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Gold Rush
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First published July 18, 2024
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November 24, 2024
I’d say that if you truly want to know me, all you have to do is think of that creepy clown from IT luring children into the sewers with nothing but a couple of fucking balloons except my clown is the publishing industry and my balloons are pretty covers. I am superficial like that and yet, my superficiality doesn’t even come close to matching this novel’s shallow attempt at unravelling a topic as timely, important, and affecting as sexual abuse and the entertainment industry’s decade-long involvement in it.
Because I know there are enough fools out there who would confuse my negative rating of this novel with a negative opinion of the themes themselves, I want to clarify: I support the #metoo movement though I’m aware of its mistakes, I will always rather believe an SA survivor than accused perpetrators, and, regarding the topic of sexual abuse, you can definitely miss me with the “innocent until proven guilty” bs.
Now that is out of the way, I gotta say that I have no idea why this book has come out now, in 2024, two to three years after the #metoo movement has gloriously failed to achieve most of the things it set out to do. The whole novel felt so stale, so tired, it doesn’t contribute anything new to the picture, its writing is unadventurous, undaring, and weak, and though it tries hard, it comes across as one-dimensional and flat, conveying its ambitious message linking the blackout sex rape of a twenty-something PR specialist by the most famous man on the planet to celebrity culture, sexism, and consent in a way that is neither smart nor entertaining.
The novel feels TIRED. Yes, it’s set in 2017, just shortly before the NYT Weinstein article broke, yes, as a society we still place too much faith in celebrities and some of us, after all this time, find a pathological sort of joy in maintaining parasocial relationships with celebrities who literally couldn’t care less, but this novel came out right in the middle of the blockout 2024 movement that saw millions of everyday social media users block celebrities over their silence on Gaza and Palestine, and as such, it didn’t add anything to my already disillusioned view of the entertainment industry’s depravity. Yeah, Hollywood is a shithole and so is the entire entertainment industry, tell me something I don’t know 🙄
To help create a glitz and glamour world believable enough for our main character to rub shoulders with famous stars, A-list celebrities, gossips, and rumour treadmills, the novel is set in the real world, with enough tired references to “Leonardo DiCaprio”, “Martin Scorsese” and “Lord of the Rings” to give it that “showbiz feel”.
Setting a novel in the real-world entertainment industry without having it come across as goofy is hard enough; creating a fictitious world-famous pop star so famous, that Rose can’t go anywhere without being confronted with his face or his music, is even harder. It’s ridiculously hard. It’s difficult enough in real life to wrap your head around the fact that people with that much money and fame exist and that they are being lusted after. Even more difficult to create a character who on the page is supposed to exude the same draw and irresistible je-ne-sais-quoi as a real-life celebrity.
It’s okay, you can say Orlando Bloom, we can all do the math. 🙄 Where at times, some actors’ names are explicitly mentioned, at other times, their referencing seems to remain deliberately opaque for reasons I can’t make sense of. I cannot say what irritated me more: the clumsy name-dropping or the half-arsed attempt at lending Rose’s workplace and the novel’s entire setting a shred of credibility.
There are other “thinly veiled” references the novel doesn’t have the guts to attribute to a named person, such as:
This passage so perfectly encapsulates what annoyed me about the novel’s creation of a celebrity-centered fictional space. The famous interviewee is referred to only by his pronouns, the room gasping “in unison” when Minnie says “the name” faker than fake. Why you can’t even address 34-times convicted felon Donald Trump with his given name but instead avoid it as if you were doing the limbo and his name was the low bar you are not allowed to touch, is beyond me.
In general, the entire novel reads so cheaply not only because of the writing but because of how the third-person narration is handled. Nothing is left to the imagination, everything is either explained or over-explained, readers are spoon-fed, and not an ounce of polysemy can be found throughout the entire text.
The writing doesn’t possess even an ounce of finesse. It’s boring, tepid, and uninspired. On top of that, for being a novel so intent on firing on all feminist cylinders, it uses Rose’s best friend Luce, who the novel reminds us of on every third page, is unfairly pretty, unbelievably gorgeous and a true men’s magnet, as nothing but a foil to help characterise Rose as the ugly duckling who never gets any recognition and who, with her limp hair, short stature, and whatever else she doesn’t like about her body, spends her time constantly comparing herself to her when they’re out together.
The novel isn’t clever enough to turn Rose’s feelings of inadequacy into a silent but knowing nod to the perfidiousness of patriarchy, but rather into a SCREAM and WHISTLE, banging you over the head with its “ to all female readers who ever felt jealous of another woman’s beauty: you’re not alone!! It’s the beauty industry’s, but mostly men’s, fault you are comparing yourself to other women in the first place!! ” message.
Finally, I hate the one-dimensional the novel takes on the interconnectedness of sex, gender, power, abuse, and who is usually believed and who isn’t.
