An affluent family haunted by a decades long curse are thrown into turmoil when a series of deepfake videos threaten to end the political career of one sibling and halt the recovery of another. This uses technology in a really interesting way to propel the mystery and highlight the blurry space between what’s real and what’s an illusion. Great character development and commentary, harrowing story, original premise, it’s a big recommend from me!

"Vantage Point" by Sara Sligar is one wild ride and earns a top spot as one of my favorite books of the year! Combining deepfake technology and a generational family curse, the author plaits together a Gothic mystery that packs a serious punch and keeps a reader turning pages. Including such heavy themes as body shaming, eating disorders, and slut shaming, "Vantage Point" is not a light read and may be triggering for some. However, it left me breathless with suspense and on the edge of my seat, with twists and turns I didn't see coming and its entirely relatable characters. This is the kind of book that makes a reader stay up late into the night, unable to put it down. It truly is psychological suspense at its best.

Many thanks to NetGalley for introducing me to this talented writer-"Vantage Point" is my first novel by Sara Sligar but certainly will not be my last!

I enjoyed a lot of this book, it was well written, and I felt I got to know the characters with a few laughs along the way. However it felt unnecessarily long as if the author felt she had to keep adding twists and layers of plot rather than let the story speak for itself. The ending also seemed a bit unlikely.
Thank you to netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advance copy of this book

I’ve never read anything from this author before, but I’m so glad that I did! It was quite suspenseful and as described, it definitely had the Succession feel. The creativity was so impressive as well.

Suspense story about a rich family with a curse and a family torn apart by ambition. Clara and Teddy are part of the very wealthy Weiland family and Jess is Teddy's wife and Clara's best friend, Clara has struggled with an eating disorder for years and has been unstable since the accidental death of her parents that she feels responsible towards. Teddy is running for the senate and wants everything in his life to look perfect including having a perfect wife and hiding his sister away. Trouble rears it's head when a video comes out which appears to be a revenge porn video of Clara. Only Clara cannot remember the video and suspects it is a deep fake. As other videos start being released, Clara begins to see strange visions and her brother and best friend don't believe her. Told in both Jess and Clara's voices, we see flashbacks to when they were teenage students and became best friends to the current time when Jess has to choose between believing her best friend or her husband.

The novel deals with politics, deep fakes, holograms and eating disorders. At times the story seems disjointed as different chapters seem to go in different directions and it took quite awhile before the suspenseful parts were featured. There are also snippets from Wikipedia links about the Weiland family curse which takes place in April but this was never really fleshed out in the story. The author did do a good job in talking about Clara's eating disorder and how hard it was for her to be believed by her family but I thought the mystery part was a bit lacking. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

I loved the story of a affluent family's downfall combined with deepfakes and technology in this one. I think the ending might alienate some, there is a decent amount of suspension of disbelief needed but I ended up liking what Sligar did with it.

I have never read anything by this author before and was very intrigued by the cover alone (Never judge a book by its cover, I know I know lol) but this was very interesting! It was very creepy and I love dual perspectives. Overall, a great read!

Thanks NetGalley for this opportunity

It would be nice to say that what happens in this book is completely, absurdly impossible but, as the author says in the afterword and as anyone with internet access can discover, it is eerily plausible with modern technology. Clara and Teddy are mega-wealthy siblings. Teddy is married to Clara’s best friend Jess and is running for Senate. Clara is really struggling with an eating disorder and Teddy and Jess are her rocks. But then things happen and, well, maybe the least balanced one of them may be the most resourceful. The characters are insanely rich, which makes them unrelatable to 99% of the population. Still, I was really invested in their story and rooting for them. Being of normal extraction, Jess is the stand-in for the readers, since she sees everything through less privileged eyes. The plot is bananas but completely addictive. The main reveal may not have been the most shocking, but it made sense so I was happy with the way the story ended. It was also nice that the book was not political, despite dealing with a Senatorial campaign. The plot delves into very dark territory, but it was so suspenseful that it was not too depressing. Very enjoyable.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Farrar, Straus and Giroux | MCD.

