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emiemzy's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
briaraq's review
4.0
I didn't like this book, but I can't deny how good the execution is.
I don't like Mickey, though, and I was so bored throughout the read.
Spoiler
Mickey is very performative. She lives for everyone else and changes into how she wants to be viewed according to those around her then she becomes more self-aware and works on herself. It was so well done!I don't like Mickey, though, and I was so bored throughout the read.
enygirl's review
3.0
This was an Amazon First Reads book I picked in 2022, and I'm slowly making my way through them.
While not my normal genre choice, I did enjoy the book. The plot took a very different direction than I thought it would, which was a welcome surprise. The telling of the story from Micky's delusioned POV made this book for me. I can't think of how any other character or even an omniscient view could give it justice.
I do agree with other reviews in that there were parts that were completely unrelated.
While not my normal genre choice, I did enjoy the book. The plot took a very different direction than I thought it would, which was a welcome surprise. The telling of the story from Micky's delusioned POV made this book for me. I can't think of how any other character or even an omniscient view could give it justice.
I do agree with other reviews in that there were parts that were completely unrelated.
jwillis81's review
2.0
I couldn't get into this story. The tendency to focus on things like over-describing the fashion and other superficial elements, while accurate to the character, was tedious to read and the main character was just honestly not that interesting or likable. Maybe it got better as it went, but I didn't make it past much more than 50 pages because the experience of being on a journey with this protagonist was so irritating.
pbailey14's review
5.0
“For all that talk about selling one’s soul, no one seems to be in the market. It’s the body that everybody wants. The body is a currency everyone can understand.”
I saw the bad reviews- and I downloaded the book anyhow. I can see how people unfamiliar with social media, or who don’t like an unreliable narrator wouldn’t vibe right. But personally as a 22 year old girl I was right there with Mickey and could sympathize with her even when I was angry with her. “Like Me” was a disturbing look into the mind of a 19 year old aspiring model with an unsettling obsession- mostly of herself and how she is perceived. We see Mickey shell out pieces of herself (sanity included) more and more with every turning page. Mickey is unlike the normal heroine depicted in Womens fiction and domestic thrillers, she is never fully redeemed, and doesn’t feel “whole”, but this didn’t make her any less real through the book.
The “wokeness” others describe doesn’t come across as the author making a point but as simply integrating pieces of the world into the characters “performances” as human beings.
I enjoyed reading this book and I am not saying it is without flaws, but I haven’t been that genuinely unsettled from a story in a while, and found it to be a very interesting character study that shows a young woman’s descent into madness and the way social media could cripple the mind and esteem of a person.
I saw the bad reviews- and I downloaded the book anyhow. I can see how people unfamiliar with social media, or who don’t like an unreliable narrator wouldn’t vibe right. But personally as a 22 year old girl I was right there with Mickey and could sympathize with her even when I was angry with her. “Like Me” was a disturbing look into the mind of a 19 year old aspiring model with an unsettling obsession- mostly of herself and how she is perceived. We see Mickey shell out pieces of herself (sanity included) more and more with every turning page. Mickey is unlike the normal heroine depicted in Womens fiction and domestic thrillers, she is never fully redeemed, and doesn’t feel “whole”, but this didn’t make her any less real through the book.
The “wokeness” others describe doesn’t come across as the author making a point but as simply integrating pieces of the world into the characters “performances” as human beings.
I enjoyed reading this book and I am not saying it is without flaws, but I haven’t been that genuinely unsettled from a story in a while, and found it to be a very interesting character study that shows a young woman’s descent into madness and the way social media could cripple the mind and esteem of a person.
britmpower's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Rape, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault
eiffeltyler's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! I tore through this debut novel from Hayley Phelan (full disclosure, a former colleague of mine who I very much admire!) in one sitting, desperate to find out what was happening to Mickey. There’s no respite from the creeping dread that something is very, very wrong, the realities of our current social media obsession written in a way that invokes horror. A little bit “Neon Demon,” a little bit “Single White Female,” a little bit “Ingrid Goes West,” Phelan weaves together several thriller threads to create something wholly original in “Like Me.”
It’s a pretty bleak take on the influencer economy and what it means to rely on the kind of external validation that social media provides. You’ll never look at your Instagram feed the same way again.
It’s a pretty bleak take on the influencer economy and what it means to rely on the kind of external validation that social media provides. You’ll never look at your Instagram feed the same way again.
laurajh77's review against another edition
4.0
I actually liked this more than I expected to. The insta-world fascinates me as I’m clearly not it’s target market and so am perhaps more able to view it in a cynical and remote way. Mickey is awful. She’s exactly the sort of person I would hate my daughter to be. Spoiled, privileged, entitled, addicted to drink and drugs, all that matters is the public persona she’s creating. The style of writing works perfectly to create her world. So then when it starts to spiral out of control it seems so apt. In some ways perhaps a payback for the things she’s done. I’m still not entirely sure what happened to Gemma, if she ever existed even, but I can honestly say that I did enjoy this book.