The premise of this book seemed intriguing but failed to deliver concrete answers as to why society gets caught up in the "hype". There were some parts of the book that kept my interest but I struggled to finish. It seemed to flit from one idea to the other without any real sense of conclusion.

This is a very deep dive into the Fyre Fest story, the circumstances that enabled it, and influencer culture as it stands now. I'm not sure it does as good of a job covering con artists and scammers as well, the Fyre Fest guys were obviously the driving focus behind the book. Which, is fine! It's a very readable book (basically like a Vice long form article) but if you're looking for something beyond Fyre, maybe try something else.

You may hear about it now and then, but until you read Gabrielle Bluestone's gripping book, you don't realize the scope. Gabrielle's investigation brings to light the scope of how we are influenced by influencers, influencers who are setting the stage for followers to fall for a life that isn't real. The Frye Festival was just the beginning. I couldn't put it down and then I changed how I look who to follow and what is perception and reality. A must read.

Hype is the nonfiction for anyone who's browsed and/or bought something simply because an influencer or algorithm told you that you would like it.

In a world where social media marketing is everything, author Gabrielle Bluestone has taken readers behind the scenes of some of recent history's biggest online scams. From music festivals that didn't really happen to app ideas that made their developers rich before they even developed anything, Hype combs through statistics, marketing data, and interviews to get down to the real reason we fall for so much online.

Although I honestly didn't follow the Fyre Festival catastrophe as it unfolded and hadn't even heard of some of the scam apps mentioned in this book, I found Hype to be an engrossing look into the harrowing world of social media marketing. Bluestone lays out data and references interviews with a finesse that grabs you and makes you thankful for having steered clear of the Fyre Fest influencer campaign on Instagram. With easy to understand language and a wide range of sources, Hype is an excellent foray into social media marketing scams for audiences both new to the subject as well as those who have read about it before.

DNF at 21% - it was just way too scattered that I couldn't keep focus. Bluestone tries to cover too much ground in too little space. It may have worked with a better structure, but as is, it's pretty hard to decipher what her thesis is.

Hype is a fascinating examination of how grifters and con artists have become masters of manipulating social media it’s influencers into becoming unwitting accomplices to their scams. Gabrielle Bluestone begins by diving into Billy’s McFarland‘s the Fyre Festival scam, describing how he convinced influencers to help unwittingly defraud their followers. These influencers are paid thousands of dollars for posts that convince people to follow what they recommend even though they often have no knowledge about what they are recommending. These influencers also have no responsibility for the damage their caused by their influence. Hype should be essential reading for anyone who is over influenced by what they see on social media or makes decisions based on recommendations from people they follow instead of those with real expertise.

A deeper dive into the Fyre Fest catastrophe from a journalist who’s covered the story from the start. Hype weaves the psychology that allowed shitFyre to snowball with more internet scammers. It was fascinating.

Gabrielle Bluestone has written a fascinating take on influencer culture as a whole, particularly the ways that they convince us our lives are lacking. Why do we buy products that we see on Instagram? And why did thousands of people buy tickets to Fyre Festival? Social media, and influencers, have turned out eyes increasingly outward. We are apt to compare ourselves in those whose lives are incredibly different and Bluestone explores the why. She also examines how fraudsters like Billy McFarland and Danielle Bernstein convince the masses to buy into their marketing and images. The book is overall heavy on Fyre Festival coverage, a topic that Bluestone has covered on several previous capacities. If you’re not interested in how Fyre (didn’t) go down, this might not be the book for you. I am, however, fascinated by scams and cons in general, so this proved to be a great read for me.

I think the best compliment I can give this book is that it's everything I wanted it to be and more. I wanted to read about scams and WE GOT SCAMS, my friend. I can't wait for more people to read this so we can talk at length about some of things that Bluestone covers here. It's really well organized, flows into each example beautifully, and the juicy anecdotes will keep you turning the page. I was worried that it would be too much retreading of the Fyre Festival, but Bluestone actually skips over some parts and details in order to get to the heart of things and I think that was a really good decision and kept the scope of the book really focused. I will say that because of that, it kind of assumes you did some of the homework and know who some of the people are/what they did, like Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes. but if you are picking up this book it's likely you might have heard those names before. As the Wall Street crash and COVID-19 persists, this book is going to only become more relevant and I recommend people pick it up as soon as it's available!

This book goes into great detail about the scammers that exist in today's society, and how they use means such as social media in order to manipulate the public to get rich and rob people of money. This was a very dense, intense, and eye opening read as Bluestone talks to people with inside knowledge of these scammers. Bluestone discusses Fyre Festival, WeWork, Thernos, Donald Trump, and other public figures who have taken advantage of the American public. The book was at times a little hard to read, but very enlightening. Bluestone, who is a journalist for Vice, goes into great detail to explain the inner workings of all of these organizations and how they got away with what they did. This a cautionary tale and a very important read for now.

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.

This juicy, compulsively-readable book satisfied my thirst for white collar crime stories while challenging me to examine contemporary issues around digital media, identity, and truth. The book takes a look at bad actors’ use of the Internet and why so many have fallen victim to their ploys. Those who loved the Netflix documentary on the Fyre Festival will enjoy this book, as it is written by the doc’s executive producer. Each chapter weaves the Fyre story with stories of Mike Bloomberg, Donald Trump, Instragram influencers, and others. The author tackles the complicated, nuanced stories with firsthand accounts and documents.

The book read more like a novel format. Skimmers - I urge you to read this book in its entirety. The stories are not broken down into sections with easily definable breaks, you will miss important juicy bits. Trust me, despite that factor, it is complusively-readable - I had it finished in a day.