What do you think?
Rate this book
Where Are You, Echo Blue?
A smart, juicy, and page-turning novel about celebrity, fandom, and the price of ambition following a journalist's obsessive search for a missing Hollywood starlet
When Echo Blue, the most famous child star of the nineties, disappears ahead of a highly publicized television appearance on the eve of the millennium, the salacious theories instantly start swirling. Mostly, people assume Echo has gotten herself in trouble after a reckless New Year’s Eve. But Goldie Klein, an ambitious young journalist who also happens to be Echo's biggest fan, knows there must be more to the story. Why, on the eve of her big comeback, would Echo just go missing without a trace?
After a year of covering dreary local stories for Manhattan Eye, Goldie is sure this will be her big break. Who better to find Echo Blue, and tell her story the right way, than her? And so, Goldie heads to L.A. to begin a wild search that takes her deep into Echo’s complicated life in which parental strife, friend break ups, rehab stints, and bad romances abound. But the further into Echo’s world Goldie gets, the more she questions her own complicity in the young star’s demise . . . yet she cannot tear herself away from this story, which has now consumed her entirely. Meanwhile, we also hear Echo's side of things from the beginning, showing a young woman who was chewed up and spit out by Hollywood as so many are, and who may have had to pay the ultimate price.
As these young women's poignant and unexpected journeys unfold, and eventually meet, Where Are You, Echo Blue? interrogates celebrity culture, the thin line between admiration and obsession, and what it means to tell other peoples’ stories, all while ushering us on an unruly ride to find out what did become of Echo Blue.
When Echo Blue, the most famous child star of the nineties, disappears ahead of a highly publicized television appearance on the eve of the millennium, the salacious theories instantly start swirling. Mostly, people assume Echo has gotten herself in trouble after a reckless New Year’s Eve. But Goldie Klein, an ambitious young journalist who also happens to be Echo's biggest fan, knows there must be more to the story. Why, on the eve of her big comeback, would Echo just go missing without a trace?
After a year of covering dreary local stories for Manhattan Eye, Goldie is sure this will be her big break. Who better to find Echo Blue, and tell her story the right way, than her? And so, Goldie heads to L.A. to begin a wild search that takes her deep into Echo’s complicated life in which parental strife, friend break ups, rehab stints, and bad romances abound. But the further into Echo’s world Goldie gets, the more she questions her own complicity in the young star’s demise . . . yet she cannot tear herself away from this story, which has now consumed her entirely. Meanwhile, we also hear Echo's side of things from the beginning, showing a young woman who was chewed up and spit out by Hollywood as so many are, and who may have had to pay the ultimate price.
As these young women's poignant and unexpected journeys unfold, and eventually meet, Where Are You, Echo Blue? interrogates celebrity culture, the thin line between admiration and obsession, and what it means to tell other peoples’ stories, all while ushering us on an unruly ride to find out what did become of Echo Blue.
Audiobook
First published July 16, 2024
70 people are currently reading
11062 people want to read
About the author
Hayley Krischer
5 books207 followersHayley Krischer is the author of two young adult novels, SOMETHING HAPPENED TO ALI GREENLEAF and THE FALLING GIRLS. Her adult debut, WHERE ARE YOU, ECHO BLUE? comes out from Dutton July 16, 2024.
She has also written for many publications including The New York Times, Elle, Marie Claire, The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic.
Hayley lives in New Jersey with her family.
She has also written for many publications including The New York Times, Elle, Marie Claire, The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic.
Hayley lives in New Jersey with her family.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
October 16, 2024
this was very disappointing
June 10, 2024
I'm tired of things not similar to Daisy Jones and the Six getting comped to DJATS because it is related to famous people...saying that this book was fairly comped to DJATS. Now that I've said that, there are a lot of differences and I loved the way the story was told. Alternating between Goldie and Echo was an amazing choice. I could not stop myself from reading this book until I got to the end. I was really scared that there wasn't going to be a satisfying ending and without spoiling anything, the ending was exactly what I would want.
September 20, 2024
I've put off reviewing this book for a few weeks, but I think that I am finally in a space where I can talk about just how bad this was fairly comfortably.
As I've said a lot recently I think that I am starting to be the problem here. Books like this where the focus is on fame in the early aughts and how women at that time were treated by the media at large are like a siren call to me. So I keep reading them, and slowly as more of them trickle out to the mainstream they all sort of start to become muddled, none of them really crafting any new points.
This book does something a little different. For the most part it's all set at the dawn of the new Millennium when A-list actress Echo Blue misses a scheduled appearance on MTV's live broadcast of the ball dropping and upstart journalist Goldie makes it her mission to write a cover story on where Echo has gone. Told in alternating perspectives we get Echo's life story and Goldie's search for the actress.
The biggest problem I had with this was namely that Echo is still twenty-ish. She's young, around the same age as Goldie and this is what has given Goldie this parasocial relationship. The book reads as though Echo is much older, as is the people in her life that are part of the search for this missing woman. They read as though they have these long histories with one another when in reality they have just petty teenage drama that has festered in their lives. The commentary on stardom also just sort of falls flat. This doesn't read like a book grounded at the turn of the century. It reads like a book that is only set in the year 2000 to escape the problem of social media, while all of the characters acting as though they live in a world with that being a reality in their lives anyway.
