I was not a fan of this book! I found the plot to be very confusing and I didn’t really love the direction that the storyline went. The characters were not likable and I did not have a great time reading unfortunately.

Interesting storyline. Holograms, cursed family, deepfake videos. A page - turning thriller with a lot going on.

Clara has struggled with an eating disorder and mental illness all her life. She is part of the Wieland family, an extremely wealthy and prominent name. Everyone knows the Wieland curse - many, many Wieland's have died in the month of April from tragic, sometimes freak accidents. Her brother, Teddy, is running for a political office. Embarrassing deepfake videos emerge of Clara, Teddy, and Teddy's wife Jess, causing Teddy's political career to be in turmoil. Not only that, but Clara is starting to see things. Clara swears she is seeing her dead parents and even caught them on videotape. No one believes her due to her mental illness, but is she right about everything?

It was an interesting concept for a book. I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. I felt like the story was lacking and I needed more disturbing events. It was a bit slow for me. I felt like the characters were unlikeable and I couldn't relate to them. The story just didn't grab me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed 90% of this book. The Kennedy-esque curse, location, and characters were all extremely interesting and kept me reading for 4 days straight.

However, the last 10% of the novel had me rolling my eyes and sighing as the pages turned. The narrator breaking the fourth wall was extremely cringe as there was little sense that the narrator COULD be unreliable.

I found this enjoyable, but it didn't quite stick the landing for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to ready this book ahead of its release.

I enjoyed this very much. It's a very timely look at things coming up in the world as far as AI, deep fakes and social media. It's actually rather scary and complicated when you think of it. Anyone could put stuff out there that is not the truth, but the tools and processes they use make it look almost incontrovertible. You could give yourself an alibi when committing a crime - or you could make it look like someone else is guilty of a crime. It's definitely a story that makes you think!! And it sure makes one uncomfortable about the advances in technology. A perfect example of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC of this book! I thought that this was a really interesting read. The characters were mostly realistic, I liked the different perspectives/focus areas and found myself intrigued by the plot. It was a slow burn at the start but once I was in, I really enjoyed it!

I really enjoyed this book! The lives of Jess, Teddy, and Clara, was intriguing and drew me in! I will be looking for more books by Sara Sligar! Thanks again to @netgalley for this ARC! Definitely put this in your "to be read" list now!

Well, this is a unique and captivating tech thriller that focuses on deepfake technology and holograms, intertwined with a famous family curse that keeps your attention intact!

The story revolves around Clara Wieland and her best friend, who is also her sister-in-law, Jess. Clara and her brother Teddy grew up on a small island in Maine, part of a wealthy family with a tragic history. Each family member has died accidentally in April, a phenomenon known as the “Wieland Curse.”

The two siblings witnessed their parents’ deaths, growing up with guilt and trauma. Clara, in particular, suffers from an eating disorder and self-sabotaging behaviors. Thankfully, her best friend Jess, who is also Teddy’s wife, helps her gather the pieces of her shattered life. Clara even lands a leadership position in their family company, while her brother runs for the Senate, supported by his beautiful wife Jess, who is still adjusting to her new wealthy lifestyle after a past filled with abuse and poverty.

However, Clara's life is turned upside down when a sex video of her goes viral on the internet. Clara has no idea where the video came from or who is in it, leading to the suspicion of deepfake and hologram technology. Someone is targeting the family's reputation, but who? As they delve into the family's skeletons, what they uncover could ruin their entire lives.

The Wikipedia-style entries detailing the Wieland family curse and the creative ways the author describes the deaths of family members are absolutely mind-blowing. If these entries were published separately, I would give that book five stars!

There are many layers to this book beyond deepfakes and cyberbullying. It addresses slut-shaming, body shaming, political manipulation, and realistically approaches themes of traumatic loss, guilt, grief, self-sabotage, self-deprecation, eating disorders, and sociopathic tendencies.

The flashback scenes showing the blossoming friendship between Jess and Clara over the years are another highlight. These two polar opposite characters build a relationship on shaky ground, yet tragedy keeps them bonded. Their mutual envy for different reasons adds a love-hate-obsession dynamic to their friendship, making it even more intriguing.

The author skillfully juggles various topics without dropping any balls until the end. The characterization is strong, though one character's sudden turn into a villain felt exaggerated to me. It's noted that this character hid their true nature perfectly, but it's hard to believe they left no clues behind throughout their life.

The ending was questionable and disturbing, but if you ask whether I enjoyed the book, my answer is a resounding yes. It’s a well-executed premise!

Overall, the writing style is gripping, the characterization is well-developed, and the concept is unique. Despite some questions about drastic changes and far-fetched revelations, I enjoyed this intelligent mystery, earning it four tech thriller stars. I look forward to reading more works by Sara Sligar in the near future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux / MCD for sharing this gripping tech mystery’s digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is a very intriguing story. It is narrated by the 2 main female characters, Clara and Jess. There are other characters, of course. You learn about them from the narrators.
The plot revolves around deepfakes, videos and holograms. It shows how the most innocent comment or occurrence can be turned into a disaster.
I'm still not sure if I loved or hated the ending. I will say it was reasonably satisfying and most appropriate for the plot.
I would recommend this book to other readers.
TW: Eating Disorder
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of Vantage Point
#NetGalley#FarrarStrausAndGiroux#MCD#VantagePoint#SaraSligar

Vantage Point was a wild ride. I loved the way it played with genre. The writing itself was beautiful.

This book was well written, but I feel like there was just too many subplots going on. Why was it so easy to find the bad guy? Why did the husband all of a sudden flip out? Everything just seemed to be sprinkled in without reason.

Did I like this book? Yes,
Was the plot interesting? Yes
The curse/wikipedia entries were excellent, as were the throwbacks into Jess and Clara’s pasts.
The technology described in the book seemed a bit reaching- I have never heard of perfectly opaque hologram projections…
Also, it’s definitely a case of unreliable narration which, if you somehow missed it on your own, the author spells it out for you in the final chapter. I found that unnecessary. Lots going on here - cool free ARC from NetGalley

This book was ok. I expected a bit more than was delivered. But, overall I would recommend giving it a try.

This book had me hooked from the first page! The whole idea of deepfakes, AI, cancel culture and technology fooling us is so timely and was executed very well in this book. I found myself feeling bad and rooting for every character, you could resonate with how they were each feeling. The biggest issue I have with it though was the ending, it just didn’t quite stick the landing for me. Without giving anything away it just felt rushed and unfulfilling. I was waiting for the big reveal to be something more than what it was. The ending fell flat for me, but otherwise I throughly enjoyed the book!

I enjoyed this terrifying romp through technology and our worst impulses. Almost as much fun as Sligar’s debut.

The vantage point :

Thank you to Netgalley, Farrar, Strauss & Giroux and the author for providing me the eARC of The vantage point.

Modern technology - a BOON or BAN??

A Vantage point is a position or place that allows one a wide or favourable overall view of a scene or situation which is ironically quite contrary to the circumstances the characters are currently facing.

Clara and Jess are bestfriend's since middle school despite their vastly different upbringings. This is their story over the years, detailing the doubts and setbacks they have faced both individually and together, and the looming family curse that threatens to disrupt their seemingly perfect lives.

Starting with the premise, it had everything I wanted: multiple POVs, mystery creating tension, a story set on a small island, a generational curse, and a fresh take on modern technology. The writing was good and immersive, but that's where the positives end. Despite these promising elements, the execution fell short. I had heard a lot about the author's previous book and was genuinely excited after getting the eARC, but my expectations were not met at all.

The mystery was well-crafted and kept me suspecting everyone, but the final reveal and the motive disrupted everything. The ending felt abrupt and off-putting to the point where it simply didn't make any sense.

The one two aspects I appreciated were the portrayal of human complexity woven throughout the story, prompting reflection. It highlighted how people are rarely content with what they have, often envying others who, in turn, envy them, believing everyone else leads a better life. And the portrayal of eating disorder.

CW: Death of a loved one, description of several accidents, social media harrassment, eating disorder and grief.

3.5 stars - Clara and Teddy Wieland were orphaned as teenagers and inherited their infamous family estate, "Vantage Point". The story mostly follows them as adults, but ping-pongs back to their childhoods and late-teen years to further explain the caveats of the sibling relationship. Over the course of the first few chapters, you learn (via "Wikipedia" entries) about the Wieland Curse and those who have fallen to it, which adds to the plotline and builds the story nicely and provides some dark humor.

While there are overarching themes about privacy, slut-shaming, classism, political optics, and deepfakes, the author stays very surface-level and doesn't delve too much into detail. The references make it feel current but glossed over, as if they're only being introduced to check off a buzzword.

As much as I enjoyed the writing, I had a very hard time completing this book. This is one of those instances where the first chapter of the book tells you the entire storyline, and then you spend the whole time looking for other ways it could end differently.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Farrar, Strauss & Giroux for the advance copy!

Thank you to #netgalley and #sarasligar for the ARC of #vantagepoint book. With the ARC, the cover art wasn't available. I did see the cover on #netgalley and until I started composing my review, didn't see that the house called #vantagepoint was there. The green borders distracted from that. I think the house should be the main focus point since it is part of the story.

This book was a quick read with well developed characters and a plot point that reminded me of the Kennedy's because of the "curse". The story was given from different points of view, a sister and her bestie who married the sister's brother. The brother I really didn't care for complete dbag. But the whole deep fake, AI, nonsense was a lot to keep up with and . I did overall enjoy the story and what I really, really enjoyed was the wiki snippets of how different family members died as a result of the "curse" . Overall a good story but a bit of tweaking would make it amazing.

This author is an exceptional descriptive writer, and I found the vivid imagery a lot of fun to read. Although I found the reveal to be a bit obvious, it was a fun journey getting to it all the same. The tension is excellent -- I had so much sympathy for Clara, but the fact that everyone else found her an unreliable source felt entirely believable. I found Teddy's abrupt shift in demeanor a little frustrating. Even though we know he was a selfish individual, it felt like a flip of a switch when he went from being a caring brother and husband to complete sociopath with little explanation.

Thanks to Net galley and the publisher for this arc. I did enjoy the story of the fall of a prominent family but did not find any of the characters very likeable. The political aspect was a nice touch. It did have a dark setting which also went well with the overall theme of the story. The ending left me satisfied.

This was a great thriller! I enjoyed it so much! I can’t wait until publication day when I can recommend it to all my bookish friends!!