3.5 stars

YA thrillers have become one of my favorite genres. The murders, the twists, and wondering who the killer is makes it fun to read. The contemporary setting of this, with the main characters being tik-tok stars, makes it very relatable to teen readers.

The story is told from six points of view with each person being an influencer who lives in a Malibu mansion. I did think the female characters were a bit indistinguishable sometimes and would have liked Gwen and Cami to have more unique characteristics. They're all fairly shallow and insensitive after Sydney dies, but it fit the narrative the author was going for.

I did like the mystery and I didn't predict who the killer was, which is the main thing I want in a story like this. I also thought the pacing was pretty good and having flashbacks helped tell the full story in an interesting way.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Underlined and NetGalley for the copy.

Happy Monday y'all! Today's my stop on the Killer Content tour with TBR and Beyond Tours! Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours for having me on this tour and to Underlined/Penguin Teen for sponsoring it! This book was super interesting, especially when thinking about influencer culture and the rise of influencers in general- plus I waste so much time on Tik Tok these days, that reading a murder mystery centered around Tik Tok influencers was super fun!
Killer Content 4/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying! In this paperback original thriller a group of famous TikTokers find themselves turning on each other when one member of the group turns up dead at their beachfront Malibu mansion.
35 million followers. One dead body.
The six teenagers who make up the Hype House seem to have it all. A beach front Malibu mansion, millions of TikTok followers, model good looks, and sponsorship deals up to $30,000 per post. Everything's pretty much a Gen-Z paradise. Except that one member of the house has just turned up dead in the infinity pool. And the rest of them are suspects.
When the group TikTok account starts posting cryptic messages about the murder, the police limit their investigation to the members of the house. Now old joke videos are filed as evidence and past rivalries start to look like motives.
As investigators dig into these influencers' lives beyond their glossy internet personalities, they discover all five had reasons their lives would've been easier with Sydney Reynolds dead. But only one of them killed her.
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
I've been so into thrillers these days, so I was a big fan of this one- someone ending up dead in an influencer house? So cool! The one thing I wasn't a fan of was how early in the book we found out who did it- I know the author did it to help with pushing the story forward, but I wanted just a little longer to sit with the mystery. There was at least one pretty large hint about who had done it at the beginning, but that was never explored more or picked up again, which was interesting, but also made sense in a way. Characters wise, I think the author did a really good job personifying all of them and making them out to initially (at the surface) seem like super shallow teenagers who were just one dimensional, but the more you read about them, the more you learned about them, which I loved. I really enjoyed the plot and the pacing (minus the small point I mentioned earlier). Overall, this was a fun read and I definitely recommend checking it out!

This was AMAZING! It was definitely a book to remind me of 'One of Us Is Lying'. Adding a mix of TikTok is a 100% way to get more people to read, espically Gen Z. I really loved this, five stars from me.

The most trending app right now is "Tik Tok" . It's very easy to use and its so much fun. Everyone who was sceptical about it have now embraced it. People become viral and famous overnight. The concept of "Influencers" and "Content Creators" is finally accepted as a profession for people from all walks of life irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds.

I think this book has come out at the perfect time. I could relate to everything in this book as a content creator myself. The writing style was articulate and relatable. The narration had multiple POVs. The book was fast paced. The tone of the book was fickle and eerie. The book talked about a particular Tik Tok house called "Lit Lair". The characters were pretty ruthless and it was all about who had the most followers.

For those of you who don't know what a Tik Tok house is, it's basically a house where a bunch of content creators/ Tik Tokers live together and make videos together. This book is set in one such house with 6 teenagers. Suddenly, one of them was found dead in the pool. An investigation begins and all clues point to one of the teens as the murderer. The big twist in the book was something I guessed at from the beginning. But I still found the book very enjoyable and fun.

Its perfect for fans of "One of us is Lying" . I would recommend this book to everyone who likes to read YA Thrillers.

A group of TikTok influencers lives in a glamourous LA mansion. To their millions of followers, their life is picture-perfect. Then one of them is found dead in the mansion pool.
How far would you go for fame?

All in all, this was an interesting book and one of the better ones I have read on NetGalley. It's a solid 3.5. I loved the characters and overall feel of the book.

I do feel like the plot and pacing could have used a bit more work. It got a bit boring at times and the ending somehow felt underwhelming. Still, this was a good book I would recommend to any Charli Damelio fan.

Unfortunately I really didn't enjoy this one, and ended up DNF at about 10%. I found the writing to be abrupt and the characters ill-defined, and although I tried to power through on my curiousity to solve the "whodunit", I just couldn't carry on.

Score: 2/5

I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to read a murder mystery about TikTokers but here we are.

I think this book felt too "teeny" to me (is that a word?), in a sense that younger readers who read the YA genre would enjoy this more. Everything about this was theatrical and dramatical, kind of like a reality tv show.

I do appreciate the switch up it gave me from other genres, and I think this book has opened a sub genre about the internet scene within the YA Thriller-Mystery categories. The element of characterization was spot on, they acted exactly what I imagine of high profile TikTokers.

The killer's motive did not fit with the character's personality in my opinion. Another pain point is that the police force working in this story are unbelievably incompetent. This absurdity made the book highly unrealistic.

Do I recommend? It's a great way to tick off a book on your Goodreads Reading Challenge but otherwise skip.

KILLER CONTENT is an intriguing YA murder-mystery. The Lit Lair is a house where TikTok stars live together, making paid promotional content and growing their follower counts. We know that someone from the house has been arrested - and that there has been a suspicious death of one of the members. The book goes back in time to track the 5 people living in the house before and after the death, as the police investigate - and all of them are suspects.

What I loved: This was a really intriguing read, as we track before and after the death, how they deal with it and all the secrets they are keeping. As the case heats up, it really seems like anyone could have done it or been involved. With the TikTok videos they are making and those that keep getting posted, it adds an extra element of influencer sabotage that is interesting to follow. The clues do pile up, and astute readers can figure out some of the reveals before they happen, which is always fun in a murder-mystery. While there are multiple characters and perspectives, it is pretty easy to quickly discern and remember the different players, which works well with the plot.

What left me wanting more: It felt a bit long in the middle, as some of the drama gets drawn out while we are waiting to figure out who did it. I also would have enjoyed having the whodunnit perspective earlier to add some of the thrill behind the crime. We get this perspective later, once you know who did it and they begin to discuss, but some of the dangling (anonymous, to keep the surprise) would have drawn this out more and kept the reader focused on the main plot and eager for the reveal.

Final verdict: Overall, KILLER CONTENT was an intriguing YA thriller with an influencer twist. Recommend for fans of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, ONE OF US IS LYING, and EVEN IF WE BREAK.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

When a group of TikTok influencers decide to move into a Malibu mansion, aptly named the Lit Lair, the last thing they expect is murder. There’s the requisite jealousy/competition, the romance, the lack of identity in the world of social media and a focus on just how hard it is to curate the right image. What made it really interesting is the addition of a murder. When the Lit Lair’s TikTok account begins to post mysterious messages, it can only mean one thing: someone in the house is the murderer.

This is a relevant to the times thriller that really delves into the world of social media influencers. Twisty and surprising, this is a quickly paced read that I’d recommend to any fan of the genre!

My thanks to Random House Childrens/Underlined for the gifted copy.

BOOK CANDY! This is 1000% book candy and I was 100% here for it. 

The blurb above hits at the basics. This is is a pretty standard Whodunnit mystery featuring the six teenagers of the Lit Lair, a thinly veiled version of TikTok's infamous Hype House. If you are unfamiliar with TikTok or roll your eyes at the idea of the Hype House, then fair warning...this book might not be for you. But I loved the idea of the incredibly in-the-moment notion of six Tik Tok stars all living in a house together to help boost their brands through collaboration and then one of them ENDS UP DEAD.

Tik Tok's Hype House. Multiple creators live together in an LA mansion and film videos together...often in the mansion's large master bathroom.

The story is told from the point of view of each of the surviving members of the house after their housemate ends ups dead in their swimming pool. Not surprisingly, each has his or her potential motivations for murdering the victim and we, as the readers, question if we are dealing with an unreliable narrator, an outsider suspect, or some other thriller-y twist. Obviously I can't tell you which it it is, but that basic premise has become fairly standard for YA thriller-murder novels in the One of Us is Lying. The mystery gets an extra twist when threatening videos are uploaded after the murder to the Lit Lair Tik Tok account, which only the Lit Lair members can access with facial recognition...meaning one of them must be involved...or responsible.

It goes without saying that this book wants to have a twisty ending, wants to be cool/edgy/modern/relevant, wants to stand out among the vast landscape of YA thrillers. But did it achieve that? Meh. I can't be that guy who is all like, "I totally saw this ending coming" because my brain considers dozens of potential endings, solutions, and killers in these types of books. The ending that panned out was one of the endings I considered, but I don't know that it was necessarily the ending I would have picked if you'd held me to picking a final answer before the big reveal. What was strange was that the killer was revealed very early in the story--about halfway through--and the remainder of the novel became a howdunnit and a whydunnit rather than a whodunnit. I wasn't mad about that, but it is worth noting. 

The characters in this book weren't particularly memorable. I've already forgotten most of the important details about them just a week after finishing the book. They all sort of blended together. Some are more likeable than others, but they are all navigating brand deals and romances and being famous to some degree. The brand name drops here were very 2020/2021, so the book definitely won't age well. As a librarian, I'm glad the book is only available in paperback, as it will have a short lifespan before it feels super dated. 

FINAL GRADE: C  This was fun book candy and an interesting premise, but nothing particularly innovative or memorable. I'm glad I read it and I think it will be an easy sell to students in the library. In particular, I think reluctant readers would be interested in this, as it has a strong hook in a high-interest genre. Be aware of references to teen drinking, sex, consumerism, suicide, and murder...none of which should be too surprising in a YA thriller. I will be buying this for my library!

This book follows the five members of a Tiktok hype house when someone turns up dead. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I assumed it would rely way too heavily on gimmick and wouldn’t follow through on the mystery, but that was no the case! I was definitely kept at the edge of my seat when the mystery really started unfolding. While some moments were a bit cringe, I kind of think that’s the point in a way. I think it you like ya suspense this is definitely a good read! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about the identities we present to the world.  Six of the top TikTokers have come together to live in a house in Malibu that they call the Lit Lair.  They believe that by living and working together on both the group TikTok account and on their individual social media, they can extend their reach, gain more followers, and secure more sponsorships.  Everything seems to be going perfectly -- the roommates even have Drake asking to work together.  But underneath the surface, there are growing tensions among several of the roommates, particularly with Sydney Reynolds, the self-appointed leader of the house.  

One night, Sydney ends up dead in the house pool, shocking the other roommates and the wider world who closely follow the Lit Lair and each of its inhabitants.  When the house's joint TikTok account begins mysteriously posting messages, it seems that one of the surviving roommates is the true killer.  As the police, the public, and the victim's family begin to turn on the surviving roommates, each is determined to try to figure out who among them is the actual killer before they lose not just their followers but their freedom.  

I enjoyed this great thriller.  The premise was strong and well executed.  Within the mystery of who really killed Sydney, the book is an interesting examination of the word of social media influencers, how they shape their identities, and how they interact with their supporters and fans.  Those who enjoyed One of Us is Lying will definitely want to pick this one up.

Highly recommended!

This was a great thriller. Six well-known TikTokers have come together to live in a single house, known as the Lit Lair, as a way to grow their followers and gain more attention. The six seem to be leading an enviable life -- until one of the six turns up dead in the house's pool. Things get even worse when the house's group TikTok starts posting messages from a mystery source that suggests one of the remaining five housemates is the killer. As the police turn their attention to the five house members, they each do their own investigations to find out who is the one responsible and to clear their names.

This was a propulsive and compelling thriller. Recommended!

I am really undecided how I want to rate this book. On the one hand, I liked it, on the other hand, a few things bothered me a lot.
The writing style I fess kinda easy to read, fluid and appropriate to the theme of social media stars. I also found the characters well developed. They seemed authentic in their behaviour and antics. Which is not to say they were all likable. Most of them were superficial, bitchy and often quite unintelligent - but that fit very well with famous TikTok stars, since that's how I perceive them in reallife as well.
The story also had a good pacing and I got through the pages quickly.
My problem, however, was somewhat with the police work, which felt incredibly fake and even stupid in parts. The cops behaved illogically and sometimes more naively than the kids in the house did. This did tarnish my reading experience somewhat. In addition, I found the story often too predictable - and nothing really surprised me. Also, the »culprit« was obvious very early on and I absolutely didn’t like the route the author took with it. Not at all. It felt kinda insensitive to the topic.
Beside that, though, I liked the book. Someone who hasn't read many murder mysteries and doesn't mind unrealistic police work will probably like this book a lot.

Phew what a rollercoaster ride! Definitely didn't see the plot twist of this book coming at first, but some subtle hints helped me figure it out before the reveal. I really enjoyed this book, so many different topics were touched on. I do wish we could've gotten some chapters from Brooklyn's point of view as well to delve more into the pressures of social media and how they can impact your mental health. Many of the other characters also showed us these pressures though. I gravitated to Kat and Beau from the start and was happy with how everything turned out for them in the end! I wonder if a sequel might be in the works based on something mentioned at the end of this book and I hope it is, will definitely be keeping an eye out!

tl;dr tiktokers but make it thriller

basic synopsis: 6 tiktokers in this book's equivalent of the hype house, all living together in an LA mansion. one of the tiktokers shows up dead and the other five are the biggest suspects.

i think the concept of this book is intriguing. it has a lot of potential. the whole idea of writing a book about influencers is something that could've never happened even 5 years ago, so it's very innovative in that way. however, i think the book had some issues with execution.

context: i'm a teenage tiktoker :D

from a character standpoint, the book has 6 POVs for the 6 tiktokers. i'm all for multiple POVs, but i think there were so many characters that it was hard to flesh out all of them. i would rather have a couple of the tiktokers fade into the background and highlight only a few of them, zeroing in on their development. i say this because i didn't see much development in the main characters other than near the end. i would've loved to see more buildup in this development (for all of the main characters).

the big plot twist of the book was again, an idea that had a lot of potential. i was relatively surprised by it (though i had my suspicions), but i think there were some plot holes/things i didn't like as much.
- lowkey spoilery critique:
[this is one of many books where mental illness is used as a "plot twist". someone's poor mental health should not be used for shock factor. ]
- VERY VERY spoilery critique:
[the big twist is that sydney takes her twin sister's place. but as someone who has a oddly large amount of twins as friends, it's not that hard to tell them apart even when they're identical. the fact that no one, not even sydney's friends, family, boyfriend, or the millions of people who follow her on tiktok, noticed the difference astounds me. the fact that it wasn't until tucker hooked up with sydney thinking it was brooklyn that this twist was discovered just doesn't make sense in my brain.]

in terms of writing style, i'm kind of mixed about it. there's a whole bunch of pop culture references, which work well with the fact that these are 6 tiktokters, but when it comes to the longevity of this book, they don't work as well. i'm just thinking - if i read this book 5 years from now, a lot of these references (gymshark, addison rae, the renegade) i wouldn't remember or find "trendy". i think it's definitely possible to write a story about social media without a lot of pop culture references to show the current-ness of the story. lots of pop culture references in books are also just not my personal taste so take this with a grain of salt lmao.

TW: death, gun violence, self-harm, suicide, depression, negative body image/comments about body image, triggering comments about food

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this ARC!

Killer Content by Kiley Roache is an exciting YA thriller that will appeal to fans of One of Us is Lying or There's Somone Inside Your House. The story revolves around a group of TikTok influencers who all live together in a Malibu mansion called the Lit Lair. Sydney, Cami, Kat, Beau, Tucker, and Gwen are rising stars on TikTok, and they are millions of followers. But when one of them turns up dead in the pool, all eyes are on the other members of the house. Who had the motive? Who had the opportunity? And what other secrets are they hiding?

Here is an exciting excerpt from the prologue:

"There used to be so much to prepare before I stepped in front of a camera. The right outfit, flattering and fashionable - but without appearing as if I cared about those sorts of things - and no visible logos, unless they've been paid for in advance. The right angle - determined through a series of test shots beforehand. The right lighting - I'd position myself 45 degrees from a window for natural light without the risk of being backlit, then prop up reflective boards to make sure both sides of my face were evenly bright, and of course, no shoot was ready without setting up my two-hundred-dollar ring light.
It was all about curating the right imagine: desirable, inimitable, unattainable, yet somehow still approachable. It was a balancing act so complicated that of course it required extensive preparation.
But I don't get to any of these things before my mug shot."

Overall, Killer Content is a load of fun to read, and will appeal to anyone who is a fan of TikTok or mysteries. I could not put this book down, and it had plenty of twists and turns that really surprised me. One highlight of this book is the amount of care that the author put into the characters and plotting out the mystery. Although there were six influencers, chapters from each's perspectives, and also flashbacks, I did not have any problems distinguishing them and keeping track of what was going on. Despite being older than the average TikTok user, I had fun reading about each of the influencers' lives and trying to figure out the mystery of who the killer is. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of YA thrillers, I highly recommend checking out this book when it comes out in November!

A huge thank you to Underlined, Netgalley, Penguin Random House and Kiley Roache for my e-ARC in exchange for the honest review.

✨Spoiler✨
Cami was so jealous to Sydney for being popular on TikTok and everyone wants to talk about her. She’s also obsessed with her dieting but she’s still not satisfied because people still looking for Sydney’s figure, even though she’s doing nothing to stay fit. They are all friends and famous at the same time but Sydney is the most famous of them all and offered a partnership with the Parker Records.

Beau was so nice and kind to people. Girls likes him for being good to others. He’s sweet and gentle. I like how he cares so much especially to Kate. He’s also smart for guessing what’s going on with them, he’s the one who figured out that they were framed from murder.

After what happened to Sydney, everyone at the TikTok house was interrogating by the police and they think one of them is the murderer.

Social media was scary. Like what Gwen says to the reporter “keep your kids off social media. If you want to keep them safe.” Social media nowadays was terrifying and toxic. Part of me wants to take a break in social media just like Kate did, but I think I can’t do that 😂😖 overall, the plot twist was so good. You think you already know who’s the murderer but then is not. I really love this kind of book, like you really think who did it or what really happened.

TW: suicide & bullying.

Wow.

When I started this book, I wasn't sure quite what I was getting into.

Yeah, you get the run of the mill, some shallow teens picked to live in a house together and film Tik Toks, find out what happens when one of them ends up dead and the others start losing followers.

Sound familiar? I fully expected this to be very predictable with annoying characters. Don't get me wrong, the characters were meant to be annoying. But this did NOT go where I thought it was heading. In fact, I felt like I was getting Joe Goldberged throughout the story. As soon as I started sympathizing with any of these kids, they turned heel.

The writing was good, easy to follow, the characters were fully developed with many different facets, considering most of them seemed about as deep as a puddle.

Loved that this was simultaneously a spoof and a social commentary on all of the Tik Tok stars of today. The mystery had me hooked until the end and even then, there were some more surprises.

This is a great book for spooky season (November still counts), if you want a fun and fast thriller with a few laughs.

Check it out, when it hits shelves 11/30/21!
A big thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

You can find the review for this book and others on my
<a href=” https://www.tiktok.com/@turgidtomespodcast”>Tiktok</a> listed under Pickled Ponderings.

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Thank you Netgalley for this Arc!

A group of six influencers are living together and enjoying life making content up until one of them winds up dead. The police are searching for the murderer like normal until the influencers tiktok starts showing creepy messages that can only be coming from within the group!

This story is a fun, quick read and I definitely recommend it as a ya thriller!