That's nothing of the fact that Goldie's investigation is horrible from beginning to end and doesn't really add anything to the story but a lot of foolishness. The ending... we won't really talk about it.
All of this is to say that between the flat characters, Echo's lifeless chapters, and an overall story that just sort of does nothing and goes no where made for a pretty lackluster reading experience. Not all books need to be deep, but when they have this kind of premise I do wish that more had something to say about the nature of celebrity and if they don't that they could at least be entertaining and unfortunately this was neither.
As I've said a lot recently I think that I am starting to be the problem here. Books like this where the focus is on fame in the early aughts and how women at that time were treated by the media at large are like a siren call to me. So I keep reading them, and slowly as more of them trickle out to the mainstream they all sort of start to become muddled, none of them really crafting any new points.
This book does something a little different. For the most part it's all set at the dawn of the new Millennium when A-list actress Echo Blue misses a scheduled appearance on MTV's live broadcast of the ball dropping and upstart journalist Goldie makes it her mission to write a cover story on where Echo has gone. Told in alternating perspectives we get Echo's life story and Goldie's search for the actress.
The biggest problem I had with this was namely that Echo is still twenty-ish. She's young, around the same age as Goldie and this is what has given Goldie this parasocial relationship. The book reads as though Echo is much older, as is the people in her life that are part of the search for this missing woman. They read as though they have these long histories with one another when in reality they have just petty teenage drama that has festered in their lives. The commentary on stardom also just sort of falls flat. This doesn't read like a book grounded at the turn of the century. It reads like a book that is only set in the year 2000 to escape the problem of social media, while all of the characters acting as though they live in a world with that being a reality in their lives anyway.
That's nothing of the fact that Goldie's investigation is horrible from beginning to end and doesn't really add anything to the story but a lot of foolishness. The ending... we won't really talk about it.
All of this is to say that between the flat characters, Echo's lifeless chapters, and an overall story that just sort of does nothing and goes no where made for a pretty lackluster reading experience. Not all books need to be deep, but when they have this kind of premise I do wish that more had something to say about the nature of celebrity and if they don't that they could at least be entertaining and unfortunately this was neither.
May 30, 2024
WHERE ARE YOU, ECHO BLUE? glitters with crisp prose, a juicy plot, and razor-sharp observations about celebrity worship, the cost of living a creative life, and the roles we allow women to play.
July 6, 2024
This one had me right from the premise. When child star Echo Blue goes missing on the eve of the millennium, reporter Goldie Klein sets out to discover the truth: is she in rehab? Is this a publicity stunt? Or has she chosen to start over somewhere new, somewhere out of the spotlight? Goldie vows to handle the story gently — she’s an Echo Blue fan, after all — but resorts to unethical means to secure the story. And the further she goes, the more manic and delusional she becomes. Will she find Echo before she loses herself?
POTENTIAL SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:
I love love loved this. Especially Echo’s story. It’s so reminiscent of Drew Barrymore or Lindsay Lohan or even Jeanette McCurdy — and in fact, the author credits those women in the acknowledgments. You really are rooting for Echo the entire time.
Goldie on the other hand? She’s going to make you cringe and make you angry but honestly we love a messy main character.
I do think this is expertly told and I enjoyed the author’s writing style but I felt like the ending told us too much. In fact, the entire story was very “tell” and not “show.” I wanted a little ambiguity at the end, but I know that wouldn’t have gone over well with the general public. I just think it would’ve been more interesting/nuanced!
That being said, I have a feeling this is going to be a big one. Thank you to Dutton for the early copy!!
POTENTIAL SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:
I love love loved this. Especially Echo’s story. It’s so reminiscent of Drew Barrymore or Lindsay Lohan or even Jeanette McCurdy — and in fact, the author credits those women in the acknowledgments. You really are rooting for Echo the entire time.
Goldie on the other hand? She’s going to make you cringe and make you angry but honestly we love a messy main character.
I do think this is expertly told and I enjoyed the author’s writing style but I felt like the ending told us too much. In fact, the entire story was very “tell” and not “show.” I wanted a little ambiguity at the end, but I know that wouldn’t have gone over well with the general public. I just think it would’ve been more interesting/nuanced!
That being said, I have a feeling this is going to be a big one. Thank you to Dutton for the early copy!!
September 30, 2024
I am a sucker for a good cover, and I didn't even have to read the synopsis to be sold on Where Are You, Echo Blue? by Hayley Krischer. Turns out this author has 2 YA books, but this is her adult debut, and it definitely made me want to go back and read her others (plus whatever she writes next of course). I loved the way the viewpoints were structured going back and forth between Goldie and Echo Blue all the way until we find out exactly what happened. I felt bad for Goldie and that girl's obsession since childhood with Echo needed some professional help, but I was relieved that she grew by the end of the story.
The audiobook was killer for me with Helen Laser and Alex McKenna as the narrators. I loved them both so much, and they each narrated their characters perfectly making it a very enjoyable listening experience. Dare I say, I would recommend the audio over the book; that's how much I loved it. 🙃 Some of the things Goldie did made me cringe, but I had a hard time putting this one down and it could easily have been a one-sitting read. I was both surprised and pleased by the way Krischer wrapped things up, and it was perfectly satisfying for me. I do agree with other readers that the timeframe/trajectory of Echo Blue's career/fame/time missing didn't quite match up, but it didn't bother me, and I loved every moment of the book.