Gripping, twisty-turny, completely engrossing read that will nail you to your seat until you've reached the last page! Can't wait for more from this author.

I wasn't sure what to expect - this was CREEPY!! it was good - story line was a bit hard to follow at times, but creepy is the best way to describe it! CREATIVE to the max. The hologram piece was fascinating

Vantage Point is the Wieland family mansion, built on a small island off the coast of Maine. It's also where generations of Wieland's have been famously cursed. Not long after Clara Wieland, her brother Teddy, and his wife Jess move into the mansion, bad things begin to happen. These events caused this reviewer to wonder, "Do family curses become self-fulfilling prophecies?"

Clara is a damaged, fragile young woman and the protagonist of this story. I empathized with her throughout the tale and rooted for her through a life-shattering crisis. How she confronts the ordeal and the changes it brings is at the heart of the story.

Vantage Point is a modern-day gothic novel with all the nuances and atmosphere of a vintage tale set in our technological time. The writing is good, the story is entertaining, and the ending is satisfying.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for providing an advance copy of the book to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews.com at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

4.5 stars. I have been in such a terrible reading slump, and this gritty techno family drama finally got me out of it.

Vantage Point tells the story of two siblings, Teddy and Clara, the remaining heirs of the Wieland fortune. Much has been made about the supposed Wieland family curse, where numerous family members encountered a terrible fate during the month of April. Now that Teddy is running for Senate and Clara finally seems to have put past addictions behind her, a series of strange events and the release of malicious deepfake videos bring the curse back to the forefront.

This story is propulsive and has definite Succession vibes. Added to the mix is Jess, Clara's childhood best friend, and wife to Teddy. The narrative effectively jumps between Clara and Jess's POVs, both in the modern day and the past. There is a tech element that requires a little suspension of disbelief, but overall, this was such a solid and twisty drama with a wild ending. Highly recommend.

[Snack-Size Review] Vantage Point, by Sarah Sligar

Quick Bite: Rich people problems… are weirdly fascinating.

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

What It’s About: Clara and her brother Teddy are the last remaining Weilands - a fabulously wealthy and famously cursed family reminiscent of the Kennedys. Right now, however, things are looking up. Clara is on the road to recovery from a serious eating disorder, and Teddy, married to Clara’s best friend Jess, is in the middle of his seemingly predestined Senate run. But then a disturbing video featuring Clara appears online. Clara can’t remember the events of the video, but also, isn’t sure they didn’t happen. But then another video comes out. And another…

A Word From The Nerd: I’m just going to say it: I usually try to avoid anything that could be labeled a “techno-thriller”. Mainly because a lot of authors who would describe their work as such are so in love with the techno part that they forget the thriller amidst all the VR and AI and whatever other kind of techy stuff the kids are into now. But Vantage Point never loses sight of the messy humanness of it all, with deeply flawed and deeply understandable characters and a rich family history and oh yeah - a pretty great mystery.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and a big old seafood platter.)

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Vantage Point by Sara Silgar. This is a story about three people, but ultimately it’s about a whole family. This follows the children, Teddy and Clara, who are the orphaned children of the wealthy Wieland family. After their parents’ deaths many years earlier, they have moved on, with Teddy marrying Jess, Clara’s good friend and then deciding to running for a senate seat. Then some disturbing information comes out about Clara and she has no idea where this has come from. As she feels like she is going crazy, Clara begins to think this related to her parents’ untimely death. If you enjoy a thriller type of story, I think you will like this book. While it wasn’t a favorite, I enjoyed it.

