Author: Goldy Moldavsky
Genre: humor/retelling
Similar books: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Tiffany Brooks
Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): Rafi Francisco needs a splashy case to put her true-crime podcast on the map. Her plan? Land an interview with Fly Fest headliner River Stone, who rocketed to stardom after his girlfriend's mysterious disappearance—and expose him as the killer she's sure he is.
But when Rafi—and the hordes of influencers—arrive at Fly Fest, the dreamy Caribbean getaway they were promised turns out to be a nightmare. Soon, Rafi is fighting for her life against power-hungry beauty gurus and spotty WiFi. And, as she gets closer to River, she discovers that his secrets might have even bigger consequences than she suspected.
My opinion: I was one of those kids who was really into The Lord of the Flies, the way it tore apart the trappings of society and the idea of being civilized. So I was pretty on board with a book that would do the same for modern influencer culture. And this book certainly achieves that end. Moldavsky absolutely points out all of the flaws and ridiculousness of that subculture. To an extreme degree. And the extremes are part of why this book doesn't work for me. There is a heavy sense of unreality, like the whole thing might just be a fever dream. The characters are not developed in any serious way and it's hard to take the messaging with anything more than a smirk. While I agree Golding's original novel perhaps has not aged well and has been lifted on too high of a pedestal, I'm not sure this book is the answer.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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