Eden Bennett is the producer of Garden State Goddesses, a reality show based around a group of rich women who spend all their time sniping at each other, when they’re not treating everyone else like crap.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
May 2, 2025
Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf
Five contestants are invited to participate in a reality TV show with the chance to win $10 million. None of them know how or why they were chosen. All of the contestants as well as the program host have secrets, and when faced with strategic challenges and isolation, facades start to crack apart. They soon realize that someone brought them together for revenge and the stakes are life or death.
Revenge by way of reality TV show. A twisty suspense novel that is also a locked-room mystery centered around the current popularity of reality "must-see" TV shows, like a combination of Survivor and Squid Game, with notes of Agatha Christie. It's a fast fun read, with a cast of unlikeable characters, unreliable narrators, and a gorgeous but creepy gothic setting. It also offers a commentary on the voyeuristic aspects of social media and how far some people are willing to go for wealth, fame, and influence. A good choice for vacation or beach reading.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
February 29, 2024
A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintoch
Reality TV is all the rage, and there is a new one set in North Wales. But this one has a nasty twist: instead of being a survival show as advertised, the producer plans to expose each contestant's most shameful secret. It comes as a complete shock to the seven contestants, and after the first show airs, one contestant slips away into the Welsh mountain in the middle of the night, unable to face what may be coming for him. DC Ffion Morgan is assigned to the missing persons case, but that turns out to be the least of her problems.
This is the second book in the DC Ffion Morgan series, and we get to revisit many of the characters from the first book (The Last Party). There are many games at play here, not just the reality show, and everyone involved has their own agenda. The plot moves along at a good pace and kept me turning the pages. I hope Mackintosh is planning another book in the series, since I look forward to watching Ffion and Leo's relationship developing. And for all my dog-loving friends who used to call me wanting to know if the dog is okay at the end of the book (any dog, in any book), not to worry: Dave the dog is still with Ffion at the end of the book. (At the moment, I have a sweet but needy senior golden retriever foster dog who sheds constantly, so I can relate to Ffion's struggles with Dave.)
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
North Wales
