Griftopia: A Novel

by Suzy Vitello

Tradwife scams, pickleball craze, pimping kids for social media content … the Freischins never met a cultural moment they didn’t exploit. 

Orphaned and separated as young children, the Freischin sisters are nothing if not survivors. Now, in middle age, Pearl is blindsided by a sexual harassment allegation at the school where she’s taught for decades, while her sister Scarlett is left penniless after her husband is imprisoned for embezzling. Meanwhile, Pearl’s son Declan, a college student and track star struggling with anxiety, quits school when he becomes entangled with a young con-artist. Scarlett’s daughter, former tennis phenom Helena, needs help as well. Helena’s six-year-old daughter Burkleigh, who achieved meteoric social media fame for her ability to sing like Billie Holiday, has been canceled for appropriation, while Helena, who can’t seem to find a job that pays a living wage, turns to pickleball coaching in order to put food on the table. 

Close to destitute, the Freischin clan is in danger of homelessness unless they can make some quick cash. Leveraging Burkleigh’s talent, they arrive at a series of progressively dubious internet scams. Griftopia explores the gritty heart of grifting for survival.

Genres: Contemporary

Kindle Edition

Expected publication May 5, 2026

About the author

Suzy Vitello is a proud founding member of a critique group recently dubbed The Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).

Suzy's novels, FAULTLAND, THE MOMENT BEFORE, THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES and THE KEEPSAKE are available wherever books and ebooks are sold.

An e-chapbook of some of her stories, UNKISS ME, can be found here

Find out more about Suzy

Reviews

[Sadie E · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Fame is fleeting. Stupidity is forever.”

Honestly? This might be my favourite book I’ve read so far this year. Griftopia has a bit of everything (satire, social commentary, family drama, generational trauma, dark humour) and while that’s usually the kind of thing I’d side-eye, it somehow pulls it all off perfectly. It’s wildly engaging and I couldn’t put it down.

"Pearl’s personal mythos took on antivaxxer-esque certainty…”

The writing's sharp and full of dry, self-deprecating humour. The social commentary's on point, skewering modern culture. It's funny, uncomfortable, and observant in equal measure. One small caveat - it's very much a product of its time, and while the dark humour and cultural critique land perfectly now, I’m curious how it’ll age.

“…before she knew it, she’d become her mother.”

The characters feel so real, warts and all, they have so much depth and are every shade of grey. Sometimes you want to hug them and tell them everything will be okay; other times you want to grab them by the shoulders and give them a shake. Everyone's a human car crash, someone you'd never want to be friends with, but can't stop watching.

I love books that follow multiple generations (I could have probably done without Declan, he had none of the charm of the other characters and really just bored me), and Griftopia delivers on that front, weaving its characters’ pasts and presents together in a way that feels natural. There are a few minor typos (missing words here and there or slight misspellings), but that's easy to forgive when the story's this good.

Thank you NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the ARC

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the advanced copy of Griftopia by Suzy Vitello in exchange for my independent review. (Expected publication date: May 5, 2026.)

Although it’s marketed as multigenerational/domestic fiction, Griftopia reads like a thriller--zippy, twisty, and compulsively readable. Just when I thought I had Vitello’s trajectory pegged, she sprang another reveal. The construction of the Freischin family is so audacious and specific that I kept stopping to think, How in the world did she come up with this? It’s the kind of novel that feels powered by a mischievous “what if?” and then takes that idea to its most outrageous conclusions.

At its core is a deliciously dark question: how is a grifter made? Vitello answers by splitting two orphaned sisters, Pearl and Scarlette, at an early age. After their parents die in a skiing accident, the younger sister, Scarlette, is taken in by her evangelical maternal grandparents,fire-and-brimstone strictness, scarcity, and shame. Pearl, only eight, is placed with her mother’s friend, who it turns out is motivated by the monthly compensation check. Pearl becomes a “free-range” child, raised with minimal boundaries and no consistent safety net.

That unorthodox upbringing makes Pearl fiercely capable: cautious, resourceful, and determined. She earns scholarships, builds a stable life, and becomes a private-school teacher. She also has a college-aged son, Declan, who looks destined for greatness at the start: track star, pre-med track, the whole bright-future package. And then he meets George, a charismatic disruptor with an Etsy shop called “Giftopia,” selling “culturally interesting” trinkets. To Declan she sells a seductive philosophy: there are easier, better, more authentic ways to live than the anxious grind of pre-med.

