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aliciaceasar 's review for:
Influencer Island
by Kyle Rutkin
Influencer Island by Kyle Rutkin is a book told in interviews regarding a deadly contest on a remote island where the more fame you have, the better your odds are. When a reclusive artist decides to make the greatest art installation the world has seen by bringing a group of influencers to an island and live-streaming their experience, millions of people send in videos with the dream of being picked. What ends up happening is a deadly game no one could have prepared for
The author says in the author note that this book was influenced by the infamous Fyre Festival and I feel like being familiar with that event will really help your enjoyment of this book. This book being told in interview format will be very hit or miss with some readers. While I did enjoy this book for the most part, I do think that it suffers from the same thing written transcripts of podcasts suffer from-you don’t feel as much of a connection with the characters because of the writing style. You only get to know about what the characters are saying they feel as opposed to being in their heads and going through everything with them.
The interviews also jump between characters that aren’t together so if you aren’t paying close attention, you will easily get confused. Sometimes it will bounce around between several characters that are all doing different things in different locations within a few pages and you just have to keep everything straight.
I do think that the discussion of internet fame and the lengths in which people will go to become famous is really good in this book. The artist who is bringing everyone to the island reminded me a lot of Banksey but more on the wild side. Wyatt James is known for painting celebrities but the paintings become more and more morbid over his career thus garnering a lot of attention to the message behind the art. There were several lines in this book that felt like very relevant social commentary.
I think this book would make an amazing audiobook as far as the experience goes. Much like Daisy Jones and the Six, some books are just better and more immersive via audio. This book also has the same feel of the Fyre Festival in which each chapter has reveals that seem more crazy than the last. I would recommend this to anyone who is just looking for something kind of crazy to read.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The author says in the author note that this book was influenced by the infamous Fyre Festival and I feel like being familiar with that event will really help your enjoyment of this book. This book being told in interview format will be very hit or miss with some readers. While I did enjoy this book for the most part, I do think that it suffers from the same thing written transcripts of podcasts suffer from-you don’t feel as much of a connection with the characters because of the writing style. You only get to know about what the characters are saying they feel as opposed to being in their heads and going through everything with them.
The interviews also jump between characters that aren’t together so if you aren’t paying close attention, you will easily get confused. Sometimes it will bounce around between several characters that are all doing different things in different locations within a few pages and you just have to keep everything straight.
I do think that the discussion of internet fame and the lengths in which people will go to become famous is really good in this book. The artist who is bringing everyone to the island reminded me a lot of Banksey but more on the wild side. Wyatt James is known for painting celebrities but the paintings become more and more morbid over his career thus garnering a lot of attention to the message behind the art. There were several lines in this book that felt like very relevant social commentary.
I think this book would make an amazing audiobook as far as the experience goes. Much like Daisy Jones and the Six, some books are just better and more immersive via audio. This book also has the same feel of the Fyre Festival in which each chapter has reveals that seem more crazy than the last. I would recommend this to anyone who is just looking for something kind of crazy to read.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.