In the middle of it all, Rose, through her work, befriends a social media influencer about her age. The model later confesses that it’s sooooo hard being an influencer, that there are hate forums entirely dedicated to her, that her relationship with her boyfriend is subjected to intense scrutiny, yada yada. Rose and readers are presented with a string of stuff on why she (and we) should feel sorry for this poor woman’s life being so extraordinarily hard. What rubs me the wrong way is how, yes, we are supposed to feel sorry for the model because boohoo, even rich women suffer from the patriarchal order, but the way her character is presented never once takes an intersectional approach.
That there’s a world of difference in how a rich, white woman and a poor, white woman are conceived by and able to make their living in a patriarchal society is brushed aside. Not to mention the fact that race, bodily and mental health, ethnicity, or religion, as immensely important factors determining the social pecking order for women, are never once mentioned. Like yeah, she is a woman, so I can sympathise with her for being subject to misogyny like any other woman on this planet, but why the fuck I should feel sorry for a multi-millionaire is beyond me. For a novel so bent on showing the entertainment industry’s toxic side, it sure does a hell of a lot of nothing taking into account the possibilities available to über rich women in the industry compared to women working the low-level jobs.
There are more things I could mention, more stuff to list that annoyed me, but it’s nearing my bedtime, I still haven’t washed my face, and I want to start watching a new series. All in all, “Gold Rush” feels stale, it’s uninspired, it’s utterly forgettable, and its writing makes its subject matter come across as the timid voice of a dying person croaking their last hoorah.
🎬 Instead of reading this, watch that: She Said (2022)
ORIGINAL REVIEW: thank fuck I’m done with this
Because I know there are enough fools out there who would confuse my negative rating of this novel with a negative opinion of the themes themselves, I want to clarify: I support the #metoo movement though I’m aware of its mistakes, I will always rather believe an SA survivor than accused perpetrators, and, regarding the topic of sexual abuse, you can definitely miss me with the “innocent until proven guilty” bs.
Now that is out of the way, I gotta say that I have no idea why this book has come out now, in 2024, two to three years after the #metoo movement has gloriously failed to achieve most of the things it set out to do. The whole novel felt so stale, so tired, it doesn’t contribute anything new to the picture, its writing is unadventurous, undaring, and weak, and though it tries hard, it comes across as one-dimensional and flat, conveying its ambitious message linking the blackout sex rape of a twenty-something PR specialist by the most famous man on the planet to celebrity culture, sexism, and consent in a way that is neither smart nor entertaining.
The novel feels TIRED. Yes, it’s set in 2017, just shortly before the NYT Weinstein article broke, yes, as a society we still place too much faith in celebrities and some of us, after all this time, find a pathological sort of joy in maintaining parasocial relationships with celebrities who literally couldn’t care less, but this novel came out right in the middle of the blockout 2024 movement that saw millions of everyday social media users block celebrities over their silence on Gaza and Palestine, and as such, it didn’t add anything to my already disillusioned view of the entertainment industry’s depravity. Yeah, Hollywood is a shithole and so is the entire entertainment industry, tell me something I don’t know 🙄
To help create a glitz and glamour world believable enough for our main character to rub shoulders with famous stars, A-list celebrities, gossips, and rumour treadmills, the novel is set in the real world, with enough tired references to “Leonardo DiCaprio”, “Martin Scorsese” and “Lord of the Rings” to give it that “showbiz feel”.
Setting a novel in the real-world entertainment industry without having it come across as goofy is hard enough; creating a fictitious world-famous pop star so famous, that Rose can’t go anywhere without being confronted with his face or his music, is even harder. It’s ridiculously hard. It’s difficult enough in real life to wrap your head around the fact that people with that much money and fame exist and that they are being lusted after. Even more difficult to create a character who on the page is supposed to exude the same draw and irresistible je-ne-sais-quoi as a real-life celebrity.
Meanwhile, Oliver was now negotiating with a British actor Rose vaguely recognised from a Lord of the Rings film. Evidently, he hadn’t done the red carpet and had just arrived to present the award to the best newcomer in film, which was going to a teenage girl who’d been cast in a Tarantino flick.
It’s okay, you can say Orlando Bloom, we can all do the math. 🙄 Where at times, some actors’ names are explicitly mentioned, at other times, their referencing seems to remain deliberately opaque for reasons I can’t make sense of. I cannot say what irritated me more: the clumsy name-dropping or the half-arsed attempt at lending Rose’s workplace and the novel’s entire setting a shred of credibility.
There are other “thinly veiled” references the novel doesn’t have the guts to attribute to a named person, such as:
„Who’s the interview with?’ asked Annabelle.
Minnie said the name and the room gasped in unison. ‘I know. It’s brilliant they landed him on the cover in the first place. But he got drunk in the interview and said something slightly questionable about his much younger female co-star. So … we’re in discussions with lawyers.’