The audiobook was killer for me with Helen Laser and Alex McKenna as the narrators. I loved them both so much, and they each narrated their characters perfectly making it a very enjoyable listening experience. Dare I say, I would recommend the audio over the book; that's how much I loved it. 🙃 Some of the things Goldie did made me cringe, but I had a hard time putting this one down and it could easily have been a one-sitting read. I was both surprised and pleased by the way Krischer wrapped things up, and it was perfectly satisfying for me. I do agree with other readers that the timeframe/trajectory of Echo Blue's career/fame/time missing didn't quite match up, but it didn't bother me, and I loved every moment of the book.
September 15, 2024
nothing i love more than celebrity gossip about people who don’t exist
July 14, 2024
Where Are You, Echo Blue? by Hayley Krischer. Thanks to @duttonbooks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Famous child celebrity all grown up, Echo Blue, had disappeared. Goldie, a New York journalist, jumps at her chance to find her and cover the story. Echo shaped her childhood and became important to her through the screen and media.
A very unique read, it takes us into the very real world of celebrity worship. I loved how this has both perspectives, the journalist obsessed with the celebrity and the celebrity herself. They both grew in ways I was not expecting. I found myself really rooting for both of them, despite Goldie’s lack of ethics. She grew on me in the end.
“Fame is a sickness that torments you, like a compulsion that refuses to shut off. Fame isn’t real; it’s a fixation. It’s a need for acceptance and empty love. It’s a weakness, a hole that you can’t stop filling.”
Where Are You, Echo Blue? Comes out 7/16.
Famous child celebrity all grown up, Echo Blue, had disappeared. Goldie, a New York journalist, jumps at her chance to find her and cover the story. Echo shaped her childhood and became important to her through the screen and media.
A very unique read, it takes us into the very real world of celebrity worship. I loved how this has both perspectives, the journalist obsessed with the celebrity and the celebrity herself. They both grew in ways I was not expecting. I found myself really rooting for both of them, despite Goldie’s lack of ethics. She grew on me in the end.
“Fame is a sickness that torments you, like a compulsion that refuses to shut off. Fame isn’t real; it’s a fixation. It’s a need for acceptance and empty love. It’s a weakness, a hole that you can’t stop filling.”
Where Are You, Echo Blue? Comes out 7/16.
July 8, 2024
I love books that explore the ways that fame and fandom impact young women, both in fiction and non-fiction. So I was really looking forward to this book when I learned it was about a young reporter trying to figure out what happened when the starlet Echo Blue mysteriously disappeared on New Year’s Eve right before the turn of the millennium.
This is a fascinating story of both the reporter Goldie and Echo Blue. I loved how the book was exploring Goldie’s fandom and love of Echo while also showing what was really happening with Echo behind the scenes that the general public didn’t see. This is a story of becoming famous at a young age, what it means to grow up in the spotlight, strained parental relationships, feeling lost, obsession, and looking for meaning in the wrong places.
The story alternates between following Goldie as she’s working on her story and flashing back to show Echo’s account of her life. Sometimes in celebrity narratives like these it can be hard to care about the reporter because the famous person’s story is way more fascinating. However, in this book I cared about both plotlines and felt like the author did a good job of balancing the narrative.
I’d definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy stories about young starlets and how Hollywood has treated them unfairly over the years. Or for people who enjoy exploring celebrity obsession and how being a fan impacts people’s lives. It’s a nuanced story full of complicated characters and personal growth.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a fascinating story of both the reporter Goldie and Echo Blue. I loved how the book was exploring Goldie’s fandom and love of Echo while also showing what was really happening with Echo behind the scenes that the general public didn’t see. This is a story of becoming famous at a young age, what it means to grow up in the spotlight, strained parental relationships, feeling lost, obsession, and looking for meaning in the wrong places.
The story alternates between following Goldie as she’s working on her story and flashing back to show Echo’s account of her life. Sometimes in celebrity narratives like these it can be hard to care about the reporter because the famous person’s story is way more fascinating. However, in this book I cared about both plotlines and felt like the author did a good job of balancing the narrative.
I’d definitely recommend this book for people who enjoy stories about young starlets and how Hollywood has treated them unfairly over the years. Or for people who enjoy exploring celebrity obsession and how being a fan impacts people’s lives. It’s a nuanced story full of complicated characters and personal growth.
Thank you to the publisher for providing an advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 8, 2025
Okay, new reading trend/ obsession unlocked: between this and "Honey" by Isabel Banta all I truly want to read right now are books set during the late 90's/ early 2000's with a focus on pop culture. Singers, actors, fame, paparazzi, fans, journalists. I can understand why I am drawn to the time period, this was my youth into early 20's, so the nostalgia is huge in these scenarios. But why the lifestyles of the rich and famous? Or is it more the obsession angle? Bit of both, I would say. It also offers a fun, fluffy form of escapism from our current times while ideally infusing the story with surprising depths after all, at least that's the ideal and I would say "Where are you, Echo Blue" lives up to that.
