Celeste, Hollie and Alabama are social media influencers invited on a sponsored trip to Iceland. Alabama goes missing, prompting the others to wonder who she really was behind her social media pages. I love a locked room type thriller, and this seemed like it would fit the bill for me. With social media becoming more prebvalent over the years and influencers becoming more popular, I was intrigued to see what was behind each girl’s story vs. what they just show on social media. While it was entertaining, it was a little too much of a slow burn for me. Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. This book releases May 2.

When social media influencers get together for a work trip in Iceland it can be back stabbingly devastating with one of them ending up missing and other’s lives exploding in their faces. These women who seemingly innocently promote wellness and products to those desperately looking for miracle cures unfortunately can eat each other alive! The Perfect Ones is by far perfect and throughout this incredibly thrilling story the discoveries of their imperfections are shocking and juicy. The best type of an exciting plot.

Celeste Reed has a bit of a following, but nothing compared to the rest of the women. She is much more plain and other responsibilities take precedent over posting. She reluctantly decides at the last minute to go on this trip, even though she and her husband have been arguing about whether their young daughter needs some sort of intervention. She has been acting out recently. Celeste’s intuition says yes, her husband is not on board.

Alabama Wood is all about her Instagram number of followers and other influencers. She is Celeste’s best friend and has been for many years. Alabama cannot believe her luck! Not only is she excited about this trip, but she can’t believe icon influencer Hollie Goodwin will be on this trip! In her mind, she knows once she meets Hollie, they will become fast best friends. She knows her life will change after this trip with Hollie in her corner. But what no one knows is Alabama has been having some mental issues and has been on medication. She seemed to settle down, but unbeknownst to her husband and doctor, has stopped taking her medication.

Hollie Goodwin is a very famous fitness influencer. Although this year has been pretty tough on her. She has been through a tremendous amount of turmoil. Hollie’s weight has increased a bit this year. She has been able to hide it so no one can tell, and she is happy at least the weather is cold in Iceland so hopefully she can continue to mask her weight gain. Hollie realizes Alabama is a bit obsessed with her, something at this stage in her life she certainly does not need.

So, when Alabama suddenly goes missing and the police are unable to find any clues as to her disappearance, the women are shocked. Or are they really?

As the story moves from the day of the disappearance to the next day, and three months prior to and three months after the disappearance, we continuously begin to learn the buried secrets of these high profiled women. With one shocking revelation after another, not even the reader can fully decide who was involved. Or why.

The Perfect Ones is a heart pounding story you won’t want to put down until you find out what really happened. It makes you think that the next time you perhaps flip to Instragram and envy someone’s perfect story, know that it perhaps may not be the full truth. No one is truly as flawless as you think. Some perhaps could possibly hold deadly secrets.

Thank you #NetGalley #CrookedLandBooks #NicoleHackett #ThePerfectOnes for the advanced copy.

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. The opinions are my own and freely given.

An Influencer trip in Vik, Iceland is sponsored by PinkPurse. This is the story of Celeste and her best friend Alabama, from Chicago and Hollie from Dallas. Hollie has a million followers and Alabama wants that "something" that gets her likes and follows. She attempts to make friends with Hollie. Hollie is dealing with her own personal issues and really doesn't want to deal with Alabama. Celeste is worried about her five-year-old daughter. Then one of the three disappear.

This story is told from 3-months prior to the arrival in Vic, The Day Of, The Day After and then after the influencers go home to their respective cities.

I spent most of the book trying to figure out what horrible secret Celeste had and what Hollie did. (Obviously that is all revealed). I really was bored with the prior to section of the book. When the ladies all made it to Vik, it got better, but then it bounced back to tell their stories, and I sort of lost interest. This wasn't a pulse pounding, can't put down type of book. I wouldn't say this is a thriller at all, and I am tempted to say it isn't much of a mystery. The end, which is 1-year later, left me wondering what was going to happen. It just seemed to end.

To me this book was just ok. I didn't love it or hate it.

I loved the complex characters and twists in this enjoyable story! Each social media influencer was obsessed with presenting a certain persona to their followers. It was interesting to delve below the artifice to their true thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Very well done!

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. I found it at times a bit confusing at times with all of the characters and timeline. Also the constant weight talk and body shaming was a real letdown to read about.

Chapters switch between Celeste and Hollie, showing their lives prior to the Iceland trip as well as the before/after Alabama’s disappearance. I didn’t really like any of the characters, they’re all superficial and unlikeable while also being boring. It was easy and quick to read which is part of the reason I finished (I also wanted to see if my predictions were right).

The writing is more telling than showing. The amount of talk about calories, weight gain, body shaming was exhausting-i got really tired of the constant tearing down of other women.

We’re thrown immediately into the mystery and I would’ve liked more about the trip itself and interactions leading to the disappearance. The drama is meh and there’s zero tension; I was right about every plot twist which I guessed before the 20% mark.

The ending was so abrupt and once again mental illness is being used as a trope (which I hate and find to be lazy writing). The premise would’ve been so good exploring the dark side of influencers and social media but the execution was poor. Sadly this was one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year and ended up being my lowest rated read so far.

Rating: 2.5/5

TW/CW: pregnancy, body shaming, eating disorder, fatphobia, infertility (brief mention), stillbirth (brief), infidelity, miscarriage, blood, suicide (brief), mental illness

I never realized how obsessive a person can be over followers and likes on social media but it's true. This book brings you down the rabbit hole of influencers and just how much it matters to them.

Celeste and Alabama are best friends and excited about an upcoming trip to Iceland for an influencer gathering, Hollie is very popular and has a lot of followers but also hidden secrets she doesn't want anyone to know about. Once in Iceland Alabama Wood seems obsessed with Hollie and they both get into an altercation. When Alabama Wood goes missing Celeste and Hollie carry so much guilt.

This book was well written as well as the characters, thoroughly enjoyed and I would recommend to anyone that likes a thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review..

I love influencer horror stories but this one just didn't hit the mark for me. We were dumped right into the incident, which I usually appreciate, but knowing that and then learning so many people grew tedious. I got to a point where I just wasn't really interested. It's also more about kids than I thought but not in the juicy mommy blogger way.

It just didn't work for me but the writing was fine and I'll definitely check out more from the author.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy. I am sorry to say that this book was really not good. The writing is poor, the plot is paper thin, the “twists” are laughable, the characters are somehow both unlikeable and completely boring, etc.
I really just did not get it at all.

So far, the few books that I've read with an emphasis on the dangers of social media haven't worked out for me. I'm saddened to say that The Perfect Ones is the same. Starting with the positives, I found the writing to be very well done especially considering that this is a debut. I enjoyed getting to know the characters beforehand the trip to Iceland. I expected much more drama and intrigue to happen once the influencer got together however, not much happens and the book becomes less about what happened to Alabama Wood and more about the internal dialogue and feelings of the other main characters. Domestic issues continue to be a turn off in thrillers for me and relying on the mentally unstable trope just felt gimmicky. Also the way bodies were talked about especially in relation to binge eating was gross. The book needs an extensive content warning list as a huge variety of topics are mentioned. I expected the twist at the end from the very beginning but I felt the actual ending came to an abrupt stop that I wasn't expecting. Overall, the book has great readability but the actual plot left me feeling let down.

Story of the book-

Instagram star Alabama Wood goes missing two days after landing in Iceland for an influencer tour. With no clues, the Icelandic police concentrate their inquiry on the two influences who appeared to be traveling with Alabama the most. Celeste Reed, Alabama’s longtime best friend, and Hollie Goodwin, a fitness expert, and unwitting role model.

Celeste and Alabama’s relationship has lately deteriorated since Celeste has been preoccupied with dealing with the behavioral problems of her five-year-old and her husband’s inability to acknowledge a problem. Celeste doesn’t reveal to them how she has been handling these concerns or how it unexpectedly includes Alabama.

Hollie seems to have it all on the outside—the husband, the physique, and more than a million Instagram followers. Hollie traveled to Iceland to get away from the collapse of her life as an actress. Alabama was the only one who saw something odd about Hollie’s meticulously filtered photos. New author Nicole Hackett poses the question, “Do we control our online image, or does it control us?” when secrets are exposed and loyalties are put to the test.

My review-

A demanding influencer who goes missing while on a group vacation to Iceland is the subject of the fascinating mystery The Perfect Ones. With its access to insights into the influencer lifestyle, this story originally fascinated me. I believe this to be an endlessly fascinating subject, and I want to know more about these fictitious influencers, both online and offline. The characters are what you would anticipate from a book of this type. Although they are not perfect and do have problems, I did not find them to be dislikeable. This book was quite sluggish throughout, which isn’t something I usually like. Without spoilers, not much else can be said, although even they weren’t all that intriguing.

I adored the book’s idea. Influencers’ seemingly flawless lives are in contrast to reality. In today’s day and age, that is unquestionably extremely pertinent. This novel, which moves quickly, examines the sinister side of social media and online stardom. The plot is less of a thriller and more about friendships, social media, and internal concerns. At least, reading it gave off that impression. This novel immerses you in the deeper and darker choices made by three very different characters and is driven by the inner workings of the mind. The major reason I didn’t enjoy this book was that I thought the behavior of the characters wasn’t consistent and at times seemed out of character. Overall, I believe that this book simply didn’t reflect how I saw influencers, which is why I felt cut off from it right away.

If anything, I would classify this as domestic suspense. Although the conclusion isn’t flawless, it seemed to be the only option in this situation. I liked the book’s theme, which contrasted an Influencer’s truth and image. Everyone aspires to be them, but online stardom is not free. In today’s social media-driven culture, it is still relevant. I found this thriller to be a little too predictable. Although I found the plot to be rather compelling, I was able to predict its conclusion pretty much right away. So, not unexpected. For me, the conclusion fell a little flat. However, it kept my interest, and I like the concise portions. It’s one of those books where you keep repeating, “Just one more chapter,” and then all of a sudden you’re done.

Loved this book. I think it’s the perfect domestic thriller that is so poignant in this day and age! And the setting of Iceland is just amazing! Bravo!

I think this will be a hit for die hard fans of Lucy Foley, I'm not sure if it will be a solid recommendation for fans of Hepworth, Constantine or Miranda,

The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett is a timely story about the dark side of social media and the extent people will go to get followers and likes. The mystery centres around a group of instagram influencers who are on a promotional trip to Iceland. However, after two days Alabama Wood goes missing and everyone is a suspect in her disappearance. Her best friend Celeste Reed and star influencer Hollie Goodwin have secrets to hide and are guilty of wrongs to Alabama, and potentially her murder.

What I liked about the book:
-the setting of Iceland
-the toxic world of influencers and social media where nothing is as it seems
-the exploration of what people will do to become a celebrity
-toxic friendships and how women pit themselves against one another
-chapters with different POVs

What I disliked about the book:
-the pacing seemed slow especially in the middle but picked up by the end
-unlikeable characters that I couldn’t relate to, I found them shallow with very little relatable characteristics
-abrupt, open ended conclusion…I was invested in it then it left me wanting something more to happen

My rating: 3 out of 5

My final takeaway: I found the premise of the book intriguing but it was slow and fell flat. If you are a fan of the dark side of celebrity and social media then this book may interest you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this eARC.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

REVIEW TO FOLLOW.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

This book was fantastic! I was honestly forgetting their was a mystery involved as I was really into the different relationships, egos and stories. Each character honestly me guessing until the end. Highly recommend 👌.

I didn’t love this. I guess I also thought it was more of a thriller so it fell flat for me. I didn’t like the characters but I did like the ending.

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 3 | Atmosphere: 1 | Writing: 5 | Plot: 5 | Intrigue: 4 | Logic: 9 | Enjoyment: 1
Total: 4.00

To say this thriller was the opposite of its genre name would be putting it lightly. There were no high stakes, and the twist was predictable from 10% in. I found that I didn't care about any of these characters, and none of them had enough motive to be at risk for being responsible for Alabama's death. The glorification of social media felt less than researched, and as a social media manager, I found the examples of this laughable. The entire thing was boring, and I found myself dragging through the final quarter. Was it worth reading it to the end? Not really. This tale felt underwhelming.

The whole time I was reading this, I was going to give it 3.5 stars, but I didn’t know how I’d round. Then I got to the ending, read the twist I should have seen coming but didn’t, and I decided to round up for that and this being a debut novel. The atmosphere was great, the writing was great, but the story just didn’t hit. Still, it was an entertaining plot, and a good look at how social media can affect mental health.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of The Perfect Ones in exchange for an honest review.

I rather enjoyed this book, although I wouldn't really classify it as a thriller, for me it didn't quite hit that threshold. I enjoyed the disjointed timelines that followed the three main characters. This to me is the perfect beach read, it is interesting, easy to read, and the ending caught me off guard. I hope she writes more in the future with these characters.