Samantha Miller is a social influencer, the author of “Chaste” and has 3 million followers- to her “girls” - her fans - she’s nothing less than perfect, telling them how to live their lives, be happy, how to find and honour their “truth”. She writes and publishes an essay which quickly goes viral, about her sexual awakening with her female friend Lisa when they were both teenagers. When Lisa gets in touch- years after they last spoke- to tell Samantha that she has very different memories of their encounter, which are much darker and of course are damaging to Samantha’s reputation and career, it becomes clear that both believe they are telling the truth. I enjoyed this book, the characters were well written and believable and I found myself alternating between believing Samantha and Lisa., depending on who was giving their version of events Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

A cool, contemporary psychological thriller that tackles issues of abuse, flawed memories, the darker side of fame and the power of social media to make or break a life.

I am a massive fan of O’Neill, and this book does not disappoint. O'Neill's latest novel Idol has the alluring tagline, 'Not everyone we put on a pedestal deserves to be there.' Idol examines the notion of the social media influencer (the irony), with a particular focus on Samantha Miller, whose career is flourishing: she has way over a million followers, and her new book Chaste has gone straight into bestseller lists; her events are all sell-out successes. Samantha might be all mindfulness and ‘Shakti’ now, but she has a darker past. A past she is more than willing to share with her posse of adoring fans, hashtag SamShares. Determined to speak her truth and bare all, Samantha writes an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager with her female best friend, Lisa. She's never told a soul before now, but now she's telling the world. The essay, of course, goes viral. But then Lisa gets in contact with Samantha’s publicity manager to say that she doesn't remember it that way. Her memory of that night is far more troubling. In an effort to sweep away any issues, Samantha returns to her hometown to confront Lisa. This predictably does not go to plan. Instead, Samantha is confronted by more traumatic experiences from her past, issues she has spent a lot of time and money in therapy to process and aid recovery. It becomes Samantha’s word against Lisa's. So, who gets to tell the story? And whose 'truth' is, in reality, a lie? Never afraid to avoid controversy or the taboo, O’Neill covers some difficult topics here, including grief, loss, addiction, sexual assault, and body dysmorphia, all with a strong feminist slant. Idol is utterly compelling, a beautifully written novel with darkness at its core. A real page-turner of a book that just made me want to keep on reading. Honestly, I wouldn’t say I liked any of the characters, but I wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened. In this age of social media celebrities, Idol is highly culturally relevant and carries a word of warning to all. I highly recommend you read this, 5 ⭐️, but I would give more if I could.

This is such a superb book I didn’t want it to end. It follows an influencer who has built her own brand. She writes a piece on an encounter with her best friend at high school but fast forward many years later and her friend said it wasn’t consensual. This story has me gripped! I read it in two days as I couldn’t put it down. It’s the first thing I thought about in the morning. I’m hoping there will be another book about what happens next. Wow! Excellent book.

Oh my! This book is unbelievable! I've never read anyone that can deliver such important messages through fiction novel like Louise O'Neill . This book follows Sam journey when confronted with a sexual abuse allegation. Diving into the thoughts and feelings of all those affected by it. Honestly, this novel in modern day could not capture cancel culture in a more emotional light, this novel is certainly going to become iconic.