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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Respectfully - what the heck did I just read? Listen, I was gripped by the first 50-60% but unfortunately it didn't stick the landing for me.
I was really compelled by the premise as someone who has watched her fair share of reality tv. I'm always interested in the psychological elements of these shows - contestants who are isolated from their friends, family, and other connection to their real lives and put in increasingly desperate situations to achieve fame and glory. I'm fascinated by both the individual and group unspooling that seems to happen with a few weeks left, and the way that this book captures on this idea and takes it to its extreme is an intriguing premise.
The idea here is a Big Brother or Love Island but contestants are dropped off at a "compound" that is essentially a shell - there's no food, no clothes except what they have on their backs, no furniture, and certainly no creature comforts. They must complete individual and collective tasks to "earn" rewards, but of course the producers don't make it easy on them, manufacturing drama and conflict as they test the group's resilience both on their own and as a whole. (Think: giving one contestant food as a secret reward for a task while withholding food from the group amidst increasingly dwindling supplies).
The book is described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, but I think that does it a disservice because all the competition, drama, and revenge in this book is purely manufactured for TV audiences and the competitors know that. They could leave at any point, taking their spoils with them (and many do).
The book is supposedly set in a dystopian world, but we don't get much of any detail on what is happening in the outside world. There were times I thought this was actually a smart decision and other times when I think more information would have been more helpful to understand the contestants state of mind - just how bad was the "real world" outside the compound?
There was a lot of building of tension that I undoubtedly enjoyed and I was really hooked but then the book devolved in a way that was unsatisfying to me. While I enjoyed following the increasing desperation of our narrator, Lily, and the escalation of others' behavior that had been forecasted early in the book, the ending sorta fell apart in a bizarrely violent mishmash.
It was highly entertaining but I don't think it has a much deeper meaning than a "money can't make you happy" and that point was accomplished with a sledgehammer rather than with any nuance. If you want a book that you can devour in an afternoon by the pool, this might be it, but I don't think it will stick with me longer than that.
I was really compelled by the premise as someone who has watched her fair share of reality tv. I'm always interested in the psychological elements of these shows - contestants who are isolated from their friends, family, and other connection to their real lives and put in increasingly desperate situations to achieve fame and glory. I'm fascinated by both the individual and group unspooling that seems to happen with a few weeks left, and the way that this book captures on this idea and takes it to its extreme is an intriguing premise.
The idea here is a Big Brother or Love Island but contestants are dropped off at a "compound" that is essentially a shell - there's no food, no clothes except what they have on their backs, no furniture, and certainly no creature comforts. They must complete individual and collective tasks to "earn" rewards, but of course the producers don't make it easy on them, manufacturing drama and conflict as they test the group's resilience both on their own and as a whole. (Think: giving one contestant food as a secret reward for a task while withholding food from the group amidst increasingly dwindling supplies).
The book is described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, but I think that does it a disservice because all the competition, drama, and revenge in this book is purely manufactured for TV audiences and the competitors know that. They could leave at any point, taking their spoils with them (and many do).
The book is supposedly set in a dystopian world, but we don't get much of any detail on what is happening in the outside world. There were times I thought this was actually a smart decision and other times when I think more information would have been more helpful to understand the contestants state of mind - just how bad was the "real world" outside the compound?
There was a lot of building of tension that I undoubtedly enjoyed and I was really hooked but then the book devolved in a way that was unsatisfying to me. While I enjoyed following the increasing desperation of our narrator, Lily, and the escalation of others' behavior that had been forecasted early in the book, the ending sorta fell apart in a bizarrely violent mishmash.
It was highly entertaining but I don't think it has a much deeper meaning than a "money can't make you happy" and that point was accomplished with a sledgehammer rather than with any nuance. If you want a book that you can devour in an afternoon by the pool, this might be it, but I don't think it will stick with me longer than that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What the hell was this book
DNF @ 48% 8/27/25
This book is boring. Dystopian Love Island would be an interesting concept, hence my attempt at reading this book. But the topics that it was attempting to discuss are things that I already know. I already know that people are superficial. I already know that racism is prevalent. I already know that capitalism ruins lives. This wasn't as deep as it wanted you to think it was.