‘At least he didn’t say he wanted to grab her by the pussy,’ Oliver sniggered.
Rose’s body clenched at the word.
‘No,’ sighed Minnie. ‘Nothing quite as vile as the current leader of the free world, thankfully.’
This passage so perfectly encapsulates what annoyed me about the novel’s creation of a celebrity-centered fictional space. The famous interviewee is referred to only by his pronouns, the room gasping “in unison” when Minnie says “the name” faker than fake. Why you can’t even address 34-times convicted felon Donald Trump with his given name but instead avoid it as if you were doing the limbo and his name was the low bar you are not allowed to touch, is beyond me.
In general, the entire novel reads so cheaply not only because of the writing but because of how the third-person narration is handled. Nothing is left to the imagination, everything is either explained or over-explained, readers are spoon-fed, and not an ounce of polysemy can be found throughout the entire text.
The party had been limping on for hours when Rose realised she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. This was entirely accidental and would often happen on event days.
Pippa had met her fiancé, Mike, at Glastonbury. Rose had only met him once. An insurance broker with a permanently ruddy face and protruding belly, he was hardly in line with the bevvy of models and actors Pippa had bedded over the years. But maybe that was a good thing. And it wasn’t like she needed to marry for money; Pippa came from a legal dynasty. Ver de Veux & Partners was a magic circle firm that had been in her family for decades. Whenever she told anyone she’d gone to school with a Ver de Veux, they were impressed.
The writing doesn’t possess even an ounce of finesse. It’s boring, tepid, and uninspired. On top of that, for being a novel so intent on firing on all feminist cylinders, it uses Rose’s best friend Luce, who the novel reminds us of on every third page, is unfairly pretty, unbelievably gorgeous and a true men’s magnet, as nothing but a foil to help characterise Rose as the ugly duckling who never gets any recognition and who, with her limp hair, short stature, and whatever else she doesn’t like about her body, spends her time constantly comparing herself to her when they’re out together.
The novel isn’t clever enough to turn Rose’s feelings of inadequacy into a silent but knowing nod to the perfidiousness of patriarchy, but rather into a SCREAM and WHISTLE, banging you over the head with its “ to all female readers who ever felt jealous of another woman’s beauty: you’re not alone!! It’s the beauty industry’s, but mostly men’s, fault you are comparing yourself to other women in the first place!! ” message.
Nonetheless, when a woman goes to a man’s home for the first time, there is always a slight sense of unease. No matter how attractive the man is, how safe he may make you feel, how polite he is to waiters, the unease is there. Spawning all kinds of anxieties and worst-case scenarios.
Finally, I hate the one-dimensional the novel takes on the interconnectedness of sex, gender, power, abuse, and who is usually believed and who isn’t.
In the middle of it all, Rose, through her work, befriends a social media influencer about her age. The model later confesses that it’s sooooo hard being an influencer, that there are hate forums entirely dedicated to her, that her relationship with her boyfriend is subjected to intense scrutiny, yada yada. Rose and readers are presented with a string of stuff on why she (and we) should feel sorry for this poor woman’s life being so extraordinarily hard. What rubs me the wrong way is how, yes, we are supposed to feel sorry for the model because boohoo, even rich women suffer from the patriarchal order, but the way her character is presented never once takes an intersectional approach.
That there’s a world of difference in how a rich, white woman and a poor, white woman are conceived by and able to make their living in a patriarchal society is brushed aside. Not to mention the fact that race, bodily and mental health, ethnicity, or religion, as immensely important factors determining the social pecking order for women, are never once mentioned. Like yeah, she is a woman, so I can sympathise with her for being subject to misogyny like any other woman on this planet, but why the fuck I should feel sorry for a multi-millionaire is beyond me. For a novel so bent on showing the entertainment industry’s toxic side, it sure does a hell of a lot of nothing taking into account the possibilities available to über rich women in the industry compared to women working the low-level jobs.
There are more things I could mention, more stuff to list that annoyed me, but it’s nearing my bedtime, I still haven’t washed my face, and I want to start watching a new series. All in all, “Gold Rush” feels stale, it’s uninspired, it’s utterly forgettable, and its writing makes its subject matter come across as the timid voice of a dying person croaking their last hoorah.
🎬 Instead of reading this, watch that: She Said (2022)
ORIGINAL REVIEW: thank fuck I’m done with this
September 14, 2024
This “novel” is so appalling that the text is beyond commenting on. If you’ve ever wanted to read a book with no soul, then look no further. Nothing happens, each irrelevant, vapid scene bleeds into the next and every bit of description is bizarre yet wrong: ‘He looked like he was about to watch a film and masturbate.’ WHAT?
