Idol: The must-read, addictive and compulsive book club thriller 2022

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As her public profile disintegrates, with reporters contacting old friends and flames for dirt, Sam travels back to her hometown to confront Lisa and attempt to keep her life on the rails.

I'm fascinated by the whole phenomena of the "social media influencer" and mystified that such an individual can indeed heavily influence people merely by chatting all manner of b*llocks on the internet. Her obvious and violent struggles with her mental illnesses are used for shock value and to make her an abuser who doesn't know she is one.

A Mum of 3 children under 11, she has a slight handbag addiction, a love of floral dresses and fun jewellery. It was a very interesting choice for O'Neill to change the gender balance of stories which are sadly too prevalent in society at the moment. It had me up too late and I finished it off on a Saturday morning which is a sure sign of a good book!

I’d also suggest that it totally misses the mark with regards to rape allegations both false and true. This all led to me feeling let down and disappointed by this book, rather than being truly engaged with it.

Having published numerous books for a variety of audience types and genres, Idol by Louise O'Neill is a topical, general fiction novel. Sam is a complex character, projecting a public persona while feeling completely differently inside, her self-centredness concealing profound fragility and loneliness. I didn't want to be part of this spiral into utter and absolute desolation and chaos, I really didn't want to be.

Idols fall from grace because we demand it—yet we are always willing to replace them with someone fresh, someone new, so the cycle can begin again. 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.Her first novel, Only Ever Yours , was released in 2014 and won the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, the Eilís Dillon Award for a First Book and the Bookseller 's inaugural YA Book Prize. Idol was dark, deceptive, and entirely engaging — Samantha Miller has built an empire as an influencer. This is very much a she said/he said/she said novel and you have no idea who to believe or who is the credible one with much of this being played out on social media (can you hear me groaning?