4⭐
Really enjoyed this book even though I think in the beginning I was expecting it to be a little different. The things that happen in the book you can actually see it being possible for these things to happen one day. We meet Orla a blogger in New York for Lady-ish, a celebrity gossip site and her roommate Floss who is obsessed with becoming famous without doing a thing.
"I've done the math," Floss said. "I've done the actual math. There are eight million people here, and all of them want something as bad as I want what I want, as bad as you want what you want. We're not all going to get it. It's just not possible, that all these people could have their dreams come true in the same time, same place. It's not enough to be talented, it's not enough to work hard. You need to be disciplined and you need to be ruthless. You have to do anything, everything, and you need to forget about doing the right thing."
"Orla steadied herself and looked Floss over. She would never make it as an actress, she thought. She went a little too big, wanted a little too hard. But Floss, it seemed, didn't want to be an actress. She wanted to be what she already was, even if nobody knew it yet: a celebrity. A person, exaggerated."
You definitely already see this everyday, people being famous, just because. I'm personally the type to limit my Instagram following to books and football lol, but you see it in the tabloids today who's wearing what etc.
We have a dual timeline with Orla and Floss in 2015, then Marlow in 2051. The author handles both of these very well throughout the entire book. I was completely caught up in both, following the success and celebrity Orla and Floss blossomed into. Even the events in the future timeline, could see that being a possibility quite easily. Marlow lives her entire life with her husband on camera all the time with her millions of followers watching every move.
"Marlow looked at Ellis, sleeping stomach-down beside her. She couldn't ask him if he thought her armpits were fat. To bring it up on camera would be to acknowledge the follower's comment, to acknowledge the existence of followers at all. This was against employee policy. Which was a total farce, of course; her followers knew she knew they were watching. They knew she could see them talking about her. But the fact that she and the other talent never let on, that they pretended to just be living- this was what her followers wanted. They liked to feel like voyeurs; they didn't want to be looked at in the eye."
Marlow and the rest of "the talent" are considered extremely lucky to live in the government controlled village of Constellation. The circumstances leading to its construction and the rules that are in place there are quite frightening, especially with our dependence in this day and age on all things internet and social media. When Marlow leaves Constellation to learn the truth of her family history, her journey is filled with danger. Was definitely pulling for Marlow throughout the entire book, she pulls a lot of emotions out of the reader. The author managed to tie the whole story together in a wonderful way, my only small gripe would be how very fast the ending wrapped up. I was so invested in these ladies by the end I really wanted to spend more time with all of them. I'll look forward to more from Megan Angelo in the future.
*Many thanks to Graydon House and BookishFirst for an ARC copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Really enjoyed this book even though I think in the beginning I was expecting it to be a little different. The things that happen in the book you can actually see it being possible for these things to happen one day. We meet Orla a blogger in New York for Lady-ish, a celebrity gossip site and her roommate Floss who is obsessed with becoming famous without doing a thing.
"I've done the math," Floss said. "I've done the actual math. There are eight million people here, and all of them want something as bad as I want what I want, as bad as you want what you want. We're not all going to get it. It's just not possible, that all these people could have their dreams come true in the same time, same place. It's not enough to be talented, it's not enough to work hard. You need to be disciplined and you need to be ruthless. You have to do anything, everything, and you need to forget about doing the right thing."
"Orla steadied herself and looked Floss over. She would never make it as an actress, she thought. She went a little too big, wanted a little too hard. But Floss, it seemed, didn't want to be an actress. She wanted to be what she already was, even if nobody knew it yet: a celebrity. A person, exaggerated."
You definitely already see this everyday, people being famous, just because. I'm personally the type to limit my Instagram following to books and football lol, but you see it in the tabloids today who's wearing what etc.
We have a dual timeline with Orla and Floss in 2015, then Marlow in 2051. The author handles both of these very well throughout the entire book. I was completely caught up in both, following the success and celebrity Orla and Floss blossomed into. Even the events in the future timeline, could see that being a possibility quite easily. Marlow lives her entire life with her husband on camera all the time with her millions of followers watching every move.
"Marlow looked at Ellis, sleeping stomach-down beside her. She couldn't ask him if he thought her armpits were fat. To bring it up on camera would be to acknowledge the follower's comment, to acknowledge the existence of followers at all. This was against employee policy. Which was a total farce, of course; her followers knew she knew they were watching. They knew she could see them talking about her. But the fact that she and the other talent never let on, that they pretended to just be living- this was what her followers wanted. They liked to feel like voyeurs; they didn't want to be looked at in the eye."
Marlow and the rest of "the talent" are considered extremely lucky to live in the government controlled village of Constellation. The circumstances leading to its construction and the rules that are in place there are quite frightening, especially with our dependence in this day and age on all things internet and social media. When Marlow leaves Constellation to learn the truth of her family history, her journey is filled with danger. Was definitely pulling for Marlow throughout the entire book, she pulls a lot of emotions out of the reader. The author managed to tie the whole story together in a wonderful way, my only small gripe would be how very fast the ending wrapped up. I was so invested in these ladies by the end I really wanted to spend more time with all of them. I'll look forward to more from Megan Angelo in the future.
*Many thanks to Graydon House and BookishFirst for an ARC copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*