Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publish date: May 2, 2023

This book tells the story of 3 influencers: Hollie, Alabama and Celeste. Each have their own problems and demons they battle throughout the book. There are three timeliness: before, during and after their influencer trip to Iceland where Alabama goes missing.

The before does a good job at setting the groundwork and developing the characters however it is ‘snail pace’ slow. I am glad the story is not told chronologically as it allowed the pace to pick up ever so slightly, without this it would have been too slow and I likely would not have finished this book.

The chapters that take place during the trip to Iceland are great, there is that feeling of dread you get while reading that makes you want to keep going and this really redeemed the book for me.

After the trip to Iceland we really see a few of our characters grow which I loved to see as these characters were all very unlikeable throughout the book.

According to the other reviews there was a ‘twist’ however I didn’t think it was a twist as I thought it was fairly obvious what happened to Alabama. However I did have questions about the logistics and the author did a great job of it writing it in and having it all make sense.

Overall there were some great redeeming qualities to this book and I think it was a good debut novel. I think the description is fair in saying those who like Lucy agilely would like this book as she is another author who rights slower paced mysteries.

You never know what’s happening behind the photos on social. Wow. What a great book. Loved the multiple POV’s and multiple timelines. This read like a classic thriller—revealing one piece of information at a time, and just enough that my mind jumped to all kinds of crazy scenarios with the new info.

The end wasn’t exactly a twist—but it was definitely unexpected. I think the last couple of pages felt a little rushed—I would have loved to hear more from that character’s POV to wrap things up. But wow. Creepy ending that I really had to think about.

I love the conversation about mental health related to social media that happens throughout these pages. It’s so important to recognize that life exists both on and off a screen—and what we have off-screen might be more difficult at times, but it’s very much real. I also loved the conversation about girls on the spectrum. It can be incredibly difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for girls, let alone the cost and waiting time involved in attempting to get one.

Celeste, Alabama and Hollie are just three of the many Instagram influencers who have gone to Iceland for a promotional trip, and these three women are quite different, despite all of them being the “perfect” image of how to live your life.

Celeste and Alabama are friends with a tumultuous history, and they both completely admire Hollie - the perfect beauty who runs marathons and has loads of followers. Alabama actually admires Hollie a bit too much. Her need to win at the influencer game has her coming off a bit desperate when everyone gets to Iceland. She just wants to be friends with Hollie, but Hollie doesn’t want a needy new friend - in fact, Hollie just wants to be left alone.

All three of these women have things they are working through/struggle with, and those things come out with a slooooow build to the disappearance of Alabama. This entire book was quite slow, which isn’t normally something I enjoy. Not much else can be revealed without spoilers, but the spoilers weren’t really that exciting. The ending, however…

The whole time I was reading this, I was going to give it 3.5 stars, but I didn’t know how I’d round. Then I got to the ending, read the twist I should have seen coming but didn’t, and I decided to round up for that and this being a debut novel. The current Goodreads rating is 3.56, and I’d say that’s very fair. The atmosphere was great, the writing was great, but the story just didn’t hit. Still, it was an entertaining plot, and a good look at how social media can affect mental health.

(Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, Nicole Hackett, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released May 2, 2023.)

The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett
First off, the cover is gorgeous. I will read a book for the cover alone not even knowing what the book is about. I loved the setting Iceland, it’s definitely on my list to visit. I loved the premise of the book. Influencers and how perfect their lives appear versus reality. That’s certainly very relevant in today’s day and age. However, I literally did not like any of the characters, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the book. That means the author did a fantastic job. This was a very well written book, very engaging.

This was a great debut! I love anything around an influencer and a trip gone wrong. They're a few of my favorite tropes. This hit it out of the park and I cannot wait to read more of Nicole's writing in the future.

What a great book! I love everything by this author and this book was no different! I couldn't put this down and was up all night waiting to see how it ended!

I really enjoyed the book. It was a perfect murder/mystery. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone. I will definitely be buying a copy of this book very soon. Thank you to crooked lane books and to netgalley for letting me read and review this book.

Wow! This book was fantastic and it totally had me wrapped up in the story from the beginning. I was fascinated with the world of influencers and how they come together on a sponsored retreat. Hackett did such a good job writing each chapter from a variety of character's view points. It wasn't overwhelming to follow like some books can be.

I would definitely read more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy for the purpose of this review!

══ ≪ ARC REVIEW ≫ ══
- Rating: 4★
- Genre: mystery, thriller, fiction

Everyone wants to be them, but internet fame comes at a price.
A picture-perfect trip goes horribly wrong in this fast-paced exploration of friendship and the dark side of social media.

Simply unputdownable & captivating. 'The Perfect Ones' by Nicole Hackett is full of surprises, conspiracies & dark secrets.

A murder mystery that targets the influencers, who go on an exclusive trip.Things start going downhill unexpectedly and you are in for one hell of a ride. Enjoyed it and liked it. Don't forget to check the trigger warnings.

Pub date: May 2, 2023

Thank you Netgally for the ARC

I read this because I like a good murder mystery and I found the concept of the murder having been surrounded by influencers.
I think the reason I didn't like this book as much as I hoped is because I am completely over the women putting other women down trend. I do not understand why this is still a thing and it annoyed me. Everyone seemed extremely detached and not genuine at all. The mystery was a tad predictable in my opinion.

It wasn’t a n awful book, I’d recommend, but it wasn't my favorite

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the copy of The Perfect Ones. I’m not sure why I am so intrigued with ‘Influencers’ but I am, so I was really excited to read this book. It was interesting that Iceland wasn’t featured more and while we followed a couple of influencers, we didn't really get to know much about the lifestyle.
I didn’t mind the multiple POVs, but the multiple timelines were really hard to follow because the timelines were so specific and there were so many. It was distracting how every chapter listed when and where it took place as well as who it was about. I ended up ignoring that text because I could easily tell what happened in Iceland vs what was at home. The story is really about Alabama’s disappearance, but the bulk of the book seemed to be about the characters’ home lives. In the end it made sense, but I was mainly interested in the main story. I think the idea of the story was better than the execution for me. I wasn’t a fan of the end and thought part six was a disappointment. This book wasn't for me.

How far would you go just to get 1+ million followers on your Instagram? Hollie has that many and Alabama wishes she did and is obsessed with getting there. Alabama and her so called best friend Celeste go together to a invite only, promotional trip to Iceland where Alabama is hoping to learn from Hollie how to increase her social media. There’s twists and lies and secrets and blood during this trip that keeps you wanting to read more. Friendships are betrayed and can they be forgiven? Read the book to find out.

The lives of influencers are so unrelatable but this thriller documents the lives of several influencers on a brand trip in Iceland in a way that makes you feel pity for them. This is a quicker read with a fast pace. The end of this is wild and made it worth it to me. Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane books for this free ebook preview!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advance reader copy. I am leaving my honest review.

This book had so much potential to be an on the edge of your seat thriller, I just felt that overall it was poorly executed. The plot was good but the book was difficult to follow.

First there were so many characters and each chapter was told from a different POV. Some characters knew each other, some did not. The introduction of so many different characters in each one’s world made it a little chaotic.

Second, I typically enjoy thrillers with an alternating timeline but I don’t think this author was able to pull that off. With each new chapter we jumped timelines for a different character and it was hard to keep track of where the story was. A couple of times I had to go back and look because I was confused on which characters were already friends and did someone know someone else or not?

Finally I felt like the ending was left unresolved and with questions unanswered. It was not a satisfying conclusion. I feel there a few characters’ storylines left without a resolution. Maybe that was done in the interest of space since there were so many characters?

Regardless, I wouldn’t say I hated the book. I just didn’t feel it was well written and there were too many holes for me.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy - all opinions are my own.

This was an incredibly fun reading ride. A plot that centers around a group of influencers, the messy lives behind the perfectly curated feeds and the mystery of what happens when one of them winds up missing and presumed dead on a sponsored getaway week.

I enjoyed just being totally immersed in this story, which I flew through at record speed. Quite frankly I really liked the way the story wound together the messy and difficult realities of influencers "real lives" versus the highly curated feeds that they present to the world. I liked that each character had exceedingly human flaws that made them relatable and likable, and I loved that none of the characters got off the hook easy with their problems and the messes they found themselves in. The movement between POV's and timelines was perfectly crafted and revealed just enough hints to keep me flying through the chapters to see what happened next.

A totally ideal winter read, to transport you to Iceland and the world of big-number influencing.

This book was just ok for me. I loved the premise and I love anything in this setting but where as most thing set in Iceland use Iceland as another character I felt like the setting was not utilized as much as it could have/should have been in this story. This is just my crazy love of Iceland though, I thought the writing was very well done and cohesive and the story was well told. I will def recommend to customers

A sponsored trip to Iceland turns deadly for influencers in The Perfect Ones. These women are far from perfect. Their story moves through past and present beginning the morning after Alabama Wood is discovered missing. Her fellow influencers Hollie, Margot, Emily, Katherine and Celeste hardly knew each other before the trip. Alabama and Celeste, however, had been friends for years. However, they don’t know each other well enough to understand that each is suffering behind her carefully constructed façade.

The Perfect Ones shows the gritty, ugly reality behind the curtain of social media. The women obsess about the outfits they will choose for their photos, the way to highlight the products they are paid to advertise and the number of “likes” each posting gets. Everything else, including the raw beauty of Iceland, is only superficial. This is a fast, easy read. I loved the location but disliked the characters. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Nicole Hackett for this ARC.

There have been quite a few novels based on the lives of influencers recently. In this thriller, a group of influencers is invited to Iceland for a junket. Each of the girls has her own reason for wanting to go.

We learn very soon that one of the influencers, Alabama, has disappeared. The police have no leads so focus their investigation on the two women who seemed closest to Alabama at the time she vanished: Celeste Reed, Alabama’s best friend of ten years, and Hollie Goodwin, fitness guru and Alabama's unwilling idol.

Celeste is preoccupied with her deteriorating marriage and problems with her five year old. Hollie, meanwhile, is a very successful Instagram influencer but in private her life is a mess.

The book darts backwards and forwards slowly unraveling the plot, as we get closer to Alabama's last conversations. In the meantime her car has been found, but without her.

An intriguing thriller which will be published on 2 May 2023. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC! I had high hopes for this going in, the premise sounded so interesting. Unfortunately, this fell flat. The characters were unlikable and not relatable, the tension and conflict felt contrived and there was no driving element propelling things forward. The writing wasn’t bad, I just wish the characters were more compelling.

Great story! The reality vs online appearance of social media influencers is such a real thing and this book is very good at portraying this for the 3 main characters. Definitely recommend.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.