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Then Things Went Dark
Six people land on a desert island ready to make their reality show debut. The contestants are suitably glamorous and dramatic—and also hungry to prove themselves. The stakes are high, and with millions of viewers watching, losing is not an option. But three weeks and eighteen episodes later, five of the six contestants sit in a Portuguese police station, none of them winners.
Twelve million people were watching when Rhys Sutton died on camera, and someone must pay for the crime. The best friend, the rival, the girlfriend, the lover, and the sworn enemy are left standing. And of course, no one is talking. But how do you keep secrets when the world has been watching? Especially when, just a day before his murder, Rhys was the most hated man on television.
Twelve million people were watching when Rhys Sutton died on camera, and someone must pay for the crime. The best friend, the rival, the girlfriend, the lover, and the sworn enemy are left standing. And of course, no one is talking. But how do you keep secrets when the world has been watching? Especially when, just a day before his murder, Rhys was the most hated man on television.
432 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2024
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August 27, 2024
Then Things Went Dark
By Bea Fitzgerald
Imagine a reality show with six contestants, each famous in their own rite: a chef, an influencer, a musician, an entrepreneur, an activist, and an actor. They are placed on an island for 3 1/2 weeks, and one ends up dead. You know right away is Rhys Sutton, the actor. Why? How was he killed? What was the motive?
The novel takes you on a journey of two timelines—the current investigation and police questioning, and the 3 1/2 weeks when all six contestants were on the island together. You get a solid understanding of the characters, the relationships they form and all the drama that unfolds, as there are cameras practically everywhere. Because there is a huge amount of prize money at stake, tensions rise, and you begin to see what took place between each of them that could cause Rhys to end up dead.
Going into this story, I wasn’t sure what I would think of it, but boy, I really liked it. You get a full picture of everyone behaving badly most, but not all, of the time. Rhys, however, was evil—he had very few redeeming qualities! I found the ending to be especially satisfying as the last twist was revealed.
🏝️🏝️🏝️🏝️
So many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
Release date August 27, 2024.
By Bea Fitzgerald
Imagine a reality show with six contestants, each famous in their own rite: a chef, an influencer, a musician, an entrepreneur, an activist, and an actor. They are placed on an island for 3 1/2 weeks, and one ends up dead. You know right away is Rhys Sutton, the actor. Why? How was he killed? What was the motive?
The novel takes you on a journey of two timelines—the current investigation and police questioning, and the 3 1/2 weeks when all six contestants were on the island together. You get a solid understanding of the characters, the relationships they form and all the drama that unfolds, as there are cameras practically everywhere. Because there is a huge amount of prize money at stake, tensions rise, and you begin to see what took place between each of them that could cause Rhys to end up dead.
Going into this story, I wasn’t sure what I would think of it, but boy, I really liked it. You get a full picture of everyone behaving badly most, but not all, of the time. Rhys, however, was evil—he had very few redeeming qualities! I found the ending to be especially satisfying as the last twist was revealed.
🏝️🏝️🏝️🏝️
So many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
Release date August 27, 2024.
August 24, 2024
Six celebrities (after a fashion) land on an isolated island off the coast of Portugal, cameras following their every move. There's a lot of money on the line—and they all have their reasons, financial and otherwise, to be there.
What they can't predict going in: Not all of them will make it out alive.
What they really should have predicted: Everyone, surviving and not, will be pretty miserable by the end.
We all know the basics of this plot—what is a locked-room reality television show but a chance to watch people being forced into uncomfortable situations while we chomp on our popcorn? As a rule, I don't enjoy most reality TV, but...I enjoy reading about a lot of things that I don't enjoy watching, so here we are.
The book shifts back and forth: the days the cast spends on the island, and the aftermath, as they're being interviewed (repeatedly) by Interpol. Interpol has a tougher job than usual—because the whole world, more or less, has seen this death play out and the events that preceded it, and the whole world (again, more or less) has opinions. At its best, the book makes for incisive commentary on reality television and how society views the participants; there's an epic amount of Schadenfreude in the commentary we see from the show's viewers online, yes, but there's also the way the show itself delights in exploiting every raw nerve and doing its utter best to tear the contestants to the ground. Iconic, that's the stated goal—but iconic for what reasons, and at what cost?
Now...to enjoy this book properly, you have to enjoy reading about unpleasant people being unpleasant. I did not take that into consideration when I picked the book up, and that was definitely to my detriment while reading. (My preference is to be hoping with bated breath that the characters won't die rather than hoping with bated breath that they'll all die, and soon...) This is mitigated somewhat by the social-commentary angle, but even then it's hard to find characters to root for. (About the borderline satirical B plot, between the Interpol agents—the less said, the better.) Now, whether finding a character to root for is the point...well, that's another question entirely.
There's a whodunnit angle here, but I'd say that that's also rather besides the point. I guessed at some, but not all, of the details of how things would turn out, but I think this is better read as something much more meta than a simple 'who is guilty, who is innocent, and who might or might not get away with murder'.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
What they can't predict going in: Not all of them will make it out alive.
What they really should have predicted: Everyone, surviving and not, will be pretty miserable by the end.
We all know the basics of this plot—what is a locked-room reality television show but a chance to watch people being forced into uncomfortable situations while we chomp on our popcorn? As a rule, I don't enjoy most reality TV, but...I enjoy reading about a lot of things that I don't enjoy watching, so here we are.
The book shifts back and forth: the days the cast spends on the island, and the aftermath, as they're being interviewed (repeatedly) by Interpol. Interpol has a tougher job than usual—because the whole world, more or less, has seen this death play out and the events that preceded it, and the whole world (again, more or less) has opinions. At its best, the book makes for incisive commentary on reality television and how society views the participants; there's an epic amount of Schadenfreude in the commentary we see from the show's viewers online, yes, but there's also the way the show itself delights in exploiting every raw nerve and doing its utter best to tear the contestants to the ground. Iconic, that's the stated goal—but iconic for what reasons, and at what cost?
Now...to enjoy this book properly, you have to enjoy reading about unpleasant people being unpleasant. I did not take that into consideration when I picked the book up, and that was definitely to my detriment while reading. (My preference is to be hoping with bated breath that the characters won't die rather than hoping with bated breath that they'll all die, and soon...) This is mitigated somewhat by the social-commentary angle, but even then it's hard to find characters to root for. (About the borderline satirical B plot, between the Interpol agents—the less said, the better.) Now, whether finding a character to root for is the point...well, that's another question entirely.
There's a whodunnit angle here, but I'd say that that's also rather besides the point. I guessed at some, but not all, of the details of how things would turn out, but I think this is better read as something much more meta than a simple 'who is guilty, who is innocent, and who might or might not get away with murder'.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
September 15, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.
Interesting premise but I never felt immersed in my reading experience. Once again, I find myself on an outlier island- treading water, waiting to be rescued by another book.
The story- Six contestants on a desert island in the latest reality show and then one of them ends up dead. Which of their fellow castmates had the most desire to see them dead? As the police scramble to find the killer before the show finale is televised and suspects are questioned, each chapter takes readers through one of the episodes.
Listen, I don't consider myself a violent person. But when the deceased gets under my skin from the beginning, I cannot help but place my empathy with all those who know them.
In summary, it wasn't my cup of tea but don't allow my review to deter you.
Publication Date 27/08/24
Goodreads review 15/09/24
Interesting premise but I never felt immersed in my reading experience. Once again, I find myself on an outlier island- treading water, waiting to be rescued by another book.
The story- Six contestants on a desert island in the latest reality show and then one of them ends up dead. Which of their fellow castmates had the most desire to see them dead? As the police scramble to find the killer before the show finale is televised and suspects are questioned, each chapter takes readers through one of the episodes.
Listen, I don't consider myself a violent person. But when the deceased gets under my skin from the beginning, I cannot help but place my empathy with all those who know them.
In summary, it wasn't my cup of tea but don't allow my review to deter you.
Publication Date 27/08/24
Goodreads review 15/09/24
August 13, 2025
The marketing on this book is so bad, there's no indication of how queer it is. Like even the cops trying to solve the crime have gay drama haha.
Anhway, this is a very readable, page-turning mystery about five queer characters (3 bi/pan, 1 lesbian, 1 gay) plus a terrible straight man taking part in a reality TV show on a secluded island. Often quite funny, it's sort of part of the reality TV genre but also laughing at it. Wow also there is a lot bisexual dating/sex chaos! Feminist critique of so-called nice guys is spot on as is interrogation of the controlling abusive guy who claims to just be setting "boundaries."
The ending felt a bit anticlimactic, I'd guessed the culprit(s). Is this capital l Literature? No. Was it entertaining as hell? Yes!
Anhway, this is a very readable, page-turning mystery about five queer characters (3 bi/pan, 1 lesbian, 1 gay) plus a terrible straight man taking part in a reality TV show on a secluded island. Often quite funny, it's sort of part of the reality TV genre but also laughing at it. Wow also there is a lot bisexual dating/sex chaos! Feminist critique of so-called nice guys is spot on as is interrogation of the controlling abusive guy who claims to just be setting "boundaries."
The ending felt a bit anticlimactic, I'd guessed the culprit(s). Is this capital l Literature? No. Was it entertaining as hell? Yes!
November 11, 2024
Fantastic, brilliantly characterised and completely addictive.
August 27, 2024
1.5 ⭐️ with generous rounding up
😩 I don’t DNF ARCs, but this is one I wanted to bail on often.
6 contestants are tasked with staying on a remote island for a month. The object is to win the game by collecting points and be the most Iconic. The opening scene reveals one of the contestants has been found dead. A death millions of people experienced in real time via live stream. But no one really knows what happened? There are detectives involved and they are unsure if this is accidental or murder, so everyone is an automatic suspect. Each “chapter” is an episode/day of the show, followed by 3-4 social media posts by viewers as they watch the livestream and/or aired episodes, followed by present day interrogations.
No one in this contest is “iconic” (or close to it) and I couldn’t suspend enough belief to pretend. Everyone is basically a bland stuck up rich caricature. I struggled to follow the point of the contest. I didn’t understand/care about the point system or the ultimate goal. The challenges were very quick and superficial. The overall flow of the book was poorly executed. It was like the episodes were supposed to play out as if you were watching as a viewer, but the reader gets glimpses into all the players minds (sometimes I wasn’t even sure who was being narrated about until further into a paragraph). And then the end of each chapter had bits of a very brief investigation storyline, including random subplot drama with the detectives that I had no connection with. Even with the main characters I failed to connect with any of them or really care what happened. I read about tension and drama, but I didn’t feel any of it.
And O.M.G. the instant dramatic roller coaster of a romantic relationship 😬 They sounded like teenagers. It’s a game show/competition-who would believe anyone, let alone legit express true love after a few days?? Blabbering about spending the rest of their lives together after the show ends, when both of these characters are introduced to be notorious for a string of flings, never anything more. It would have been more believable if it was just hooking up and lust. It didn’t make sense for them to be in a full blown dating relationship. (They even had the “are we dating?” conversation!! I can’t understand this part at all.) At one point one of them thinks “what else is there possibly left for me to learn about them?” Umm literally everything about this person. Everything.
Ugh, I was determined to finish the book but it came at the cost of hate reading the majority of it. This was either my 4th or 5th “reality tv game show” book I’ve read this year. They seem to be on one end of the spectrum or the other for me.
I suggest reading this if you are looking for light reading packed full of superficial drama.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley, Goodreads, and Amazon.
😩 I don’t DNF ARCs, but this is one I wanted to bail on often.
6 contestants are tasked with staying on a remote island for a month. The object is to win the game by collecting points and be the most Iconic. The opening scene reveals one of the contestants has been found dead. A death millions of people experienced in real time via live stream. But no one really knows what happened? There are detectives involved and they are unsure if this is accidental or murder, so everyone is an automatic suspect. Each “chapter” is an episode/day of the show, followed by 3-4 social media posts by viewers as they watch the livestream and/or aired episodes, followed by present day interrogations.
No one in this contest is “iconic” (or close to it) and I couldn’t suspend enough belief to pretend. Everyone is basically a bland stuck up rich caricature. I struggled to follow the point of the contest. I didn’t understand/care about the point system or the ultimate goal. The challenges were very quick and superficial. The overall flow of the book was poorly executed. It was like the episodes were supposed to play out as if you were watching as a viewer, but the reader gets glimpses into all the players minds (sometimes I wasn’t even sure who was being narrated about until further into a paragraph). And then the end of each chapter had bits of a very brief investigation storyline, including random subplot drama with the detectives that I had no connection with. Even with the main characters I failed to connect with any of them or really care what happened. I read about tension and drama, but I didn’t feel any of it.
And O.M.G. the instant dramatic roller coaster of a romantic relationship 😬 They sounded like teenagers. It’s a game show/competition-who would believe anyone, let alone legit express true love after a few days?? Blabbering about spending the rest of their lives together after the show ends, when both of these characters are introduced to be notorious for a string of flings, never anything more. It would have been more believable if it was just hooking up and lust. It didn’t make sense for them to be in a full blown dating relationship. (They even had the “are we dating?” conversation!! I can’t understand this part at all.) At one point one of them thinks “what else is there possibly left for me to learn about them?” Umm literally everything about this person. Everything.
Ugh, I was determined to finish the book but it came at the cost of hate reading the majority of it. This was either my 4th or 5th “reality tv game show” book I’ve read this year. They seem to be on one end of the spectrum or the other for me.
I suggest reading this if you are looking for light reading packed full of superficial drama.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley, Goodreads, and Amazon.
January 9, 2025
The things went dark follows 6 well known / celebrity contestants who are competing for the prize of half a million dollars (or more so trying to revamp their dying careers with a fresh public appearance)
The contestants include: a rockstar, an actor, an entrepreneur, a chef, an heiress and a women’s activist.
They all claim to be there for honourable reasons, but it quickly becomes apparent they are all harbouring some dark secrets in their past.
When two of the contestants begin dating, causing a third contestant to spiral into a jealous rage, tensions start to build and everybody starts to play dirty.
When the competition reaches an all time climax causing one of the contestants to fall to their death, the local police are now in charge of going back through footage to decipher whether the death was truly incidental or whether foul play was involved.
The purpose of this book is definitely to highlight fame culture and how pompous and vapid people can be, and as a result not a single character was likeable. Although that was the point of the plot, it makes it hard to stay engaged and invested when you truly don’t care what happens to any of these people.
I liked the idea of the plot, a 24/7 filmed reality tv competition with people who will fight tooth and nail to win, but it just didn’t vibe for me and I found the execution not extremely enthralling.
The most interesting plot line for me was definitely the romantic relationship between two contestants. For the majority I was rooting for them and hoping that their feelings were actually genuine and not just a show for the cameras. The end conclusion felt a little abrupt but we did get our answers.
What I did like: the overall plot, the setting, the format (swapping between police interviews and flash backs from the reality show episodes).
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an opportunity to read this book!
The contestants include: a rockstar, an actor, an entrepreneur, a chef, an heiress and a women’s activist.
They all claim to be there for honourable reasons, but it quickly becomes apparent they are all harbouring some dark secrets in their past.
When two of the contestants begin dating, causing a third contestant to spiral into a jealous rage, tensions start to build and everybody starts to play dirty.
When the competition reaches an all time climax causing one of the contestants to fall to their death, the local police are now in charge of going back through footage to decipher whether the death was truly incidental or whether foul play was involved.
The purpose of this book is definitely to highlight fame culture and how pompous and vapid people can be, and as a result not a single character was likeable. Although that was the point of the plot, it makes it hard to stay engaged and invested when you truly don’t care what happens to any of these people.
I liked the idea of the plot, a 24/7 filmed reality tv competition with people who will fight tooth and nail to win, but it just didn’t vibe for me and I found the execution not extremely enthralling.
The most interesting plot line for me was definitely the romantic relationship between two contestants. For the majority I was rooting for them and hoping that their feelings were actually genuine and not just a show for the cameras. The end conclusion felt a little abrupt but we did get our answers.
What I did like: the overall plot, the setting, the format (swapping between police interviews and flash backs from the reality show episodes).
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an opportunity to read this book!
dnf
November 5, 2025awfully written, don’t bother. dnf.
February 5, 2024
This was a cool premise but the writing style fell a bit flat for me. It centers on 6 young and famous/quasi-famous people who join a reality show on a remote island to win a prize. All 6 characters are truly unlikable but it's kind of neat to have a look behind the curtain of a reality show like that. We know from the beginning that one of them dies, so the story cuts between the action on the show to social media posts to the police investigation into the murder. The story flows between these 3 areas without any break, which I found jarring and somewhat distracting at times.
As mentioned, these characters were all pretty awful and though the book gave us some insight into their inner thoughts, it didn't make them any more likable. I also found the challenges they were asked to do to almost seem like an afterthought- I wish the author had put some more effort into coming up with appropriate challenges. Though I did get into the book more in the second half, I was still a little bored at so much inner narrative versus action, and I didn't think the parts about the police investigation added anything to the story. The book is long, coming in at over 400 pages, so I started paying attention to things I felt could have been left out. The ending was somewhat satisfying and I felt like it tied up loose ends.
Overall, I didn't love this one but it mostly held my interest and was a unique play on the island reality show trope. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
As mentioned, these characters were all pretty awful and though the book gave us some insight into their inner thoughts, it didn't make them any more likable. I also found the challenges they were asked to do to almost seem like an afterthought- I wish the author had put some more effort into coming up with appropriate challenges. Though I did get into the book more in the second half, I was still a little bored at so much inner narrative versus action, and I didn't think the parts about the police investigation added anything to the story. The book is long, coming in at over 400 pages, so I started paying attention to things I felt could have been left out. The ending was somewhat satisfying and I felt like it tied up loose ends.
Overall, I didn't love this one but it mostly held my interest and was a unique play on the island reality show trope. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 26, 2024
A group of 'kind of' celebs get together to do a reality show. This is a pretty typical trope so I'd hoped this one would stand out. Sadly, it just didn't work for me.
I don't mind drama or snarky characters - but this one starts right off with everyone being mean to each other. I found that unlikely as most influencers really rely on their 'image' in order to keep getting their likes, comments, and follows. I just found it hard to believe that the group wouldn't even give the pretense of being nice.
Also, the story isn't really told from any POV - so you get information as though an observer with little italicized words giving the inner thoughts to some of the people in the room. For me, this made really tough characters to like even more unlikable and really kept me out from the story. I didn't feel like a camera in the room nor a participant. I just think this one didn't work for me but if you like high drama and reality shows, then it just might be for you!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
I don't mind drama or snarky characters - but this one starts right off with everyone being mean to each other. I found that unlikely as most influencers really rely on their 'image' in order to keep getting their likes, comments, and follows. I just found it hard to believe that the group wouldn't even give the pretense of being nice.
Also, the story isn't really told from any POV - so you get information as though an observer with little italicized words giving the inner thoughts to some of the people in the room. For me, this made really tough characters to like even more unlikable and really kept me out from the story. I didn't feel like a camera in the room nor a participant. I just think this one didn't work for me but if you like high drama and reality shows, then it just might be for you!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
May 9, 2024
Iconic is a new reality show where six D-listers have a month to become the most “iconic” person in the house and win a quarter of a million dollars. The contestants earn points by winning competitions and gaining positive public opinion, and the person with the most points wins. We have:
Araminta Yaxley-Carter, Influencer, London, UK
Isko Andrada, Chef, Vancouver, Canada
Rhys Sutton, Actor, New York, USA
Kalpana Mahajan, Activist, Perth, Australia
Jerome Frances, Entrepreneur, San Francisco, USA
Theo Newman, Frontman of RiotParade, Manchester, UK
These six all have their own reasons for being there, and they’re pretty typical for someone who is on a show like this. It’s set up like Big Brother, with cameras everywhere doing a 24/7 live stream, a confessional booth for everyone to vent about each other, and big personalities on a small island competing for television air time. It starts with the normal sexcapades and showmances, drinking games, getting to know each other, but three weeks in, one of them is dead and the other five are considered suspects.
My problem with this book isn’t the plot, the characters or the writing - I think this was a very creative story; it just had a very disjointed format. Some parts were almost like a screenplay of the night’s episode. Some episodes were written more as if they were happening in real time. Some parts were written normally from the present perspective, but then social media comments, confessional comments and the Interpol investigation would be thrown in odd places and the cohesiveness would be lost. I felt like it needed more continuity between the different aspects of the book, or a more defined layout.
That being said, this ended up being quite enjoyable! The characters are all very hateable (in an entertaining way) and I liked the reality show lean. I had decided on giving this 3.5 stars, and the way I would round it would be based on the ending … which turned out to be fantastic and worth the wait. 3.5, rounded up!
(Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Bea Fitzgerald and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 27, 2024.)
Araminta Yaxley-Carter, Influencer, London, UK
Isko Andrada, Chef, Vancouver, Canada
Rhys Sutton, Actor, New York, USA
Kalpana Mahajan, Activist, Perth, Australia
Jerome Frances, Entrepreneur, San Francisco, USA
Theo Newman, Frontman of RiotParade, Manchester, UK
These six all have their own reasons for being there, and they’re pretty typical for someone who is on a show like this. It’s set up like Big Brother, with cameras everywhere doing a 24/7 live stream, a confessional booth for everyone to vent about each other, and big personalities on a small island competing for television air time. It starts with the normal sexcapades and showmances, drinking games, getting to know each other, but three weeks in, one of them is dead and the other five are considered suspects.
My problem with this book isn’t the plot, the characters or the writing - I think this was a very creative story; it just had a very disjointed format. Some parts were almost like a screenplay of the night’s episode. Some episodes were written more as if they were happening in real time. Some parts were written normally from the present perspective, but then social media comments, confessional comments and the Interpol investigation would be thrown in odd places and the cohesiveness would be lost. I felt like it needed more continuity between the different aspects of the book, or a more defined layout.
That being said, this ended up being quite enjoyable! The characters are all very hateable (in an entertaining way) and I liked the reality show lean. I had decided on giving this 3.5 stars, and the way I would round it would be based on the ending … which turned out to be fantastic and worth the wait. 3.5, rounded up!
(Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Bea Fitzgerald and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 27, 2024.)
August 26, 2024
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest option.
Honestly? I did not like this. In fact, I liked it so little I’m not sure why I finished it. Much like a bad reality show, I became invested against my will and could not turn away from the train wreck happening in front of me. But it was not, in anyway, worth powering through.
The writing was atrocious. The characters were underdeveloped and felt like caricatures. The structure was interesting, but not well done. The interludes with the detectives (who for some reason are secret scorned lovers??) felt forced and comical. Again, it was an addictive book in that I needed to know what happened, but I have so many regrets that I didn’t spend my time reading something actually worthwhile.
Honestly? I did not like this. In fact, I liked it so little I’m not sure why I finished it. Much like a bad reality show, I became invested against my will and could not turn away from the train wreck happening in front of me. But it was not, in anyway, worth powering through.
The writing was atrocious. The characters were underdeveloped and felt like caricatures. The structure was interesting, but not well done. The interludes with the detectives (who for some reason are secret scorned lovers??) felt forced and comical. Again, it was an addictive book in that I needed to know what happened, but I have so many regrets that I didn’t spend my time reading something actually worthwhile.
July 7, 2025
i wanted to like this one a lot more than i did. i think i went into it expecting it to be more of a thriller (mainly because my library had it listed as a thriller), but it was definitely a slower mystery. emphasis on slow, because this book just ended up being too long with not enough going on for me. also, the characters were just kind of lame and i’m not entirely sure why they’re considered iconic celebrities, tbh. overall, i was entertained enough to get through it, but i did expect a lot more than what i got, unfortunately.
3 stars
3 stars
September 1, 2024
I love reality TV game show thrillers and had high hopes for this book. As a thriller lover there’s too much fade-to-black things happening that it pulled away from the whole plot for me. While I loved the dynamic characters, I feel that if all those parts were taken out it would have been a much better read.
While the writing is great I just expected more suspense - more challenge type stuff - and less about people hooking up and all the chatter around that.
The chapters are also longer than I normally like. Each chapter could have been split up into three separate chapters. But that’s just personal preference.
I’ve been wanting to read this book since poisonedpen sent the promo reel and form out in 2023. Then there were two more forms sent out for this book which made no sense to me. Why so many forms over the past 13-14 months? IMO it’s a shady way to promote this book by dangling it in front of the readers - which is how it felt. No one I know that signed up for it received it - which is fine but then why the forms.
But I let that go and bought the book because I’m not going to hold that against the author.
If you like reality TV and fade-to-black romance you’ll love this book. I loved how it alternated between the show dynamics and the police investigation. Also loved the social media side and seeing fans respond to the show.
While the writing is great I just expected more suspense - more challenge type stuff - and less about people hooking up and all the chatter around that.
The chapters are also longer than I normally like. Each chapter could have been split up into three separate chapters. But that’s just personal preference.
I’ve been wanting to read this book since poisonedpen sent the promo reel and form out in 2023. Then there were two more forms sent out for this book which made no sense to me. Why so many forms over the past 13-14 months? IMO it’s a shady way to promote this book by dangling it in front of the readers - which is how it felt. No one I know that signed up for it received it - which is fine but then why the forms.
But I let that go and bought the book because I’m not going to hold that against the author.
If you like reality TV and fade-to-black romance you’ll love this book. I loved how it alternated between the show dynamics and the police investigation. Also loved the social media side and seeing fans respond to the show.
September 4, 2024
Way too much drama for me and a lot of really unlikeable people.
October 11, 2024
This was very much the book equivalent of watching a reality show filled with horrible people being horrible, and wondering why you’re watching it, but then being unable to look away. The premise really drew me in, especially with British reality TV show season being upon us (Strictly, GBBO, I’m a Celeb), but I really struggled to be invested in the story because I didn’t like any of the characters. I couldn’t root for anyone, you know? Although it’s obviously the point of the plot that all of these people are incredibly unpleasant, I just struggled to care about what was happening as a result. I think the structure of the story felt a bit disjointed at times, and I didn’t feel the suspense I was expecting to feel with a thriller? But I found it really quick and easy to read, and I do think Bea Fitzgerald has promise as a thriller author - and I’m very excited to read her Greek mythology books!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
December 12, 2024
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a little backlogged with my ARCs but working diligently to get caught up. I really liked the idea behind this book and storyline, but some parts didn’t translate well for me. There are lots of characters points of views which took a while to get used to, especially without very much backstory for them aside from what they do. Certain parts had me curious and guessing but I found the ending to be predictable and lacking.
I’m a little backlogged with my ARCs but working diligently to get caught up. I really liked the idea behind this book and storyline, but some parts didn’t translate well for me. There are lots of characters points of views which took a while to get used to, especially without very much backstory for them aside from what they do. Certain parts had me curious and guessing but I found the ending to be predictable and lacking.
May 28, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for the advance reader copy.
The concept for this book was what drew me to request the advance copy, but unfortunately having read it I can say that it didn’t live up to expectations.
The main characters are all annoying and self centred, I didn’t care about the ‘mystery’ as no-one had any redeeming qualities.
There were parts of the book that felt like they were thrown in to extend the word count and then not really looked into.
The obliviousness of the detectives annoyed me, as it seemed they couldn’t do the basic parts of their jobs such as a background check or medical history.
There’s a bunch of trigger warnings at the beginning and honestly some of them didn’t need to be included in the book. It felt like a lot of the things were there to shock. We as the reader don’t need anymore reason to dislike the characters as they’ve already shown themselves to be vapid and disingenuous.
This book felt both too long and yet not fleshed out enough. Which is a strange way for a story to go.
The concept for this book was what drew me to request the advance copy, but unfortunately having read it I can say that it didn’t live up to expectations.
The main characters are all annoying and self centred, I didn’t care about the ‘mystery’ as no-one had any redeeming qualities.
There were parts of the book that felt like they were thrown in to extend the word count and then not really looked into.
The obliviousness of the detectives annoyed me, as it seemed they couldn’t do the basic parts of their jobs such as a background check or medical history.
There’s a bunch of trigger warnings at the beginning and honestly some of them didn’t need to be included in the book. It felt like a lot of the things were there to shock. We as the reader don’t need anymore reason to dislike the characters as they’ve already shown themselves to be vapid and disingenuous.
This book felt both too long and yet not fleshed out enough. Which is a strange way for a story to go.
April 7, 2024
The premisse of this is so much fun. It sounds so intriguing: a suspected murder on a reality show, with millions of people seeing it happen live. But the execution was nowhere near as intriguing as I expected. The characters are dull as hell. They're bland, they're basic, and they never have even a single interesting conversation in the entire book.
Sure, they're unlikeable characters and you're not meant to root for them, but unlikeable characters should be interesting, they should pull you into the mess and the drama, and these just didn't.
To credit the author, the characters themselves do say how dull they are, how boring and uninteresting. They even say so several times. But because of that, I kept expecting something would change, there would be a twist that would finally pull me in. I feel like the book was self aware to some extent, but it never took that needed step to elevate the story.
Sure, they're unlikeable characters and you're not meant to root for them, but unlikeable characters should be interesting, they should pull you into the mess and the drama, and these just didn't.
To credit the author, the characters themselves do say how dull they are, how boring and uninteresting. They even say so several times. But because of that, I kept expecting something would change, there would be a twist that would finally pull me in. I feel like the book was self aware to some extent, but it never took that needed step to elevate the story.
August 20, 2024
I went into this wanting a dishy, celeb, drama-filled thriller. I got whiny teenagers?
These characters are meant to be inherently unlikable - that's more than fine!! That's why we watch reality TV. Unfortunately these whiny jerks just ended up being boring and uninteresting. By the end I was like - dude I don't even care who killed this guy, let's just get it over with. Not to mention, side plots that went absolutely nowhere? There was so suspense, no building intrigue. I'm just disappointed.
⭐⭐
Available August 27, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
These characters are meant to be inherently unlikable - that's more than fine!! That's why we watch reality TV. Unfortunately these whiny jerks just ended up being boring and uninteresting. By the end I was like - dude I don't even care who killed this guy, let's just get it over with. Not to mention, side plots that went absolutely nowhere? There was so suspense, no building intrigue. I'm just disappointed.
⭐⭐
Available August 27, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
August 24, 2024
In this thriller, six people arrive on a desert island for a reality show, but only five survive and nobody wins. The reader knows upfront that someone dies in the end, but doesn't know what led up to it and who is responsible. All of the characters have secrets and none stand out as exceptionally likable, but one character is horrible and it's not surprising that he is the victim.
The narration alternates between the "episodes" of the show and the police interviews of the surviving contestants. I don't watch a lot of reality shows like this, but I enjoy reading about fictional shows. This book was very engaging as it shows how far some people will go for publicity and the games producers will play for more viewers. In the episodes, a character is shown to be controlling and emotionally abusive and some of that was hard for me to read. Even though the book is a bit long, the ending is still abrupt. An epilogue to wrap things up would have really made a difference. However, overall I enjoyed the way the author told this story and I was entertained.
I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from Sourcebooks Landmark, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.
