The sense of irony I feel typing a review to post on social media for this book that skewers influencer culture is *sharp*. This is a short book, but it's full of angsty musings, toxic relationships, obsessive friendships, and appalling mental health. I binged it in a couple of hours. I can see why people are unsure of it, it's definitely not a "feel good" book, and the narrator, Maia, is not exactly likable. But it was thought-provoking and I could not put it down--I had to see what happened next, even though I knew it was likely to be something bad.

Maia is 26 and doesn't care about much. She lives with her much older boyfriend who doesn't really know her at all, and her only joy in life is watching Law & Order SVU. Relatable. Through her talent for depicting exactly the person others want to see, she ends up with a job working for an 18-year-old Instagram influencer, Gloria. Gloria is her image, and nothing else. Until she and Maia form an obsessive friendship, that has both of them questioning where one begins and the other ends.

If you don't like literary fiction, unreliable narrators, satire, or dark stories, skip this one. If you like weird and kind of bleak books that explore our sense of self or lack of, pick it up. Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.