There's the juicy, gossipy side of the story. Mostly when we follow Echo's story which is told to us chronologically but clearly from the POV of now (well, the year 2000). She is looking back at her parents and upbringing, how she became a child film star, the fame, the pressures and the deep pitfalls coming along with that, the toxicity of Hollywood, how it affected her and how she tried to leave it behind. It's not the most revelatory story since we have seen this before but that's partially the point. This is a fictional character but we can see clear parallels to real life actresses. I liked Echo. Some of it is a bit cliched (like the Dad who loves his own career more than his daughter) but it's no less true. She is also a great character because she is not simply a victim of circumstances (though there is that, you can't blame a child for dealing with things how she dealt with them). She makes some rough choices and has to grow into a person that can ask for forgiveness, that learns to move on.
On the other end, this is not simply bubbly-tragic fun, it has interesting thematic discussions. The dark side of fame, especially when it comes to a too young person, but also the troubling side of our cultural fascination with the famous. What fan behavior does to the object of admiration, how it shapes society but also how it affects the fan themself. I like a good spiraling into obsessive behavior: Goldie fully incorporates. She is the 2nd POV and arguably our main character, a young journalist who gets herself the assignment to investigate what happened when the famous Echo Blue disappears from the face of the (tabloid) earth. Problem is that she was her biggest fan as a teenager and this fixation might resurface in bad ways. Similar to Echo herself, Goldie goes to damaging places, hurting herself as well as others, violating ethical codes along the way. But just like Echo this makes for such a more fascinating character, a character that gets to grow and change. I am well aware that there's a certain readership who doesn't like these kind of characters but I am so happy authors still write them because it's what I want my novels to be populated with. Real, difficult, complex people that get an arc. Like if you're perfect to start with where is your arc gonna come from? Or the lesson?
The story also provides a fun juxtaposition of New York City and Los Angeles, my favorite American cities to visit in books. The ending rounds things up a little easy, a little too nice maybe. But it wasn't exactly unsatisfying. It was maybe the one thing I didn't find very realistic about this story but I also had come to enjoy both Goldie and Echo that much that I didn't mind that this was how we'd round things out and send them off.
And I am 100% gonna read more books in this vein, gonna see what's out there to feed my hyper fixation. That's what I am calling it because obsession is such a negative mind set!
There's the juicy, gossipy side of the story. Mostly when we follow Echo's story which is told to us chronologically but clearly from the POV of now (well, the year 2000). She is looking back at her parents and upbringing, how she became a child film star, the fame, the pressures and the deep pitfalls coming along with that, the toxicity of Hollywood, how it affected her and how she tried to leave it behind. It's not the most revelatory story since we have seen this before but that's partially the point. This is a fictional character but we can see clear parallels to real life actresses. I liked Echo. Some of it is a bit cliched (like the Dad who loves his own career more than his daughter) but it's no less true. She is also a great character because she is not simply a victim of circumstances (though there is that, you can't blame a child for dealing with things how she dealt with them). She makes some rough choices and has to grow into a person that can ask for forgiveness, that learns to move on.
On the other end, this is not simply bubbly-tragic fun, it has interesting thematic discussions. The dark side of fame, especially when it comes to a too young person, but also the troubling side of our cultural fascination with the famous. What fan behavior does to the object of admiration, how it shapes society but also how it affects the fan themself. I like a good spiraling into obsessive behavior: Goldie fully incorporates. She is the 2nd POV and arguably our main character, a young journalist who gets herself the assignment to investigate what happened when the famous Echo Blue disappears from the face of the (tabloid) earth. Problem is that she was her biggest fan as a teenager and this fixation might resurface in bad ways. Similar to Echo herself, Goldie goes to damaging places, hurting herself as well as others, violating ethical codes along the way. But just like Echo this makes for such a more fascinating character, a character that gets to grow and change. I am well aware that there's a certain readership who doesn't like these kind of characters but I am so happy authors still write them because it's what I want my novels to be populated with. Real, difficult, complex people that get an arc. Like if you're perfect to start with where is your arc gonna come from? Or the lesson?
The story also provides a fun juxtaposition of New York City and Los Angeles, my favorite American cities to visit in books. The ending rounds things up a little easy, a little too nice maybe. But it wasn't exactly unsatisfying. It was maybe the one thing I didn't find very realistic about this story but I also had come to enjoy both Goldie and Echo that much that I didn't mind that this was how we'd round things out and send them off.
And I am 100% gonna read more books in this vein, gonna see what's out there to feed my hyper fixation. That's what I am calling it because obsession is such a negative mind set!
February 3, 2024
ARC for review. To be published July 16, 2024.
Echo Blue, a very famous child star of the 1990s disappears just before she’s to take the stage for MTV’s 1999 New Year’s Eve bash. Goldie Klein, journalist and self-described Echo “obsessive” believes a story about what happened to Echo will be her big break so she heads to LA to begin her search.
While there she begins to uncover the truth about Echo’s parents (both Hollywood royalty,) her Oscar win at 14, her issues with friends, her bad relationships, her trips to rehab and her struggles with fame. The story is told in alternating points of view between Echo and Goldie, then and now.
