantha Miller is a famous wellness guru and writer, but she literally encompasses white feminism, telling everyone that 'if she can make it, anyone can' without recognising her privilege in getting to the top. she complains about not having much of a black following but 'WhAttt cAn I DooOoo aBouT itttt.' you get my drift.

she writes an essay about a sexual experience she had with her female best friend (even though both women involved identify as straight) but the best friend in question comes out of the woodwork to say that she has a very different memory of that night!

touches on a lot of issues, like eating disorders, consent, the internet, gender politics, etc. but also manages to pace a really engaging plotline.

ughhh, I hate that this isn't out until may 2022 because I need to discuss asap!!

I read this gripping read in just two sittings, I was totally drawn to the characters and this had you hooked all the way though which kept me page turning until almost midnight.

Highly enjoyed this read and will definitely being checking out Louise's other books.

I absolutely loved this! What a fantastic plot, beautifully written, intertwining the relationships between the characters in such an ingenious and realistic way.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Idol centres around Samantha Miller - who is idolised by girls/women around the world. She lives for social media, her meet and greets and her new book is at the top of the charts.
Until a published essay about a 'sexual;' event with her best friend Lisa (whom she hasn't spoken to in years) begins to knock down the empire she has built.

Samantha and her team desperately try to undertake 'damage control' but is Lisa and Samantha's perception of that night the same?

The book is fast-paced, and the character of Samantha is portrayed so well that I honestly begin to dislike her. O'Neil drops little snippets of what Samantha was like into the pages and my perception of her changed as the story unfolded.

An enjoyable book.

I liked Idol by Louise O'Neil
It was an entertaining read and it kept me interested till the very end. .
I will definitely be checking out other books by this author.
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

First time I have read this author work and it didn’t disappoint. She has written about sexual assault, and the characters whom are portrayed are well written. Look forward to more from this author.

This book is a really entertaining read - it covers social media, fame and probably most importantly memories and how they differ from one person to another. There are plenty of twists and turns with the key relationships described really well. Sam, the protagonist, is an unreliable witness but just how unreliable? You’re left wondering right until the end.

Louise O'Neill is a fantastic author and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to read her latest novel early. This is going to make a brilliant addition to the school library, as I feel that Louise is at the height of her powers when exploring the murky grey areas of sexual assault. She captures current issues so well, and I think that readers can get so much out of the questions that she poses

Another fantastically gripping novel from Louise O’Neill who really does seem to be at her best when challenging the tricky ethics of sexual assault. She presents us with a host of characters who are all flawed in their own way and the reader has to decide how they feel about everyone and what implications that has for the real world we exist in. I love everything O’Neill does and I’m always excited to see what’s coming next.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I was totally hooked by this from the beginning. The build up of the image Sam had created for herself and the way it came crashing down was brilliantly done. It perfectly reflected the celebrity culture where image is everything and a certain persona can be sold to vulnerable followers. History is re-written and a narrative is created that actually blurs the line between reality and the sales pitch for ‘likes’. Another excellent read from Louise O’Neill that I will be highly recommending.

Wow! Louise O'Neill has done it again. This book is superb! As always Louise is masterful in the way she writes. Sam is an influencer & even though she's very unlikeable as a person you can't help caring about her. I felt as if this book was a true life story as the characters were so well written & diverse topics explored & dealt with in a superb manner. I loved this book & it will stay with me for a long time.

Louise O'Neill is gifted in capturing current events and hot topics in her writing and her latest offering is no exception. The growth in power of influencers and the questionable ethics of the "wellness" industry are captured perfectly in Idol.
We meet Samantha Miller a wellness guru who has risen to the top of the industry after her escaping her demons and wants to help her "girls" achieve the same. Ahead of her latest book Chaste, she writes an articling a life see defining experience from her teenage years she shared with her childhood friend Lisa. An email to Sam's manager paints a very different version and having an advocate of #believewomen, she now finds herself on the other side of the story trying to stop her career and life falling apart.
This is a thrilling novel and I couldn't put it down. As in previous novels, O'Neills creates wonderfully flawed and often despicable but are so difficult to truly dislike. She never shies away from dealing with dark topics, which are always dealt with both intelligently and sensitively. I would have given 5 stars but for me the story began to drag towards the end.
This will definitely be a top summer read.

This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC

Leave it to Louise O'Neill to excel at every genre! IDOL is an intoxicating, addicting and timely novel, as well as, if I'm to put it simply, a wild ride of a book. O'Neill is a master at making you become so invested in the lives of utterly unlikeable people that you simple cannot wait to see what happens to. I could not put this down!
Toxic friendships, internet outrage, fame and wellness gurus - truly the recipe for disaster in the most engaging way possible. Louise's analysis of cancel culture (and whether it actually exists), power, privilege and the extent of damage one person can do with the possibility of forgiveness and redemption still ahead of them is incisive. By the end, she refuses to wrap this up, but rather gives the opportunity for the reader to answer themselves all the questions she poses throughout the novel.
If you found the Alix chapters of SUCH A FUN AGE, you are going to love IDOL.

Samantha is an influencer and self-help guru who has become a celebrity with millions of women followers ready to buy all her books and tickets to her exclusive seminars. She has become insanely wealthy and her latest book, Chaste, is expected to be a big seller too. Samantha writes an article about a sexual experience she had with her best friend, Lisa, as a teenager and the piece goes viral. But her world is turned upside down when Lisa says she remembers that moment differently and raises issues of consent. Samantha goes back to her hometown where Lisa still lives to try to reason with her former best friend. The book looks at how memories can differ and how we block out experiences we don’t want to look at too closely. It’s a fascinating and topical read but loses steam as Samantha’s unreliable narration and obsession with her high school days starts to annoy and Lisa is not fully fleshed out as a character to truly understand her. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

This one had me thinking about it long after I’d finished it. Louise always delivers a punchy, impactful read that’s relevant to current affairs. In her new novel, Samantha Miller has become the go-to guru for self-help. Her ‘girls’, her fans who read her books and lap up her wisdom, think she’s an oracle, someone who’s been honest about her past and is now living her best life. Her new work, Chaste, is a bestseller and to promote it, she’s written an open essay about her sexual awakening with her female BFF. The essay goes viral – which works for Sam – but not for Lisa, who says she doesn’t remember that night in the same way. In fact, what she recollects, if it gets out, will topple everything that Sam has worked for in recent years. And Sam can’t have that. But whose story is true, and whose ‘truth’ is a fabrication? Whip sharp in her observations about the cult of the celebrity and the impact social media has on many, this is not just gripping, it’s addicting. You’ll want to read this in one sitting.

This was a really enjoyable read and reinforces why exactly I hate social media.

Samantha is a guru/influencer/idol, however you would describe her. She has a following of millions of her "girls" on social media and encourages them to speak their truth.

Sam also speaks her truth, one day writing about her sexual experience with her female best friend.....however her friend remembers it a very different way and the issues of consent are laid bare here.

It was a very interesting choice for O'Neill to change the gender balance of stories which are sadly too prevalent in society at the moment. It is one of those stories where you will love then hate then pity then hate some characters as the story progresses in the present day but also as the truth emerges over what happened all those years ago.

A really interesting, thoughtful, balanced novel about a very current issue in society which I think was handled very sensitively.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. The issues it covers are so current, and it would have been very easy to write a one-dimensional, yet still engaging story in this space (social media/sexual assault/influencer culture) and yet I found myself shifting from one perspective and opinion to another as I read, so much so that I was really absorbed from start to finish. It’s such a nuanced take on the issue of consent and the impact of trauma, highly recommend.