I was completely captured by the story being told and, even though at times I was annoyed with the characters or felt like the plot was stagnating a bit, the way the book was written kept me turning the pages, eager to know more. When a sniper leaves Ben Hope’s friend fighting for his life, the former SAS major declares war on the men responsible. Well written, with interesting (though not always likeable characters) Idol demonstrates the problem of reinventing oneself, and it will make you shudder!

Do we expect these influencers to be perfect, placing unrealistic expectations on them or are we right to hold them to a higher standard? There is Sam the attention seeker, the messed up, Sam the obsessive, the deluded, the needy and the character who gets what she wants any which way she can. And we also see in Idol the truth of the adage that if you tell a lie enough times, you start to believe it yourself. I found it very hard to sympathise with her, but at the same time could really appreciate the nuance in her character which I really value when reading about an unlikeable and unreliable character.She has her audience (young, mostly white and female) in the palm of her hand, this is the power of the cult idol with over 3 million social media followers. I also found the fact that both of these women are adamant in their insistence that they're straight deeply insulting. The story of nothing is as it seems online, that celebrity you idolise - are they really what they say they are? The book is set in America and reads like an incoherent combination of clichés from US tv and literature. People claimed they wanted the the truth but when faced with it, it was too messy for them to accept.

The underlying critique of modern society, and social media/influencer culture especially, was very on point, sparking a lot of additional questions, thoughts and reflections for me. Louise O'Neill is one of those rare authors whose writing grips you from the first page, but who also makes you think. The synopsis frames the sexual assault as the MCs "sexual awakening" (which is just really utter and complete bullshit).We have a lot of conversations about cancel culture: whether it exists, whether it has gone too far, whether it only works on marginalized people.