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.

So this was one of the ARCs that I requested that I was the most excited for because the premise immediately got my attention but unfortunately it fell flat for me :/ I think I was expecting this book to be more thrilling than it actually was. It started out well but half way through it I started to become bored with the story, but as unlikable as the characters were (though I’m sure that was the point), I wanted to continue to find out what would happen to them so that’s what pushed me to finish this book. (2.5 ⭐️)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Starting this book and didn’t realize the format is not very conducive to the enjoyment of reading. A lot of jumping back and forth. Probably might be better as an audiobook. I’d much prefer to listen to it rather than read. Right now rating 2/5 stars cause I’m sure there’s still potential, even though I’m not a reality tv person.

This is one for fans of reality tv. Six incredibly vapid and unlikable people are competing for points and likeability (really?) on live tv except that there's a death on the very first episode and now two detectives are trying to figure out what happened. As is the reader. This is told episodically with bits from social media posted by watchers among other things, It's an interesting concept but there's really no one to root for. Thanks to netgalley for the arc. Over to others.

Bea Fitzgerald did it again!! She just always knows how to write the most beautiful stories. This book was hands down one of my favorites from 2024. Well done!! I loved it!

This was an enjoyable read that kept me flipping pages quickly! Six reality contestants are on an island together for a reality show watched by millions, and chaos surely ensues! These characters were all pretty darn unlikable, but I also couldn't look away from such a disaster of a scenario. While not super memorable, this was still a fun read!

This one had potential but ultimately fell a bit short. I think the narrative style was the killer here but the premise had so
Much potential

I unfortunaetly had to DNF @40%. I tried very hard to stick with it but decided that I would probably provide more insightful information DNF'ing versus finishing it out. The writing was very jumpy, convoluted, and seemingly repetitive. I thought the structure of the book was not helpful to the reader and thought that it should've been more clear as to how each section was broken down rather than just all of a sudden starting to write from a different perspective. I think making the chapters shorter and giving them more of a central focus would've helped this book, but I hope that others enjoy it more than I did.

The theme lately of reality TV shows for thrillers is always fun, and I enjoyed getting to know these characters - likable and unlikable. With a fast paced plot and entertaining characters, “Then Things Went Dark” is a great summer poolside read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Bea Fitzgerald for the ARC! “Then things Went Dark” releases August 27, 2024.