In the early 2000s, reality TV was finding its footing and so Big Brother began in the U.S. Behind the Mirror follows the history of what, from the outside, might seem like just a silly game show but in reality is a microcosm of society — full of strategy, manipulation, and paranoia, yes, but also friendships, relationships, kindness, bigotry, and every other aspect of humanity you can think of. 16 people stuck in a house for months, on live camera 24/7… anything could happen. And it does.

Behind the Mirror dives deep into the history and heart of the franchise. The author contemplates how the show reflects society but also how society reflects the show. After all, there are players in later seasons who were shaped by growing up with Big Brother.

You do NOT need to be familiar with Big Brother to enjoy this book. The author explains everything you need to know and you’ll find yourself invested in these real-life characters jumping off the page.

For those who are superfans and know the show like the back of your hand, you’ll love this book too. I was impressed by how drawn in I was by a book that didn’t claim to have behind the scene secrets. Taran is just that good at telling a story and understanding people.

In case it’s not obvious already: I am a Big Brother fan but, most importantly, I am a Taran fan. I truly think Taran keeps the lights on over on the BB sound stage because his daily coverage is incredible. So I was very excited when he nonchalantly announced that he had written a book and it would be coming out this fall — and I was THRILLED to receive an advanced copy! Anyone who has watched or listened to Taran podcast about BB knows he has a way with words, and that absolutely translates to the page.

Thank you to NetGalley, Taran Armstrong, and Sourcebooks for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a Big Brother watcher and Taran listener, I really really enjoyed this! I particularly liked the structure of the book - it was not chronological by season, but using the various seasons/characters to tell the story. Really great read for any reality television fan.

I'm a Big Brother fan, but it's more accurate to say I'm a fan of RHAP, and for a few summers now Taran Armstrong has been the soundtrack to my lunch breaks with his live feed updates. Always fair, nerdy, and while keeping it light, Armstrong strategically analyzes BB's live feeds. It makes sense that podcasting translates well to writing and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see a more wide-lens view of the show. He went over the ways the game has changed from the Shapiro to Grodner eras, and how BB is like a mirror, which includes how it can reflect societal prejudices. I liked seeing the slant of personal narrative to this and why BB means so much to each of us who obsesses over the live feeds for the summer. Thanks so much to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars!!!

I will start this review by saying that I have been watching Big Brother since Dr. Will in Season 2, and have become what we in the community call a "superfan" since Season 13. I'm a regular viewer of Taran's Live Feed Updates and watch RHAP podcasts all the time. When I first saw Taran announce that he wrote a book about Big Brother my first reaction was extreme excitement for him because after watching just one Live Feed Update of his I think you will quickly understand how great of a storyteller he is. But my next thought was "well, what could he say in here that I haven't heard him talk about before?" The answer was a lot!

The history behind the development of the show was one of the most intriguing parts to me, because I didn't know most of it. It seems like this show kind of fell from the sky along with all the others, such as Survivor and The Challenge. He does a great job of explaining the big players involved and how unique this concept was at the time that it was originally developed.

He uses the show to reflect on where society was at that time in a fascinating way. Early 2000's were a lot different than where we are now, and it's evident in how serious topics were handled by production and the audience. My favorite quote about Season 2 : "Nothing screams early 2000's television more than solving homophobia through the power of friendship".

When he walks through the different season piece by piece, it is so nostalgic for me. I remember where I was in life when certain events happened, and how big of a deal they felt to me. As I mentioned before, Taran is a wonderful storyteller, and he was able to bring out all the important context needed for the reader to understand how big of a deal some of these things were. I love that he included little snippets of his own life, and how the show helped mold his childhood, as it did mine.

The Taylor Hale chapter was an absolute masterpiece. Reading her speech again brought me back to tears all over again. He brought me back to that moment of absolute joy that the entire fandom experienced together. I will never forget how that moment made me feel.

If you are superfan like me, then you probably know Taran wrote a book by now and you should definitely read it. But I think this book is also for those who watch casually, haven't watched in a long time, or haven't watched it at all. While it was nostalgic for me personally in some parts, it has a lot of valuable observations about our society that would be interesting to someone who knows nothing about the show. Maybe it could even convince someone who watched the show once, saw the weird costumes and goofy editing and turned it off to give it another chance.

I was hooked from the very beginning, and literally stopped the book I was reading mid page to start this one. Big Brother and reading are two of my favorite things in life, so the fact that this exists makes me so happy. I can't imagine anyone else writing it and I'm glad he did.

This was a very interesting read that truly delved into the world of big brother! Personally I haven’t watched big brother in a while but I used to love watching it when I was younger, I watched it almost religiously for years!

This book caught my attention when I saw the premise and captured my whole brain while reading! Absolutely loved seeing everything that went into this book and seeing the way the author described and shared stories of players!

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Really cool book about one of my favorite shows. I’ve been watching this show for like over fifteen years now and it’s so addicting. This book was great. Anyone who is a fan of the show will enjoy this book.

This is an excellent read for any Big Brother show fan. Although I have only watched two seasons, I thought this looked like an intriguing read. I highly recommend it for fans and those who enjoy reality television.

#BehindTheMirror

Well written informative look at the Big Brother show.So much fun to read & as a fan remember the iconic players Dr.Will ,Dan ,Taylor Hale. I highly recommend Behind the Mirror for all the loyal watchers.# NetGalley #sourcebooks.

Everything Big Brother! If you’re a fan, this book is definitely for you.. will not disappoint.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.