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Idyllic
Wrenleigh Iverson lives a perfect life, and everyone else is supposed to think so, too. Ripples in the mirage start appearing when her mom announces that the family is expecting another sibling. Suddenly, it's gotten harder to smile for the ever-present camera, endless to-do lists spinning around in her head. After her mother's announcement, those lists start to feel never-ending.
Confronted with the realization that her life was never as perfect as it was made to look, Wrenleigh faces the impossible choice between her family's expectations and her own peace of mind.
Mason Carlisle's Idyllic is a personal attack against exploitation in The Family Vlogging Industry, prejudice, indoctrination, and the parentification that many children today are facing. Poignant, funny, and heart-breaking, Idyllic is ideal for any reader that is looking for a book that will shock and devastate them, and anyone wanting to have a real conversation about the tragic reality of life in front of the lens of a camera.
Confronted with the realization that her life was never as perfect as it was made to look, Wrenleigh faces the impossible choice between her family's expectations and her own peace of mind.
Mason Carlisle's Idyllic is a personal attack against exploitation in The Family Vlogging Industry, prejudice, indoctrination, and the parentification that many children today are facing. Poignant, funny, and heart-breaking, Idyllic is ideal for any reader that is looking for a book that will shock and devastate them, and anyone wanting to have a real conversation about the tragic reality of life in front of the lens of a camera.
288 pages, Paperback
Published July 4, 2025
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 10, 2025
Idyllic is a fantastic story that exposes the issues with family bloggers and religious extremists and it might just be my favorite book by Mason Carlisle.
The FMC Wrenleigh is faced with choosing between her parents strict expectations and her own wants and needs. Watching her struggle to balance these things are both heartbreaking and inspiring. Wrenleigh is a strong and likable character; she will have you rooting for her the entire book.
Idyllic is the type of book that grabbed me right from the start and didn't let go until the end. Carlisle, once again, does a wonderful job of tackling the hard subjects, using fiction as a way to educate while entertaining the reader at the same time. It's why she's one of my favorite authors.
Don't sleep on Idyllic; I highly recommend it and along with any other book that Carlisle has written. She is a truly fantastic author and you don't want to miss out.
The FMC Wrenleigh is faced with choosing between her parents strict expectations and her own wants and needs. Watching her struggle to balance these things are both heartbreaking and inspiring. Wrenleigh is a strong and likable character; she will have you rooting for her the entire book.
Idyllic is the type of book that grabbed me right from the start and didn't let go until the end. Carlisle, once again, does a wonderful job of tackling the hard subjects, using fiction as a way to educate while entertaining the reader at the same time. It's why she's one of my favorite authors.
Don't sleep on Idyllic; I highly recommend it and along with any other book that Carlisle has written. She is a truly fantastic author and you don't want to miss out.
June 4, 2025
✨ARC REVIEW✨
“Idyllic” broke me. Healed me. Then broke me again.
This isn’t your typical forbidden love story. It’s raw, haunting, beautiful, and incredibly important. I picked it up thinking it would be an emotional read — but I wasn’t prepared for how deep it would cut.
💔 Wrenleigh (FMC) is the heart and soul of this book. She's only 16, yet she’s more of a mother to her siblings than their actual parents ever were. She carries the weight of their survival, of her own trauma, and of never truly being a child. Her strength stunned me. She made me cry, rage, and root for her with everything I had.
Her siblings — Rhett, Beckett, Poppy, Cash, and Braxton — are beautifully written. Their bond is everything. Especially Rhett, her older brother. His protective love, his rage, the sacrifices he made for Wren... he deserves the world (and definitely his own book). The scene where he stands up to their father to protect Wren? It wrecked me:
"You're not fucking touching my sister. I know what you did to yours, too. You are not touching mine."
🔥 And then there's Emilio (Milo) — the MMC. Honestly? I fell for him just as hard as Wren did. He has anxiety, trauma, emotional scars — but the way he loves Wren? With gentleness, humor, understanding… it’s everything. He didn’t just fall for her; he saw her. Even when she couldn’t see herself.
“I’d give every penny I’ll make in my lifetime to know what you’re thinking out here alone right now and know that it isn’t that…”
This quote lives rent-free in my heart.
Lilith isn't just Rhett's fierce, take-no-shit girlfriend- she grows into someone Wren can rely on too. A big sister figure Wren never had but desperately needed.
And let's be honest... she and Rhett are such a fiery match. I can totally see her knocking sense into him when he's being a stubborn little shit.
💢I hated their parents. No redemption arc. No apology. Just pain. I wanted more punishment, more justice. Wren and her siblings didn’t deserve that hell.
💫 What I adored? The love. The messy, complicated, real love. Between siblings. Between lovers. Between broken people trying to save each other. Wren’s journey from survival to self-worth is something I’ll never forget.
📖 Final Thoughts:
This book isn’t an easy read — but it’s a necessary one. It speaks of the resilience of children forced to grow up too soon, of the scars left by abuse, and the way love — real, patient love — can help us breathe again.
Read it. Cry with it. Rage for them. And hug your siblings tighter.
“Idyllic” broke me. Healed me. Then broke me again.
This isn’t your typical forbidden love story. It’s raw, haunting, beautiful, and incredibly important. I picked it up thinking it would be an emotional read — but I wasn’t prepared for how deep it would cut.
💔 Wrenleigh (FMC) is the heart and soul of this book. She's only 16, yet she’s more of a mother to her siblings than their actual parents ever were. She carries the weight of their survival, of her own trauma, and of never truly being a child. Her strength stunned me. She made me cry, rage, and root for her with everything I had.
Her siblings — Rhett, Beckett, Poppy, Cash, and Braxton — are beautifully written. Their bond is everything. Especially Rhett, her older brother. His protective love, his rage, the sacrifices he made for Wren... he deserves the world (and definitely his own book). The scene where he stands up to their father to protect Wren? It wrecked me:
"You're not fucking touching my sister. I know what you did to yours, too. You are not touching mine."
🔥 And then there's Emilio (Milo) — the MMC. Honestly? I fell for him just as hard as Wren did. He has anxiety, trauma, emotional scars — but the way he loves Wren? With gentleness, humor, understanding… it’s everything. He didn’t just fall for her; he saw her. Even when she couldn’t see herself.
“I’d give every penny I’ll make in my lifetime to know what you’re thinking out here alone right now and know that it isn’t that…”
This quote lives rent-free in my heart.
Lilith isn't just Rhett's fierce, take-no-shit girlfriend- she grows into someone Wren can rely on too. A big sister figure Wren never had but desperately needed.
And let's be honest... she and Rhett are such a fiery match. I can totally see her knocking sense into him when he's being a stubborn little shit.
💢I hated their parents. No redemption arc. No apology. Just pain. I wanted more punishment, more justice. Wren and her siblings didn’t deserve that hell.
💫 What I adored? The love. The messy, complicated, real love. Between siblings. Between lovers. Between broken people trying to save each other. Wren’s journey from survival to self-worth is something I’ll never forget.
📖 Final Thoughts:
This book isn’t an easy read — but it’s a necessary one. It speaks of the resilience of children forced to grow up too soon, of the scars left by abuse, and the way love — real, patient love — can help us breathe again.
Read it. Cry with it. Rage for them. And hug your siblings tighter.
June 23, 2025
This is a devastatingly beautiful book. This is a heartwrenching story about kids raising kids and not being aware they are being exploited. Its about the vlogging moms. we know not all clogging moms are bad. but this book gets into the behind the scenes of the dark and horrifying mommy vloggers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews