3.5⭐️

This book sounded so good as someone who loved succession and this was sold with similar vibes and it was an enjoyable read but I didn’t find it as gripping as I would have liked.

The story follows Clara who is a member of the Weiland family; an extremely wealthy family in Maine and Jess, Clara’s friend and Clara’s brothers wife who married into this family. The family is rumoured to have a curse in April and Clara seems to be the latest target. She has struggled with mental illness and starts seeing things which others refuse to believe.

I found the mystery aspect of this book slightly lacking and would have preferred more of this rather than general family dynamics but overall it was entertaining to read.

This book was just OK for me. I found the characters unrelatable and didn’t end up liking them very much. The pace was a little slow, and I felt like the story needed a little extra. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This is an interesting story, one about wealth and entitlement and how one can lose it all so quickly. Clara is from a prominent family in north eastern US, the Wieland family has lived on an island they own going on many decades, the family lives in a very large house on the island, currently the son, Teddy lives in the house, his sister Clara, lives in a guest house on the property. Teddy has decided to make a run for the Senate and is in the midst of a campaign when a video is released that appears to show Clara having a very intimate moment with a man, Clara is well known as the sister to Teddy and the video throws his campaign into chaos. Clara has struggled over her life with an eating disorder, she has been in and out of rehab many times, she also likes her wine (or any alcohol) and when she finds out about the video, she has no memory of it. Not long after the video is released another one is of Teddy's wife Jess and Clara speaking unkind words about Teddy and his sense of entitlement, neither can remember it. The story fills in the background on Teddy and Clara's parents who passed away in an accident on the same day, and there are Wiki type entries about the Wieland family curse, all of whom had something happen to them in the month of April, Teddy's campaign is taking place in that month. Overall an ok book, I really enjoyed the end, the middle part was a bit slow, but I finished it. Thanks to #Netgalley and #MCD for the ARC.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I found the writing to be unnecessarily complicated and I did not enjoy the plot. Thank you for the opportunity and your consideration.

a gothic suspense about the downfall of a cursed, disgustingly wealthy family? Sign me up.

Vantage Point follows the Wieland siblings Cora and Teddy and Jess, Cora’s best friend and Teddys wife, as Teddy runs for senate. His campaign devolves into chaos as videos of the family are leaked online.

Cora’s spiral into her fear of her family’s curse, her investigation into deep fakes, her hallucinations, on top of her brutal eating disorder adds such a layer of suspense to the story. It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s just Cora losing her grip on reality.

Jess character annoyed the crap out of me and the ending felt too quick and anticlimactic but I still really enjoyed the story overall. I love the creepy, unsettling feeling throughout the book and the way Sara Sligar writes.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I really struggled to finish it. Not a typical thriller which is fine, however the execution fell flat for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

This was an interesting take on a thriller. While a little bit predictable that was ok because the premise was so unique. I liked getting the two POVs we got. The pacing was quick and engaging.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: I am sad to report that, this did not work for me. It tried to do so many things at once and I never really felt settled enough to enough the story. I will applaud it for not being like all the other thrillers on the market. I think this author will continue to grow and I will try their work again. By no means a bad book!

Wow . What a book and an eye opener in realised regards to AI in a fascinatingly horrific way. We know yet we don't learn how the power of AI can destroy lives without much ado.

So this book I finished sometime back but everytime I thought of reviewing it, I just couldn't come up with words that would describe the book. This book will leave dry and with lots of thoughts to process. I didn't like the characters because I think that was the point. Clara and Teddy are siblings, their parents dead in an accident. Clara and Teddy have each other and Clara's best friend Jess, is married to Teddy. Teddy is running for senate and Clara and Jess are helping him but there comes a video online which might ruin Teddy' political journey for well and good.

This whole book had a tensed up atmosphere which literally made reading it a see saw experience. It really kept me on edge. The deepfakes, AI, the videos and how the situations bring out the worst in any man on the earth, no matter how kind they seem in the beginning. I was kind of sad the way it was ending but Thank God for the last save. This book isn't easy so I will say read it after reading TW . For readers who suffer from any eating disorder it will be better to stay away.