I mostly enjoyed this tale of two troubled young women (other than some odd sex scenes with Goldie that really didn’t seem to fit the book.) Echo’s struggles were expected, but Goldie’s behavior toward Echo when they were both young is the type that simply added to Echo’s downfall, and even as an adult, Goldie still seemed to look to the myth of Echo not only for a career break, but also to stave off her own loneliness…at least this time she realized the issues. Overall a good read. Recommended.
Echo Blue, a very famous child star of the 1990s disappears just before she’s to take the stage for MTV’s 1999 New Year’s Eve bash. Goldie Klein, journalist and self-described Echo “obsessive” believes a story about what happened to Echo will be her big break so she heads to LA to begin her search.
While there she begins to uncover the truth about Echo’s parents (both Hollywood royalty,) her Oscar win at 14, her issues with friends, her bad relationships, her trips to rehab and her struggles with fame. The story is told in alternating points of view between Echo and Goldie, then and now.
I mostly enjoyed this tale of two troubled young women (other than some odd sex scenes with Goldie that really didn’t seem to fit the book.) Echo’s struggles were expected, but Goldie’s behavior toward Echo when they were both young is the type that simply added to Echo’s downfall, and even as an adult, Goldie still seemed to look to the myth of Echo not only for a career break, but also to stave off her own loneliness…at least this time she realized the issues. Overall a good read. Recommended.
September 15, 2024
I can't really say I liked this book. Echo's chapters were interesting, but I found myself irritated by Goldie and her storyline. She was a chaotic, messy character which I typically enjoy. I think her personality didn't quite always make sense. She was definitely weird but at the same time supposed to be alluring (to men). I just found myself not really interested in her. She was honestly such a loser for the entire novel that I was irritated by her whole storyline. I feel like the author tried to redeem her character, but by the end, it was too late. Her parasocial relationship with Echo was creepy, not to mention that if I remember right she was kind of too old to be into the kid movies she was watching when she became obsessed with Echo. It would have made more sense if there were the same age. But I'm pretty sure Goldie's obsession began when she was in highschool as a sophomore or junior and Echo was 11 in a Bad News Bears-esque movie. She was kind of just like that one person at work who is unbearably weird.
July 17, 2024
Echo Blue is 1990s Hollywood royalty. She’s successful, famous, and the daughter of actors. When Echo misses her scheduled tv appearance on MTV’s NYE celebration, everyone starts wondering what happened to her. She seems to have disappeared, and no one knows where she is. Goldie Klein, an up and coming journalist and one of Echo’s biggest fans, heads to LA on an assignment to find out the details of Echo’s disappearance.
Set throughout the 1990s/early 2000s, Echo and Goldie’s alternating POVs give a glimpse at how life as a celebrity isn’t always everything it appears to be.
.
As someone who grew up during the 90s/2000s, I loved the nostalgia of this book! The celebrity culture of this time period is so well represented and fit right in with my memories of that time period.
Thank you Dutton Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC.
Set throughout the 1990s/early 2000s, Echo and Goldie’s alternating POVs give a glimpse at how life as a celebrity isn’t always everything it appears to be.
.
As someone who grew up during the 90s/2000s, I loved the nostalgia of this book! The celebrity culture of this time period is so well represented and fit right in with my memories of that time period.
Thank you Dutton Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC.
April 20, 2024
I enjoyed this. It was a bit reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid. I liked the to story lines and how it delved deeper into the idea of women in Hollywood than simple stardom and fandom. This is the story of a child star and one of their biggest fans but it looks more at that happens when they grow up than the initial thrills. It had a depth that surprised me. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy.
July 25, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
This was a bit middle of the road for me. On one hand, I really enjoyed the narrative that followed Echo Blue as we learned about the highs and lows of being a child star, from her dysfunctional relationship with her father to her own aspirations to her descent into self medication and depression. I thought that these sections were incredibly poignant and paid a lot of homage to the terrible way that Hollywood can exploit children, taking inspiration from the likes of Tatum O'Neil (this was the biggest one) to Drew Barrymore to Dana Plato and many, many others. But Goldie's sections didn't really do it for me. I enjoyed the sleuthing she did as she tries to track down where Echo could have gone, but as a character she was just very hard to connect with. I don't need my female protagonists to be great and flawless people and I even like it when women characters are afforded the same messiness that male characters get while still being sympathetic. But Goldie was all over the place, obsessed with Echo, unethical to the extreme, and also sometimes over the top in her messiness that made her less interesting and more cartoony.
Entertaining for sure and the perfect pool read, WHERE ARE YOU, ECHO BLUE has some strengths and weaknesses. But it was hard to put down.
This was a bit middle of the road for me. On one hand, I really enjoyed the narrative that followed Echo Blue as we learned about the highs and lows of being a child star, from her dysfunctional relationship with her father to her own aspirations to her descent into self medication and depression. I thought that these sections were incredibly poignant and paid a lot of homage to the terrible way that Hollywood can exploit children, taking inspiration from the likes of Tatum O'Neil (this was the biggest one) to Drew Barrymore to Dana Plato and many, many others. But Goldie's sections didn't really do it for me. I enjoyed the sleuthing she did as she tries to track down where Echo could have gone, but as a character she was just very hard to connect with. I don't need my female protagonists to be great and flawless people and I even like it when women characters are afforded the same messiness that male characters get while still being sympathetic. But Goldie was all over the place, obsessed with Echo, unethical to the extreme, and also sometimes over the top in her messiness that made her less interesting and more cartoony.