All the characters in this are so boring and non descript that it was impossible for me to care about them in any way. They all are just variations of each other with no discernable differences besides the ONE girl being black. It was less cutthroat and more idiotic and I guess the challenges were supposed to make you feel like they were on the edge but I wasn't buying it. These were people on a dating show that is explicitly copying horny LI but they're weird about spitting in each other's mouths for bucket of nails? Yes. A bucket of nails. Because the prizes they won for these stupid tasks were random as hell. I understand the concept of this is supposed to be "what would you do to win. Is winning really worth it??" and that you're supposed to feel bad for these people that are doing challenges for scraps of human decency but like I said, the void of personality displayed by everyone made it hard to care.
This honestly felt like reading a white woman's creative writing prompt that was supposed to show how hard it is being a human or something but like....I need dystopian to give me more than "desert". Nothing about the dystopian really makes sense besides them being on tv trying to win basic necessities. I'm sure there was a passing mention of war, but at the point that I stopped there wasn't. In addition, who's watching? Where are they? What YEAR is this supposed to? Everything was so damn vague that you're like just reading for the vibe that supposed to be giving hardcore. The most thrilling thing about this thriller was my decision to DNF.
Def was not the audience for this and if you found it to be eye opening I'm so happy for you.
This book is boring. Dystopian Love Island would be an interesting concept, hence my attempt at reading this book. But the topics that it was attempting to discuss are things that I already know. I already know that people are superficial. I already know that racism is prevalent. I already know that capitalism ruins lives. This wasn't as deep as it wanted you to think it was.
All the characters in this are so boring and non descript that it was impossible for me to care about them in any way. They all are just variations of each other with no discernable differences besides the ONE girl being black. It was less cutthroat and more idiotic and I guess the challenges were supposed to make you feel like they were on the edge but I wasn't buying it. These were people on a dating show that is explicitly copying horny LI but they're weird about spitting in each other's mouths for bucket of nails? Yes. A bucket of nails. Because the prizes they won for these stupid tasks were random as hell. I understand the concept of this is supposed to be "what would you do to win. Is winning really worth it??" and that you're supposed to feel bad for these people that are doing challenges for scraps of human decency but like I said, the void of personality displayed by everyone made it hard to care.
This honestly felt like reading a white woman's creative writing prompt that was supposed to show how hard it is being a human or something but like....I need dystopian to give me more than "desert". Nothing about the dystopian really makes sense besides them being on tv trying to win basic necessities. I'm sure there was a passing mention of war, but at the point that I stopped there wasn't. In addition, who's watching? Where are they? What YEAR is this supposed to? Everything was so damn vague that you're like just reading for the vibe that supposed to be giving hardcore. The most thrilling thing about this thriller was my decision to DNF.
Def was not the audience for this and if you found it to be eye opening I'm so happy for you.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail
dark
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4/5. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, but it is definitely a "junk food" read. The main character, Lily, is completely insufferable, but I think that's intentional.
Given the junk food status, my only serious gripe is that this is written employing first person - Lily is as dumb as a box of rocks, superficial, and uneducated. There is no way her internal dialogue would be so grammatically proper or advanced with some vocabulary. I mean, that voice did make it readable for me, but for everything described she should have been thinking in whatever slang young people use these days, not with the voice of a woman in her thirties.
I also do not think the ending was deserved (it was "wrapped up with a bow"). Or that one of her relationships made any sense (why this person would be interested in her is beyond me). But I was thoroughly engaged.
Given the junk food status, my only serious gripe is that this is written employing first person - Lily is as dumb as a box of rocks, superficial, and uneducated. There is no way her internal dialogue would be so grammatically proper or advanced with some vocabulary. I mean, that voice did make it readable for me, but for everything described she should have been thinking in whatever slang young people use these days, not with the voice of a woman in her thirties.
I also do not think the ending was deserved (it was "wrapped up with a bow"). Or that one of her relationships made any sense (why this person would be interested in her is beyond me). But I was thoroughly engaged.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated