The Hemsworth Effect is a light-hearted rom-com set in glamorous Byron Bay, in Northern New South Wales, by established Australian journalist and first time novelist James Weir. I don’t read much of this kind of thing any more, but liked sound of the premise and thought that with a male author, this would be less romance-focussed and more funny. It’s true that it doesn’t follow the typical plot lines standard to the genre, but I didn’t find it particularly amusing - the humour is mostly of the toilet variety - and didn’t like any of the characters.

Aimee Maguire, 36, has run a bookstore/gift shop in Byron since she left school. Like many locals, she resents the summer influx of wealthy holidaymakers who have pushed property prices beyond reach, the pretentious influencers clogging the beaches and the celebrities she blames for attracting them. She’s also upset that her boyfriend of twenty years has asked for a break so they can date other people. When a reality TV show starts filming in the town, she wants nothing to do with it, but a series of mishaps and the antics of her nearest and dearest turn the spotlight on her anyway…

You know you’re getting old when the heroine who feels she’s past it is young enough to be your daughter… I wanted to like Aimee, but despite some sympathy for her situation, her self-absorption, cattiness and idiotic decisions made her hard to cheer for. (I was going to say root for but that means something different in Australian!) I couldn’t believe that a woman of her age wouldn’t just tell her fiancé to get lost when she discovers he’s hooked up with a 20-something. Similarly her selfish friends and niece weren’t any more appealing than the vacuous TV starlets she’s forced to mix with. There’s plenty of social commentary here but I just found it sad rather than “hilarious” as promised in the blurb. To be fair, a few lines did tickle me eg ‘The incident. I love it. Ominous. Intriguing. It’s how Liane Moriarty would refer to it in one of her books–and then it would get really annoying really quickly and I’d just flip to the final pages to find out what the fucking incident actually is.’ but then it’d be back to another vibrator joke…

The story itself is not bad; there is a romance subplot - you know instantly when a character is referred to as “stylishly scruffy…” with “chiselled jaw and dark, sleepy eyes” where it’s going, but I did like the twist in the tale that changed the focus of the story. There’s plenty of bad language and lots of talking about sex, but any that happens occurs “off camera” (apart from the bits the ever-present TV crew manage to capture and leak to the gutter press.) Overall I can see that this would probably appeal to younger readers who might relate better to Aimee and her worldview, to and those who enjoy watching trashy reality TV. One thing I hope the author will consider changing in time for publication are the frequent references to Olivia Newtown-John - Aimee’s friend Rob is a big fan. While the comments are not themselves disrespectful, it still seems wrong to keep bringing her up when she died so recently.

3.5 rounded down for the relentless mocking of my favourite band Def Leppard 🤣
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
The Hemsworth Effect is published on November 30th.

The whole idea of this book is reality television and how completely ridiculous it can be at times. From infected butt lifts to selling drugs hidden in cassettes and sending out Pinterest boards about how a party will be styled if went from the sublime to the ridiculous at times. But just like any good reality television show it was hard to stop reading and was really quite enjoyable. Some of the characters were completely ridiculous which made it even funnier at times. Thanks to NetGalley for this book.

In this book we come across Aimee, she runs a book store in the beautiful town of Byron bay. She is absolutely disgusted by all of the rich celebrities that come to her town to buy properties and basically change the whole feel for the place.

Aimee is going through changes in her life right now, Tim, her fiancé and boyfriend of almost 20 years has decided that they need a summer break AND that they should see other people. To be honest this is the part of the book I just don’t get, like seriously who would go for this and be happy to hang with the other person. It just made Aimee come across as gullible and happy to let him walk all over her.

Imagine her horror when she finds herself taking part in a reality show, the kind of show she absolutely hates. Especially when her fiancé turns up in the show with his summer girlfriend!! Talk about a kick in the teeth.

I did enjoy the storyline though and thought that it was full of fun. I loved the friendship between Aimee, Rob and Charlie though I do wonder how they honestly felt about Tim? I’d hope a friend of mine would sit me down and tell me to sort my sh!t out.

Byron Bay sounded lovely, I always love a beach read.

This book was Definitely a book about growth and finding yourself and I thought that it ended perfectly

Thanks for this quick easy fun read.

Aimee Maguire has lived all her life in Byron Bay and hates the way it is gradually being bought up by celebrities and rich city folk in what she calls the Hemsworth effect. It’s got to the point where properties are being snapped up and converted into homes for the rich or Airbnbs for tourists and locals can no longer afford to rent their homes and businesses. Aimee’s not interested in celebrities, social media, influencers and reality TV but when a reality show featuring spoiled, rich kids comes to Byron she ends up becoming involved as a dissenting voice known as ‘Byron Karen’.

Aimee finds herself at a crossroad in her life and questioning what she wants. Although 36 she seems naïve and acts much younger than that. She is engaged to Tim, the boyfriend she has had since they were in their last year at high school. However, Tim has asked for time out in their relationship over the summer so they can be free to date other people before committing to marriage, although Aimee isn’t that interested in looking for other men. Aimee’s 21 year old niece Freya has also arrived in town for the summer and is causing Aimee quite a few headaches.

This is a light, fun rom-com, perfect for summer reading when you don’t want something deep and meaningful. The depiction of reality TV and its ability to fabricate shock and awe is well done and there is plenty of fun poked at the antics of those involved. Aimee isn’t an easy character to sympathise with and I would have liked to get to know Tim better and see what made him tick, but I enjoyed her friends Rob and Charlie and the humour their banter brought to the novel. I also liked that the ending wasn’t a predictable happily ever after one.

I was surprised by 'The Hemsworth Effect' by James Weir. I have read some of James Weir's articles on reality tv shows via news.com.au. I had to skip through a few parts as I found them not exciting and dull; the storyline seemed to drag a bit.
This book is for you if you are into reality tv shows with humour, friendships, sex, drama, and gossip.
I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for approving this ARC for my honest review.
The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir is available on 30 November 2022.

The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir is an unusual and amusing story set in Byron Bay, NSW, Australia. It is crude, rude and lighthearted! Aimee and her friends Roberta (Rob) and Charlie are late thirties and facing some interesting challenges when a reality TV show starts being filmed. Aimee finds herself reluctantly dragged into the reality TV situation which further complicates her life and that of her friends and her only family, her twenty year old niece, Freya.

The story contains a lot of interesting twists and is generally light hearted even though there are some personal and inter-personal dramas that at times create a dynamic atmosphere. Aimee is a bit of a melodramatic character which leads to some varied and often hilarious situations.

An amusing and lighthearted read.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from Simon & Schuster (Australia) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir.

An easy read with lots of twists and an ending that was unexpected.

Set in Byron Bay over the summer break when the town is crawling with out of towniers, the two main characters Aimee and Rob feel like they're being run out of the town and their businesses by reality TV and the stars.

A must read if you love watching reality TV and want a good laugh at the antics of the want to be reality stars.

This was such a great and entertaining read. Although it was a bit hard to get into, I enjoyed it a lot more once the plot really started to take off. Following Aimee's journey and watching her develop into someone she loves was so amazing to watch play out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I loved the premise of this book. Very timely. Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy reading it. Aimee is not a sympathetic character and I couldn't connect with her or her plight at all. She just isn't relatable female character. I won't be sharing my review online because it just wasn't for me but others are enjoying it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

“Ever since Vanity Fair profiled the town in a glitzy feature about its Hemsworthification, the streets had started crawling with media outlets trying to capitalise on the world’s new obsession.”

Welcome to Byron Bay, the locals like Aimee are struggling to stay afloat while out of Towner buy the properties and the prices rocket. Reality TV becomes the norm even though no one is really impressed.

The story follows the life of Aimee and her new persona “Byron Karen”, who ends up being involved in the latest show filming in the area. Aimee is also dealing with seeing her fiancé (albeit on a break for the summer) with one of the new cast members and from what I could tell, it was hurting.

I quite enjoyed this book and found myself laughing at so many points during the story, the podcast episodes were too funny. I really felt for Aimee and was trying to come to grips with why she didn’t break it off with Tim when a break was suggested but I guess she didn’t know anything else until some new hot men came into town.

The storyline at the end felt slightly rushed but I was happy with the outcome, wasn’t the exact picture perfect ending as I had anticipated. I just wish there was a little cameo of Chris Hemsworth too but overall an easy and funny read!

“The Hemsworth Effect” is a pleasant but slightly uneven novel which plants itself right in the middle of current pop culture.

Aimee Maguire is not thrilled about the recent boom her hometown of Byron Bay has experienced. Property prices have gone through the roof, affecting not just Aimee’s home but the rent on her bookshop. All her friends are experiencing similar problems, though Aimee feels a little more precarious than some. Her friend Rob is a hairdresser, and will always have clients. Selling hard copy books is getting more challenging, though.

To make things worse, Aimee’s fiancée Tim has suggested they have “a break” over summer to decide whether they still want to get married. Aimee’s not focused on marriage, per se, but she and Tim have been together for 18 years. She’s struggling with the concept of seeing other people.

Then Aimee’s 21 year old niece Freya comes to town for summer, and brings a truckload of trouble with her. Soon a reality TV program, the “influencers” starring in it, and the crew making it, are upending Aimee’s life.

The tone of the novel wavers a little. Mostly, it’s fairly lighthearted but with a solid emotional underpinning. Weir handles the light hearted aspects well, and parts of the novel are genuinely amusing. However, he doesn’t always handle the more serious aspects with the same confidence, meaning these scenes don’t always strike quite the right note.

Where things don’t quite ring true, it’s generally because the novel feels like it’s trying a bit too hard. All the main characters – despite being close to middle aged – are quirky, with few responsibilities, and spend much of their time doing not very much at all. This is less charming when you’re nearly forty than when you’re in your twenties, and it feels a bit strained.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this novel is Aimee. She’s not as sympathetic a character as I think she’s supposed to be, but nor does she really have the emotional depth to carry off being a disliked central character. Weir never really explores the way Tim sees her in any depth – although it’s frankly quite unpleasant. We’re left feeling that we’re seeing Aimee in her mirror, but that her mirror might be considerably off base. Aimee herself never really explores this, though, and it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of growth.

However, Weir has a pretty good eye for the way reality TV can catch people up and misrepresent them, even when they’re expecting it and trying to circumvent it. He’s also got a good eye for the unintentional humor that can be generated by people “performing” for the camera. Both are conveyed well and make the novel entertaining and interesting.

Look, it’s easier to talk about the negatives of this novel than the positives. The negatives are quite distinct, whereas the positives are more of the “it’s got a good vibe overall”. I didn’t love this, and didn’t find a lot of depth in it. It stopped short of exploring a couple of areas that could have given it that little bit more depth. I did, however, enjoy reading it. It zipped past, it was amusing, and it touched on a range of extremely topical subjects.

If you read this when you want something current but not too demanding, you’ll probably be happy enough. Don’t think too hard, and the weaknesses won’t be quite so obvious. There’s enough good stuff in here to keep you entertained.

I found this book to be a great lighthearted summer read. The storyline moved along nicely and I found myself laughing out loud several times.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

Aimee Maguire runs a bookshop in Byron Bay in the space where her parents once sold antiques but she is soon to be evicted. She and her fiance are on a "break". Meanwhile, a reality television show is filming locally and disrupting local life. All of this and more have Aimee feeling particularly cranky about life these days. It doesn't get any better when various secrets are spilled and she starts feeling totally out of control of her life.

This book takes pride in gently skewering reality television and the rising fashionability of Byron Bay. It also is a story about a thirty-eight-year-old woman who had to grow up too fast as a teenager and maybe is stuck in a bit of a rut decades later. And also a story about love, in her family and beyond and how it can transcend everything wrong with life.

While it was a bit of a slow starter for me, this developed into a really good book about a woman taking control of her life in a way she hasn't done thus far. Aimee can come across as annoying at times and I think that's the point. She's not really happy with her life and yet she hasn't realised she needs to take steps to make it better. By everything blowing up all at once, she is forced to face up to what her life is now and what she really wants from it. By the end, she is far better equipped to move forward and all the rest of the problems don't really matter in the same ways she thought they did.

Overall, I give this four solid stars. I would like to thank Netgalley and Simon Schuster Australia for giving me an advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.

Life is not going well for Aimee Maguire. Aimee and her friends grew up in Byron Bay but everything has changed dramatically. Property and everything else have become expensive with the arrival of famous people. Aimee’s shop is being sold and she cannot afford, or get a loan, for a new lease. As well, after an agreed time-out, her fiancée, Tim, is seeing a hot twenty-year-old.

A fun easy read about life and love in the surf and sun.