The narration alternates between the "episodes" of the show and the police interviews of the surviving contestants. I don't watch a lot of reality shows like this, but I enjoy reading about fictional shows. This book was very engaging as it shows how far some people will go for publicity and the games producers will play for more viewers. In the episodes, a character is shown to be controlling and emotionally abusive and some of that was hard for me to read. Even though the book is a bit long, the ending is still abrupt. An epilogue to wrap things up would have really made a difference. However, overall I enjoyed the way the author told this story and I was entertained.
I received an advance copy of this ebook at no cost from Sourcebooks Landmark, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.
August 28, 2024
This one kind of reminded me of my relationship with trashy reality TV. I know it's not great, but it's like a train wreck—I can't stop watching out of sheer curiosity!
I thought that it had a cool and fun concept and premise and I enjoyed that there was a whodunit aspect and the side of sass and satire. It’s brimming with a cast of unlikeable characters that you’ll love to hate and will certainly keep you guessing.
Told through shifting timelines and a combination of different media formats, pay attention closely at the beginning to ensure you don’t get confused!
Read this if you like:
📺Competition Reality TV Shows
⭐️Celebrity Contestants
🏝️ Isolated Island Setting
🤪Unlikeable characters
📸Fame culture
🤳Mixed media format
❔Whodunit
I thought that it had a cool and fun concept and premise and I enjoyed that there was a whodunit aspect and the side of sass and satire. It’s brimming with a cast of unlikeable characters that you’ll love to hate and will certainly keep you guessing.
Told through shifting timelines and a combination of different media formats, pay attention closely at the beginning to ensure you don’t get confused!
Read this if you like:
📺Competition Reality TV Shows
⭐️Celebrity Contestants
🏝️ Isolated Island Setting
🤪Unlikeable characters
📸Fame culture
🤳Mixed media format
❔Whodunit
January 10, 2026
Gute Idee, schwierige Umsetzung. Die Charaktere waren unglaublich eindimensional, der Aufbau je Kapitel (Episode - Social Media Kommentare - Interpol-Ermittlung) war in meinen Augen etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig. Überhaupt hatte die Ermittlung keinen großen Stellenwert und war für den Ausgang des Buches auch eher bedeutungslos. Der Twist am Ende war nicht sonderlich überraschend, aber für das Buch passend.
May 13, 2024
Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book comes out August 27th, 2024.
There are so so so many things I enjoyed about this book from the romance, to the reality tv aspect of it, to the police interrogations, to the drama...but what I loved most about it, is how wonderfully tied together everything became throughout the book. I loved all of these characters and their desire to win this competition so much that it almost makes me hate them. All of them had something to hide which made them even more loathsome. Out of everything I loved about this book, I do wish we had a police interrogation or some sort of epilogue to explain what happened to these characters after Rhys Sutton's death or at least after the final episode of the show. Overall, I did really enjoy this book, the characters, and especially the drama.
Rating: 5/5 stars but if I could rate it higher it would be an ♾️/5
There are so so so many things I enjoyed about this book from the romance, to the reality tv aspect of it, to the police interrogations, to the drama...but what I loved most about it, is how wonderfully tied together everything became throughout the book. I loved all of these characters and their desire to win this competition so much that it almost makes me hate them. All of them had something to hide which made them even more loathsome. Out of everything I loved about this book, I do wish we had a police interrogation or some sort of epilogue to explain what happened to these characters after Rhys Sutton's death or at least after the final episode of the show. Overall, I did really enjoy this book, the characters, and especially the drama.
Rating: 5/5 stars but if I could rate it higher it would be an ♾️/5
February 3, 2024
Then Things Went Dark appealed to me because of its reality show premise and its murder mystery element. Unfortunately, it fell flat in its execution. I struggled with the narrative style, more tell than show, which prevented me from forming any real connection to the characters. I found the jumps between episodes and the murder investigation to be sudden and jarring. I wish there had been some sort of page break or different format, like the social media posts, to help with that shift in perspective. I also found the plot to be a bit slower paced than other murder mysteries which made it hard to focus my attention and reading felt like work. Overall, while I was intrigued by the plot, the story failed to pull me in.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 17, 2024
One of my favourite sub genres is the reality show on an island and this one was that and then some.
With a murder revealed in the first couple of pages, you get to watch the episodes of the show as they aired on network tv. I could easily find myself rooting for some characters and hated others. I loved the formatting of the book for sure!
Locked room mysteries are so much fun as you see who is lying and who’s not.
Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for a copy of the eARC for an honest review.
With a murder revealed in the first couple of pages, you get to watch the episodes of the show as they aired on network tv. I could easily find myself rooting for some characters and hated others. I loved the formatting of the book for sure!
Locked room mysteries are so much fun as you see who is lying and who’s not.
Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for a copy of the eARC for an honest review.
August 8, 2024
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of Then Things Went Dark.
DNF @ 41%
I tried. I really tried. But at 41% I should care somewhat about what is happening but unfortunately I just didn't get the point of this entire book. What is the point of this show? What about the "points" and "challenges"? This is an isolated island reality show with a side of murder. It should be right down my alley. But man the execution was bad. The characters had no redeeming qualities. The show itself made no sense. The conflicts and arguments were pointless. Just....no.
