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elva08's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
gossy's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the last few introspective pages. I liked the idea of the plot, though grew less interested in the final third of the book. I liked the creativity of the social media panels in between chapters.
Everything else… not so much. There’s a metaphor or simile in what feels like every other paragraph, and while it’s possible that works well in Icelandic (assuming this was translated, I’m not sure how to check), in English and for me personally as a reader it quickly grew grating. The ideas about social media were interesting, but the execution felt very preachy and heavy-handed at times; I very nearly DNFed in the first few pages of the book because of it.
And there were several copy editing errors in the final third of the book as well, which were especially jarring after not noticing many earlier on. It felt rushed.
Everything else… not so much. There’s a metaphor or simile in what feels like every other paragraph, and while it’s possible that works well in Icelandic (assuming this was translated, I’m not sure how to check), in English and for me personally as a reader it quickly grew grating. The ideas about social media were interesting, but the execution felt very preachy and heavy-handed at times; I very nearly DNFed in the first few pages of the book because of it.
And there were several copy editing errors in the final third of the book as well, which were especially jarring after not noticing many earlier on. It felt rushed.
jane_kelsey's review against another edition
3.0
I dnfed this at almost 50% not because it was not good, but simply because it did not hold my interest as much, not invested anymore in the characters. I did enjoy the social commentaries and the unique perspective mixing a social influencer, murder and mystery, but unfortunately it did not do much for me and I do not see the point in continuing.
sclyndes's review against another edition
3.0
Lovely use of language but gets a bit too heavy in the middle. The story was really intriguing but became quite far-fetched with no real explanation of the shady businesses. I liked the characters who were strong women but predictably they both had a love interest that really wasn’t necessary - they didn’t add much to the story and detracted from the independence of Hannah and Imogen. I like the Instagram perspective and the negativity that social media can spread but I felt it only offered one perspective and didn’t reflect on the good that social media can do too. Overall I enjoyed but I wasn’t rushing to finish because it was original but rather to simply finish it.
thegingerpageturner's review against another edition
4.0
This book was the BOTM for my book club and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the exploration of Instagram and the image that can be created on it, alongside a murder mystery in Iceland. The pace of it was good, I didn't feel like I was missing any information as it changed between the POV of the two main characters. At the start of each chapter there was a page with a description of an Instagram post along with a caption and the likes, it also had a few possible captions of what was really going through the characters mind. I really liked this as it set up for the chapter ahead. It had me hooked feom the start and i finished it in about a day as i wanted to know what happened.
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We follow the two main characters Imogen and Hannah who are both from different backgrounds and use Instagram in different ways. I did get confused a couple of times with which bits of info were for which character but as the story went on it was fine. The characters were developed well and it was interesting exploring there thoughts on Instagram and why they use it. Imogen's timeline is a bit behind Hannah's timeline but it flowed well and fitted the story. Kjarri and Orri were the love interests of the story, both from Iceland, who help Hannah and Imogen figure out what is going on and who committed the Murder. I didn't pick who committed the Murder which was good, it was done well.
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Overall I enjoyed this one, it was suspenseful and well written.
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We follow the two main characters Imogen and Hannah who are both from different backgrounds and use Instagram in different ways. I did get confused a couple of times with which bits of info were for which character but as the story went on it was fine. The characters were developed well and it was interesting exploring there thoughts on Instagram and why they use it. Imogen's timeline is a bit behind Hannah's timeline but it flowed well and fitted the story. Kjarri and Orri were the love interests of the story, both from Iceland, who help Hannah and Imogen figure out what is going on and who committed the Murder. I didn't pick who committed the Murder which was good, it was done well.
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Overall I enjoyed this one, it was suspenseful and well written.
tama_is_here's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
booksandlemonsquash's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would - it’s got a noir sort of feel that I really liked. It does take a little while to get into, possibly due to the heavy focus on social media and the way it’s told with some jumps in time, but Hannah’s investigative nature really won me over.
I loved her journalism, and the way her brain worked. Her family was a really difficult relationship though- I wanted to dig into that a bit more. And what the curse her mum had was, specifically. I wanted resolution there on her defending herself.
Imogen was an interesting character - I didn’t connect as well to her, but I did find that I wanted her to succeed and to go on and be happy. And I loved her with Orri and his mum! So cute.
The best part for me was the ending! I sort of saw it coming and YET.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would - it’s got a noir sort of feel that I really liked. It does take a little while to get into, possibly due to the heavy focus on social media and the way it’s told with some jumps in time, but Hannah’s investigative nature really won me over.
I loved her journalism, and the way her brain worked. Her family was a really difficult relationship though- I wanted to dig into that a bit more. And what the curse her mum had was, specifically. I wanted resolution there on her defending herself.
Imogen was an interesting character - I didn’t connect as well to her, but I did find that I wanted her to succeed and to go on and be happy. And I loved her with Orri and his mum! So cute.
The best part for me was the ending! I sort of saw it coming and YET.
rainbowraven's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lookinforgyan's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0