Maya Sloan

Rich Kids of Instagram is a Tumblr of, well, rich kids posing with their expensive stuff. Whether it's yachts, sports cars, resorts, or dropping $10,000 on cosmetics , the Tumblr recalls late-Roman excesses. It's hard to tear my eyes away, and while I scrolled, I learned that some rich kids prefer humblebrag captions over their private jets and shopping sprees, while other prefer the more blatant #hatersgonnahate and middle fingers. Also, I learned that pools come in more styles than in-ground or above-ground. Who knew?

The upcoming novel "Rich Kids of Instagram" is half Candace Bushnell's Trading Up, half Petronius' Dinner With Trimalchio. The characters are mostly unabashed social climbers, with a few old-money heirs and a tech wunderkind for frothy good measure. Their high-stakes, high-budget conflicts lead to a guilty-pleasure page-turner, with plenty of backstabbing, sex, and general excess.
From my review Rich Kids of Instagram: Satyricon and the City… (lisätietoja)

What we are staring at people is black and white proof that money doesn't buy class.

What is the point of this 'book'? People have tried to compare it to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and i don't see the connection. If this 'book' followed people on their road to success i might give it a honest rating, such as it is....nope....why? It has no MEANING.

Am I supposed to be impressed by twats that haven't made anything themselves? All that luxury and money has been made by someone else. Like watching chickens stuffing peacock feathers in their ass.

The only thing they truly have is good fortune of being born in the families that are wealthy. Easily enough they could have been born in some African tribe, starving all their lives.

Remember the Hilton sisters? They have tried to make a career of being 'born'. They did little else except being the Hilton sisters...and look how well that turned out.

Although money can be fun, this didn't entertain me. This 'book' like it's characters accomplished a big fat NOTHING.… (lisätietoja)

I would like to thank NetGalley & Gallery Books for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.

Goodreads Blurb:

Based on the wildly popular blog "Rich Kids of Instagram," a dishy and hilarious novel about the intersecting lives of the world's most extravagant, unapologetically uber-rich teenagers.

The "Rich Kids of Instagram" are not your typical well-to-do brats. These "kids" drive Ferraris, fly to their weekend getaways in private jets, and post self-indulgent photos of themselves online as frequently—and as wantonly—as they blow wads of cash. Not to mention that they're more involved in sex, drugs, and power plays than most people twice their age.

Drawing from the ten most frequent contributors to the popular blog of the same name—which receives an average of 850,000 unique visitors a month and has been featured on 20/20, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, Gawker, and others—Rich Kids of Instagram revolves around a core group of spoiled young people, from a Southern Belle poultry-empire heiress to a media mogul's driven daughter and an old-money rifle heir with a Mayflower legacy; to a nouveau riche outsider who is thrust into the members-only universe of the .1%, with scandalous results.

In a world that is smaller, more connected, and more competitive than ever, where nothing is off limits, some kids are just trying to make a buck—or ten thousand. Prepare to be wowed by this saucy, compulsively readable book about the hilarious display of extravagant wealth and the teenagers who have fallen into it.

For a book that had the potential to be explosively funny, wildly entertaining, and keep you glued to the pages, this one sadly came up short of the mark. The characters were, for the majority, one dimensional and lacked personality. They were more caricatures than characters, leaving the reader few choices for emotional involvement. There wasn't really anyone to root for, hate, or basically feel anything more than tepid about. Once in a while there were a few moments that elicited a stronger emotional response from me, but those were pretty far into the book.

I think this idea had lots of potential, however the execution was lacking. Maybe it was the assumption that the reader would be familiar with the stories it used for inspiration, rather than being drawn to the book simply by the description. The writing itself was fine, few errors (which I am going to attribute to the copy I read being an ARC), but the characters simply didn't garner any real emotional response from me either way. With two exceptions - two unrelated male characters, both elicited sympathy, though for different reasons. But then one up and lost my sympathy thanks to pulling a classic jerk maneuver. Even when there were situations that could have made me feel something for a normal character, it left me feeling nothing for the characters in this book. Not happy, sad, angry, envious, just . . . nothing.

With that said, it was still entertaining enough to finish without feeling any pain. And in fact the end was interesting, though not what I'd have like to see - so I guess deep down I did feel something for the characters as a whole. But mostly it felt like I was reading someone's juvenile version of bullying, as done by that rarified and elite group of the über-wealthy. Not what I was hoping for, but certainly not an unmitigated disaster either.… (lisätietoja)