Entertaining for sure and the perfect pool read, WHERE ARE YOU, ECHO BLUE has some strengths and weaknesses. But it was hard to put down.
October 29, 2024
I wanted to love this book as I am its ideal reader, but unfortunately Goldie's character ruined the book for me. She is a terrible, disgusting person and not in a way that's fun or engaging to read about. While she claims she's grown as a person by the end, I just don't believe her, especially because she never faces meaningful consequences for her actions.
Setting aside plot contrivances (the cab driver knowing Jamie being the most ridiculous of them), I hated the info-dump writing style. Show don't tell is such overused advice, but it's something that the author would have benefited from. As a reader, I hate feeling like I am being talked down to, and I have little patience for my suspension of disbelief being broken, as it was when the plot would semi-regularly stop for history lessons about the entertainment industry. This would have been fine if it was being framed as a biography about Echo, but in a straight narrative like this it took me out of the story.
Others will probably love this, but it wasn't for me, as I found its observations about the entertainment industry to be surface-level.
Setting aside plot contrivances (the cab driver knowing Jamie being the most ridiculous of them), I hated the info-dump writing style. Show don't tell is such overused advice, but it's something that the author would have benefited from. As a reader, I hate feeling like I am being talked down to, and I have little patience for my suspension of disbelief being broken, as it was when the plot would semi-regularly stop for history lessons about the entertainment industry. This would have been fine if it was being framed as a biography about Echo, but in a straight narrative like this it took me out of the story.
Others will probably love this, but it wasn't for me, as I found its observations about the entertainment industry to be surface-level.
July 20, 2024
4.5 rounded up.
Loved this!
Energy: Confident. Fretful. Confessional.
Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Los Angeles, particularly Venice Beach area.
Perspectives (2): An up-and-coming journalist who wants to work on a story about her childhood idol who has quietly disappeared from the public eye. A child star growing up navigating the pressures of fame, friendship, and family.
Timelines: 1981-1990s and the year 2000
🐕 Howls: I didn’t love parts of the ending, but it wasn’t poorly done.
🐩 Tail Wags: Clues steadily revealed throughout character perspectives and timeline switches. The intrigue around where Echo Blue is + character study of the Idol and the Fan. Nostalgic exploration (and grounded commentary) of 1990s/2000s teeny-bopper idol industry with consequences. Characters’ minds and lives slowly unraveling. Goldie giving Fleabag vibes. How fictional pop cultural was merged with actual pop culture making it feel real and giving context.
🤓 Reader Role: Deep in the characters’ minds riding the emotional roller coaster.
🗺️ World-Building: Immersive, sensory, and nostalgic.
🔥 Fuel: Character evolution and investment. Where is Echo Blue? Is Goldie on to something big or is she unhinged obsessed and blind to truth?
📖 Cred: Realistic with sprinklings of idealism
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Fluorescent lights. Phish t-shirts. Magazine pages. Collages. Softball. Dancing. Champagne. Klonopin. Disney. Patchouli. Thai food. Hate mail. Paparazzi. Sunglasses. New Year’s Eve.
-Breezy, intimate writing style
-Coming-of-age psychological and moral growth
-The surrealism of child stardom
-Short chapters feeling fast-paced once invested in the story
-Enlightening life lessons learned the hard way
-Realistic social commentary of what feeds pre-teen sitcom industry, child star obsession, and its effects on fans and idols
-Quest for adult identity character study
-Alienation and loneliness of teen/new adulthood
-Anti-hero main characters
-Journalistic morally ambiguous sleuthing
-Betrayal, redemption & unlikely friendships
-Nostalgic late 1990s/Y2K settings & pop culture
-Complex father-daughter bonds
-Missing celeb mystery
Content Heads-Up: Narcissistic parent & abuse. Misogyny. Mentally ill parent. Depression. Anxiety. Insomnia. Agoraphobia. Paranoia. Loneliness. Drug abuse (anti-anxiety meds). Tobacco/cigarettes. Parental neglect. Parental rejection. Sexual content (consenting, self). Cannabis (edibles). Trauma bonds. Loss of parent (as young adult). Loss of spouse. Car accident (fatal; off page). Adult/minor relationship. Cutting (very brief mention). Addiction, recovery.
Rep: Jewish ancestry. Polish ancestry. American. South American, Argentinian, Swedish, Black American peripheral characters. Dark and pale skin tones.
📚 Format: Library Digital
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
Loved this!
Energy: Confident. Fretful. Confessional.
Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Los Angeles, particularly Venice Beach area.
Perspectives (2): An up-and-coming journalist who wants to work on a story about her childhood idol who has quietly disappeared from the public eye. A child star growing up navigating the pressures of fame, friendship, and family.
Timelines: 1981-1990s and the year 2000
🐕 Howls: I didn’t love parts of the ending, but it wasn’t poorly done.