It got slow which kept nagging me to dnf but I'm gald I pushed myself to complete the book coz holy shit it really gets better towards end.

Thank you Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux | MCD for ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I love Succession and Megan Abbot's lush prose, so this was a must-read. This book...is not either of those things, to its detriment. I don't think it's the book's fault, so much as the comps, but it really failed to live up to my high expectations, as it was probably bound to do. I found the writing more run-of-the-mill, and I couldn't stand the characters (and not in a fun way, a la Succession's Roy family).

Sara Sligar's first novel, "Take Me Away," was a literary delight, and with her second novel, "Vantage Point," she delights again, this time trading the coast of Northern California for the coast of Maine, art for deepfakes and holograms. Sligar's mysteries are smart, engaging, edge of your seat, with dynamic characters and plot. Much thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read this wonderful eARC. 3.5/5 stars.

Sara Sligar’s VANTAGE POINT is a look at old money, family secrets, political ambitions and the lies we tell ourselves and others.

Oh, the Wieland family, wealthy, powerful and cursed? That’s what they said when Clara and Teddy lost their parents. Now, over a dozen years later, they are living together again in the family home and running a community investment fund. Teddy married Clara‘s best friend, Jess along the way. He has now decided to run for the Senate and needs his wife by his side and his sister to control her demons. When a sex tape of Clara emerges on social media, she admits that it could have been filmed at some point in her past but that she does not recall, due to her psychological issues. As she looks into it, she has to wonder if it’s real or a deep fake. Jess is stuck in the middle between wanting to support her friend and needing to support her husband in his Senatorial run.

When Clara begins seeing visions of her parents and others on the property, Teddy is worried that she is returning to her previous emotional state and begins looking into having her committed to a psychiatric facility. Teddy‘s best friend from Harvard, Conrad has been there for him all along. Even though the investment bond turned down Conrad‘s idea of a digital start up regarding national parks, he supports Teddy in all of his endeavours.

Is the Wieland curse claiming Clara as another victim? What of the tape of Jess making statements on her wedding day about a money grab? Why is she afraid to return to Kattinocket, where she grew up? And will Teddy actually make it to the Senate?

This book kept me very entertained. The twists and turns came quickly and had me wondering what was really happening. I could feel the tension mounting and stayed up turning pages well past bedtime. The writing was clear and concise and led to an enjoyable read. This is my first Sarah Sligar novel, but I will certainly be keeping her name on my list of authors to watch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ferrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

Vantage is a quick, fun read that takes place in a small island town in Maine. I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints, the gothic-esq atmosphere, and the unreliable narrator aspects. I particularly enjoyed the Wikipedia excerpts educating the reader about the family curse and how something horrible happens to a member of the prestigious Wieland family every April.. My only issue with the book is that I thought the technology unrealistic, and it was easy to guess what was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC!

Thank you NetGalley, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux for the sneak peek of this book! This was a miss for me. I think it was because it was sooooo long and it could have been cut by about 100 pages. I got bored and started skimming it just to finish it.

I had a really tough, unfortunate time with this book. I found the whole thing slightly strange and off-putting. I had read Sligar's debut novel back in 2020 so it wasn't like this was an unknown author to me, but I still couldn't connect with VANTAGE POINT.

First off, this book did not need to be 400 pages long. I think the length does a lot of disservice to a story that is, at the end of the day, interesting and nuanced despite the somewhat clunky execution. The book is also genre-defining but not in a good way, as it can often be. I thought it was literary fiction, and then thriller, and then mystery, and then, horror? But by the end, which comes with a whimper not a bang, left me baffled. The climax was anticlimatic, and the mystery easy to figure out. The dual POVs don't really make the story more interesting, and I never would have guessed this whole book was about deepfakes and holograms.

That's right. I'm getting tired of all the AI storylines these days and was so distracted by that I didn't even realize deepfakes maybe the next big thing?! I'm only half making fun. It's an interesting premise! Deepfake videos start to get leaked about a rich Maine family, where the brother is running for senate despite a decade old family curse that ATTACKS during the month of April (guess when this book takes place!) The POVs go back and forth between the sister and sister-in-law who have a long history. I dunno man, this book is wild and I truly can't wait to hear what other people think.

⭐️: 4.5/5

Sometimes I judge a book by its cover, and find myself expecting one thing, only to get something entirely different and surprising. In this case, for some reason, based on the cover, I was pleasantly surprised by an honestly, pretty quality plot. The change in viewpoints between best friends Clara and Jess was utilized really well in order to make us, as the reader, doubt the truth from either of their POVs. Although this one leaned pretty heavily into the overused thriller trope of nobody believing the FMC, instead calling her crazy, it ended up kind of leaning into it in a different way, and managed to go a little deeper into to talk about why we it’s hard to believe things that threaten our entire reality, especially when trust in the person telling you about it is the only real evidence.

I don’t love when technology that doesn’t really exist in real life is the entire plot of thrillers, because it inevitably reads like an under researched sci-fi book, which was definitely a pitfall that this book fell into. The ending was decently satisfying though, and barring the how of a lot of the tech-y aspects, most strings were tied up. The characters were interesting, and evaded being put into boxes to characterize, which made it more interesting of a read than your typical thriller too.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one so much, but I really couldn’t put it down once I got into it!

Thank you to @netgalley and @fsgbooks for this eARC for my honest review!!

Vantage Point blends family drama with a chilling mystery in this tech-savvy thriller. The premise stands out with deepfake scandals, holograms, and a centuries-old family curse.

The characters are mostly wonderfully messy, real and layered. We follow Clara, the main protagonist, as she wrestles with trauma and the fallout of a deepfake scandal, and the relationship between Clara and Jess, marked by envy, loyalty, and a love-hate bond, stood out as a highlight, but overall I struggled to fully connect and relate with the characters.

The Wikipedia-style entries about the Wieland deaths are brilliant. I’d happily read a standalone book just about that.

While the story is packed with twists and layers, at times it felt like there was almost too much happening. Some twists landed beautifully, but ultimately there were a few too many twists and turns for my taste.

As for the ending, it’s bold and daring, but it left me feeling disappointed. After such a complex buildup, I expected a bigger payoff. It’s one of those endings where you close the book thinking, “Wait, that’s it?”.

Still, if you enjoy thrillers that delve into heavy themes (check the TWs!) and keep you second-guessing, this one’s worth your time.

The unhinged elite of Saltburn with the political plot points of Succession meet Bladerunner tech in Vantage Point. Sligar’s writing buried its hooks into me and wouldn’t let me go until the very last page. I’m predicting this is going to be my favorite thriller of 2025. The shining stars of this story are the characters. Every single person felt so real I could almost reach out and touch them. Holograms, curses, political intrigue… there is a lot that drew me into this story but what kept me turning page after page was Sligar’s prose and dedication to character construction. Absolutely a five star read.

Trigger warnings: Eating Disorders, online harassment, revenge porn

VANTAGE POINT-SARA SLIGAR-Publishing January 14th, 2025 with MCD/
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Weiland Family has everything-wealth, status, power, and a famous
curse hanging over their family. Clara and Teddy tragically lose
their parents (not a spoiler), and Teddy married Clara’s best friend
Jess. They all move back to the island to take care of the family
matters, including the mansion titled Vantage Point. Then Teddy runs
for the Senate, and things start to unravel. Videos surface online,
and are they real? Fake? Is the curse real? As videos are released,
Clara is losing her grip on what’s real and what’s fake? Is she losing
her mind?

I loved this book. Sligar is a great writer. This was a page-turner.
Sligar sucked me in with this story.

Family secrets. Wealth. Class. Technology. Family. Trust. Mental
Illness. Suspense.

This is a must read. MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDARS-JANUARY 14TH!

Thanks to @netgalley for the ARC, and Thanks to @sarasligar
writing a fabulous book. @mcdbooks @fsgbooks

Wow! What a book!

Throughout the book I was completely immersed in the world of the Wieland family, their troubles, wins and ambitions. Every tense argument felt like my own, every suspenseful moment I lived through like I was there.
The writing is sharp and excellent! Although the reveal was a tiny bit predictable, it didn't take away from the story at all.
Vantage Point has an amazing character-driven plot with a very electrifying family drama and current themes about struggles of living in the digital age.
4.5 stars from me.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.