This one was kind of like watching a train wreck unfold in slow motion. I never really warmed to the main character, yet somehow I couldn't look away (or put the book down) as her actions became increasingly bizarre and destructive. Having seen so many peoples' lives unravel under the scrutiny of social media, this feel eerily real to me.
Samantha is an influencer whose books have sold well enough that she's created a kind of empire out of supporting and championing young women. Her live events are instant sell-outs and her new book skyrockets to the top of the best-seller list as soon as it's published. Riding on this wave of success, Samantha publishes an essay in which she outlines the story of her true sexual awakening with her best friend Lisa, and of course, it goes viral.
But Lisa doesn't remember the events the same way Sam does, and reaches out to Sam's manager with her side of the story. Having not spoken to her bestie in years, Sam is suddenly forced to face the truth about her past, her friendship with Lisa and the way these events have affected the person she has become.
This is a book that asks a lot of questions about stories, memory and consent as well as how difficult it is to stay on top when the world is really just waiting for you to fall. It's about the power of influencers and the even greater power of social media to totally discredit a person and ruin a career basically overnight.
Samantha is kind of an obnoxious protagonist and I found myself cringing at her actions several times through the book. But at the same time, the way the world turns on her without any hard evidence that she deserves to be cancelled is telling. People are far too willing to believe things they read online, and don't tend to dig into them deeply enough before taking sides and actions that can destroy a person's livelihood and possibly their sanity. It's also about the personas people can build for themselves online and the way these can be versions of the authentic person behind the profile, but also selective about which truths are revealed and which remain under wraps.
I'm not sure I really enjoyed the book, but it was certainly a compelling read and kept me turning the pages until I'd finished it. And while I've never been a huge fan of social media, this book has made me even less of a fan and determined to do whatever I need to do to ensure my life and career don't get destroyed in the way Samantha's was.
But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:
For Samantha Miller's young fans - her 'girls' - she's everything they want to be. She's an oracle, telling them how to live their lives, how to be happy, how to find and honour their 'truth'.
And her career is booming: she's just hit three million followers, her new book Chaste has gone straight to the top of the bestseller lists and she's appearing at sell-out events.
Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans, she's written an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa. She's never told a soul but now she's telling the world. The essay goes viral.
But then - years since they last spoke - Lisa gets in touch to say that she doesn't remember it that way at all. Her memory of that night is far darker. It's Sam's word against Lisa's - so who gets to tell the story? Whose 'truth' is really a lie?
'You put yourself on that pedestal, Samantha. You only have yourself to blame.'
Riveting, compulsive and bold, IDOL interrogates our relationship with our heroes and explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online. And it asks us to consider how two memories of the same event can differ, and how effortlessly we choose which stories to believe.