DNF @ 41%
I tried. I really tried. But at 41% I should care somewhat about what is happening but unfortunately I just didn't get the point of this entire book. What is the point of this show? What about the "points" and "challenges"? This is an isolated island reality show with a side of murder. It should be right down my alley. But man the execution was bad. The characters had no redeeming qualities. The show itself made no sense. The conflicts and arguments were pointless. Just....no.
September 14, 2024
Fave book of 2024!
This book actually reads like a trashy reality show (and I mean this in the best way possible).
It's filled with choas and drama. Especially with one of the contestents murdered.
The author really pulled me into the story. It made me see red and made my blood boil with how annoying and toxic the men were. But that's the point! Gosh it was so well written.
I couldn't stop reading it. It's so wild!
Just wow. I loved it so much!
This book actually reads like a trashy reality show (and I mean this in the best way possible).
It's filled with choas and drama. Especially with one of the contestents murdered.
The author really pulled me into the story. It made me see red and made my blood boil with how annoying and toxic the men were. But that's the point! Gosh it was so well written.
I couldn't stop reading it. It's so wild!
Just wow. I loved it so much!
March 12, 2024
This was pretty good but the plot of the detectives didn’t add a whole lot.
Rhys is a ween and then some so I rooted for his downfall and I’m not ashamed.
Everyone sucks here and that’s the point!
Rhys is a ween and then some so I rooted for his downfall and I’m not ashamed.
Everyone sucks here and that’s the point!
February 18, 2025
Then Things Went Dark by Bea Fitzgerald is a mystery/thriller novel about a reality tv show on a deserted island.
First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
An island off the coast of Portugal is the setting for a reality TV show called ICON, which will feature six very different, yet headstrong contestants, all with a need to prove themselves to the audience.
They will be the only ones on the island, but cameras will be everywhere. During their time on the island, they will be given challenges to complete to earn points. The one with the most points wins big money. But some of these challenges are emotionally draining, and things are quite competitive.
The contestants were to remain together for a month...but while 12 million people watch, one of them dies on camera, and one of the other five may have killed him. Police are determined to find a killer, but no one is talking, and they all had motive.
The six participants are all somewhat famous. They include: Kalpana Mahajan, (activist), Francisco Andrado known as Isko (chef), Jerome Frances, (Tech Entrepeneur), Araminta Yaxley-Carter, (sculptor, influencer), Theo Newman, (singer/musician), .... and Rhys Sutton, (actor, musician, director/writer - deceased).
My Opinions:
First, this is definitely not my type of book. Reality TV is not on my watch list, so I'm not sure how or why I picked this book. However, since I have done so, I will try to evaluate without my own prejudices.
The story alternated between the police interrogations, and the television episodes that aired, with "asides" by the contestants so that we knew what they were thinking. This all worked smoothly. The writing was okay.
Although I do not watch reality tv, and am therefore unaware of the procedures behind things, the challenges in this book seemed "off". They were aimed to cause animosity between the contestants, and maybe that's normal, but I found it highly annoying, and the contestants so childish that their over-reaction to them just grew tiresome.
However, I didn't like, nor could I relate, to ANY of the characters. The supposed sexual flirtation between all of them was just so predictable.
All of this made for a slow, dis-interested journey through the book. If I had had someone to cheer for, it definitely would have helped. I was in about 40% before I felt I could finish it.
So overall, I did not enjoy it, and that wasn't just to do with the topic. I tried.
However, if you are a big fan of reality tv, you'll probably love it.
For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
My Synopsis: (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
An island off the coast of Portugal is the setting for a reality TV show called ICON, which will feature six very different, yet headstrong contestants, all with a need to prove themselves to the audience.
They will be the only ones on the island, but cameras will be everywhere. During their time on the island, they will be given challenges to complete to earn points. The one with the most points wins big money. But some of these challenges are emotionally draining, and things are quite competitive.
The contestants were to remain together for a month...but while 12 million people watch, one of them dies on camera, and one of the other five may have killed him. Police are determined to find a killer, but no one is talking, and they all had motive.
The six participants are all somewhat famous. They include: Kalpana Mahajan, (activist), Francisco Andrado known as Isko (chef), Jerome Frances, (Tech Entrepeneur), Araminta Yaxley-Carter, (sculptor, influencer), Theo Newman, (singer/musician), .... and Rhys Sutton, (actor, musician, director/writer - deceased).
My Opinions:
First, this is definitely not my type of book. Reality TV is not on my watch list, so I'm not sure how or why I picked this book. However, since I have done so, I will try to evaluate without my own prejudices.
The story alternated between the police interrogations, and the television episodes that aired, with "asides" by the contestants so that we knew what they were thinking. This all worked smoothly. The writing was okay.
Although I do not watch reality tv, and am therefore unaware of the procedures behind things, the challenges in this book seemed "off". They were aimed to cause animosity between the contestants, and maybe that's normal, but I found it highly annoying, and the contestants so childish that their over-reaction to them just grew tiresome.
However, I didn't like, nor could I relate, to ANY of the characters. The supposed sexual flirtation between all of them was just so predictable.
All of this made for a slow, dis-interested journey through the book. If I had had someone to cheer for, it definitely would have helped. I was in about 40% before I felt I could finish it.
So overall, I did not enjoy it, and that wasn't just to do with the topic. I tried.
However, if you are a big fan of reality tv, you'll probably love it.
For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, as well as author information), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
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