The Perfect Ones
A Thriller
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
A picture-perfect trip goes horribly wrong in this fast-paced exploration of friendship and the dark side of social media, perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Andrea Bartz.
Everyone wants to be them, but internet fame comes at a price…
Two days after arriving in Iceland for a promotional trip, Instagram influencer Alabama Wood goes missing. With no leads, the Icelandic police start their investigation by focusing on the two influencers seemingly closest to Alabama on the trip: Celeste Reed, Alabama’s best friend of ten years, and Hollie Goodwin, fitness guru and Alabama's unwilling idol.
Celeste and Alabama have grown apart recently because Celeste has been too distracted by her five-year-old’s behavioral issues and her husband’s refusal to admit that there’s a problem. What Celeste doesn’t tell them is how she has been coping with these worries and how it involves Alabama in ways no one would guess.
On the outside, Hollie appears to have everything—the husband, the body, and over one million Instagram followers. In reality, however, Hollie came to Iceland to escape the implosion of her life behind the screen. The only person who suspected something amiss behind Hollie’s precisely filtered pictures is Alabama.
As secrets are revealed and loyalties are tested, debut author Nicole Hackett asks: do we control our online image, or does it control us?
Customer Reviews
Great pacing with an underwhelming ending
The Perfect Ones is about three influencers, Holly, Celeste & Alabama, whose paths cross on a promotional trip to Iceland. However, they already know about one another in the world of Instagram and influencing. But are those mere projections or instant judgements? How much do jealousy, envy, and desperation guide their actions? All of this comes into question when Alabama is missing.
The Yaays: The pacing. Nicole Hackett has done well in deconstructing the three pivotal characters across a linear timeframe centred around months and weeks before and after the Iceland trip. The detailed narratives of the Icelandic landscapes deported me to the beautiful country. I appreciated the connections made between scenery and deciphering the inner thoughts/motives of the characters, which was a cherry on top, especially in the realm of influencing and social media. Also, The tense interactions between all three characters were well written.
The Nays: The ending. Certain breakthroughs appeared promising, but the final climax was underwhelming. For me, it somehow fell flat. I felt I was told that I landed at the end of the book rather than being guided there.
Thank you, NetGalley & Crooked Lane Books, for giving me an ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.