I enjoyed this fast-paced and quick read. The plot, although not very believable, was engaging and entertaining.

The story is about a group of Instagram influencers who get to take a promotional trip to Iceland, sponsored by a fashion company. One woman in the group, Alabama, goes missing. The fallout from this situation causes two of the other influencers, Holly and Celeste, who knew Alabama to seriously question themselves and to regret their recent conflicts with her.

I thought this book would be a detective story or police procedural about solving the mystery of what happened to Alabama, but no, the police barely carried out an investigation and the remaining influencers are sent back to the US. My main complaint about the book is that it’s very unrealistic that the disappearance of a popular Instagrammer from the US would just be shrugged off by Icelandic authorities and that Alabama’s family would not be mounting an international search.

The narrative mostly follows the emotional toll that the events in Iceland took on Holly and Celeste. I thought the descriptions of their mental health struggles were believable and insightful.


Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing me with a free audio advance reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to love this one. It seemed like it would be a strong thriller to me,
It was a great idea in theory, but the execution was off.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really interesting and pulled me right in. I loved the thrill being set against the backdrop of social media influencers and their need to present the perfect public persona. Alabama was utterly insane which made the story even more interesting.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this ebook. I loved the multiple narrators which gave a different vibe to each character.

Despite the fact that this is being marketed as a thriller, I don’t agree with the classification. This is more a story about human connection (or lack thereof) and mental health. We follow the stories of three influencers who go on a trip to Iceland. One of them disappears during the trip and we slowly unravel what happened to Alabama through the eyes of our two main characters, Holly and Celeste. All three women are very different than the perfect images they project online as part of their “brand”. We learn about all of their struggles and true personalities through flashbacks that bring us up to the disappearance.

Without giving away anything I will say that this is a very well written book that serves as a great reminder that what we see everyday is not necessarily what’s really there.

This wasn't too bad for a debut but also didn't wow me. I found the characters whiny (especially Alabama), selfish, and pretentious, the only one I actually liked was Nick. And Bella.

I also wasn't mad about the narrator who did Holly's voice, the breathy gasps at the end of each sentence only served to make her seem even more iffy. It's not all hopeless though, bringing Iceland in was a clever idea and definitely livened things up.

2 and a half rounded up to 3 stars.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, the narrators did an amazing job creating a lot of suspense when there really wasn't that much suspense to the actual disappearance/potential murder of Alabama. I found myself liking Hollie and Celeste, and disliking Alabama, just like I was supposed to. I thought it was well written and the story moved along, but the bulk of the story was more about Hollie and Celeste's life versus Alabama's disappearance. The alternating timelines were handling pretty nicely, I was never confused. The pseudo ending left me wanting a little bit more resolution and a lot more drama. I say 5 stars for the performance, 3 stars for the plot, so 4 stars overall. Worth the listen! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Perfect Ones is my favorite book of 2023! It’s stolen my heart. The characters jump off the page, their personalities terrible and wonderful and wholly perfect. The scenic descriptions are captivating, pulling the reader into the world.

This book explores the lives of social media influencers as it intertwines with the real lives they keep hidden.

If you don’t have time to binge read, don’t start reading (or listening) because you won’t be able to put it down until it’s over. And be prepared for a book hangover from this one, with an ending that will keep you embedded in the story long after.

I listened to the audiobook. There are three narrators who do an excellent job bringing the characters to life. I listened at 1.75x speed, which is my normal.

I highly recommend this book, and this audiobook. I’ve already shared with several friends.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advanced audio copy!

LOVED the setting, the premise, etc. I thought this was a solid thriller and it kept me intrigued throughout. I also liked the different characters and found the audiobook easy to follow as we jumped between characters.

The blurb intrigued me but I don't feel like I got what I expected.

A picture-perfect trip goes horribly wrong in this fast-paced exploration of friendship and the dark side of social media, perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Andrea Bartz.

--I wouldn't call this fast paced
--We don't really get any descriptions of the "picture-perfect trip"
--We aren't exploring friendships--I honestly couldn't keep the different characters straight or figure out how they knew each other or if they were friends
--There are some mentions of social media and the fact that most of the narrators are social media influencers, but we are told that, not shown that.
--This book is nothing like those written by Lucy Foley or Andrea Bartz, both of whom I have read and liked

Everyone wants to be them, but internet fame comes at a price…

--Again, we are told this but not shown this

Two days after arriving in Iceland for an influencer trip, Instagram celeb Alabama Wood goes missing. With no leads, the Icelandic police start their investigation by focusing on the two influencers seemingly closest to Alabama on the trip. Celeste Reed, Alabama’s best friend of ten years, and Hollie Goodwin, fitness guru and Alabama's unwilling idol.

--No true details on the investigation, just change in viewpoints and multiple parts of the story rehashing various conversations/situations that led to the disappearance. Absolutely no details, suspicions, or resolutions, then they just go back to the US

Celeste and Alabama have grown apart recently because Celeste has been too distracted by her five-year-old’s behavioral issues and her husband’s refusal to admit that there’s a problem. What Celeste doesn’t tell them is how she has been coping with these worries and how it involves Alabama in ways no one would guess.

--We can't guess because we don't know anything about Celeste and Alabama. One sentence that they are friends from college but the way they interact doesn't scream friendship to me.

On the outside, Hollie appears to have everything—the husband, the body, and over one million Instagram followers. In reality, however, Hollie came to Iceland to escape the implosion of her life behind the screen. The only person who suspected something amiss behind Hollie’s precisely filtered pictures is Alabama.

--Hollie is very unlikeable and not relatable at all. Why she has so many followers isn't clear to me.

As secrets are revealed and loyalties are tested, debut author Nicole Hackett asks: do we control our online image, or does it control us?

--I don't think that question gets answered.

This book was all over the place and I listened to about 75% of it still waiting for it to get started, for something to happen, and for some distinguishing characteristics between the three different narrators. There is a rambling plot. way too much dialogue and inner thinking unrelated to what is going on and a non-sensical "surprise twist" ending. This one did not work for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Really enjoyed this original and timely tale of three influencers in a web of intrigue and lies in the superficial world of Instagram. The narrator did a great job distinguishing the characters and the author did an excellent job distilling our shallow Instagram culture, and the lengths some people will go to for transitory fame. Twisty, surprising, unique! I'm very interested to see what else this author can do!

I really enjoyed this debut murder mystery set in Iceland that involved social media influencers. Twisty, smart and thought provoking, Nicole Hackett is definitely an author to watch. Great on audio too. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

The bones were good for this one but something didn’t hit for me. I couldn’t really connect with the characters - the multiple POVs may have hindered this slightly. Alabama, you need to log off of insta, baby. Celeste was easily the most likable but, for the record, you are not going to get an autism spectrum diagnosis within a few weeks, especially if you’re using a school psychologist. The narrator was great and did a fabulous job with the multiple POVs. Overall, a fast read that has a great setting!

Featuring ~ debut, multiple 3rd person POV, multiple timelines, 6 part story, social media influencers, infidelity, mental illness, miscarriage

Hollie, Celeste & Alabama are influencers off to Iceland for a week.

Usually I am big fan of multiple narrators and timelines, but in this case it was difficult to keep up with. Sometimes we were in the day of the accident, or the day after, or 3 months before, or a day before, or 6 weeks after....it might have been fine~ish, but how was I supposed to remember what a husband said 8 chapters ago to make the wife upset without a recap. But then I'd probably be complaining if I did get that recap because then it would have been repetitive. Also, since it was in the 3rd person each characters name was said in each chapter a gazillion times.

There's quite a bit of emphasis on their appearances and it's like they're in competition with each other ~ they have to look the best and have the most followers and likes. All characters are unlikable, jealously is high and one of them is making some crazy plans which really shows how unstable she is.

With all that said I liked this one well enough as a debut. The author made it seem like it'd be cool to visit Iceland. And it was helpful that each chapter told us who was talking, when it was and where we were.

Narration:
Patricia Santomasso, Jess Nahikian, Elise Arsenault ~ 9 hours 31 minutes ~ I was happy with all of their performances.

Sadly this thriller fell a little flat for me. I was intrigued by the influencer trip but with so many unlikable characters, I couldn't help but feel distanced from the storyline. The audiobook was narrated well but would have been even better had the story been more interesting and moved at a faster pace. The ending was the most solid part of this read as I wasn't expecting it!

First of all--the narrator for the audiobook was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. As soon as I finish this review, I will be searching for everything she's read before so I can add to my TBR. Her voice was absolutely perfection for the overall tone of this book.

In The Perfect Ones, we follow multiple perspectives and timelines. I'll admit, the overall lack of character differences made it a bit difficult to follow at times at first. They're all pretty seemingly shallow influencers, yet once the story gets going, we get more depth which makes following pretty simple.

I love books about influencers, and I love books that take place on vacation, so this seemed perfect! While it wasn't a "perfect book" (but really how many are?) and I do think the ending was a bit predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed my time listening to it and I will absolutely pick up her next book.

Thank you Netgalley, Dreamscape media and Nicole Hackett for the audiobook ARC of this book.

This one had me sucked in by the synopsis alone. The premise of a blogger going missing in Iceland and two others being suspects was just brilliant.

The author did an amazing job at building each character completely and really exploring their lives. Just about all characters were unlikeable however I found that great because I suspected everyone of something

The narrators were incredible in this book and I enjoyed listening to them

The pace was on the slower side for me and but do love a slow burn. I did find the background details of our main protagonists made it a little slower than I would have liked however overall this was a good read/listen!

3.5/5

An influencer trip gone wrong. 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. When the team of influencers win a trip to Iceland by PinkPursue- the sponsor company, they start scrutinizing each other like they’ve seen exotic insects. Things get escalated between them and now of them is missing. Hollie seems like having millions of followers by taking informative videos about grass wheat smoothies in her kitchen, estranged with her best friend who recently had a baby, questioning her marriage and possibility of becoming a mother. Not very relatable and still curious why those women act like more sales representatives than popular influencers. Celeste’s story was a little relatable. She’s suspicious that her daughter Bella might be on the autism spectrum as her husband is denial about her condition. She accepts to go on a trip with her best friend Alabama who is so enthusiastic to fly to Iceland. Alabama sees her psychiatrist, rejecting to take her antidepressant. She seems like a little obsessed with Hollie’s life.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity.

Very slow book. I personally had a really hard time getting into it and felt only a real connection to the mother who suspects her daughter has autism. That relationship felt more intriguing than the influencer side of the story.

What a page turner. An influencer trip to Iceland where you see the dark side of being an influencer and how people truly feel about each other. A couple days into the trip Alabama Woods goes missing. No trace. Everyone wonders what happens but one person knows more than they’re willing to share. And not just about the night in question. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If I’m being honest, I didn’t like to issues that this book focuses on. There are a lot of controversial subjects that the suspense in this book centers around (unexpected pregnancy and mental illness are two of the main topics). I did enjoy the diverse personalities of the main characters, but I also contemplated not finishing the book at first, I am glad I got through to the ending. It got a lot more entertaining once the focused switched away from the unexpected pregnancy and more on how the influencers were going to move forward from all of the drama and complications they have been facing.