Rich Kids of Instagram: A Novel

by Maya Sloan

Based on the wildly popular blog "Rich Kids of Instagram," a dishy and hilarious novel about the intersecting lives of the world's most extravagant, unapologetically uber-rich teenagers.

The "Rich Kids of Instagram" are not your typical well-to-do brats. These "kids" drive Ferraris, fly to their weekend getaways in private jets, and post self-indulgent photos of themselves online as frequently—and as wantonly—as they blow wads of cash. Not to mention that they're more involved in sex, drugs, and power plays than most people twice their age.

Drawing from the ten most frequent contributors to the popular blog of the same name—which receives an average of 850,000 unique visitors a month and has been featured on 20/20, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Gawker, and others—Rich Kids of Instagram revolves around a core group of spoiled young people, from a Southern Belle poultry-empire heiress to a media mogul's driven daughter and an old-money rifle heir with a Mayflower legacy; to a nouveau riche outsider who is thrust into the members-only universe of the .1%, with scandalous results.

In a world that is smaller, more connected, and more competitive than ever, where nothing is off limits, some kids are just trying to make a buck—or ten thousand. Prepare to be wowed by this saucy, compulsively readable book about the hilarious display of extravagant wealth and the teenagers who have fallen into it.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

342 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Maya Sloan grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University, as well as a MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Arkansas. Her short story about Christian Rock Groupies will be featured in the 25th Anniversary Issue of Boulevard. Maya was one of five writers granted a Kostova Foundation fellowship to attend the Sozopol Fiction Seminars in Bulgaria this summer. Maya also received the Writers at Work Fiction Fellowship, Boston University's Inaugural Saul Bellow Literary Prize, a St. Bolotoph Foundation Emerging Artists Grant, and taught as a Boston University Scholar under the direction of Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. While at University of Arkansas, Maya received a Walton Foundation Creative Writing Fellowship, a Lilly Peter Fiction Prize, a Bill Harrison Best Thesis Award, and two nominations for Best New American Voice. She has had stories in Passages North and Driftwood, and been granted residencies from the Vermont Studio Center and Byrdcliffe Artists Colony. Currently, Maya is an adjunct professor in literature and film at Berkeley College in Newark, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Brandon Tietz]

An abortion--covered in caviar, gold leaf, and diamonds--is still an abortion.

Make no mistake, Rich Kids of Instagram is single-handedly the hugest abortion of a book I've ever had the misfortune of reading. I read it for free, and yet somehow I feel like Maya Sloan and the people over at Gallery Books should have to pay reparations to society for this stillbirth of a "novel". It's pure, unmitigated horseshit. It's the book you throw into the fireplace when you don't want to waste firewood. It is the end-all be-all of how to do the opposite of literature. It's Maya Sloan's performance art opus in which we watch her squat, make "totes" diarrhea on the page, so she can turn a profit.

RKOI is actually WORSE than reality TV. Worse. Congratulations, Maya Sloan, you've failed upwards!!

SURELY, IT CAN'T BE THAT BAD!!

Well, don't books have a story? A plot?

NOT THIS ONE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Instead, Maya Sloan does this thing where she takes a myriad of non-interesting characters and has them do (wait for it) not really much of anything with barely-there connecting threads. I'm completely serious. What Sloan appears to have done is eavesdropped on the most uninteresting conversations imaginable and transcribed them, all while adding words like "totes" and "obvi" and whatever hashtag speak was hot that week. Sloan drops names like Victoria Beckham and Kate Middleton. Oh, and if you love brand names...Sloan just has allllllllllllllllllllllll of them. OMG OMG OMG Prada! Say Prada again, guys! We all love PRADA!! And drugs! RKOI has these kids doing drugs like the weed and the coke and the pills that make you wanna party so totes obvi hard (did I use that right, Maya?).

BUT LET'S NOT FORGET THOSE INSTAGRAM PICS!!

Yeah, bro...the book has Instagram pics in between chapters just in case you don't know what those look like. And they have hashtags!! So many hashtags!!

So far we've got: DRUGS, HASHTAGS, NAME-DROPPING, TOTES, OBVI, INSTAGRAM, DOUBLE-TOTES-OBVI, TEXTING, MORE TEXTING, CHARACTERS GETTING UPSET BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T GET A TEXT BACK, THEN TEXTS COMING BACK, TOTES TEXTING, DRUGS, MORE NAME-DROPPING

How about some spoilers now??

So the whole "book" is built around a guy named Todd Evergreen who everyone is panty-twisted over because he's rich (like everyone else in the "book") and they all want a piece of him, right?

SPOILER #1: Todd Evergreen is from **gasp!!** the sticks...like out in the woods...TOTES OMG!!!!
SPOILER #2: Todd Evergreen is a genius at computers because he can **gasp!!** see patterns like Neo from The Matrix. Genius explanation, Maya!
SPOILER #3: Todd Evergreen's big revenge against those mean ol' rich kids of Instagram is **gasp!!** throwing a party and getting saucy pictures of them with hidden cameras!!

WAS THE BOOK JUST RUINED??

Nope. I just totes saved you some time.

This is literally the worst book I've ever read. Ever. I hope Maya Sloan enjoys her money.

[Sarah McMullan]

Unreadable bollocks. I enjoy a trashy read with the best if them but this was TEDIOUS.
So incredibly boring. I tried, but I just couldn't finish it. Don't waste your time - just picking up some old copies of People or NW or read Popbitch instead.

DNF

[Sam]

DNF AT 32%

This book is not for me. I made it to 32% without caring about any of the characters and without stumbling across a plot. I assume this is more of a day-in-the-life-of-the-rich type of deal, which I would have been totally fine with IF any of the characters were interesting and/or likeable. They were not. Reading the book felt like a chore.

This is not to say the writing was terrible. There were numerous typos in my copy but it was a digital ARC so I’m assuming those were fixed prior to release. The Southern Belle’s voice was distinguishable from the stuffy socialite-in-training who sounded different from the off-beat-rich-hippie-kid and so on and so forth.
Also loved the quote: “There is no condom for the heart.”

And that’s all I have to say in favor of this book.

Not what I expected.

So I’m not going to finish it, because finishing means rating, and rating means 2 stars. Unless it gets worse. But it probably would have been 2 stars.

***Digital ARC received in exchange for honest review.***

Buddy read with Nenia!

[Ivie dan Glokta]

What we are staring at people is black and white proof that money doesn't buy class.

What is the point of this 'book'? People have tried to compare it to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and i don't see the connection. If this 'book' followed people on their road to success i might give it a honest rating, such as it is....nope....why? It has no MEANING.

Am I supposed to be impressed by twats that haven't made anything themselves? All that luxury and money has been made by someone else. Like watching chickens stuffing peacock feathers in their ass.

The only thing they truly have is good fortune of being born in the families that are wealthy. Easily enough they could have been born in some African tribe, starving all their lives.

Remember the Hilton sisters? They have tried to make a career of being 'born'. They did little else except being the Hilton sisters...and look how well that turned out.

Although money can be fun, this didn't entertain me. This 'book' like it's characters accomplished a big fat NOTHING.

[Rebecca Giacomelli]

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

I read through this expecting it to be in the vein of Gossip Girl / Rich Kids of BH / Pretty Wild. It actually even made some meta references to Gossip Girl, but seemed to indicate that it didn't think that it fell into that genre. On the contrary, this book read like Gossip Girl lite - bland attempts at characterization at the introduction of each character, and then rapid abandonment of any growth or interesting psychology.
Yes, we get that they're rich - but it's practically plotless, very predictable, and doesn't even fulfill the guilty pleasure genre that others might.
It also features an often twisty, intentionally leaving out chunks of time, but all this serves to do is mask that there is practically no plot.
The prose is over-wrought, heavily repetitive, and doesn't draw you in. A struggle to finish.

[Jillyn]

One and a half stars.

---

When I read the blurb for this book, I thought it sounded really intriguing. I'm out of my teen years now, and I can assure you that they weren't spent in outlandish luxury. I thought this could be a cool (even if fictionalized) look into a world that I wasn't a part in, kind of like the Gossip Girl books. It sounded scandalous and cutthroat, and I looked forward to reading it.

