Idol is such a hard book to describe. On the surface, it is the story of Sam, a wellness guru who has become popular with lost, broken women. One day her world is shattered when her childhood friend accuses her of sexual assault when they were teenagers. Desperate to clear her name, she rushes to visit her and effectively tries to force them to become best friends again.
This is a complicated book. It is hard to say I enjoyed it. Sam is a deeply unlikable character (entirely intentionally) and the subject matter is equally bleak. As the story goes on, it builds into an absolute mess which is incredibly interesting but not easy to read. Having said that, I really was gripped by this book. I would say it was well-written and, although I felt like the other characters could have been developed more, Sam made for an unusual main character.
With all this praise, there are a few caveats however. The overall message of this book is...uncomfortable. It ends in a bit of an odd place and I almost wish we'd spent more time near the end of the book to truly dive into the emotions and events that were going on. Josh and Lisa were begging for more of their side to be heard, and I think that would have really added some clarity and depth to the issues being talked about here. As it stands, something is missing. It's not huge but it is there. I also think some people will struggle with what this book is saying, and I think that's a fair interpretation.
Overall, I 'liked' this book as much as you can with this kind of deliberately uncomfortable read. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next, and it held my attention throughout. It wasn't perfect but it's definitely worth a try, particularly if you're a fan of Louise O'Neill's previous work.
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