A light hearted comedy
This book lit up my week with laughter. It was like a cross between an Aussie comedy and a reality tv show. I loved the character Roberta (best friend) she stole the show so many times. The setting was lovingly described and the characters quirky. The only problem I had was the love interests. For me they story had too many potential love interests so I couldn’t really work out how the main character (Aimee) felt. Maybe avoid this book if you don’t have a good understanding of social media as it is used frequently.
A great book to read to get some laughs.
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a great read. It’s funny and entertaining, well written and will last the test of time, despite being set in a time when small coastal towns in Australia are dramatically changing, and in the current craze for reality TV.
The author reminds me of Ben Elton. It’s satire and there’s some black humour as well as some rollicking good fun and laugh out loud moments.
The main character is Aimee Maguire. She’s flawed, full of self doubt and very relatable. Her friends are over the top and provide the backdrop for much of the humour. The reality tv “team” of producers and stars are horrible and just what you suspected they’d be like. Stereotypes? Maybe.
If you’re looking for a lighthearted but well written book, this is one to watch for.

I just love the title of this book so thought I just had to read it. A good Australian story that takes you on a fun ride through the life and times of Aimee in Byron Bay.

It is a book for today, a book of the times and a book of how the internet plays such a big role in peoples lives (for good and bad!). It is a fun and entertaining read, fairly fast paced so it didn't get too boring. I liked Aimee and her antics and found the humour quite refreshing. I did think it was a tad too long and would have been much better had it been shortened by a page or 50!

For a light-hearted, fun, quirky read this is a good book and one that fills a gap. It is a book that can be shared, can provide a good laugh and bring you up-to-date with the crazy things happening in the world around us. I can't say it is a favourite of mine but it is a bit of fun.

My current adult read is “The Hemsworth Effect” by James Weir. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for the advance copy.

Aimee, born and raised in Byron Bay is going through a rough time: her fiancé, whom she has been with since high school (18 years), has asked for a break over the summer; meanwhile real estate in the town has sky-rocketed in price, forcing her to reevaluate the rental for her store and her home. Amidst the turmoil, a reality tv show has come to town to film, which sets in motion a chain reaction of events.

There was a lot of humour in this story - especially making fun of Aimee’s lack of understanding of social media and current terminology. There was also a lot of poking fun at some of the younger characters and their antics as ‘influencers’. I enjoyed the absurdity of their actions and very often felt compelled to share the amusing bits I was reading with anyone who happened to be next to me!

I thought, at first glance, this was a contemporary romance but eventually realised it was not. There were quite a few hook-ups but not a whole lot of romance (this is most definitely adult, not YA). Instead, I would characterize this story as a contemporary comedy with some adventure. There were some unexpected twists and turns and I was kept guessing for a long time as to where this story was going to end up. I have to say, I don’t usually read very much from this genre, but I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it. It is due to come out at the end of November.

@simonandschusterau @netgalley
#TheHemsworthEffect #NetGalley #simonandschusteraustralia #booksbooksbooks #currentlyreading #whatimreading #whatimreadingnow

The Hemsworth Effect was a fun read. The story focuses on Aimee and the many antics she gets up to over the summer in her home town of Byron Bay - there is a lot going on for her. A new reality show is filming in the town and Aimee isn't a fan.....but ends up tangled in the web of the show. Her niece Freya ends up in town and plays a starring role in the show. Add in a fiance Tim, but they are having a break. This leaves them both open to see (sleep with) other people. This causes some interesting times. Thrown in some sex, drugs, celebrities (and celebrity wannabes) and two fun friends, and it leads to an entertaining story. A light, fluffy, fun read.

Byron Bay local, Aimee, is dead set against what she calls "the Hemsworth effect", the celebrity -infused gentrification turning her hometown into a hipsters paradise. And more than the celebs themselves, Aimee loathes the steady stream of film crews that parade through her town making yet another reality show.

But when her niece, Freya, tells her she's starring in a 'Housewives'-style manufactured reality show, Aimee finds her life spiralling out of control as she herself becomes tangled in the world of television and film crews.

This was not the rom-com I expected. Sure there was the romance aspect, but it became more of a finding oneself story as Aimee discovers truths about herself and her priorities.

But it *was* a comedy - we all know a curmudgeonly Aimee; we all know (or know of) the swarms of influencers and the cashed-up, Pinterest-powered socialites. We've all laughed at the contrived reality shows, and we've all experienced periods of great change. As much as this was a a comedic romance, it was also a social commentary about the shallowness of today's world.

It was an enjoyable read, full of reality television hijinks, improbable situations and entertaining characters.

~Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~