Unfortunately, I was let down once again by a blurb that was more captivating than the actual book. To say this wasn't my cup of tea is an understatement. The first issue was the excessive switching of points of view. I don't mind doing this when it's done well, but because all of the POVs are the same kind of person (the snooty well off teen), it was really difficult to keep them all. That being said, the voice of these characters was really irritating to me. I'm down for bad language, but it was thrown in to places where it didn't really add anything. On top of that, the dialogue between characters sounded so forced and plastic most of the time. I found it hard to get into the allure of senseless sex, scandal, and drugs because it was presented so annoyingly.

Also filed under the "ugh" category is the amount of times a character was referred to as being rich. I kind of figured as much. I mean, it's the name of the book. The book about the inner circle and lives of rich teens. It's a safe assumption that the people they know (which are name dropped constantly by the way) are rich too. I get it.

It did gain some stars in its rating, though, because it did keep me reading, and I have to admit I did like the pictures that were included. I also really like the cover design. I know that's not how you should judge a book, but it does overall sum up the general plot of the stories within its pages.

As someone who was previously unfamiliar with this website that apparently has been mentioned all over the place, this book was not for me. I'm not entirely sure what age group this book is aimed for, but even though it is about teens be warned that there is a lot of profanity, sex, and drugs. Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.

[Shaye Carlsen]

This book was a impulse purchase. I saw it sitting on a table at the bookstore and thought I should read outside my comfort zone. I feel a little deceived by the synopsis. When I read it I got my hopes up that this was a modern day Gatsby. I was so excited I started reading it when I stopped at traffic lights. It didn't take that long to realize that this book was not that kind of book. It had a lot of potential, in my opinion, to be that. To shine a light on the vapid, frivolous superficial lives of the 1% and be literary genius. But I found this to be just that- vapid, frivolous and superficial. It could have been epic- It wasn't. Maybe my exceptions were too high going into this book.

[Tanya]

This book was so bad I'm at a loss for words. The characters were poorly developed and little better than stereotypes, the plot was a jumbled mess, and the ending was nonsensical. I was tempted to abandon this book half way through and, in retrospect, I wish I had.

(I was given a copy of this book from Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.)

[Lauren]

Do not recommend. Do not recommend at all.

[Isis]

I would like to thank NetGalley & Gallery Books for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.


Goodreads Blurb:

Based on the wildly popular blog "Rich Kids of Instagram," a dishy and hilarious novel about the intersecting lives of the world's most extravagant, unapologetically uber-rich teenagers.

The "Rich Kids of Instagram" are not your typical well-to-do brats. These "kids" drive Ferraris, fly to their weekend getaways in private jets, and post self-indulgent photos of themselves online as frequently—and as wantonly—as they blow wads of cash. Not to mention that they're more involved in sex, drugs, and power plays than most people twice their age.

Drawing from the ten most frequent contributors to the popular blog of the same name—which receives an average of 850,000 unique visitors a month and has been featured on 20/20, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Gawker, and others—Rich Kids of Instagram revolves around a core group of spoiled young people, from a Southern Belle poultry-empire heiress to a media mogul's driven daughter and an old-money rifle heir with a Mayflower legacy; to a nouveau riche outsider who is thrust into the members-only universe of the .1%, with scandalous results.

In a world that is smaller, more connected, and more competitive than ever, where nothing is off limits, some kids are just trying to make a buck—or ten thousand. Prepare to be wowed by this saucy, compulsively readable book about the hilarious display of extravagant wealth and the teenagers who have fallen into it.

For a book that had the potential to be explosively funny, wildly entertaining, and keep you glued to the pages, this one sadly came up short of the mark. The characters were, for the majority, one dimensional and lacked personality. They were more caricatures than characters, leaving the reader few choices for emotional involvement. There wasn't really anyone to root for, hate, or basically feel anything more than tepid about. Once in a while there were a few moments that elicited a stronger emotional response from me, but those were pretty far into the book.

I think this idea had lots of potential, however the execution was lacking. Maybe it was the assumption that the reader would be familiar with the stories it used for inspiration, rather than being drawn to the book simply by the description. The writing itself was fine, few errors (which I am going to attribute to the copy I read being an ARC), but the characters simply didn't garner any real emotional response from me either way. With two exceptions - two unrelated male characters, both elicited sympathy, though for different reasons. But then one up and lost my sympathy thanks to pulling a classic jerk maneuver. Even when there were situations that could have made me feel something for a normal character, it left me feeling nothing for the characters in this book. Not happy, sad, angry, envious, just . . . nothing.