🐩 Tail Wags: Clues steadily revealed throughout character perspectives and timeline switches. The intrigue around where Echo Blue is + character study of the Idol and the Fan. Nostalgic exploration (and grounded commentary) of 1990s/2000s teeny-bopper idol industry with consequences. Characters’ minds and lives slowly unraveling. Goldie giving Fleabag vibes. How fictional pop cultural was merged with actual pop culture making it feel real and giving context.
🤓 Reader Role: Deep in the characters’ minds riding the emotional roller coaster.
🗺️ World-Building: Immersive, sensory, and nostalgic.
🔥 Fuel: Character evolution and investment. Where is Echo Blue? Is Goldie on to something big or is she unhinged obsessed and blind to truth?
📖 Cred: Realistic with sprinklings of idealism
Mood Reading Match-Up:
Fluorescent lights. Phish t-shirts. Magazine pages. Collages. Softball. Dancing. Champagne. Klonopin. Disney. Patchouli. Thai food. Hate mail. Paparazzi. Sunglasses. New Year’s Eve.
-Breezy, intimate writing style
-Coming-of-age psychological and moral growth
-The surrealism of child stardom
-Short chapters feeling fast-paced once invested in the story
-Enlightening life lessons learned the hard way
-Realistic social commentary of what feeds pre-teen sitcom industry, child star obsession, and its effects on fans and idols
-Quest for adult identity character study
-Alienation and loneliness of teen/new adulthood
-Anti-hero main characters
-Journalistic morally ambiguous sleuthing
-Betrayal, redemption & unlikely friendships
-Nostalgic late 1990s/Y2K settings & pop culture
-Complex father-daughter bonds
-Missing celeb mystery
Content Heads-Up: Narcissistic parent & abuse. Misogyny. Mentally ill parent. Depression. Anxiety. Insomnia. Agoraphobia. Paranoia. Loneliness. Drug abuse (anti-anxiety meds). Tobacco/cigarettes. Parental neglect. Parental rejection. Sexual content (consenting, self). Cannabis (edibles). Trauma bonds. Loss of parent (as young adult). Loss of spouse. Car accident (fatal; off page). Adult/minor relationship. Cutting (very brief mention). Addiction, recovery.
Rep: Jewish ancestry. Polish ancestry. American. South American, Argentinian, Swedish, Black American peripheral characters. Dark and pale skin tones.
📚 Format: Library Digital
My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶
April 19, 2025
Echo Blue is one of the most notorious child stars of her generation. The young woman, who has been chewed up and spit out by the vultures of Hollywood. On the eve of her highly publicized return to Hollywood, Echo Blue disappears. Rumors fly; many assume that Echo has gotten herself into some kind of trouble and is now hiding away, licking her wounds.
Goldie Stein, a journalist with a childhood obsession with Echo Blue that was so strong that her parents were convinced that there was something more significant going on. Goldie is convinced that this is her big break - who better to find the former child star and tell her the story the right way? Goldie heads to LA on a wild goose chase that draws her deeper and deeper into the private tumultuous life of the real Echo Blue. As she uncovers tales of parental strife, substantial friendship breakdowns, stints in rehab, and bad relationships, Goldie begins to question her own complicity in the traumatic life of Echo Blue.
While Goldie is spiraling, the reader gets to know Echo Blue from her own perspective. Interwoven with Goldie's storylines, the story of Echo Blue's childhood unfolds.
This story was pitched as an examination of celebrity culture and the thin line between admiration and obsession. These topics have always intrigued me, and if this story were just the story of Echo Blue, I would have a lot more positive things to say about it. That being said, what I do have to say about this stoy is mostly about how fucking weird Goldie is. I love a weird character, and I am not opposed to an unlikeable narrator. Goldie, however, was not just a little offbeat or unlikeable, but entirely unsettling and creepy. This was not an examination of the rising prevalence of concerning parasocial relationships. This was a front row seat to a very particular parasocial relationship. Goldie's obsession with Echo is not a fan who is a bit too invested in her favorite celebrity's personal life. Goldie genuinely believes that she has personal insights into Echo; that she knows Echo better than the rest of the fans. She thinks these obsessive observations and monitoring have elevated Goldie from the masses. Goldie was a downright stalker. The way she infiltrated the periphery of Echo's life was alarming. The way intimacy was portrayed in Goldie's storyline was strange as well.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Goldie Stein, a journalist with a childhood obsession with Echo Blue that was so strong that her parents were convinced that there was something more significant going on. Goldie is convinced that this is her big break - who better to find the former child star and tell her the story the right way? Goldie heads to LA on a wild goose chase that draws her deeper and deeper into the private tumultuous life of the real Echo Blue. As she uncovers tales of parental strife, substantial friendship breakdowns, stints in rehab, and bad relationships, Goldie begins to question her own complicity in the traumatic life of Echo Blue.
While Goldie is spiraling, the reader gets to know Echo Blue from her own perspective. Interwoven with Goldie's storylines, the story of Echo Blue's childhood unfolds.
This story was pitched as an examination of celebrity culture and the thin line between admiration and obsession. These topics have always intrigued me, and if this story were just the story of Echo Blue, I would have a lot more positive things to say about it. That being said, what I do have to say about this stoy is mostly about how fucking weird Goldie is. I love a weird character, and I am not opposed to an unlikeable narrator. Goldie, however, was not just a little offbeat or unlikeable, but entirely unsettling and creepy. This was not an examination of the rising prevalence of concerning parasocial relationships. This was a front row seat to a very particular parasocial relationship. Goldie's obsession with Echo is not a fan who is a bit too invested in her favorite celebrity's personal life. Goldie genuinely believes that she has personal insights into Echo; that she knows Echo better than the rest of the fans. She thinks these obsessive observations and monitoring have elevated Goldie from the masses. Goldie was a downright stalker. The way she infiltrated the periphery of Echo's life was alarming. The way intimacy was portrayed in Goldie's storyline was strange as well.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
February 27, 2024
Thank you to Dutton Books for my arc in exchange for a review.
This story blew me away. I went into it thinking i was getting a gritty dark thriller about a missing child star but this became so much more. The story is told in two different perspectives Goldie the journalist who worshiped Echo Blue growing up and is the first to try and find her as well as Echo Blue as we follow her side of the story throughout her childhood leading to her disappearance. This story touches on what it means to be a woman in a male run society as well as reclaiming your narrative as a woman. I loved how flawed both Goldie and Echo were, they show you that women don't always have to be perfect. We can be messy and I really enjoyed this.
This story blew me away. I went into it thinking i was getting a gritty dark thriller about a missing child star but this became so much more. The story is told in two different perspectives Goldie the journalist who worshiped Echo Blue growing up and is the first to try and find her as well as Echo Blue as we follow her side of the story throughout her childhood leading to her disappearance. This story touches on what it means to be a woman in a male run society as well as reclaiming your narrative as a woman. I loved how flawed both Goldie and Echo were, they show you that women don't always have to be perfect. We can be messy and I really enjoyed this.
August 9, 2024
In the vein of Daisy Jones or Almost famous, Goldie, an aspiring journalist and obsessed fan of child actress, Echo Blue, pitches a story to uncover where the famous star has disappeared to and why.
Alternating POVs from Goldie and Echo we learn more about the star's fraught relationship with her famous father and absentee mother, her drug addiction, bouts in rehab and more leading up to her decision to run away from it all.
Moving and fast-paced, this was a relatable look at the high price of fame and society's obsession with celebrity. Great on audio too narrated by Alex McKenna and Helen Laser. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
Alternating POVs from Goldie and Echo we learn more about the star's fraught relationship with her famous father and absentee mother, her drug addiction, bouts in rehab and more leading up to her decision to run away from it all.
Moving and fast-paced, this was a relatable look at the high price of fame and society's obsession with celebrity. Great on audio too narrated by Alex McKenna and Helen Laser. Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!
July 27, 2024
❝ You’re still my baby.” […] She looked so beautiful when she said that. ❞
⟢ rating : 4 ☆.
another successful addition to the mommy issues universe. an addictive read.
⟢ rating : 4 ☆.
another successful addition to the mommy issues universe. an addictive read.
January 29, 2025
A potato chip book with an unexpected plot twist and ending. I don't love the choice in cover art.
July 17, 2025
i eat up any book about celebrities and the mysteries, tumultuousness, and troubles swirling around them
February 26, 2024
3.5 rounded up. Echo Blue is the worlds most famous child star who’s parents are also incredibly famous. Echo disappears without a trace on NYE 2000 and Goldie, and journalist and her biggest fan, knows there is more to the story and is determined to find her. Goldie heads to LA for what could be her biggest story yet, but ends up getting Echo’s interests mixed up with her own. I really enjoyed the alternating POV between Echo and Goldie, but could have done without the odd and somewhat uncomfortable sex scenes with Goldie. Overall I really enjoyed this quick and fun read! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.
December 22, 2024
2.5 stars
Loved: the cover, a debut adult author, the premise, the 1999/2000 setting, the messy main characters and the alternating POVs.
Hated: the inconsistency between time periods eg referring to things that didn’t exist or inferring the influence of social media. The lacklustre investigation that felt more like madness than obsession. The amount of life lived by young adults/teens - hmmmm it read more like older characters.
Not horrendous but not great either.
Loved: the cover, a debut adult author, the premise, the 1999/2000 setting, the messy main characters and the alternating POVs.
Hated: the inconsistency between time periods eg referring to things that didn’t exist or inferring the influence of social media. The lacklustre investigation that felt more like madness than obsession. The amount of life lived by young adults/teens - hmmmm it read more like older characters.
Not horrendous but not great either.
May 10, 2025
You shouldn’t choose a book by its cover (and all that jazz) - but if you were going to, you’d choose this one! A very cool cover!
A story told through two POV. Goldie, a slightly obsessive journalist and Echo, a struggling child star.
It’s a slow wander and you can read it over a period of time without losing the vibe. The ending all wound up very nicely!
3.5 - 4 star … but definitely rounding up.
A story told through two POV. Goldie, a slightly obsessive journalist and Echo, a struggling child star.
It’s a slow wander and you can read it over a period of time without losing the vibe. The ending all wound up very nicely!
3.5 - 4 star … but definitely rounding up.
June 21, 2025
Average. Boring. Meh.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews