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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If Lord of the Flies and Fyre Fest made a baby and gave birth to it on the backs of vapid influences we love to laughter about, that baby would be this book.
Why do I find horror Fyre Fest parodies so satisfying? Add in the true crime mystery podcast and that is like.... all of my favorite things for this genre in one place. This was truly full ridiculous and Ryan and Paul were my everything. I would absolutely loathe them if they were real life people but because they are instead fictional dinguses, I can just wan to pet them.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A "murder board" made out of cheese sandwiches, decorated with sand art, and glued together by lip gloss. Not only does this happen in the book, but it is an apt metaphor for the sheer ridiculous shenanigans that is this book! If the fierce cover made you think the main character would face perils untold in untamed wilderness, well your not wrong, it just doesn't happen in the way that you think. No apparently the precursors to certain death are unorthodox make-up tutorials, pig feces, wi-fi dictatorships, and a hot pink t-shirt.
In the beginning and middle of the book I didn’t think I would give it such a high rating, but I couldn’t stop smiling at the end and immediately gushed about it. In our current times of increasingly depressing news, things that bring joy get high ratings in my book.
Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy. The opinions here are strictly my own.
The book is filled with what seem like 2 dimensional stereotypes meant to hate on "influencers". The vast majority of characters do not get backstory or emotional depth, but that's OK because that's not the kind of story this is. This style of storytelling bothered me, until I came to understand the flavor of the book. This whole book reads like a sitcom or a parody with characters straight out of TV. If you like the humor of Schitt's Creek or Letter Kenny then this is probably for you.
The book is fun, fast paced, and the chapters are short. Combine this with the tropical island setting and you have the perfect summertime read for the beach or the pool. Great to read in between distractions.
If I could give one suggestion to the author, I would say make this book sillier sooner. It is not immediately apparent that this book is meant to parody influencers, and not understanding the mindset was a big draw back. This could also be remedied by a more accurate description on the back of the book, reading it lead me to believe it was going to be far more serious. I would hate for readers to miss all the fun because it wasn't what they were expecting.
I also thought the main characters drive could be stronger, I never really get a sense of why she so desperately wants her podcast to succeed. She also comes off kind of shallow and whiny, but I realize now that that is intentional, and indeed part of her character growth.
The best compliment I can give this book is that it didn't have a hard time grabbing my attention. I never once found it to be a drag to read, and found myself wanting to read it over other books on my TBR. It also speaks to my sense of humor, so that probably helped.
This book is not for everyone, if you like your mysteries serious with higher stakes, if you cant stand comical stereotypes, if you hate your main character making rookie mistakes over and over again, this book is not for you. If your looking for a fun, quick read, where the sitcom is more important than the destination, then give this a try.
I couldn't review this book without making a comment about the cover art. I LOVE this cover art, I want it as a poster on my wall. The cover is what made me read the back of the book in the first place. I do think the cover is misleading about the tone of the book, but I don't think I could bare it be replaced by anything less.
In the beginning and middle of the book I didn’t think I would give it such a high rating, but I couldn’t stop smiling at the end and immediately gushed about it. In our current times of increasingly depressing news, things that bring joy get high ratings in my book.
Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy. The opinions here are strictly my own.
The book is filled with what seem like 2 dimensional stereotypes meant to hate on "influencers". The vast majority of characters do not get backstory or emotional depth, but that's OK because that's not the kind of story this is. This style of storytelling bothered me, until I came to understand the flavor of the book. This whole book reads like a sitcom or a parody with characters straight out of TV. If you like the humor of Schitt's Creek or Letter Kenny then this is probably for you.
The book is fun, fast paced, and the chapters are short. Combine this with the tropical island setting and you have the perfect summertime read for the beach or the pool. Great to read in between distractions.
If I could give one suggestion to the author, I would say make this book sillier sooner. It is not immediately apparent that this book is meant to parody influencers, and not understanding the mindset was a big draw back. This could also be remedied by a more accurate description on the back of the book, reading it lead me to believe it was going to be far more serious. I would hate for readers to miss all the fun because it wasn't what they were expecting.
I also thought the main characters drive could be stronger, I never really get a sense of why she so desperately wants her podcast to succeed. She also comes off kind of shallow and whiny, but I realize now that that is intentional, and indeed part of her character growth.
The best compliment I can give this book is that it didn't have a hard time grabbing my attention. I never once found it to be a drag to read, and found myself wanting to read it over other books on my TBR. It also speaks to my sense of humor, so that probably helped.
This book is not for everyone, if you like your mysteries serious with higher stakes, if you cant stand comical stereotypes, if you hate your main character making rookie mistakes over and over again, this book is not for you. If your looking for a fun, quick read, where the sitcom is more important than the destination, then give this a try.
I couldn't review this book without making a comment about the cover art. I LOVE this cover art, I want it as a poster on my wall. The cover is what made me read the back of the book in the first place. I do think the cover is misleading about the tone of the book, but I don't think I could bare it be replaced by anything less.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.4
what a wonderful amalgamation of the disaster that was fyre fest and the classic that is lord of the flies. except this time there’s aren’t any psychotic children…we have influencers! yay..!
i will admit i found the premise asinine and was hesitant even flip the first page. but my love for moldavsky’s horror made me push on and ultimately discover that this book was a whole lot of fun! from one morally gray heroine to another, i feel like rafi’s voice was actually really compelling.
i did feel like the satire was a little bit too on the nose for my tastes. i mean, hella badid…really? sierra madre?
what a wonderful amalgamation of the disaster that was fyre fest and the classic that is lord of the flies. except this time there’s aren’t any psychotic children…we have influencers! yay..!
i will admit i found the premise asinine and was hesitant even flip the first page. but my love for moldavsky’s horror made me push on and ultimately discover that this book was a whole lot of fun! from one morally gray heroine to another, i feel like rafi’s voice was actually really compelling.
i did feel like the satire was a little bit too on the nose for my tastes. i mean, hella badid…really? sierra madre?
this has a really intriguing premise but based on reviews and trigger warnings i do not think it'll stick the landing for me. knowing the nitty gritty of how and why fyre fest failed the way it did, paired with the shallow satire targeting rich people and influencers with seemingly nothing meaningful to actually say, just makes me wanna read lord of the flies and watch a fyre fest documentary, because that would probably closest resemble the actual experience i hoped for from this book. lord of the flies retelling where murder is a minor trigger warning? bogus!!
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes