I lost sleep for this book and it was totally worth it.

I had no idea where this was going, although the tension that builds in the interpersonal space is so much heavier than what's happening to them all externally. If you get sucked into books and feelings, this one will have an impact.

The Wieland family is cursed - for the last century, every 5-10 years, a member of their family dies in the month of April. Brutally, often ironically. Like the first death, the steel magnate who made the Wieland name, being killed by the metal press that made them rich. It's been a long time since the curse took someone - the one that matters most to our story happened 16 years ago when the parents of Clara and Teddy Wieland were taken in a freak accident on the cliffs near their main estate in Maine, Vantage Point. It forced Teddy to be an adult and it sent Clara into a spiral that led to partying and an eating disorder.

Clara's best friend Jess was there for it, but drifted away from Clara. By the time they reunite when Clara nearly dies, it leads Jess into Teddy's arms, and eventually into marriage. Now, Clara is on the brink of falling apart again and Teddy is in the middle of the primary to run for US Senate. On top of that...someone now has it out for Clara, but really all of the Wielands. Clara starts seeing things, intimate videos of her are released, and the surprisingly fragile trust between the three is shattered.

I did not see the twists coming - who is going after the Wielands and why (the why is especially shattering...but so realistic it made it extra sharp), how they react to the stress and the eventual revelations, and what happens in the very end - the thing that makes it all especially tragic for everyone.

A thriller that starts slowly and then builds to a breakneck pace where at their rawest everyone is kind of terrible but also relatable. Gripping.

As a result, I'm going to read Sligar's first release. This was good enough I'm willing to add a book to my TBR.

My thanks to NetGalley and MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC of 'Vantage Point' in exchange for an honest review.
This book pushed all the right buttons for me. If there's a powerful, wealthy family dynasty afflicted by accursed tragedies, you had me at 'accursed tragedies'. If they live on a fabulously massive estate that sits on a Maine island that they rule like a royal family,.....oh yes, sign me up. Throw in troubled family members living under the constant threat of the legendary curse that hovers over them, then I'm rubbing my hands in gleeful anticipation.
And 'Vantage Point' gets right to the point. Kennedy-esque Teddy Wieland is running for the U.S. Senate. By his side, his wife Jess, a lifelong friend of his emotionally tormented sister Clara. Clara's lived with agonizing guilt over the accidental death of her and Teddy's parents and she's spent her young lifetime in and out of eating disorder clinics. Unlike the Wielands, Jess came from a lower middle class upbringing and now she finds herself uncomfortable in her role as political helpmate to Teddy - she fears the press and public see her as an undeserving Grand Prize lottery winner of membership in a golden family.
The Wieland curse then goes into overdrive. Teddy's campaign is upended and sabotaged by release of embarrassing videos that seem to reveal Clara and himself as depraved, entitled wastrels.......images that'll no doubt repulse potential voters. His campaign manager/spin doctor wastes no time labeling the videos as deepfakes......and an increasingly unhinged Clara can't convince Teddy or Jess that these deepfakes tie into disturbing real sights now afflicting her, including appearances of her dead mother and father.
Author Sara Sigar brings in some sharp wit and well written insights into the family dynamics (and some dreaded secrets) of Teddy, Clara and Jess. And I thoroughly enjoyed how the book manages to make the very latest hi-tech factor into the story's creepy Gothic atmosphere.......as if it feels like 'Rebecca' with state-of-the-art CGI. (And the insert histories of previous Wieland family deaths are dark humored gems....)
A great overstuffed package of dynasty melodrama, political posturing and a properly traumatic finale.

A thriller that will have you asking whether Clara's mental illness is larger than it initially appears. Clara and Teddy Wieland are the last of the cursed Wieland family-members always die in April-and Clara. more than Teddy. has struggled with this. He's now running for office but someone doesn't want that. Deepfake videos first of Clara and then of Teddy's wife Jess (Clara's BFF) and then Teddy are eating at them. And then Clara thinks she sees their dead parents. It's an interesting look at the dangers of social media, among other things. No spoilers for this twisty one. Thanks to Netgalley for the Arc. A good read.

It was very interesting Book about this family who had a curse on them. The family was called WIE Lan D.
And they lived up i M a I n e at a place call D Anta GE point.. The book is based on Teddy who's running for the senate and his sister called c.L a r a. So was very interesting as you read the book.She put definitions on the bottom Explaining how this curse was really it took family. They all had Tragic Acciden T Through several generations. They also talked about fake videos of claire naked and this was the base of the book. Our best friend jessica eventually married Teddy. You also had projections of people claire where she really wasn't there. They talked about her eating habits as well in this book because she was doing with the death of her parents. This book had me thinking all different thoughts because you never knew what was going to happen next and it seemed all to be tied together. How media presentation of people can damage people as well. These people were very wealthy but they were not very happy. The ending We'll shock you but it all makes sense

In the digital age, what is truth?

The Wieland family has long been known for possessing many things...power, money, status, and a curse. Family members all seem to die too soon and in generally unusual ways. The latest generation, siblings Clara and Teddy, took shelter years ago on a small Maine island after witnessing their parents' untimely death. Clara is the more fragile of the two, struggling with mental health issues including an eating disorder, while Teddy takes charge of the family legacy. He is married to Clara's best friend Jess and has decided to run for political office, which in the current age is a proposition fraught with challenges even when one isn't part of a family as notorious as the Wielands. When explicit and disturbingly intimate videos of Clara appear online, ones of which she has no memories, her past and ongoing mental struggles render her denials of involvement moot, and Teddy's campaign is negatively impacted. Have the Wielands fallen victim to AI-generated deep fakes, or is Clara losing her battle for sanity? Is the curse real, or are there people out there who will stop at nothing to end the family dynasty for good?
A thriller that blends a somewhat Gothic narrative with cutting edge issues of technology, Vantage Point is a tense thriller that engages the reader quickly and keeps the suspense going as the novel unfolds. The characters, particularly that of the vulnerable Clara, are well-drawn and the plot is twisty enough to keep readers turning the pages. With the advent of AI and digitally altered and/or produced material a hot-button topic, this element of the story is timely (perhaps at times explained a bit too granularly for non-techies like myself). In today's day and age, one literally can not believe one's eyes and ears as the capabilities of digital manipulation improves at a furious pace. I didn't much care for the character of Teddy, and was a bit disappointed in the ending, but found the overall quality of writing and premise to be excellent. For readers of Mason Coile, Megan Abbott and Gillian Flynn (and as other reviewers have mentioned, fans of the HBO series Succession), this is a book that deserves a place on your TBR list. My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/MCD for allowing me early access to a copy of this atmospheric and timely novel of suspense.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc, I really liked this story. It was interesting and suspenseful. I rated this 4.5 stars.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller that dealt with so many themes that are highly relevant these days: ruthless ambition, deepfakes, emerging technology and toxic masculinity. It’s all centered around an old-money family whose favored son is running for Senate, and whose campaign starts to unravel when a graphic video of his sister (a “party girl” who suffers from an eating disorder) is dropped like a bomb on the Internet. Who did it? What do they want? It’s worth reading to find out, and I also enjoyed the setting (Kennedy compound vibes, but in Maine).

Thanks so much to Farrar, Straus & Giroux and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy!

Release date: Jan 14, 2025 🗓️

Vantage Point by Sara Sliger is a gripping blend of mystery and sci-fi that will have you hooked from the first page. The plot is well-paced, with twists and turns that kept me guessing and completely invested. Sliger weaves in the sci-fi elements so seamlessly that they feel natural, enhancing the story rather than overpowering it.

I couldn’t put this one down—it’s one of those books that you’ll race through, eager to see how it all comes together. If you’re a fan of smart, genre-blending reads, Vantage Point is absolutely worth your time. A thrilling and thought-provoking ride!

This book is like a black mirror episode. Thought provoking and high tech, this is definitely a very interesting read.

It was very well written, although a little slow throughout the first half of the book. There was almost too much back story and description that I felt like I was waiting for something interesting to happen for a while.

I liked having Clara and Jess’s POVs, two best friends turned sister in laws, caught in the middle of the crossfire of Teddy’s (Clara’s brother, Jess’s husband) senate campaign. The element of the wieland family curse was also very interesting throughout the story. It was amazing how quickly peoples trust turned, how quickly relationships burned, and how desperate everyone was to keep up an image.

I definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for a darker family drama!

This story hooked me so quickly! I loved the use of an unreliable narrator and the deepfake videos to keep me questioning throughout. Overall a really good thriller

I loved the dark secrets of the family, there was great suspense and tension throughout which made it easy to devour this book in one sitting.

I really don’t understand how the description of the book and the actual read played together. I was really bored and nothing was catching my attention throughout. I had to DNF

clara wieland has worked hard to get her act together, and just when she's starting to get into a rhythm, her life is turned upside down when someone posts an explicit video of her that she doesn't remember filming. is it real? is it fake? is it a sign that she's the next target of her wealthy family's long-standing curse?

if you want a book that will make you mad and scare the bejesus out of you, this might be the one! when i say it's scary, i'm not talking about horror or gore, but about the very terrifying reality of deepfakes. the idea that a jilted weirdo with a keyboard can ruin your life forever is not a new one. the threat looms over all of us, all the time, just for simply existing (am i right, ladies??). add old money, power, and status to that equation and you've got the grounds for something huge. even worse, if you do know for a fact that it's false, how do you make anyone else believe you over what they're seeing with their own eyes? how do you keep your sanity intact when everyone else is telling you that you're insane?

i really ripped through this one once it started. the relationships were interesting, the writing was lovely (i also learned a handful of new words!), and the last two pages were everything. to. me.

there were a few minor points that i had trouble accepting/believing (don't blame me, blame how batshit insane the political system is) about the politics as well as the technology (no spoilers here!). i also thought it was fairly simple to figure out the whodunnit of it all. overall, though, i thought this one was really, really good! it must have been, because i basically devoured it in one sitting.

thanks to fsg books & mcd books for the digital copy of this book on netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I am not a fan of this cover, I really enjoyed this one. Rich dysfunctional family with a curse, one member of the family running for office (hello, Connor Roy), and some mysterious goings-on. It reminded me a good bit of We Were Liars. It's an interesting blend of the human (family drama and trauma) with the futuristic (deep fake technology).

This book was wild!

I love a good family drama/thriller, and this was that but more. We have the rich political campaign aspect, the multiple POV, dual timelines, and to top it off, weird/messy dynamics between the 3 MCs. For most of this book, none of those characters were very likable to me. However, Clara started off as my least favorite, but by the end I was 100% behind her.

The plot of this one started off a little slow, but as the story progressed, different threads started sprouting off and weaving together in such an engrossing way. There were times where things felt kinda like a fever dream, and getting caught up in the “what’s real, what’s not?” was fun.

I’ve never read a story involving possible deepfake/hologram stuff before, but I really liked how it was done here. It worked well in a thriller/mystery book, and how it guided the plot was so interesting. Things picked up a lot in the last 1/3; sh*t really started hitting the fan, and I loved the spiral that ensued. I was glued to my seat until I got to the end, which was both shocking and satisfying.

I wouldn’t say this was my usual type of book, but I’m so glad I read it. If you’re in the mood for a different kind of thriller, grab this one!

Vantage Point by Sarah Sligger, the Wiggins family or Uber rich and live on an island in Maine, but they’re also cursed. It seems in April every few years a Wiggins dies a tragic death and when we meet the characters, it is the day before April 1. Jesse and Claire became best friends in the fourth grade. Claire was Uber rich Jesse was super poor. when they grow up, Claire is a raging anorexic drug addict party girl etc Jesse married Golden boy and her best friend’s brother, Teddy Wiggins. he’s also running for Senate and he and his political manager are doing their best to make Jesse the perfect political wife. While sister Claire is becoming the perfect political scandal. especially when a tape is released with her ravaged anorexic body on view and a man having sex with her. At first, Teddy tries to be understanding, but when she doesn’t want to divulge any details, it doesn’t help Claire’s case nor his political fight. on top of that Jesse is becoming road weary of all the political events and rallies. She must attend for Teddy‘s campaign. The fact that they seem to be growing apart, doesn’t help either. it seems everyone is seeing each other differently and the ones close trio are becoming solo camps. Claire is the most unstable and keeps telling Jesse and Teddy about seeing things, but sometimes proof isn’t proof at all and you have to throw a twist in the mix to get the result you want. I really enjoyed this book. I do wish the ending would’ve been shaped differently, especially the whole thing with the perpetrator but either way I found it satisfying in a very good read. It’s almost a futuristic tale, but still one I thoroughly enjoyed. I could’ve done without the million different ways you describe water because it seems every other sentence. The water was mentioned and it’s glassy top clear aesthetic, etc I was just so over it not to mention her overzealous pros were a bit much but even though I didn’t like these couple of things and found the whole thing with the water annoying I still didn’t put this very long book down because I wanted to know how it ended and boy am. I glad I finished it. although I do think had she used moderate pros without the example preamble the book would’ve been much shorter, but then it may have been a different book. #NetGalley,#Sarah FSS, Sligger, #VantagePoint,

I have a hard time rating this. On the one hand, the several timelines of the narrative are skillfully juggled, the characters are (mostly) well-developed and interesting, and the plot is propulsive (I zoomed through the last 80 pages or so in less than half an hour, a blistering pace for me). On the other hand, the "mystery" side of things was a little lackluster: at various times characters find evidence that Something Is Up (deepfakes, techno-gaslighting, uncharacteristic or unexplained behavior, etc.), and either withhold this evidence for no reason or present this evidence to other characters only to have the others ignore and dismiss this evidence likewise for no particularly good reason. It makes what could be an exciting "solving the mystery" sequence of events frequently more frustrating than satisfying and drags out events far longer than they should reasonably have been.

That said, it shows promise for only Sara Sligar's second novel. I'll have to keep her on my radar for what she does next.

A dramatic story which weaves in past tragedy following two siblings whose family is cursed in the month of April. Is it truly the curse or the human nature of the family that causes tragedy to occur as they hurt others along the way?

Clara and Teddy have always been very close and even more after the death of their parents. He leaves a successful banking career to be near her who has an eating disorder. Her best friend Jess gets involved (and later marries Teddy) during one of her visits to Clara she sees her best friend have a health breakdown and takes her to a hospital and later on to a center for treatment of addictions. Their life keeps being the ideal one, except for Clara, who is always wandering in the border of sanity. She feels guilty for their parents death and starts to have allucinations, however, these are fabricated images and sounds and the reasons behind them are mean and perverse and the culprit is someone they know and trust. A good plot, full of mystery, suspense, family drama, deceit and lies. Great entertainment.
I thank the author, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a chilling, tech-driven horror that remains firmly grounded in reality. As deepfake technology continues to advance, its potential consequences become increasingly terrifying. The more realistic these manipulated images and videos become, the more we are forced to confront the unsettling possibilities of what could happen if they fall into the wrong hands. Sara Sligar had given the readers a fast paced character driving novel that walks the very thin line between reality and deep fake.