With that said, it was still entertaining enough to finish without feeling any pain. And in fact the end was interesting, though not what I'd have like to see - so I guess deep down I did feel something for the characters as a whole. But mostly it felt like I was reading someone's juvenile version of bullying, as done by that rarified and elite group of the über-wealthy. Not what I was hoping for, but certainly not an unmitigated disaster either.

[Kathryn]

It's not often that I open a parcel containing a book and immediately burst out laughing, but that is exactly what happened when I opened the packaging containing this surprising story of fame, youth and excess. At that point, I had yet to discover the tumblr on which the book is based so it was a bit of a surprise to discover a book of that title, and with a cover that depicts a line of cocaine on a US $100 bill. Anyway, Rich Kids of Instagram is a fairly lightweight but amusing story that depicts the intersecting lives of several young people, all of whom have an excessive amount of wealth and very few of whom have any kind of conscience whatsoever. Or much of a grip on reality, in some cases. The descriptions of some of the parties, homes and a very unusual kitten-themed restaurant are extremely amusing, as is a certain notable characters revenge on the others at the very end. This one is difficult to describe in detail as the plot is very thin in places and to say too much about what happens may lead to giving away clues to what was for me, a clever and satisfying ending. I quite liked the enigma that is Todd Evergreen, though many of his peers were quite annoying and difficult to like (though I suspect that is the point). Or to put it another way, every character in the book is an arsehole, but that is kind of what makes it fun. You don't want to be these people. You want to laugh at them.

If you get a chance, I also highly recommend visiting the tumblr and having a good laugh at the world of material excess--the site is made up of a selection of indulgent pictures sourced from various places around the web. If you don't have time for that, this piece in the Daily Mail is a smaller, though still delicious taste.

I suspect that Rich Kids of Instagram is not a book that is going to please a wide variety of readers, but I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something lightweight, amusing and a little bit different.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for my review copy.

[Katie]

This was so bad. So bad.

I really struggled to read this. So much so that I couldn't make it past 45%. It followed 5 or 6 spoiled, bratty, rich kids throughout the plotless book. Seriously, there was no plot. Each chapter followed a singular character through a day in the life. It was like a diary written intermittently from each kid's perspective, except diaries don't jump back and forth in time. Every couple of paragraphs would end with a divider and the next few paragraphs would be from (maybe) weeks ago or in the future. There was no concept of time. In addition, the language these characters used was just ridiculous. Excessive name-dropping (even for the wealthy), cursing, drinking, and drugs. I got the feeling that the author didn't know where the line of believable was so they just threw in as much as they could. I was thoroughly annoyed. Right around when I stopped, one of the characters was throwing the biggest tantrum ever over planning a party and I just wanted to SMACK her upside the head. By the time I decided to DNF, I had had more than enough of her. Sorry to say you just can't make anything into a book.

[Lindley]

Readers who enjoyed the Gossip Girl series will likely enjoy Rich Kids of Instagram, though this book seems to be aiming even more for shock value than the former book series. The plot is pretty thin--I felt like the book was just getting started when it ended--and suffers a bit from alternating between one too many characters' viewpoints. However, if you're looking for a dishy beach read, this book fits the bill.

[Susan (LoftNine)]

The only positive thing I can say is that I liked how the author tied in each chapter's photo at the end.

[rehathebookghoul]

Loved it. Funny, Quick read

[Christina]

I'm still not entirely sure what actually happened in this book...

[Stefani Sloma]

You can also read this review on my blog, Caught Read Handed, HERE. Actual rating: 5/10

What I thought:

So if you didn’t know, this book is based on the Tumblr, Rich Kids of Instagram. The tagline of the blog says, “They have more money than you and this is what they do.” Before I saw this book on NetGalley, I’d heard of the blog, but I had never visited. Why would I want to look at pictures from douchey teens bragging about their money? I wouldn’t. I’m not really sure why I requested this book on NetGalley. I suppose, for me, there’s a difference between being forced to look at their wealth and just reading about it, especially if it’s fiction.

I think I sat down to read this book expecting to absolutely hate it, and I did and didn’t. I had my ups and downs with this book. It’s told from the perspective of six “rich kids” who range from total psychotic bitches to strange, new age sorta-hippies. While the kids themselves got on my nerves more than once, Sloan has a knack for creating unique perspectives. I have had problems in the past with books that are told from different, first person perspectives that were indistinguishable, but I was able to tell which of Sloan’s characters were telling the story.

On the other hand, I think there were TOO many characters giving their perspective and backstories and talking about their craziness. I was okay with it when we were reading from Annalise’s (the daughter of a media mogul) and Cordelia’s (a Southern belle who takes Annalise’s dream right from under her nose) perspectives; they were strong woman fighting for what they wanted, even if it wasn’t always in the most respectable way (scratch that, it was never respectable). It was fun seeing things through Cordelia’s eyes, who was constantly upbeat and positive, and then seeing Cordelia through Annalise’s eyes; I actually saw Cordelia as the hillbilly that Annalise saw her as (again, Sloan is great at making perspectives distinguishable) and it made me laugh when Annalise said, “I mean, she hardly speaks English.” Though I liked the two of them, I seriously couldn’t stand Desy (a wannabe pop star who is basically bipolar) and I thought Christian (a foreign royal who wants to design jewelry) was completely unrelatable and boring, as well as a total idiot.

Another thing I didn’t like was that there wasn’t really any concept of time. In each chapter there are several sections; you’ll read a few paragraphs then there’ll be a divider and the next few paragraphs are usually a flashback. You don’t really know how long ago any of this happened, and it made it hard to understand the characters’ changes, the friendships made, and the life lessons learned. In addition to this, I thought the excessive drug and alcohol abuse was a little over-the-top. Of course, I’ve never partied with these people, so I don’t know for sure, but it was pushing the line of believability for me.

The bottom line:

Rich Kids of Instagram is a sometimes interesting, sometimes boring and annoying look into the lives of those who have WAY more money than me. It is a super quick read. I was able to completely distinguish between the SIX different perspectives, but I did prefer some to others and I thought there were a few too many. I’ve heard if you like Gossip Girl, you might like this book, but I’ve never read or watched that so I can’t be sure. I don’t think I’d really recommend this book.

Rating: 5 – Take it or leave it

[Kate]

They are the kids with more money than sense. Their toothbrushes cost more than your car and a regular night on the town costs more than you make in a year. They party all night in designer outfits at exclusive clubs and after driving their sports cars home they sleep in unbelievably high thread count sheets. They are Rich Kids of Instagram. Their world is fashionably select with membership only open to a privileged few. Todd Evergreen, an outsider now cyber billionaire, is new on the scene and his presence shakes up the lives of many of these privileged teens.

I'd not heard of the Rich Kids of Instagram tumblr before I got my hands on a copy of this book but after checking it out I thought it looked like a bit of fun. Photos of the young and wealthy enjoying their lives: pools full of Moet bottles, exotic and expensive cars, extravagant yachts and people with more Rolexs than they could possibly wear in a lifetime. From the blurb this book seemed like a lot of fun and a chance to get to see a fictionalized version of just what their lives might be like.

Unfortunately this book lacked the charm I was expecting. Rich Kids of Instagram is a more crude version of Gossip Girl without GG's redeeming qualities. It's deliberately vulgar with even the book's classier characters being what I felt was unnecessarily coarse. It may have been an attempt to show how the characters are unapologetically themselves not censoring themselves for anyone but felt more dirty than anything else. The constant pop-culture references didn't feel naturally inserted into the story and the copious drug use painted all the characters in a bad light (although the front cover of this book should have been an indication of that). I really wanted to like this book but by the time I finished it I realized I didn't like any of the characters. For a book like this to work for me then there has to be a character who endears themselves to the reader. There was an attempt of this at the end but it was too little too late.

Part of the problem may be trying to fit too much into the novel. There are seven main characters each sharing their points of view over the course of the book. Each are connected to each other however some of the links (especially Christian Rixen to everyone else) were fairly tenuous and forced. I liked parts of their stories individually (like Annalise's rivalry with Cordelia, MC and Desi's music ambitions) but when paired with everything else which was going on, was a little disappointed in just how much we got to see regarding those storylines. There was also a lack of continuity throughout the book regarding personalities.

People who like Rich Kids of Instagram purely for the ostentatious and frivolous lifestyles it portrays might enjoy this book. There's a chapter devoted to one character categorizing her possessions and telling everyone just how wealthy she is. There's plenty of name dropping with regards to expensive brands and celebrities and also some behind the scenes access to lavish and exclusive parties. However if lifestyles of the drug fuelled, over sexed and vulgar teenagers isn't your thing I would suggest you give Rich Kids of Instagram a miss.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Australia for the review copy.

[Belinda]

Instagram is an interesting phenomenon. A platform for people to easily edit and share photographs, it has been criticised for devaluing traditional photography, creating an environment in which everyone's photos look the same and encouraging the promotion of unreal and unattainable lifestyles. One of the most critique-worthy things to come out of Instagram is the Rich Kids of Instagram hashtag and blog: the pictures of the wealthy teenage children of the richest people in the world, who use Instagram to show off their expensive possessions and lifestyle. They love to remind everyone how much money and stuff they have; those who follow #RKOI love to use them as examples of everything that's wrong in society today.

I love Instagram and I use it all the time but mainly for looking at pictures of cats (#catsofinstagram). I've avoided #RKOI due to a complete lack of interest but I was intrigued to discover that in 2014 the blog Rich Kids of Instagram had been fictionalised in Rich Kids of Instagram: A Novel. The book follows the trials and tribulations of several bright young things, including the daughter of a wealthy media mogul; a minor European royal; and the son of a Hollywood producer. These teenagers are joined by a network of wealth and privilege: they go to the same parties, shop at the same exclusive stores and holiday in the same expensive destinations. Their world is briefly disrupted by the arrival of internet Wunderkind Josh Evergreen, a prodigy who has sold a website that changed the face of music for a phenomenal amount of money and who enters the world of the wealthy. The bright young things want to know: where did this mysterious man come from, what will he do next and (most importantly) what can he do for them?

Designed to be a satire, Rich Kids of Instagram: A Novel follows some well-worn paths. Money can buy you lots of things but it can't buy happiness. The sins of the father are visited upon the children. Conspicuous consumption of things always involves conspicuous consumption of drugs and alcohol (are there no wealthy people who don't have substance abuse problems?). These are pretty standard tropes and are on their own quite a bit blah. However, what this book does do really well is highlight the uncomfortable truth that while money may not buy happiness, it can cushion you from having to experience a lot of unpleasantness or even acknowledge that unpleasantness exists. When you can touch $5 million worth of stuff before leaving the house (the comfort ritual of one of the teens), you really are living in a different place to the rest of us.

This book is nothing remarkable and I absolutely would only borrow it from the library but, given that all the characters are completely awful, I was surprisingly engaged. Three stars.

[AJ]

(Read this review and more at Pretty Bookmarks)

Disclaimer: I received a review copy c/o the Publisher via Netgalley.

Well colour me surprised!

Rich Kids of Instagram was a lot more interesting and fun to read than I expected. Rich Kids of Instagram follows an unknown voice, who narrates the start of the book, and later goes into different chapters dedicated to different characters. Sound familiar? Rich Kids of Instagram is a better blend of Rich Kids and Gossip Girl -- it was fun, entertaining yet witty and intelligent.

The common stereotype of rich kids is that they're spoiled and privileged. And while all of that is true for the Rich Kids in this book, their characters are so charming and intelligent. Rich Kids of Instagram is very character driven; despite it's many arcs, there is one central story: Todd Evergreen. His presence begins changing lives, and leads to the characters discovering different things about themselves and each other. The characters in the book are smart; I liked that they showed determination to work for what they want, even though they can easily be bought. Individually, they showcased their different passions and took different approaches to getting what they wanted. I particularly enjoyed Cordelia and Annalise; they were very strong women who fought for what they wanted, in a manner that was somewhat respectable.

I did have a little trouble pushing through with the book, seeing how there's so many different characters but I appreciated that the author tried to explain their background first before jumping into how they fit into the story. Not all of the characters were likable -- I couldn't really relate to Desy and M.C.. They were a tad annoying to me and while they did have their moments, they did come off as your typical rich kid character. I didn't particularly find Phillip that interesting either as was Christian.

Nevertheless, it was an all round enjoyable book and I really liked the way it was written. It was smart and unapologetically real, that I could imagine these characters come to life and going about their day in true reality TV style. Rich Kids of Instagram exceeded my expectations. Would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a peek at the world of the rich.

[Meg]

Rich Kids of Instagram is a Tumblr of, well, rich kids posing with their expensive stuff. Whether it's yachts, sports cars, resorts, or dropping $10,000 on cosmetics , the Tumblr recalls late-Roman excesses. It's hard to tear my eyes away, and while I scrolled, I learned that some rich kids prefer humblebrag captions over their private jets and shopping sprees, while other prefer the more blatant #hatersgonnahate and middle fingers. Also, I learned that pools come in more styles than in-ground or above-ground. Who knew?

The upcoming novel "Rich Kids of Instagram" is half Candace Bushnell's Trading Up, half Petronius' Dinner With Trimalchio. The characters are mostly unabashed social climbers, with a few old-money heirs and a tech wunderkind for frothy good measure. Their high-stakes, high-budget conflicts lead to a guilty-pleasure page-turner, with plenty of backstabbing, sex, and general excess.
From my review Rich Kids of Instagram: Satyricon and the City

[Akeiisa]

A story about rich white young adults/teens in New York City that justifies their bad behavior and selfish indulgences as young people just being true to themselves with no consequences for their illegal and immoral actions. While the moral of this story is repugnant, the writing isn't terrible. I liked some of the character introductions, but there were so many of these spread through more than half of the book, there wasn't a whole lot of story to be told. It was mostly glimpses into the world of this pretty obnoxious group of rich kids who perceive their lives are less than perfect despite their families immense wealth. There's not much of a plot here, there's no character development, and most of the "story" is revealed in the epilogue. Overall a 1.5 out of 5

[Carrie]

A 1 star rating
DNF at 33%

Okay let me start by saying this is my first non-romance book since 2012 so I was excited it sounded like it was gonna be awesome. I'm a huge fan of gossip girl so I was hoping for something like that. On that I was completely wrong I under stand that these kids have money and their spoiled. But the absolute shallowness I was not expecting.
I found myself so bored with this book that I would find things to do so I wouldn't have to read it. When it reached that point I knew I was done. I had high hopes but this book just wasn't for me at all.

Received a complimentary copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Lauri Rottmayer]

I liked this book. Before I read it, I wasn't aware that Rich Kids of Instagram is a blog but I have gone to visit it since getting the book to read.

It's a fun, fast read that goes through the lives of six rich kids and their desire to "make it". They have no problems like the sorts that you and I might have because of their uber wealth and I found myself laughing at their predicaments.

If you're looking for some fun in a book, I highly recommend this one. :-)

[Mary]

I had hoped that this fictional "back story" about the lives of absurdly rich kids (think the spoiled, pampered scions of billionaire businessmen, minor European royalty, etc.) who meet and befriend a media wunderkind would be a "so-bad-it's-good" guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, the characters were pretty much all unlikable, and situations either cliched or too over the top to be very entertaining.

[Emy]

I liked it because it seemed realistic to me but I didn't like that there were racism, homophobia and sexism things going on it in. The fact that it's realistic isn't an excuse.
It's very entertaining though & I was able to ignore - most the time - those things to enjoy the book because it's really not on the main scene.

[April Adamson]

Well what can I say...I wish I would've taken the other reviews seriously but I'm an optimist. This book was hard to swallow. Seriously drugs..alcohol and rich white kid problems is not my cup of tea. Oh well!

[Mark Morton]

Bought this cause I thought it was non-fiction, when I noticed it wasn't it has sat on my shelf for over a year and finally thought it was time to knock it off.

Pretty much Gossip Girl but in book form.

[Lauren]

I can't help it: no matter how trashy the book, I love peeking into the lives of the rich and ridiculous!

[SimplyƝì₭]

Messy messy... TOO many POV changed/ But it is glam out so fice is a try,