The author is clearly ignorant, but the absolute worst comment was describing Robyn’s Dancing On My Own as, ‘Objectively a very happy, very good song.’ After that, all my suspicions about Petter were confirmed. She has obviously never listened to the words (or ever made a meaningful observation), because it is, ‘objectively’, a very sad song. In fact, one of the most iconic Sad Girl Anthems in existence.
You shouldn’t write a book if you don’t have your ear to the world. This is everything that’s wrong with modern publishing. Editors commission some half-bit, influencer-journalist, slap a well-designed cover over the junk and hope for the best. Books like this are like fatbergs in the channels of the market.
I’m glad this has tanked. May it happen to more novels like it!
The author is clearly ignorant, but the absolute worst comment was describing Robyn’s Dancing On My Own as, ‘Objectively a very happy, very good song.’ After that, all my suspicions about Petter were confirmed. She has obviously never listened to the words (or ever made a meaningful observation), because it is, ‘objectively’, a very sad song. In fact, one of the most iconic Sad Girl Anthems in existence.
You shouldn’t write a book if you don’t have your ear to the world. This is everything that’s wrong with modern publishing. Editors commission some half-bit, influencer-journalist, slap a well-designed cover over the junk and hope for the best. Books like this are like fatbergs in the channels of the market.
I’m glad this has tanked. May it happen to more novels like it!
July 15, 2024
I feel the book has the potential to be hit but I also think it needs a lot of tweaking here or there.
I found the chapters way too long. There were parts that, I found, were unnecessary, or needed more added to it to be more relevant. For example the Hen party, what happened next?? The whole Dad situation, what happened next??
The different POV needs to be removed, in my opinion and that part of the story written in Roses POV.
The whole Clara story feels unfinished and the ending felt rushed.
The book needs more time and work put into it and then I think it could be an excellent book.
Obviously these are just my opinions and as I have never written I book I feel bad writing my criticisms into this review but I would definitely suggest reading it because I DID find it a real page turner. The main concept of the book is good and I would like to see this be a hit. The character Rose will stay with me for a while. I want to know more feel her ending needs to be happier.
I found the chapters way too long. There were parts that, I found, were unnecessary, or needed more added to it to be more relevant. For example the Hen party, what happened next?? The whole Dad situation, what happened next??
The different POV needs to be removed, in my opinion and that part of the story written in Roses POV.
The whole Clara story feels unfinished and the ending felt rushed.
The book needs more time and work put into it and then I think it could be an excellent book.
Obviously these are just my opinions and as I have never written I book I feel bad writing my criticisms into this review but I would definitely suggest reading it because I DID find it a real page turner. The main concept of the book is good and I would like to see this be a hit. The character Rose will stay with me for a while. I want to know more feel her ending needs to be happier.
July 3, 2024
what an absolutely gorgeous yet haunting and moving story exploring celebrity culture and consent. when i first started this book, i wasn’t sure where it was going nor what i thought of it but that quickly changed. by the second chapter i was hooked and found it harder and harder to put the book down. in fact, the second half of the book i read in one sitting. the characters jump off the page and are so vivid, and the story is paced excellently. this book made me so angry, yet so heartbroken at the same time. so many important issues are explored with detail and delicacy, and this book really is such a powerful read. i won’t stop thinking about this one for a while.
August 18, 2024
came for the taylor swift-esque title, stayed for the phenomenal story.
August 9, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💬 “It was a body that didn't belong to her any more. Perhaps it was the alcohol. Rose was looking down at herself from above. Her face and body were obscured, a series of geometrical shapes knocked together in the colour of milky flesh... Rose felt something sharp and the scene before her went black. Then she heard herself screaming.”
💭 Rose works in PR at a magazine company, forever having to take on the rather unglamorous jobs that working with celebrities demand. After meeting Milo Jax, a world famous pop star, what starts as a crush turned whirlwind secret romance, ends with Rose waking up, bleeding, with no recollection of the night before. Rose’s life begins to spin out of control, and she is left trying to come to terms with that night whilst she balances work and friendships too.
I absolutely flew through this one - finishing the whole book in under 24 hours. I think that’s a true testament to how addictive, but also grotesquely moreish, GOLD RUSH is. I found myself uncomfortable at several points, but also just couldn’t stop reading, desperate to find out how it all unfolded.
Petter offers an extremely powerful exploration of celebrity culture, consent and imbalanced power dynamics. Her writing forces the reader to consider the uncomfortable questions, making GOLD RUSH a truly compelling read. Pick this one up if you like a drama-filled, engaging plot, which also gives an impactful, and at times uncomfortable, deep dive into real-world issues.
💬 “It was a body that didn't belong to her any more. Perhaps it was the alcohol. Rose was looking down at herself from above. Her face and body were obscured, a series of geometrical shapes knocked together in the colour of milky flesh... Rose felt something sharp and the scene before her went black. Then she heard herself screaming.”
