I really wanted to enjoy this one but just couldn't get into it. I think there was way too much going but nothing going on at the same time.
I love when there is multiple POV but in this it didn't work out. I kept getting the characters confused.

I would still recommend this book, just was not for me

A group of 'kind of' celebs get together to do a reality show. This is a pretty typical trope so I'd hoped this one would stand out. Sadly, it just didn't work for me.

I don't mind drama or snarky characters - but this one starts right off with everyone being mean to each other. I found that unlikely as most influencers really rely on their 'image' in order to keep getting their likes, comments, and follows. I just found it hard to believe that the group wouldn't even give the pretense of being nice.

Also, the story isn't really told from any POV - so you get information as though an observer with little italicized words giving the inner thoughts to some of the people in the room. For me, this made really tough characters to like even more unlikable and really kept me out from the story. I didn't feel like a camera in the room nor a participant. I just think this one didn't work for me but if you like high drama and reality shows, then it just might be for you!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

What happens when you put six influencers on an island to film a reality show? Well, in this case only five make it out alive. That’s right, one of them is seemingly murdered but who did it? All of them have motives, but how do you kill someone when millions of viewers are watching?

This book was a good locked room mystery and I really did not know how this was going to end. It explored mature topics such as domestic violence and our current influencer culture.

Another deserted island reality game show story - is it just me or have there been an influx of them of late? With one contestant dying on camera, all fingers point to the remaining five contestants. Who killed him and why? The story sounded good but unfortunately didn't deliver as strongly as I had hoped. The characters weren't overly likable and I found myself not caring who the culprit was in the end.

Synopsis: six people compete in a reality tv competition on a remote island, but only five make it off the island.

Thoughts: I really liked the premise of this one, and the reality tv aspect is fun. I enjoyed the variety of characters and learning their secrets and backstories. I also thought that the plot itself was pretty intriguing. I think the format of going back and forth between interviews and flashbacks to the show just brought me out of the story too much and felt a bit disjointed. Overall, not exactly an edge of your seat thriller, but a fine ride nonetheless.

In this thriller, six people arrive on a desert island for a reality show, but only five survive and nobody wins. The reader knows upfront that someone dies in the end, but doesn't know what led up to it and who is responsible. All of the characters have secrets and none stand out as exceptionally likable, but one character is horrible and it's not surprising that he is the victim.

The narration alternates between the "episodes" of the show and the police interviews of the surviving contestants. I don't watch a lot of reality shows like this, but I enjoy reading about fictional shows. This book was very engaging as it shows how far some people will go for publicity and the games producers will play for more viewers. In the episodes, a character is shown to be controlling and emotionally abusive and some of that was hard for me to read. Even though the book is a bit long, the ending is still abrupt. An epilogue to wrap things up would have really made a difference. However, overall I enjoyed the way the author told this story and I was entertained.

I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from Sourcebooks Landmark, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

2.5 stars

This has such a cool premise- six people on an island, competing in a reality television show when one of them dies on camera. It just wasn’t executed well for me. It reads from the perspectives of the contestants on the show and there is a lot of telling and not showing. Plus, there are readers’ comments throughout that just took me out of the story even more.

The characters were unlikable and didn’t really interest me. I hard time separating a few of the names from each other, too. The ending is abrupt and anti-climatic. It needs more.

I really wanted to love it, though. Sadly, I did not.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy.

Looking back, this is definitely a book I regret requesting. I'm not even quite sure why I did - I don't even really like most reality tv. But something in the synopsis got me - a murder that takes place on a reality tv show and is witnessed by everyone.

I tried multiple times to get into this, but I just couldn't do it. Now I can deal with unlikable characters. Sometimes I think a book is better for it. I mean we don't have to like a character to love a book. But when the opening prologue is filled with a bunch of whiny, spoiled, vapid twenty-somethings, sorry. I just noped on out of there. It gave me no reason to be interested in the rest of the novel.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, Bea Fitzgerald, and Netgalley for an advance digital copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

4.5⭐️ holy hell that was a rollercoaster ride i wasn’t prepared for! This was so messy and dramatic with the most unlikeable characters!
I kept going back and forth over the who definitely didn’t guess right.
My only complaint is that the book felt a bit long, however there also wasn’t any extra fluff in it. Everything set up the story and the characters and it was highly entertaining and dramatic!

Not a huge fan of this one. It was difficult to follow the storyline and keep up with whose narrative was whose. There was a lot of additional background that didn't seem necessary and made it difficult to follow the main plot. I liked the premise but not the execution.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Bea Fitzgerald, and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Then Things Went Dark unfortunately suffers from great plot, poor execution. I was so drawn in by the premise of a murder televised on a reality tv show, and I do think the concept works overall! There were moments I was engaged with the story, and I truly didn't know how it was going to end. However, these characters were just absolutely awful. And not awful in a fun way to hate, like truly horrible and deplorable. To the point where I was having to force myself to get through the novel just because I was mildly curious about how it was going to end. I think the structure of breaking up each chapter into an "episode" worked well, but book-ending the chapter with a present-day interview with detectives working the case did not work in the slightest. These detectives supposedly had their own background drama, but they were never introduced or explained properly, so it felt weird to be reading about them when ultimately, they had no impact on the story. The book is also long and drags in certain parts; I think a lot of repetition could have been cut out, and it would have made the book more stream-lined and biting rather than miserable. I cannot recommend this book as a whole, sadly, but I do look forward to hopefully more murder mystery on realty tv content.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, the writing was... different. Not in a bad way necessarily but just style choices I would not have made. All in all I think this is a good buddy read or book club read, a quick beach read or plane book but nothing life changing.

If it's a book set during filming of a reality show, I am IN, no questions asked!! And I think this was a very fun, very unique version of this style of story! 6 celebs/celebs-adjacent are competing on Iconic, a new reality show to determine who is the biggest and best out of some big names. Things take a turn when one of the contestants (the most hated one, surprise surprise) ends up dead on the beach. The real question- was he murdered or was it an accident?

Even just the writing style of this book was super cool- each chapter was an episode of the show, with confessional moments spliced in, a rare 3rd person omniscient narrator that followed each character in a way that was not confusing at all (as this style typically gets), social media comments from viewers, and then a quick little dive into the detectives trying to determine if the death was murder or accident. The characters were all a total mess- Rhys, a wannabe actor and classic manipulator; Araminta, a cut-off heiress and influencer wanting to be known for her art; Theo, a famous musician whose band is on the brink of stardom and scandal; Kalpana, a passionate activist whose intentions aren't clearly good; Isko, a semi-famous chef with a relatively normal life and famous friends; and Jerome, president of the he-man woman haters club (incel version).

What I loved here was everything about the reality show (done so wrong in so many cases, but this felt like something I would watch), the way the characters were so clearly defined and seeing them interact and manipulate each other and try to understand each other felt so real, and the way that everything unfolded in a way that kept up the intrigue throughout the book. Where the book suffered, in my opinion, was that there were quite a few threads left open in a way that made it feel incomplete- the subplot with the detectives (was I supposed to care about them? were they connected to the story more?), the scandals surrounding Jerome and Theo's outside lives, and then the abrupt ending. Overall, these didn't hurt the story, I just would have wanted more from these areas!

Thank you so much to Bea Fitzgerald and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

Welcome to the reality TV show Iconic. Six contestants are on a desert island competing to accumulate the most points to win a $500,000 prize while trying to prove they are the most iconic person. The show has captivated audiences, as millions tune in to watch the live action of the cast which including the developing romance between actor Rhys and Araminta, an artist from a wealthy family. As the story begins, the police are questioning each cast member. Rhys, who went from favorite to most hated, is dead. Was it an accident or murder?

The beautiful cover of Then Things Went Dark by Bea Fitzgerald drew me in. I've recently read several intriguing mystery thrillers set within a reality show, so I had high hopes for this book. Perhaps I've had my fill of this sub-genre as this one wasn't for me. And I would classify this novel as a mystery and leave off the thriller. The characters in the book, which satirizes these types of reality shows, were all very unappealing and I wasn't invested in any of their stories and the secrets they were hiding. Rhys, the unfortunate deceased cast member, was the most unlikeable and I didn't care that much as to what actually happened to him.

Thank you Netgalley & Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for an eARC♥️

Confession time: I'm a total sucker for reality TV shows. My friends might judge me, but I can't help it - I love the drama, the catty conflicts, and the over-the-top challenges. So, when I found out about this book, I knew I had to read it.

Six contestants are stuck on a deserted island, competing for fame and fortune in a crazy competition. They're all trying to outdo each other and win the public's favor, but things take a dark turn when one of them bites the dust. I won't give away too many spoilers, but let's just say it's a wild ride full of twists and turns that'll keep you guessing until the very end.

The characters are pretty relatable, even if they're not super complex. They're all flawed and quirky in their own ways, which makes them feel more real and human. And honestly, who needs complex characters when you've got drama, tension, and murder? It's like the perfect storm of entertainment!

I loved how Bea Fitzgerald captured the essence of reality TV, from the catty conflicts to the over-the-top challenges.🔥

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy!

This book follows a 24/7 reality show focused on celebrities who want to stay relevant and “iconic”.
While the premise was really strong, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this one. The beginning was really strong but as it went on and I felt the length it lacked a little for me.
The challenges were really cool and the dynamics between all the contestants was interesting. I wish the ending would have been more of a “wow” but the build up was really interesting.
Overall, it was interesting read and had a really cool premise!

Thanks again to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy!

This was a quick read. Overall it was ok. I did enjoy it but it wasn’t my favorite. The characters were unlikeable. It was a cool premise but just fell flat for me.

I went into this wanting a dishy, celeb, drama-filled thriller. I got whiny teenagers?

These characters are meant to be inherently unlikable - that's more than fine!! That's why we watch reality TV. Unfortunately these whiny jerks just ended up being boring and uninteresting. By the end I was like - dude I don't even care who killed this guy, let's just get it over with. Not to mention, side plots that went absolutely nowhere? There was so suspense, no building intrigue. I'm just disappointed.

I was super excited to read a book that read like a reality tv thriller. Out of the six contestants there were really no likeable characters, so it was interesting to see where their character development went! Overall a quick, interesting summer read!

This was satirical about reality TV and had some fun elements but was a little too cheesy for me. I think if you are big reality tv fans and want it in the form of a mystery thriller novel then give it a try.