This is a novel with far-reaching topics: a family curse, a political campaign, a bulimic crisis, deepfake videos. Author Sligar has pulled these all together for a terrific thriller.
The two POVs are Clara and Jess, although Clara Wieland takes center stage. Clara and Jess have been best friends since childhood — the rich girl of a Maine Island, and an islander townie who grew up with a single mother who scraped by. They became even closer when Jess married Clara’s older brother, Teddy, a charismatic politician campaigning for the Senate. Jess and Teddy bonded when Clara descended into a life-threatening eating disorder, brought on by depression since she witnessed her parents’ deaths when she was a teenager. And that’s where the Wieland family curse comes in — various members of the extended family have been dying unusual deaths for 200 years, usually in the month of April, and significant enough to generate multiple Wikipedia entries.

This April, Clara is taking over the family’s philanthropic foundation to free up Teddy for his political race. But immediately on April 1st, an explicit sex tape of Clara (who had been a party girl in the past) hits social media — it’s graphic and humiliating and Clara has no memory of it at all. A second tape, just gossipy, is later released with Clara and Jess, trashing Jess’s reputation as the loyal political wife. Why? To uproot Teddy’s campaign? Or is it just another sad Wikipedia entry regarding the family curse?

There are multiple twists and turns, but mostly we get to know Clara, haunted by her parents’ deaths and trying to recover from her eating disorders and self-destruction. It’s a serious book in that respect as well as a well-written tech thriller. 5 stars!


Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Almost. Clara and Teddy have the same rare hazel eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): YES I guess the very rich can rent out of season flowers to spruce up the detritus of spring.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

Thank you to MCD for the free ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is out on 1/14/25!

Family Drama/Suspense. The Weiland family has been one of the wealthiest families in America, and also one of the most cursed. The Wielands tend to die in tragic and unexpected ways, and Clara and Teddy’s parents are no exception. In the wake of their parents death. Clara struggled for years with eating disorders and substance abuse. 14 years later, Clara has gained more stability after moving into their sprawling mansion and childhood home with Teddy and his wife, Jess, who is also her best friend. But when Teddy runs for senate and someone posts graphic intimate videos of Clara, their lives are upended. Clara can’t even remember making the video, and questions if they are deepfakes. But as more videos are released, Clara can’t help but feel like she is losing her grasp on reality - and that the curse has come for her at last.

I *mostly* really enjoyed this one. The pacing was great and the New England setting really added to the mounting dread throughout. The characters are all pretty unlikable, but it’s a testament to the strength of Sligar’s writing that it still kept me engaged. The only thing I have a BIG qualm with is some of the technology discussed - SO many plot holes that I can’t really talk about since it’s pretty integral to the story, but COME ON. I’ll update this review after the book’s release to list them. That being said - I still really enjoyed the book and love rich people problems and this one delivered.

Wooooow talk about a wild and original ride!!!

Vantage Point is a mix of familial curses and artificial intelligence sprinkled with ambition and lots of unraveling.

Clara and Teddy are siblings who grew up on a sprawling island estate off of the coast of Maine. Vantage Point has been home to their family for generations. Unfortunately, it’s also home to lots of tragedy and heartache. When Teddy decides to run for senate, awful things begin happening to Clara specifically, and the family will struggle to recover.

This is a story of what’s real and what’s not. Deep fakes, political aspirations, vendettas, and so much more! You will be guessing the entire time!

I ended up rating this book five stars because it was so original! Vantage Point kept my interest throughout, had me constantly guessing, and introduced new topics that I had never read before (and am now terrified of!)

Thank you to NetGalley and MCD Publishing for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC before its intended release date of January 14, 25.

I enjoyed this. I thought that the rich family secrets, the thrilling plot, the different themes explored, it was all good. I think that the dual POV actually added a lot to this story, and kept the pacing really fast for me, which isn't typical for my experience with multiple POV books. This was really solid all around, and also has a really cool cover to boot.

I am a huge fan of succession, so when this book was compared to that show, I knew I had to read it. So glad I did! This book is everything that succession is Rich family lots of secrets and so suspenseful I absolutely loved it!

Thrilling, non-stop ride that explores mental health, addiction, deeeeep family issues, political ambition, the scariest part of the internet and friendship. I loved the dual perspectives, and the pacing of this book just raced. Great endin, readers will be more than satisfied.