Infamous

Beautiful Idols #3

by Alyson Noel

There’s no shortage of suspense, glitz, or scandal in the gripping conclusion to #1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël’s Beautiful Idols trilogy.

Layla Harrison never imagined she’d see the inside of a jail cell, but sometimes fate can be as nasty as a commenter on her celebrity gossip blog. Luckily, she wasn’t alone—fellow promoters Aster Amirpour and Tommy Phillips were also detained when Hollywood It Girl Madison Brooks’s dead body turned up at an Unrivaled nightclub.

But it wasn’t Madison at all. The real Madison Brooks is alive and hiding out after escaping a kidnapping attempt that almost took her life. Once the police discover they’ve made a mistake, Layla, Tommy, and Aster are set free—only to discover that they’re all being played.

However, none of their dirty little secrets compares to the one Madison has been keeping her entire life, and her past is dangerously close to being revealed. Which means Madison must come out from behind the shadows to ensure that she doesn’t lose everything she’s worked for, regardless of who might get caught in the crossfire.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Romance, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Fiction

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2018

About the author

*Note to readers: I'm slowly adding to the long list of books I've read, books I'm reading, and books I want to read. I only add books I loved, hence all my ratings are 5 stars.


Alyson Noël is the #1 NYT best-selling author of many award-winning and critically acclaimed novels for readers of all ages.

With 9 NYT bestsellers and millions of copies in print, her books have been translated into 36 languages, and have topped the NYT, USA Today, LA Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Wall Street Journal, NCIBA, and Walmart Bestsellers lists, as well as several international bestsellers lists.

She is best known for THE IMMORTALS series, THE RILEY BLOOM series, and SAVING ZOË, which was adapted into a movie now available on Amazon.

Upcoming works include:

RULING DESTINY- book 2, in the STEALING INFINITY series

STEALING INFINITY- Optioned for TV by Valhalla Entertainment - available now!

FIELD GUIDE TO THE SUPERNATURAL UNIVERSE - Optioned for TV by producers Charles Matthau and Michael Zoumas with Andrew Orenstein and Matt Hastings attached as show runners

Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled in Southern California. Learn more at www.alysonnoel.com.

Instagram:
http://instagram.com/alyson_noel

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AlysonNoel/

Facebook:
Official me: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alyson...

Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/alysonnoel/

Reviews

[Madi ~☆TheBookNerdDiaries☆~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

I came into this book so excited and hyped up. When I finished Blacklist I was so pumped for the Next book. Blacklist was intriguing and full of twists and turns. This book? Not so much.

At the end of this book I was just like "eh." I felt like the other two books were much better. (lol i just checked my review and I basically said the same thing for the last one. oops.) The person behind everything was such a disappointment. When the big reveal happened, I was just really disappointed. There wasn't any "OMG IT WAS THEM WHATTTTTT!?!?!", it was more of a "wow thats a cliche." The person who it ended up being should have been so obvious to me because the reason why they did it was so basic and cliche. Heather does it because she's jealous of Madison, yada, yada, yada.

I was really disappointed in this book and sad that it was't as good as I hoped it would be.

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[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Source* Library
*Genre* Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
*Rating* 3.5

*Thoughts*

Infamous, by author Alyson Noel, is the third and final installment in the authors Beautiful Idols trilogy. Club promoters Layla, Aster, and Tommy never imagined that entering the Unrivaled competition would land them in the middle of a celebrity murder investigation, but sometimes fate can be as nasty as the anonymous comments on a Hollywood gossip blog. But Madison Brooks isn’t dead. Layla, Aster, and Tommy have been set up, and as Madison’s dirty little secrets creep closer to the light, they discover Madison will do anything to keep her past hidden—no matter who gets caught in the crossfire. Once more we find that the author has decided to tell her story through the narratives of Aster Amirpour, Layla Harrison, Tommy Phillips, Madison Brooks, Mateo Luna, and Trena Moretti. Infamous picks up right where Blacklist left off.

*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*

http://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/201...

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Infamous is the final book in the Young Adult Beautiful Idols trilogy.

This is a continuing story, so you must read all the books in order.

This series is about Layla, Aster, Tommy, Ryan and Madison.

