Intriguing synopsis but terrible characters. I listened to the first 25% and couldn’t get into it enough so I DNF. This wasn’t the one for me but I’m sure others will love it.

I think this was supposed to be a social commentary on influencing and mental health, but it fell a little flat for me. Social influencer Alabama Wood is missing. During a sponsored trip with other influencers, including Celeste Reed, Alabama's best friend of 10 years and Hollie Goodwin, fitness guru & Alabama's current obsession, she disappears one fraught night and doesn't return. This story is told by all 3 influencers in the weeks before the trip, during the Icelandic adventure, and finishes up a year after Alabama's "death." The ending was a little too ambiguous but one thing is very clear; Alabama is not well.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio e-arc.*

The Perfect Ones is a fun peek into the elusive, competitive, and sometimes dark world of social media influencers. Holly, Celeste, and Alabama are three influencers with varying degrees of fame. Holly is an already established Instagram darling--the absolute epitome of everything Alabama wants to be. Celeste is Alabama's college friend with a moderate number of followers, which she seems rather unbothered by. Shortly after the three women meet at an influencer conference in Iceland, Alabama goes missing. The Perfect Ones interweaves the backstories of all three characters. culminating in answer the question of "what happened to Alabama?" The Perfect Ones was a great concept, and does a good job at grappling with the idea of the "price of fame" in 2023. I do wish the author had developed her characters a bit more thoroughly--I had a hard time buying that Holly was a big-time social media star, as she didn't seem to have the needed charisma, drive, or, quite frankly, self-obsession. Solid 3 stars. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest feedback.

I wanted to really enjoy this one but it was not for me. I usually love influencer plots but this one didn’t work for me. The plot was underwhelming and all unlikeable characters. The slow plot was not very twisty but the ending was good.

All 3 narrators did a really good job so that keep my attention.

Overall, I wish there was a more thrilling plot and some relatable characters.

2.5 stars rounding up to 3 on Goodreads.

The Perfect Ones is a book that has an intriguing plot summary but it just failed to grab me in almost every way.

The story is about a bunch of influencers who are on a trip to Iceland and one of them goes missing. I really was expecting a lot of mystery with a plot like that but there was not much. Most of the book was just us getting to know the lives of a bunch of very unlikable characters.

None of the characters that the book follows have any redeeming qualities. They are all terrible people who mostly do whatever it takes to be relevant. It really does explore the dark side of the internet and being an influencer. That part was interesting to me but not enough to save the book.

At points I got the characters mixed up. While they were different enough they almost seemed interchangeable so I had a hard time remembering who was who.

The way the book ends was in my opinion very uneventful. I feel like I understood what was trying to be achieved but I don’t think it earned it.

While I did not like the story, for a debut novel I thought the writing itself was strong and I do look forward to more work from the author.

3/5⭐
The Perfect Ones is influencers meet Housewives' of Beverly Hills. I found the plot very interesting, but a little all over the place. There was so MUCH going on. It felt like there were multiple story lines going on at once. The main characters felt too old for the type of attitude and life they had. If they were younger and unmarried, it might have made a bit more sense to me.

Overall, this book was very unique and I would recommend a friend to read it. Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I did already read the regular version of this book so I figured I would try out the audiobook version as well.
It was ok. None of the characters are very likable. But then it is hard to really like a group of women who consider themselves social media influencers and use that as their job.
The narrator did do a good job.

Thriller? More like influencer/family suspense.
I guess?
Not a likable character in sight.
Some influencers take a sponsored trip to Iceland.
Some grudgingly?? Iceland sounds like a dream and to have expenses paid for? Hell yes.
How they made it sound like a boring hellscape was kinda weird tbh.
Anyway. They take this trip-one goes missing and the book flits around the timeline and perspectives to explain why and how it all happened.
Maybe if the one that went missing or any of them had redeeming qualities I would have cared more?
Maybe if you are interested in influencer mentality you’ll like this one?

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for an ALC.

Unfortunately I had such a hard time caring about any of the characters in the book. The author is a great writer, the story just didn't hook me like I thought it would.

Narrators were great!

Instagram influencers have gathered at a resort in Iceland for a promotional event. Friends Celeste and Alabama have long admired Hollie, the beautiful, talented woman with tons of followers. Alabama in particular, wants to be just like Hollie, but then she disappears. For someone like me, who doesn’t have a clue how an influencer makes a living, this was an eye opening, if somewhat jaded look at this world and how it works

This was a debut novel? I wouldn't have guessed it. Nicole's writing was refreshing. The story was very current with the world today and the obsession with influencers. I also think the writing was spot on portraying the women as unlikeable being as influencers tend to have reputations for being divas or snobby. The mystery kept me guessing, which I always appreciate. Also, the audio production was fantastic. The narrators kept the story well paced and did a great job!

I was blown away by this book, which was much more than a typical mystery. It tackles real and relevant issues such as infertility, eating disorders, mental illnesses and the pressure to present a perfect image on social media. It was like a darker and twistier version of Desperate Housewives meets Gone Girl. The writing was captivating and the narration was superb. If you love mysteries with depth and drama, you should definitely read this book.

The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett is a gripping thriller about four women who seem to have it all: successful careers, loving husbands, beautiful children and lavish lifestyles. But behind the facade of perfection, each of them hides a dark secret that could destroy their lives. When one of them goes missing, the others become suspects in a deadly game of lies and betrayal. Who can they trust? And who is the mastermind behind their nightmare?

I absolutely LOVE books involving influencers! I find it fascinating. And it always provides the juxtaposition between real life and curated life, which tends to be stark in comparison. It’s just so… human.

In this, we follow three women who are just a few in a group of influencers on a trip to Iceland, though this gives a lot of before and after the trip. We follow Alabama and her best friend Celeste, and Hollie, a fitness influencer who Alabama idolizes. When Alabama goes missing two days into the trip, the world is left to wonder what could have happened to her…

Through insights into each of these women, Nicole Hackett paints a picture of the messy truths behind the scenes and the secrets and lies surrounding the women. She gives you so much of each woman, like what they endure, the betrayals, the real nitty-gritty.

I really enjoyed this one. The narration is spot on, with Patricia Santomasso, Jess Nahikian and Elise Arsenault doing a phenomenal job giving voices to these interesting characters.

herthrillingreads
I just finished up listening to this debut novel by @nicolehackettbooks, The Perfect One’s. The story is told from three different POVs: Celeste, Holly, and Alabama. All three are Instagram influencers who are invited on a promotional trip to Iceland to promote a fashion brand. However, while on the trip, Alabama goes missing.

This story explores the secrets and every day life occurrences that are filtered out of social media. While the faces and thoughts shared on social media may appear to portray a perfect life, it is rarely the full depiction of what someone’s life is fully like. Everyone has their own imperfections.

I recommend this audiobook, especially if you enjoy stories about complicated friendships. It is well narrated and I think it helped to keep the three POVs separate with the three different narrators.

Thank you @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nicole Hackett & Dreamscape Media for an audio arc of The Perfect Ones in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own & may not be reproduced.

This was a debut for author Nicole Hackett. I have mixed feelings about this novel.

This story revolves mainly around the lives of three social media influencers, Alabama, Celeste & Hollie. They along with other influencers are invited to a retreat in Iceland where Alabama goes missing.

It was a very quick audio listen that kept me interested enough to want to finish.

I do believe that the author explored very relevant topics that influencers deal with and what it can do to their home life and their sanity. I believe that was very well written and relevant to our current time. I also believe that the main characters were written well. You get a real sense of who they are and can relate to what they’re dealing with. Well, I could relate to a couple of them, anyway.

Aside from that, the way that it was all supposed to tie in together didn’t really work with me. The individual stories worked, but all tied together didn’t. And the ending irritated the crap out of me.

This is just my personal opinion and everyone is different. I definitely think there some great takeaways from this novel and as a debut, shows a lot of promise for the author. I would definitely read any future novels by Nicole Hackett.

Ideally, I would rate this as a 3.5 out of 5 stars, but since we can’t do halves and I feel it would be unfair to rate down, I’m rounding my 3.5 up to a 4. I would not recommend this book to my audience, but I also would not discourage anyone from reading it. This is one that I will just stay silent on unless asked directly.

I was excited to read this one - an influencer story had to have some drama and juicy bits. But it didn't fully deliver and, while I didn't hate it, I also didn't love it. It was a good read, but I was left wanting more.

There's an influencer trip to Iceland that goes horribly wrong when one of the lower level influencers, Alabama, goes missing one night. Then we backtrack to get the stories of three influencers -Alabama, Celeste, and Hollie. None of these women were particularly likeable. They were vapid and self-centered, in addition to there being infidelity, willingness to kill, and lots of lies and secrets.

It did keep me guessing on some things I thought I had figured out. And I would try this author again.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for both an ARC and ALC of this one in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this oppprtunity. I was curious all the way. Somethind anway different I did. Guessing all the way who is good or wright was really unique. I felt also sorry for people so lost even succesful. And when the autism was mentioned I was sold

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this oppprtunity. I was curious all the way. Somethind anway different I did. Guessing all the way who is good or wright was really unique. I felt also sorry for people so lost even succesful. And when the autism was mentioned I was sold

The only thing specific to the book that seems wrong is possibly the use of Autism. I say maybe because it isn't my lane to dictate.

Otherwise there isn't anything horrid about the book. There just isn't anything. Nothing interesting, not the plot, not the characters... nothing.

The audio production is very well done. Everything (character and timeline wise) is on target.

Solid debut novel for Nicole Hackett. I hope she continues to write and write.

The Perfect Ones on audio was a great listen. I've been in a Netgalley slump and requesting books with little thought to plot, and luckily, this book drew me in from the first chapter. At a little over 9 hours, it flew by and introduced me to characters who kept me interested, although I would not be friends with any of them in real life.

Summed up, the plot centers around the modern day world of influencers. A word I despise. As a nearing 60 year old woman who enjoys social media, but is GRATEFUL I raised my kids in a world where it didn't exist through most of their childhood, the characters in this book were not my cup of tea. The all female cast of influencers value the shot over the experience. The quantity of likes and followers over the impact of their existence and lasting accomplishment. Friendships were shallow and time was spent angling for the value of their "business" in interactions. One character in particular, Alabama (can we stop here and take a deep breath over that name?), clearly had some mental issues perhaps exacerbated by a prescription med and cold turkeying herself. The group is jetted to Iceland by a company who chose them based on numbers......and poor Alabama makes some bad choices.

There was one mom/influencer who gave me hope while struggling with a child she suspected was on the spectrum. As a mom to an adult who is on the spectrum, her story pulled me in. Alas, once she received her child's results, she planned to pivot from selling fashion to speaking about raising kids.

I enjoyed the book. It kept my interest. I fear for the accuracy of the lifestyle and what the world will look like in a few decades where families are monetized and used for follows.

Give this one a listen when it releases on May 2, 2023.