💭 Rose works in PR at a magazine company, forever having to take on the rather unglamorous jobs that working with celebrities demand. After meeting Milo Jax, a world famous pop star, what starts as a crush turned whirlwind secret romance, ends with Rose waking up, bleeding, with no recollection of the night before. Rose’s life begins to spin out of control, and she is left trying to come to terms with that night whilst she balances work and friendships too.
I absolutely flew through this one - finishing the whole book in under 24 hours. I think that’s a true testament to how addictive, but also grotesquely moreish, GOLD RUSH is. I found myself uncomfortable at several points, but also just couldn’t stop reading, desperate to find out how it all unfolded.
Petter offers an extremely powerful exploration of celebrity culture, consent and imbalanced power dynamics. Her writing forces the reader to consider the uncomfortable questions, making GOLD RUSH a truly compelling read. Pick this one up if you like a drama-filled, engaging plot, which also gives an impactful, and at times uncomfortable, deep dive into real-world issues.
June 13, 2024
4.5. Review to follow!
July 18, 2024
4.5 stars
Gold Rush is an incredible debut novel that offers a powerful exploration of celebrity culture and consent. Set in the pre-MeToo movement era, Olivia Petter spins a keen narrative that scrutinizes the rise of influencers, the power we give celebrities, and the dark side of both these cultures alongside the overwhelming presence of online media.
We follow Rose, who works as a publishing assistant at a dying traditional media magazine. This role offers her a realistic look at how "unglamorous" life in the spotlight can be, but it doesn't stop her from wanting to be part of this "exclusive" group. After a work event leads to a troubling encounter with superstar Milo Jax, Rose wakes up the next morning with fragmented memories and a haunting sense of something gone terribly wrong. As she grapples with the aftermath of her final interaction with a man adored by the world, Rose's professional and personal lives become increasingly complicated.
Rose is an unfortunately relatable character for women everywhere, something that Petter captures poignantly. The novel explores celebrity culture and the impact of our interactions with it through themes of obsession, control, manipulation, entitlement, and the harsh realities of living in the limelight. The fast-paced narrative is at times messy, truly indicative of Rose's mental state, resulting in a harrowing story with no neat resolution.
The more I think about this book, the more I love it. I absolutely recommend you pick this up as it's being published today!
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.
Gold Rush is an incredible debut novel that offers a powerful exploration of celebrity culture and consent. Set in the pre-MeToo movement era, Olivia Petter spins a keen narrative that scrutinizes the rise of influencers, the power we give celebrities, and the dark side of both these cultures alongside the overwhelming presence of online media.
We follow Rose, who works as a publishing assistant at a dying traditional media magazine. This role offers her a realistic look at how "unglamorous" life in the spotlight can be, but it doesn't stop her from wanting to be part of this "exclusive" group. After a work event leads to a troubling encounter with superstar Milo Jax, Rose wakes up the next morning with fragmented memories and a haunting sense of something gone terribly wrong. As she grapples with the aftermath of her final interaction with a man adored by the world, Rose's professional and personal lives become increasingly complicated.
Rose is an unfortunately relatable character for women everywhere, something that Petter captures poignantly. The novel explores celebrity culture and the impact of our interactions with it through themes of obsession, control, manipulation, entitlement, and the harsh realities of living in the limelight. The fast-paced narrative is at times messy, truly indicative of Rose's mental state, resulting in a harrowing story with no neat resolution.
The more I think about this book, the more I love it. I absolutely recommend you pick this up as it's being published today!
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.
December 12, 2024
Boy was I fighting the urge to DNF this
August 28, 2024
This had the potential to be so good, and it just fell so flat. All of the pieces were there! I’m so frustrated :(
July 26, 2024
Thank you so much to 4th Estate for the gifted proof!
September 6, 2024
Set in 2017, Rose works at an uber fashionable publishing company and as part of her job she mixes with the famous and infamous, including heart-throb pop star, the terribly named Milo Jax.
She spends a drunken night with him, waking up to find him gone and her bed and legs covered in blood. She can’t remember what happened.
He ghosts her and for most of the book, she obsesses over trying to contact him, ostensibly to find out what happened that night. But, her response to that night is part angry, part panic attacks and, confusingly, part obsessively checking his social media posts and online mentions of him.
This book made me feel very uncomfortable. Not necessarily because of the contentious issues it brings up but because I felt that these important issues were completely swamped by how horribly vile the social media-fuelled celebrity scene and everyone involved, even at peripheral levels, were.
I’m guessing that ‘Gold Rush’ was a purposeful indictment of the vacuity of ‘celebrity’. So as a reader, I was supposed to feel a revulsion.
I’m not on any social media, nor do I look at it (apart from the occasional scrolling in Twitter) - so the world portrayed in Gold Rush was completely alien to me. However, even if not actively engaged with or on social media, you’d need to be a hermit not to have any understanding of what it’s like.
