DNF at 30%. Just not for me. I couldn’t relate to the characters or find any of them likable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Iceland was beautiful, and I would definitely like to travel there. I adored the book's premise. Influencers' seemingly flawless lives in contrast to reality. In today's day and age, that is unquestionably very pertinent.

However, despite the fact that I did not particularly enjoy any of the characters, I still enjoyed the novel. That indicates that the author did a great job. This novel was incredibly well written and captivating.

I wanted to love this because the description sounded really interesting but I could not get into it after I started reading. The plot was too hard to follow. I knew Alabama went missing right from the start but you’re taken back 3 months and learning about the private personal lives of each of the women - one has a daughter most likely on the spectrum, another doesn’t want kids. I just kept waiting for them to go back to discussing the disappearance and to actually be interesting and it never got there for me. I stopped reading at 20% because I lost interest. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

Gripping and completely compelling! I was glued to the pages and couldn't wait to find out what happened next!

It ended like that?!?

I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Alabama's disappearance. Celeste and Hollie were both interesting characters. Either of them could have made Alabama disappear.
The revelations at the end were unexpected and I kind of wish it had gone in a different direction because it was a little predictable.
I liked the fact that Hollie and Nick's situation was realistic in a different way from Celeste and Louis's situations.
They are starkly different women whose lives are more complex than social media shows - as reality shows.
I definite;y enjoyed this. Even though I wanted more from the ending.
I received a copy via netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Perfect Ones tells the story of Alabama Woods's disappearance from a social media influencer event and sponsored vacation in Iceland from her perspective and the perspective of two other women on the trip: Celeste, who was best friends with Alabama in college but now wonders if the friendship should be continuing; and Hollie, a fitness influencer from Texas with the kind of following that Alabama wants for herself... and who Alabama idolizes to an uncomfortable degree.

I expected more of a thriller vibe from this based on the blurb and marketing materials, but this was really an exploration of the difficulties of performing womanhood in an era where everyone essentially markets themselves on social media (whether they're a successful influencer or not), and the toxicity of influencer culture in general, with the framing of a mystery or maybe a domestic thriller. It was a very fast read, with complicated and interesting main characters, and a twist ending that created some plot holes big enough to drive a truck through in the last few pages of the book and left me really frustrated.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

DNF @ 40% - I really tried to get into this one but it felt like a carbon copy of a mix of GOING DARK and THE WRITING RETREAT. even the plot twists were similar, and I found myself just getting bored by knowing what was going to happen next. I will definitely recommend this one to those looking for an easy type thriller, but for those who have read most of the thriller repertoire, I would say give this one a pass. p

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC! I had high expectations for this Iceland-set thriller, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. Novels centered upon social media and the impact of our online lives fascinate me, but this was lacking a lot of the background I was hoping to hear more of in terms of the influencers’ jobs themselves. Instead, it was a deeper look into the psyche of each woman, including trials and tribulations of everyday life, maternal anxiety, and other mental health issues.

I didn’t find the characters likable and struggled to connect with any of them, or their stories. This was also a much slower read than I anticipated. Overall it was just not what I expected as I believed it would be a more fast-paced thriller rather than a slow burn.

The Perfect Ones dives into the world of social media influencers and the dark sides of it when one has to always remain perfect and constantly keep their followers up. Hollie, Alabama, and Celeste have the “perfect world”, at least that’s what their audience on Instagram thinks. They all score a trip to Iceland, where Alabama winds up missing, and the trip turns into a total nightmare. What happened to her?
Told in multiple POVs of each influencer, the story unfolds prior, during, and after the trip. Each character is unlikable but makes you curious about their world- they are spoiled, selfish, and keep up a persona for their online views. There is also some drama between 2 of the ladies.
This was a 3.5* read! Thank you to Level Best Books and NetGalley for the EArc and the chance to review it!

This was not exactly what I expected from this thriller!

This is full of social media and influencers and features quite a few toxic friendships. I wouldn’t say I disliked it necessary, it just was not really for me. I didn’t find the characters likable at all.

This was a new author for me, I found parts fast paced and some of the book just dragged. It felt "long" and familiar to me. I wanted to love it - found it hard to finish.

The plot to The Perfect Ones is not your typical thriller. It was a breath of fresh air – experiencing influencers and their lifestyles seems timely and relevant given today’s society.

The characters are all unique and keep the story flowing. Then BAM! What a conclusion - the ending was a complete shock to me. I’ll be looking for more from Nicole Hackett.

I really liked this book. Not my typical thriller I normally read or romance novel but I liked that this book had a social media aspect to it because I run my business on social media. It was a book that kept me guessing and kept my interest the entire time. This is my first book with this author and looking forward to more.

(Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC).

A group of social media influencers embarks on an all-expenses-paid trip to Iceland. But once they arrive, things are anything but picturesque.

The term "thriller" should be very loosely used when describing <u>The Perfect Ones</u>. This could maybe be categorized as a domestic suspense, but even that is a stretch. The twists were all wholly predictable (think <u>Gone Girl</u> meets <u>Where'd You Go, Bernadette?</u>) and every character was unlikable. Celeste maybe had some redeeming qualities, but even she could not carry the drab and disappointing plot. I mean how a group of social media influencers can make Iceland sound like a Hellscape is beyond me! But also the entire premise and how every woman treated one another was just absolutely absurd. I'll continue my biggest grievances under a spoiler tag...

<spoiler>So we're beaten over the head with the idea that Celeste and Hollie aren't terrible women. I get it. Celeste (had an "affair") and is reluctant to get her daughter tested for autism and Hollie accidentally got pregnant. Celeste eventually does the right thing but every Hollie chapter made my skin absolutely crawl. I mean Hollie got pregnant by her husband and then had a miscarriage (after several statements shaming abortion) and yet still she feels like a terrible person? And with the current state of things the anti-abortion rhetoric really just rubbed me the wrong way. And don't get me started on the big Celeste and Henry kiss. Wow. What an explosive affair! Also, how could Alabama ever have lived in Iceland for a year with no ties to her finances? I mean even off the kindness of strangers, it's unfathomable. Iceland may be my favorite place on this planet but woo-ee is it expensive!</spoiler>

Anyways, that was just the tip of the iceberg (enjoy the Iceland pun). Overall I mentally checked out by the 70% mark and speed-read the remaining pages. This one was just not for me. For a laundry list of reasons.

📚: The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett (@nicolehackettbooks)
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding down on #Goodreads)

Celeste, Hollie, and Alabama are three social media influencers, where their lives are anything but the picture perfect Instagram image. They find themselves on a sponsored trip to Iceland - and soon after, one goes missing.

This book could have been titled intrusive thoughts, as the amount of intrusive thoughts by the three core characters is almost unbearable in the first half of the plot. (It does serve the purpose of diving into the mental health of each character, and leaves the reader wondering just how good - or harmful - are their social media personas to their real lives?)

I enjoyed this read almost the whole way through - the plots surrounding motherhood, pregnancy, and mental health were unexpected. The ending was fantastically twisty, but why is it that my jaw wasn’t on the floor?

Thanks to @crookedlanebooks via @netgalley for the digital ARC. The Perfect Ones is out later this spring on May 2nd, 2023! #gifted

The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett was a remarkable debut thriiler!

It's been a hot minute since a book really grabbed me from the beginning.
This one took me for a ride!
I truly love stories such as this one and Hackett really set the tone here.
The characters were excellently written. Relatable characters who have flaws. But are enjoyable.
It’s fast paced and jaw dropping, full of twists and turns, lies, secrets and deception.
The perfect read for any thriller lover!
I will definitely pick up Hackett's next thrilling stories. Because I simply enjoyed this one way too much.

"A picture-perfect trip goes horribly wrong in this fast-paced exploration of friendship and the dark side of social media."

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Crooked Lane Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

The Perfect Ones is about friendship and the dark side of social media. The story follows the disappearance of Instagram influencer Alabama Wood during an influencer trip to Iceland, and the investigation that focuses on her two closest friends on the trip, Celeste and Hollie The author does a great job of showing how the characters have complex relationships and hidden motives for doing things. The book also makes you think about how social media affects our lives.

Ultimately, this book fell flat to me. I found myself uninterested in the characters, as they all seemed to have the same personality. I am certainly open to reading more works by Nicole Hackett! I think the topic it self is uninteresting to me and the characters could use a little bit more work.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for the chance to review this in exchange for an honest review.

This story focuses on the intricacies of a toxic female friendship combined with the perceived perfection of social media. A solid read which I would absolutely recommend!

Making influencers and social media a large part of the plot line is what drew my attention to this book. An influencer trip brings everyone together by as we all know what life is like on social media isn’t always what it really is. As one influencer goes missing and one is being blamed we race to find out what is really going on and what is the price of fame.

Instagram famous and obsessed, influencers Celeste, Alabama, and Hollie have everything that other people seeking Instagram fame would want. But during a promotional trip to Iceland, Alabama goes missing; what viewers see online doesn’t mirror reality behind the camera, the perfect pictures. These women are slowly falling apart at the seams, in both their private and public lives; they slowly begin to feel the tension rising between them. You’d never think it looking at their profiles online but these women’s lives are far from perfect. Could they truly be capable of harming one another?

This is a fast-paced story that explores the darker side of social media and internet fame. Told from alternating perspectives and timelines, the story grips you from the start. As a debut author, Hackett has knocked this one out of the park. I’m sure this won’t be the only book we will be seeing from her. I enjoyed this book. Its characters are well-built with many layers to them. The dialogue between them comes across authentic and purely entertaining. I would say the story is more about friendships, social media, and the issues that lie within – less than a thriller. At least it felt that way reading it.

Gripping and completely compelling you’ll be glued to the pages. What really happened to Alabama?

I received an ARC of this book and leave this review of my own accord. #NetGalley #ThePerfectOnes #NicoleHackett