Meanwhile, Scarlette’s life is unraveling. She’s newly disgraced and divorced after her husband is convicted of embezzlement. Her daughter, Helena, was a tennis phenom until a life-altering injury ended that path, an injury followed by years of resentment, in part because Scarlette micromanaged Helena’s career to the breaking point. When Helena’s young daughter Burkleigh shows savant-level musical talent, Helena turns to social media sponsorships to finance their lives. But when Burkleigh is accused of appropriating Billie Holiday’s voice, the sponsorships evaporate and the family’s income collapses, leaving Helena and Scarlette desperate.

As if that weren’t enough, Pearl is hit with a nightmare scenario: she’s falsely accused of sexual harassment and drug distribution to minors. Pearl, who has always tried to do everything “right”, is completely unprepared for the shock and the speed with which stability can be stripped away. Yet because she’s long been the reliable one, Scarlette’s crisis still lands at Pearl’s feet. With Pearl suddenly jobless and Scarlette and Helena in free fall, the question becomes: what’s a woman to do when decency doesn’t pay…yet everyone still expects you to save them?

This is where Vitello really has fun. She combines George’s instinct for jumping ahead of cultural moments with the women’s escalating desperation, and then turns the plot into a sharp, sometimes jaw-dropping satire of our collective trend-chasing. The book’s own marketing line says it best: “Tradwife scams, pickleball craze, pimping kids for social media content…the Freischins never met a cultural moment they didn’t exploit.” And Vitello doesn’t just name-check these moments--she uses them to skewer the way we can all become “sheep-following” consumers of whatever lifestyle is being sold to us next (of course nutritional supplements earn a well-deserved shout-out in the narrative).

Griftopia is wild, funny, and strangely addictive. The women are eccentric in a way that’s entertaining…until it isn’t, and you realize how thin the line can be between survival, self-delusion, and outright grift. This is a fun read, yes, but it’s also a pointed reminder of how easily we’re all tempted by the promise of an advertised life, in other words, “the grift”.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the ARC!

Pearl is finally easing into her life as an empty nester, when her sister's husband is arrested, her niece is "cancelled," her son drops out of college, and she finds her nest fuller than ever. She expects chaos, but not quite the level of grifting and hijinks that follows.

I enjoyed this timely, very modern story that dives into today’s zeitgeist: politics, social media trends like tradwife content and family vlogs, even pickleball culture—showing how easily all of it becomes fuel for grift. The characters’ sheer resourcefulness was both amusing and unsettling: if you aren't so concerned about integrity, the world is really your oyster in the attention economy.

The most compelling thread for me was the relationship between the two sisters, separated in childhood and shaped by radically different upbringings. Their dynamic raises interesting questions about identity, morality, and the families we create.

At times, the narrative was a bit crowded. Topical references piled up, and it took me a while to get the many characters and their motivations straight. I wished for more time with Pearl, whose contradictions and inner demons were fascinating. I would have loved a deeper focus on her and her son.

Again, I think the theme of how our upbringing shapes our lives, morals, and choices is really rich. This almost could have been a few separate books, and while I enjoyed the chaos to a degree, it was occasionally scattered.

As a Real Housewives fan, I also love Sibylline Press’s mission to highlight women over 50. I’d recommend Griftopia to readers who enjoy woman‑centered stories, messy family dynamics, and sharp observations about our current era.

[Ava Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going into this, I was expecting a lighthearted, humorous book about the lengths people will go to secure fame and fortune for themselves and their kids, and although it had those moments, Griftopia was so much more than that.

Suzy Vitello touched on the political climate, health anxiety, childhood trauma, and child exploitation in a way that was relevant in the current societal context. The conversation about child exploitation is increasingly important in today's climate, and this book did such a great job of immersing you into the lives of the people grappling with this, while also focusing on the immense damage it can cause.

The depiction of Declan's health anxiety was extremely interesting to me. Although I lack any experience with this topic and therefore cannot speak to how realistic it was, I found it extremely insightful on how debilitating it can be for those who suffer from this.

Although I enjoyed these aspects, I definitely would have liked more information and insight into Scarlett's ex-husband, Dex. I felt like the downfall of this family was described to have started with him, but apart from the first chapter and a couple of mentions throughout the book, he was absent from the story. To coincide with this, additional insight into Scarlett's thought process about Burkleigh would have been interesting. Although she was present in the book, the lack of her point of view in the last 30% left me wanting more.

#Griftopia #NetGalley

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I found the book very readable and was initially drawn to the characters and premise but ultimately found the reading experience frustrating. The characters frequently recognize problems without taking meaningful action, instead responding primarily through complaints and insults. I love a "quirky character" but these just felt angry and entitled.
The political tone, in particular, will be polarizing and appears very early in the narrative. While I appreciate political emotion in fiction, here it felt immature and not at all nuanced.
I also found the pacing uneven. The year long gap in the story disrupted the narrative for me and made it difficult to stay emotionally invested.
Finally, the book was not what I expected based on the description and the first few chapters. What began as a story about an empty nester having her sanctuary disrupted and perhaps compromising her ideals, turned to too many absurd subplots.
This is not a title I would prioritize purchasing for my library and I would recommend it only selectively. While I did find it readable and humorous at times, it does not have broad appeal and the heavy political references will (hopefully) become dated fairly quickly which would further impact long-term appeal.

[Em Law]

Thank you NetGalley and Sibylline Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed Suzy Vitello’s writing style. I found it witty, quite a dry sense of humour which is something I always appreciate in my reading. The characters were complex and layered, and I especially liked reading from Pearl’s perspective.

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me. I believe a lot of my disappointment comes down to the blurb, which described a really intriguing and unique premise following a family who must grift to survive. I reached the 35% mark and I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with how long this book was taking to “kick off”. By 35%, I was just too frustrated to continue and so I’ve decided to DNF. While I appreciate that it was full of backstory and scenes that would help us understand characters and their motivations, I did feel it was too much.

What I did read was an in depth exploration into family dynamics, how our past can shape our relationships in the present, particularly between sisters and mother & child. I think readers who enjoy exploring these dynamics, and are drawn to Griftopia because of this, might enjoy it more than I did.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

If you enjoy your social commentary with a side of "everything is terrible but at least it’s funny," Griftopia should be next on your TBR list. It’s a masterclass in imperfect characters—with a sprawling family tree where every branch is on fire. It’s the kind of book that skewers modern culture so accurately it makes you want to delete your social media and change your name.

The prose is dry, self-deprecating, and dangerously sharp. Managing a cast this large usually results in a messy sprawl, but the author handles it with surgical precision. The author weaves past and present together so seamlessly that the generational trauma feels less like a plot point and more like a hereditary curse. It’s rare to find a book that balances this many characters and perspectives without losing the thread. It’s uncomfortable, observant, and stays with you long after the final disaster.

I particularly enjoyed the social media commentary and how easy it is to fake content for likes—and how easy it is to be canceled.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a family-oriented, character-driven plot.

[Reading Xennial · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting premise for a book. With the current social media climate of child exploitation, trad wife, and cancel culture, this book was an interesting take on these topics. The writing was overall pretty good. There were a lot of characters and many POVs that it took me a while to keep track of who was who. These characters are unlikeable, but this is on purpose. Sometimes, unlikeable characters work for me, but this one it was hard to root for them because their motives weren’t something to root for and there wasn’t enough character development to make up for these shortcomings.

Along with the many characters were the many subplots. This was entertaining because this family is a dumpster fire. There were a couple of loose ends at the end and by that point I was fine not having everything tied up. It is a book I’d recommend to certain people, but it’s not an overall crowd pleaser.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sibylline Press for allowing me to read this early. The opinion in this review is my own.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast paced and interesting read,"Griftopia" is about a family who will do anything to keep themselves above water, and all the grifts that come with it, including an Etsy shop, pickleball, and creating a child influencer. Personally, I found the concept and twists to be entertaining, but the characters fell flat in my opinion. I couldn't get myself to root for their motives and they aren't what I am personally looking for in a story. I understand having flawed realistic characters, but some of the things the protagonists did were unforgivable at times. I really enjoyed the concept and the fast pace helped increase the stakes in the story, but the characters were not engaging or likeable enough to root for in my opinion. The family's drama was enjoyable though to watch like a trainwreck (in a good way) .