Unfortunately I did not love this like those who have read before me. I didn't even like it just a little because all the characters were abhorrent and completely self-absorbed. To compare even one paragraph of this to works of Donna Tartt makes me just want laugh out loud. Since the publisher went there, then I have no qualms about saying how absurd that comparison is. Maybe that comparison alone has egged me on to a less than complimentary review.

I this really the aspirational lifestyle of 20 somethings in NYC today? What bothered me the most here is the characters were just outrageous to be outrageous. I like books with broken people who find a way to forge ahead in life and hopefully, even if unlikable, you want to cheer for them at least some of the time. Sadly I found none like that in this book. They were all pretty revolting. I stayed with this book because it was an ARC and I felt obligated to finish....and parts of me were hoping there would be something that would make me nudge this up to an ok read. It will be interesting to see how this does when published this summer.

I loved Social Creature. I also loved The Talented Mr. Ripley, and I can see how the comparisons work. But this is not Gone Girl - it's actually better. At first I found it strange, how quickly I fell into Louise and Lavinia's lives - especially since you don't learn much about Louise beyond a basic outline, really. She exists through her interactions with Lavinia, which makes sense, considering where the book ends up. Sure, you hear about her jobs, her family and escape to the big city. The mother, always trying to set her back up with the guy she doesn't want. But where I really tuned in was to her parties, her crazy nights out with Lavinia, her running with this new crowd, in this city, where anything can happen at night, really, and it does.

Tara Isabella Burton isn't an author I've read before, or even heard of, but I loved this book. She does this amazing slow reveal, where you start to understand things a bit at a time, and you start to wonder just who exactly you're supposed to be rooting for in this tale. Very fun, and quite brilliantly done.

'Louise doesn’t know whether she’s terrified or terrible or triumphant, whether she is in love or just surviving. All she knows is that the world has ended but that it is also so turning.'

As her mind is turning, whirling… said to be a Talented Mr. Ripley for the digital age, it started off slow for me until… until… the downward spiral began. Manipulation, lies, stealing (not just money either) this is a disturbed mind. Greedy for a better life, desperate to conquer her small-town past, Louise Wilson meets glamorous, wealthy Lavinia Williams and wants everything she has, and to become everything she is. Is it possible to re-invent oneself, to smooth and polish every rough edge of your being? Is going to the right places, exposing yourself to culture, attending the right parties, surrounding yourself with the ‘best’ people and dressing the part a way to obtain all that the ‘haves’ come by naturally? Louise is going to change her luck, she will do anything! She emerges from her cocoon and begins to take on similarities to Lavinia, yet there is an elusive ‘something’ she can’t quite mimic. She will take any abuses slung her way just to be close to Lavinia’s essence. But what is Louise but a hanger-on? Disposable? What will she do if Lavinia tires of her, as she is prone to do with her ‘projects’, her ‘pets’? Maybe Louise is getting too comfortable!

Louise cannot wrap her mind around the why of it all. Why does Lavinia deserve every blessing in life, none that has been earned? She is unflinchingly cruel on a whim, selfish, entitled and coldly beautiful and yet this is what makes every man and woman want her. What is wrong with wanting to remain in the world Lavinia has dangled before her? Louise cannot return to nothing, not after nesting in Lavinia’s home but her acts, her lies are an avalanche she can’t outrun. With every deception, more follow until she doesn’t know what’s real anymore. How much of herself will she have to shed to remain afloat? Just who will she become in the end? Will it all be for nothing?

The reader can’t stop what’s happening, anymore than Louise seems to be able to stop herself. How easily Louise turns chameleon. There were similarities to The Talented Mr. Ripley, but more of a YA feel. It’s good once it begins to sink into horror but the beginning didn’t grab me. I think twenty somethings will devour it and those of us that enjoyed Highsmith’s novel will weigh this against it. It has its appeal!

Publication Date: June 5 ,2018

Doubleday

Didn’t really care for this at all. I think it was the writing style, I really couldn’t get into any of the characters and I felt like I was reading a teen novel. This was not for me, but I think there is a huge audience for this. Maybe I’m too old :) but it’s time for me to go back to a historical fiction novel for now!

I started reading this book and at abut 10%, I lost interest and began another book. On a whim, I picked this one back up again-- and I am so glad I did! After the story picks up, it doesn't slow down and it definitely doesn't stop.... It does not hurt that I love all things New York, and that just so happens to be the setting. Definitely would recommend picking this one up- it's a winner.

This book was a quick and fast-paced read. I enjoyed all the characters and how they were portrayed and c'mon who doesn't love a story in New York?


Thanks NetGalley for letting me enjoy this book.

A page turner. Read it front to back. I just had to know how it would end.

To begin with, this kept me up beyond midnight. It began in the morning, took over my lunch, I grudgingly put it down to get non-book life things done but as soon as the evening opened up, I was stuck right back in until it was over. Lavinia and Louise were a particular kind of disaster that you know is coming and instead of looking away, you crane your neck to see and hear more.

I felt both women were desperate and damaged in different ways and that concoction was so toxic that there was always going to be something that sent them into the depths. That ultimately it was a man that hastens that was a bit predictable but made sense given Lavinia and Louise. I never quite knew how much of Lavinia and Louise's damage were how many parts self-indulgent or DSM verifiable. As such, they quite ruined any moment of sympathy I held for either but they were undeniably riveting. The Upper Eastside landscape was well done with people as vivid as the parties at which they found themselves. As it happens, Mimi and Hal scared and creeped me out more than anyone else. All things considered, Cordey was the best of the bunch and I'll be wondering about Elizabeth Glass for a while. Also a compliment to Burton on her rather lush prose which upped the enjoyment.

In not trying to give too much away, because it's really worth reading and I definitely recommend it (especially for those who enjoys looks at class in the current day). This felt to me like a blend of Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford, Highsmith's, Ripley and an episode of the ID channel's real crime program, The 80's: The Deadliest Decade featuring the murder of Kirsten Costas.

I received a free galley of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Louise Wilson is just barely managing to balance three jobs in New York City. After leaving a less than charming life behind in Vermont, she's spending more time tutoring kids and working in a coffee shop/wine bar, she's all but given up on her dream of a writing career. Frustrated and exhausted, she's delighted when she gets a call to tutor Cordelia, the sister of a wealthy socialite named Lavinia. The gig promises a big payout and Louise can certainly use the money. After several hours waiting for Lavinia to return to pay her for the tutoring session, Louise gets a big surprise. On top of Lavinia promising to pay her for every hour she was away, even those spend being a glorified babysitter for Cordelia, Louise will be her guest at one of the biggest parties in New York's social scene. After a drunken magical night, Louise and Lavinia become inseperable. Most of the time, Lavinia pays the bill, but her behaviors are so off the wall that Louise never seems safe. Louise soon starts to lose all of her jobs and become completely dependent on the whims and charity of Lavinia.  When Lavinia turns on Louise, a chance encounter will end up with someone dead and a social media cat and mouse game that is like a modern version of the Talented Mr. Ripley.

I could not put Tara Isabella Burton's Social Creatures down. In fact, I found myself running back to this book during breaks and work and reading long into the night when I got home. Louise is a sympathetic narrator in the beginning, but about a quarter of the way through the reader starts to see her true devious nature.  She is one the smartest, sneakiest, criminals in today's fiction. 

Tara Isabella Burton is definitely a talent to watch. If you're a fan of the fiction of Gillian Flynn, you're going to want to grab this one as soon as you can.

Social Creatures is available June 5, 2018 from Doubleday books.

One of the most intriguing books I've read this year. One I could not put down. I'll be looking for more from Tara Isabella Burton.