This book had a definite Pretty Little Liars feel to it as someone was leaving mysterious notes and messages.

There was a big mystery throughout all of the books about what happened to Madison. This mystery was finally solved. And we finally found out the guilty party.

The last part of the book was the most enjoyable for me. I was interested to find out who was responsible and it wasn't a bad reveal. The mystery just dragged on a bit too long for me.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good series finale! Not quite as captivating as the other books and I’m probably rounding up because of how much I enjoyed the series overall? It was one I thought about a lot in between books and highly anticipated each release, even if they never blew me away. I predicted bits of the ending for sure (whodunnit) but the reasons were a good twist. (Probably should have guessed though...) I like her writing style; super easy (I mean that in a good way!) and addicting.

[Cas ♛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great ending to the series! Madison's past is finally revealed, and I love how all the characters are forced to work together even as their blackmailer tries to separate them. As for the identity of that individual... I definitely wasn't expecting the twist there! I think Madison got off a bit too easy for my taste, surely there'd be repercussions but hey I get the desire for happy endings. It was cool that the focus expanded from the main characters to Mateo, Heather, Trina, Ira and Javen too!

Beautiful Idols is an awesome series about the darkness behind the glitz and glamour of LA. It's perfect for all fans of Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

All along I thought it was him the culprit. But the true suspect was someone I never thought they would.
.
Overall the series was enjoyable. I was so curious I finished the series in less than two weeks.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little cheesy and immature. I could so see this being a CW show. And I don't like CW shows. I enjoyed the Evermore series when I was younger, so I didnt hesitate to buy this entire series. But I think this was my last Alyson Noel novel. I'm just not as into her as I used to be.

[elicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ the ending was very anticlimactic but i didn’t expect it to be that person!

[Patrí · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really underwhelming.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am kinda disappointed with this last book. I feel like the author build up all this tension but released in a terrible way. The villain was very predictable and cliche. It just didn't do it for me

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a solid 3.5. I would say I liked it about as much as I liked Unrivaled, maybe a little bit more. It's DEFINITELY better than Blacklist, so I'm glad I decided to continue with the trilogy even though I didn't like that book. Now let's start with the positives.

First off, I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked Tommy in this book. I didn't really like him in Unrivaled and I hated him in Blacklist, but I felt like here he was actually a well-rounded character who cared about things other than sex. It wasn't just Tommy - I found myself liking characters more that I disliked previously. For example, Trena Moretti: it wasn't that I didn't like her before, per say, but rather that I wasn't interested in her. In this novel, I found her sections of the novel to be more engaging. It seemed like she played a more important role in the plot, rather than just driving around and talking to people and occasionally having sex with James.

One thing I will say character-wise is that I wish Javen had been a larger part of this novel. Other than him doing a few background checks at one point, he isn't really present in the novel, at least not until the end when Aster almost reveals his secret.

Let's move on to the plot. Still talking positives here: I did find this book suspenseful. Reading the reviews of others, I think this may be an unpopular opinion, but I was, in fact, in suspense when I read this book. I did find it exciting to see the characters trying to work out the details of Madison's past. One thing I wish that had been included was a bit more about Paul. I kind of wanted to know why he cared so much about Madison in the first place. It wasn't like he had any reason to help her at all.

Okay, now I'm gonna move on to a few negatives. I think the main thing that dropped this review from 4 stars to 3.5 is the fact that even after finishing I'm left with a lot of unanswered questions. It's not like these questions resulted from the author purposefully trying to let you interpret the book for yourself, they're more caused by plot holes. The main question I have is that I still have no idea how Heather managed to pull the whole thing off the way she did. How did she know so much about Layla and co if she revealed herself that she didn't have many people working for her? She managed to slip them the notes and packages, and seemed to know where they were and who they were with at all times, but we never really found out how she knew all this. Again, I could be wrong, perhaps I missed some info while reading, but I'm pretty sure she said that she had two people working for her: one of which was killed by Paul, and the other she killed herself. So how did she manage to lure everyone to the club at once? Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that Ira wasn't involved AT ALL. It just seems like too much of a coincidence. Come on, he spent SO much time with Heather for reasons unexplained, he was incriminating in so many ways, and he had NOTHING to do with it? It seemed like a poor plot to me. I felt like Noel wanted us so badly to believe it was Ira that she chose to forgo any other details in order to have a little plot twist at the end that it wasn't who everyone thought it was.

Also, how did Heather overtake Ira and James in order to hold them hostage at RED? I mean, yeah she's a manipulative bitch, but come on, she's young and not very strong, and she was pitted against two grown men, including James, who we know is pretty swole. I get that she had the gun that was in Madison's purse, but I feel like James and Ira together could have easily taken her over regardless due to a biological advantage.

Speaking of RED, I was a bit confused as to what the whole idea was behind the club. Maybe this is just my brain not being able to properly process information, but I didn't really get what the gimmick was. Celebrities can sit in a lounge and watch other celebrities...doing what exactly? "Performing?" Why would anyone want to watch them doing stupid shit in a white room? I didn't really get the appeal.

Finally, sorry, I'm not buying that Paul survived that shot.

Overall, I did enjoy Infamous and would recommend giving it a read if you've read the other two. If anyone caught any answers to my questions listed above, please enlighten me by commenting on this review.

[Teenage Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot:
Tommy and Layla never thought that, like Aster, they would be adding jail time on their list of things they have done. After being discovered over an open grave in Death Valley, the three of them were arrested for Madison’s murder, and were release later after the lab concluded the body was not Madison. But where is she? Madison turns out was rescued by Paul and was taken to a secret location until the two of them figured out who was trying to reveal her secrets. With Layla’s blog posting Madison’s first set of diary entries, although Layla swears while she wrote it she was not planning on publishing it, Tommy and Aster both started receiving rhythmic threats telling them not to contact each other unless they want more death and jail time on their hands. Madison was never good at hiding from the spotlight, so as the three friends start digging into her past, Madison knows she needs to trust someone, but her list of allies is quite short. As Aster, Ryan, Layla and Tommy start getting closer to Madison, the four friends turn into five, as they are faced with their biggest chance of fame yet, as all eyes are turned on them for secrets to be revealed in a deadly way.

Thoughts:
Alyson Noel finishes their star chasing, scandals story with a bang, one worth the wait for this trilogy conclusion. Taken from the point of view of Madison, Layla, Aster, Tommy and Mateo, you get to see every side of the story being played out, and see the relationship grow on both sides of this friend group. Unfortunately Noel never gives us Ryan’s perspective, so we only get to see him through Aster’s eyes, yet Noel spent a lot of time with this couple, and made their beginning rocky relationship into something worth rooting for. Tommy, who had the hots for both Layla and Madison, also explores both of these relationships further and better, allowing this love triangle (although Noel never really made it into your typical triangle) to bloom and finish leaving you satisfied. The only person that really gets screwed over is Mateo, and with Noel’s description of him just being a “good guy” you feel sorry for Mateo pretty much the entire book, both for the things going on with his family, and his relationships to Layla and Heather. For the big ‘reveal’ of the baddie, I actually liked how Noel played it out, and it made the ending to the story satisfying as you answer all loose questions such as Madison’s past, our relationships between characters, and where they all end up. With a six month later epilogue, I feel like Noel ended the series in a fantastic way that really ties together this world of glitz and glamor that people flock to Hollywood for.

[ElphaReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars, but rounding up for reasons that I will be discussing.

And so I have come to the end of the BEAUTIFUL IDOLS Series, a series I started because the first book, UNRIVALED sounded like some good sudsy fun. Because every once in awhile you need a wholly unrealistic book about teenagers in L.A. who are somehow hired to be club promoters for clubs that they couldn't even get into due to age restrictions. I had initially jumped in because I had liked the Lauren Conrad books about Madison Parker (the L.A. CANDY series and the FAME GAME series, respectively), and thought that the BEAUTIFUL IDOLS series could fill the gap. Unfortunately, it didn't quite get there, in spite of the another spoiled girl named Madison with a mysterious past factor.

Layla, Tommy, Aster, and Ryan are all suspects in the disappearance of Madison Brooks. While they've not been charged with kidnapping (and potentially murder), they all have a vested interest in clearing their names and tracking Madison down. But Madison has her own reasons to perhaps want to stay off the grid. Who is the person who is framing the club promoters, who wants Madison out of the picture, and are they one and the same?

So this was a lackluster ending to what ended up being something of a lackluster series, but I say that with the full disclosure that I went into it without remembering much about the previous book at all. I did have certain storylines that I was invested in, and wanted to see through (would Tommy and Layla end up together? Would Tommy tell their ruthless boss Ira that he is his son?), but I remembered very little of the other aspects of the plot line, nor did I remember all of the characters until they ended up on the page and I was reminded of their existences. I also couldn't help but compare a lot of the Madison plot to the Madison plot in Lauren Conrad's stories (manipulative and spoiled It Girl Madison is hiding her past that isn't as glamorous as she made it out to be), and given how much I LOVE Madison Parker in Conrad's books I was just underwhelmed by everything THIS Madison put forth. But the reason I'm rounding it up to three stars instead of rounding it down to two is because this book does what it sets out to do, it's entertaining in the scandals it provides, and I can't blame it for not reminding myself about the plot of a book I read more than a year ago.

If you like series that have Hollywood glitz and grime, the BEAUTIFUL IDOLS series could be a good fit. But know that there are others out there that did it first and, in my opinion, did it better.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final novel in Beautiful Idols trilogy and it left the reader intrigued into finding out about all the scandals surrounding each of the characters and how they were going to get out of the situations they’re in. Layla has found herself in jail, Aster and Tommy have been detained too, all for the murder of It Girl Madison Brooks, who isn’t really dead but hiding a secret on one’s known about, until now. This trilogy ended with a bang, quite literally. This novel was fast-paced and definitely left the reader surprised at plots that took twists that came out of left field. Although the twists were interesting, the rest of the novel just felt like it was filled with filler to make it seem like there was a lot more going on, that was relevant to the story, then there actually was. Most of what was added didn’t advance the plot or character development. That’s not to say this wasn’t a compelling novel, it just felt longer than it needed to be. By this point, the characters are already established and the new things we found out about them didn’t seem to be as surprising or really do anything for them or the reader. There were a few parts where the reader was quite invested in their story arcs, but overall they didn’t really leave a lasting impression. The big reveal at the end felt like it was tacked on to give the ending a big show because there was never any mention to the plot going in the direction it did in any previous novel. It felt like with each passing novel, something new was added that had no baring to the last. This trilogy had its moments, but they were fleeting, which didn’t make these novels really worth it.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars


While it was a good book, I felt as though it was lacking in some areas and during other times I felt like it was just fluff built into make the book longer. Although I did really enjoy the overall story and the ending with Heather being the one behind it was a huge shock.

I would recommend this to those that are unsure of mystery/thriller books. While it had some aspects of both a mystery and a thriller it also had some small aspects of being a contemporary with the few romances that were built in. Speaking of the romances themselves, they were not very heavy and were just light enough to make sense within the story and was not the main focus of the novel which I really enjoyed.

This is a great trilogy to marathon now that they are all out and I highly recommend doing so seeing as how each of the previous two books leave you on a cliffhanger and you're going to want to quickly devour the next book.

[Mx.Lucey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content Warning: death,violence,kidnapping
Honestly the ending was a bit predictable but in a good way. This is the ending that made the most sense to me and while that may sound boring ; I kinda wish PLL (tv show) would've ended like this. In a way that was motivated properly without being offensive and adding a buttload of potholes. I truly found the RED twist very interesting and amazing although I didn't understand how it was actually possible to build a space where the rooms connect but look disconnected. I took a point off due to not understanding the logistics of RED but otherwise this is such a great book! A perfect way to end this series!! This is a five start series! All the characters are great and I loved the SIX MONTHS LATER section ; it was nice to see that they could recover and be successfully happy (or happily successful) after all that trauma.
That's something that rarely ever happens!

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A WORTHY SUCCESSOR

What an ending! To be honest, "Blacklist" had really discouraged me, but fortunately its successor reconfirmed the good opinion that "Unrivaled" had given me.
I usually wait for sequels to be translated into Italian, but Alyson Noël intrigued me from the start, I had to know what was going to happen. I couldn't put it down and, although I discovered I had guessed the culprit since the second book, the last scenes gave me chills and left me spechless, also because the motive behind Madison's kidnapping was unpredictable.

"People tend to forget that underneath all the glamour and fame lives a real girl. A complex human being with her own hopes and dreams, and yes, even regrets."

[Andy Kornylo · Rating 2 out of 5]

See full review for Infamous at: https://toomanybooksnotenoughshelves....

Instead of calling this the Beautiful Idols series I should just call it Pretty Little Liars: Celebrity Edition. I mean, sheesh. This book series went from intriguing to boring, to almost a copycat real fast. I mean, seriously, look at this: you have Layla, Aster, and Tommy three people who have become friends thanks to a competition over the summer promoted to change their lives. Their lives have changed but at a really high cost. When Blacklist ended they were arrested and charged for the murder of Madison Brooks – an A-List celebrity who went missing back in book 1. And as Infamous starts out you realize, that she isn’t dead – just like Alison! – and someone is hunting her down because – as it’s revealed later – they’re out for revenge.

[Gayatri Ramchandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alyson Noel's writing is terrific. I enjoyed reading her Beautiful Idols series and the first two were pretty intriguing. However Infamous and the suspense that came with it had me on the edge of my seat which is something I look forward to when reading a book that is an all-rounder. This book and Alyson's creativity overall is an all-rounder. But there were a few moments in this book that had me a bit confused and vexed as far as the interactions between the characters are concerned and I sometimes found it to be a bit overdone.

I'm giving this a 3.9 /4.2 rating as I didn't exactly love it but I definitely did enjoy and like some moments in this beauty.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would read the first two before this one that way get the whole story. This is the continuing story of the disappearance of Madison and the three who are set to the fall for it Layla, Aster and Tommy. When they are released from jail they decide to look on their own for Madison since the cops aren't looking anywhere but at the three of them. This books has some twist and turns but it is a fast easy read. I enjoyed the series and would read more books from this author.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it at the library and started reading it without realising it was the last book in the series.

It was a good book even though I haven’t read the other book in the series.

I will go back and read the series and hope it will introduce the characters more because I didn’t really know anything about the characters backstories and that is the only thing that I didn’t like about the book

[CaliNativeBalboa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect Poolside trash, the final installment of this series from Alyson Noel does a decent though far fetched job of wrapping up the series with a bang. Nothing new and earth shattering here, just four amoral teens trying to extricate themselves from a messy reality TV show, but fun mind candy nonetheless!

[alisha! · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty great, but can we talk about that endinggg!!! It was such an intense ending, even though the Heather reveal was a little predictable. In terms of the entire Beautiful Idols series, I like Unrivalled the best, then Infamous, then Blacklist. Blacklist kinda just connected the other two.

[Elizabeth Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final book in the beautiful idols series. This was actually the best book in the series. It answered most of the questions that I had. I definitely think everything that happened could have fit in one book. There was to much repetition that I don’t think really needed to be there. Overall I’m glad I’m done reading them.

[Veronica Byfuglien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t understand that it was book 3 in a series, just thought it had a weird start. But all that happened in this book keep me wondering what the other books were about, what else is there to write, think i skipped to the best partXD

[Lori Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the better book of the three in the series. I'm glad it came to an end. It's still not really clear how the person was able to accomplish all the deception and frame up that was spread throughout the three books. Not really a fan of this series.

[➳ johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

i feel weird about giving this a low rating when i just found out it's the last in a series and i haven't read the rest. but at the same time i wasn't confused about anything, i just didn't find anything about it or the characters (except layla) compelling until the last 30 min of the book.

[Maham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really nice and all but i felt it was kinda stretched. the story was really longg and i grew bored of it but overall it was a really nice mystery and suspense book with a pinch of thriller

[Ally A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series should have been combined into a single book. Literally nothing was resolved in parts 1 and 2. Luckily I didn’t have to wait between publication or it would have been 1 star. Such a joke.

[Isabella (isabunchofbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying conclusion.