So, after reading this, I wasn’t quite sure what I should have taken away from it.
One take away was that I won’t be seeking out similar books in the future. Just not for me at all.
She spends a drunken night with him, waking up to find him gone and her bed and legs covered in blood. She can’t remember what happened.
He ghosts her and for most of the book, she obsesses over trying to contact him, ostensibly to find out what happened that night. But, her response to that night is part angry, part panic attacks and, confusingly, part obsessively checking his social media posts and online mentions of him.
This book made me feel very uncomfortable. Not necessarily because of the contentious issues it brings up but because I felt that these important issues were completely swamped by how horribly vile the social media-fuelled celebrity scene and everyone involved, even at peripheral levels, were.
I’m guessing that ‘Gold Rush’ was a purposeful indictment of the vacuity of ‘celebrity’. So as a reader, I was supposed to feel a revulsion.
I’m not on any social media, nor do I look at it (apart from the occasional scrolling in Twitter) - so the world portrayed in Gold Rush was completely alien to me. However, even if not actively engaged with or on social media, you’d need to be a hermit not to have any understanding of what it’s like.
So, after reading this, I wasn’t quite sure what I should have taken away from it.
One take away was that I won’t be seeking out similar books in the future. Just not for me at all.
November 28, 2024
1.0/5
sorry but pass. the book had so much potential, however it was too unnecessarily long, focus was off, a lot of words but the key plot was absent.
sorry but pass. the book had so much potential, however it was too unnecessarily long, focus was off, a lot of words but the key plot was absent.
October 9, 2024
Honestly it feels incredibly hard to rate this book.
At parts it was magnificent, the writing was prolific and the words were carrying deeper meaning and grave understanding of the sheer horrible reality of consent abuse and sexual assault.
At other parts the book felt unintentionally on the nose, rushed and just soulless.
It’s sad because the premise was also so intriguing and the main character was a joy to explore and suffer with, it all felt so .. humane.
And yet, I can’t help but feel let down. The rushed ending especially does not help this book.
This was at parts truly painful to read simply because it was too true, so definitely proceed with caution
At parts it was magnificent, the writing was prolific and the words were carrying deeper meaning and grave understanding of the sheer horrible reality of consent abuse and sexual assault.
At other parts the book felt unintentionally on the nose, rushed and just soulless.
It’s sad because the premise was also so intriguing and the main character was a joy to explore and suffer with, it all felt so .. humane.
And yet, I can’t help but feel let down. The rushed ending especially does not help this book.
This was at parts truly painful to read simply because it was too true, so definitely proceed with caution
September 23, 2024
it feels like every book i've read recently has done one of two things:
1. started really strong, given me a false promise of a five star review, only to become BAD in the last quarter, or
2. had a really boring start, made me dread the thought of reading another 300 pages, but then pleasantly surprised me as it went on.
this book did the second. i'm not sure which is better.
1. started really strong, given me a false promise of a five star review, only to become BAD in the last quarter, or
2. had a really boring start, made me dread the thought of reading another 300 pages, but then pleasantly surprised me as it went on.
this book did the second. i'm not sure which is better.
September 12, 2024
not everything needs to be penis-shaped. we get it.
March 1, 2025
3.5 quick and easy read… did not say anything groundbreaking that hasn’t been said before
November 1, 2024
Twenty-something Rose, who works as a PR person and deals with the tantrums and demands of celebrities, finds her life upended when a chance encounter with a leading pop-star (Milo Jax) leads to a harrowing incident where she experiences assault and in the aftermath, tries to piece together the events of that night. In the process, the story raises many points about consent, celebrity worship, and a culture where women's autonomy is constantly undermined.
The book is set in 2017, following the momentum that the #MeToo movement had picked up, and fictionalizes what I am certain was a real incident. At one point, the narrator launches angrily into a critique of the bizarreness of idolizing celebrities which I found quite astute -
"We propel these people, talented people, sometimes, into stardom, right? We treat them like superior beings. Like they transcend humanity purely because they can, I don't know, sing to a tune or pretend to be someone they're not. But by doing that, we give them a power they don't deserve. Power they haven't always earned." Written like that, it is absurd how much human machinery we have dedicated towards documenting what famous folks wear, eat, who they shag, how they live etc.
As provocative as this was, it was very much a novel of two halves: one that was sharp, engaging, and critical; and another which was sluggish, digressive, and dull. The quality of writing ebbed-and-flowed and my interest level followed the waves. The narrator herself lacked a strong inner dialogue and went from situation to situation without deeply reflecting on it. That got in the way of my engagement with the story.
I received a copy of this from HarperCollins in exchange for my honest opinion.
The book is set in 2017, following the momentum that the #MeToo movement had picked up, and fictionalizes what I am certain was a real incident. At one point, the narrator launches angrily into a critique of the bizarreness of idolizing celebrities which I found quite astute -
"We propel these people, talented people, sometimes, into stardom, right? We treat them like superior beings. Like they transcend humanity purely because they can, I don't know, sing to a tune or pretend to be someone they're not. But by doing that, we give them a power they don't deserve. Power they haven't always earned." Written like that, it is absurd how much human machinery we have dedicated towards documenting what famous folks wear, eat, who they shag, how they live etc.
As provocative as this was, it was very much a novel of two halves: one that was sharp, engaging, and critical; and another which was sluggish, digressive, and dull. The quality of writing ebbed-and-flowed and my interest level followed the waves. The narrator herself lacked a strong inner dialogue and went from situation to situation without deeply reflecting on it. That got in the way of my engagement with the story.
I received a copy of this from HarperCollins in exchange for my honest opinion.
March 8, 2025
Really good but honestly put me in a pretty bad headspace.
August 5, 2025
2.5 ⭐️
October 28, 2025
this book started with good potential but fell a bit flat in the middle for me. almost dnf but it picked up towards the very end
November 5, 2025
Really bad. Is it trying to be a teenage rom com or a book about mental health and sexual assault ? Ended up somewhere in the middle and a bad mix of the two.
So many random side stories that didn’t make sense to be included ?
Wouldn’t recommend
So many random side stories that didn’t make sense to be included ?
Wouldn’t recommend
April 8, 2025
gold rush explores consent, control and celebrity culture — all very sensitive and important topics. i hate criticizing it for that very reason, but i struggled with the flat characters, cringey dialogue, and overly millennial tone. while the message matters deeply, the writing just didn’t hit for me. two stars :/
March 3, 2025
2.0 Stars.
Audiobook.
Well, how do I put this without sounding like a misogynistic idiot who totally missed the point of this novel, but I cannot not tell you that Rose is the most annoying character I've read about in a good long while. And I don't think she was meant to be.
Yes, a terrible thing happened to her, but her character did not reform because of it; she was already entitled (no, your best friend does not owe you to demand less rent from you just because her family is rich and yours is not), self-centred (I do not think it was mentally or physically possible for you to be less involved in a hen-party, and I'm sorry, but that makes you a shitty friend, and also, this is just one instance of that shitty-friend-ness) and so very whiny (were you actually deeply traumatised because a popstar raped you or were you just pissed that said popstar did not confess his love to you after, because that was what you were hung up on for most of the novel).
Maybe, or rather, most likely, I'm focusing on all the wrong aspects of the story and it certainly makes me sound quite callous, but yikes, I do not think Rose is the character one should create to shine a light on such an important topic as the #metoo movement, because she is sure to alienate many.
Were the novel itself better written/executed, I might still have found some compassion and understanding within me, but as it is, I just could not.
Audiobook.
Well, how do I put this without sounding like a misogynistic idiot who totally missed the point of this novel, but I cannot not tell you that Rose is the most annoying character I've read about in a good long while. And I don't think she was meant to be.
Yes, a terrible thing happened to her, but her character did not reform because of it; she was already entitled (no, your best friend does not owe you to demand less rent from you just because her family is rich and yours is not), self-centred (I do not think it was mentally or physically possible for you to be less involved in a hen-party, and I'm sorry, but that makes you a shitty friend, and also, this is just one instance of that shitty-friend-ness) and so very whiny (were you actually deeply traumatised because a popstar raped you or were you just pissed that said popstar did not confess his love to you after, because that was what you were hung up on for most of the novel).
Maybe, or rather, most likely, I'm focusing on all the wrong aspects of the story and it certainly makes me sound quite callous, but yikes, I do not think Rose is the character one should create to shine a light on such an important topic as the #metoo movement, because she is sure to alienate many.
Were the novel itself better written/executed, I might still have found some compassion and understanding within me, but as it is, I just could not.
August 26, 2024
Need to stop buying books I see anyone with a colour-coded bookshelf on TikTok recommend.
Do yourself a favour and just skip the entirely pointless and insanely irritating hen party chapter.
I hate books that claim to be feminist and tackle feminist topics but make their background female characters incredibly annoying middle-class white women.
Boring, uninspiring and woefully written.
Do yourself a favour and just skip the entirely pointless and insanely irritating hen party chapter.
I hate books that claim to be feminist and tackle feminist topics but make their background female characters incredibly annoying middle-class white women.
Boring, uninspiring and woefully written.
September 5, 2024
Dull and poorly written.
September 6, 2024
Gold Rush by Olivia Petter confronts some serious issues. It falls along the lines of the #metoomovement that both shocked and infuriated the world. Although this novel came out in 2024, it is set in 2017, at a time when the scandalous news made it to the front pages. At the very core of this novel is the heightened awareness that we women carry around our bodies when put in unfamiliar positions. There’s also a very skewed power balance that usually tends to occur when a commoner enters into a relationship with someone famous. They control the relationship, twist it accordingly and at times chew and spit it out when it becomes stale. The other person hardly has any control over the situation. They can be easily pushed aside. It is around these situations that Gold Rush is set.
Rose’s job often puts her in close contact with celebrities as she works in PR and it was during one such incident that she meets the pop sensation Milo Jax. A charming young man and perhaps the most eligible bachelor in the world. Milo is kind and warm, often flirting with Rose throughout the event, leaving her warm and hopeful. Much to her surprise, Milo appears to be very grounded despite being so famous. And so she meets him again, informally at his house and they drink and talk and flirt. There’s intimacy, sex and then it’s all black. When Rose wakes up the next day, she’s alone in her bed at her home, her body telling her a sorry that she can’t remember and instantly knows that something is just very wrong. Not knowing what happened sends her into a deep spiral. Her communication with Milo is cut off and she finds herself in a dark abyss.
Stories like these are both fictional and real. If you take aside the celebrity aspect of it, most of us have been in certain relationships that made us giddy and even stripped us off some dignity. Petter has done a splendid job in capturing what most of the women go through rather poignantly. The celebrity culture and their god like status that provides them with immunity is both disturbing and terrifying.
Gold Rush is simply stunning and powerful. And I highly recommend it.
Rose’s job often puts her in close contact with celebrities as she works in PR and it was during one such incident that she meets the pop sensation Milo Jax. A charming young man and perhaps the most eligible bachelor in the world. Milo is kind and warm, often flirting with Rose throughout the event, leaving her warm and hopeful. Much to her surprise, Milo appears to be very grounded despite being so famous. And so she meets him again, informally at his house and they drink and talk and flirt. There’s intimacy, sex and then it’s all black. When Rose wakes up the next day, she’s alone in her bed at her home, her body telling her a sorry that she can’t remember and instantly knows that something is just very wrong. Not knowing what happened sends her into a deep spiral. Her communication with Milo is cut off and she finds herself in a dark abyss.
Stories like these are both fictional and real. If you take aside the celebrity aspect of it, most of us have been in certain relationships that made us giddy and even stripped us off some dignity. Petter has done a splendid job in capturing what most of the women go through rather poignantly. The celebrity culture and their god like status that provides them with immunity is both disturbing and terrifying.
Gold Rush is simply stunning and powerful. And I highly recommend it.
November 25, 2024
• 𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 "𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇" examines the 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 if you are curious about what this book is about and how it seems to me. Even though there were some awkward passages in the book, I finished reading it without hesitation. 🥂
✦ “𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥… 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝… 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.” ✦
• 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 works for 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 for a managing company. Her only purpose is to 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬. However, other characters also have a significant impact on one another's lives in addition to Rose. Here's another: 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐨 𝐉𝐚𝐱. Milo Jax, 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, wake up in bed after a wild romance with Rose.✨
• The novel moved 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 at times and 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 at others, giving me the impression that it was an 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲. The plot is being 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, but you can tell the book is 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 🎬
✦ “𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.” ✦
• The author's portrayal of a 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. Most authors who write about pop culture have largely ignored it. Due to the 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 nature of 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬, and 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, it typically varies from reader to reader. 💡
• This book is incredibly 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. It is fascinating to see how 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, and other facets of her life. Although the characters are diverse and have a range of life experiences, reading this book and living in India feels opulent in some ways. The book is going to break your heart. It is also humorous to me. 🦋
• The characters are always rushing and hopping around like they are flipping through pages. This book is a powerful yet delicate read, and it comes highly recommended if you read it from a variety of perspectives, considering the themes and issues that are currently present. 🥀
✦ “𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥… 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝… 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.” ✦
• 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 works for 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 for a managing company. Her only purpose is to 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬. However, other characters also have a significant impact on one another's lives in addition to Rose. Here's another: 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐨 𝐉𝐚𝐱. Milo Jax, 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐩 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, wake up in bed after a wild romance with Rose.✨
• The novel moved 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 at times and 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 at others, giving me the impression that it was an 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲. The plot is being 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, but you can tell the book is 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. 🎬
✦ “𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞.” ✦
• The author's portrayal of a 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. Most authors who write about pop culture have largely ignored it. Due to the 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 nature of 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬, and 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, it typically varies from reader to reader. 💡
• This book is incredibly 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. It is fascinating to see how 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬, and other facets of her life. Although the characters are diverse and have a range of life experiences, reading this book and living in India feels opulent in some ways. The book is going to break your heart. It is also humorous to me. 🦋
• The characters are always rushing and hopping around like they are flipping through pages. This book is a powerful yet delicate read, and it comes highly recommended if you read it from a variety of perspectives, considering the themes and issues that are currently present. 🥀
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