Idol: The must-read, addictive and compulsive book club thriller 2022

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Samantha Miller 40, is an influencer and has 3 million followers on Instagram (mostly white and female), she travels the world as a motivational speaker and her new book Chaste is top of the bestseller list. I'm fascinated by the whole phenomena of the "social media influencer" and mystified that such an individual can indeed heavily influence people merely by chatting all manner of b*llocks on the internet. I ditched it 3/4 of the way through to read the last 2 chapters and don’t feel like I missed anything. I guess if I was to have a criticism the issue the caused conflict between the two main characters was a little cliché in part and frustrating. By turns utterly gripping and unsettling, this gorgeously written novel is a fascinating look at the ills of influencer culture.

Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans, she’s written an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa.I think it's a timely story in lots of ways, not least of which because of the public fall of a guru or two we've seen in the past couple of years, but also as we navigate this new-ish world of social media and celebrity being so. There is a compelling scene later in the book where Sam is meeting with Shakti’s board of directors, mostly old, white guys. An uncomfortable look at the world of online influencers follows, trial by social media, and how two people can remember an encounter in different ways, flitting back and forth between present day and 1999/2000.

Maybe this could have been used to talk about the sexual violence happening in same sex relationships that isn't ever really addressed (not that it's addressed a lot in straight relationships, but you get what I mean), but once again O'Neill decided not to do anything of merit. Wickedly good fun, taut as a tightrope, Louise O’Neill’s Idol deals in doubles: two women, two timelines, two conflicting accounts of one night. She understood their despair but more importantly, she understood the fury hiding beneath their smiles. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins.Ultimately, to me, this does a huge disservice to everyone who has ever been the victim of sexual violence.

Louise isn't afraid to grasp nettles and IDOL is a confronting exploration of toxic female friendships, consent, and the gross hypocrisy of influencer culture. Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans, she's written an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa. Her books are bestsellers, she set up a 'spiritual' lifestyle brand Shakti, her podcasts regularly top the charts and there has even been a Netflix documentary about her.Sam is eager to get Lisa to bend to her will, and say and do exactly what she wants/needs her to say or do. The reason I have only given it 3 stars is because, at times, I felt the pace of the book to be a little off. I caught on early to the true nature of our protagonist, though I don't know if that's down to the writing, or me having spent a few years behind the curtain in YouTube event green rooms.