The Lord of the Fly FestBy Goldy Moldavsky

Releases August 30th 2022; NetGalley Review Copy

Category: A Light YA Thriller/Mystery You Can Read in a Weekend

I stumbled upon this one thanks to its eye-catching cover, and to be honest that was enough to sell me. Turns out, judging this book by its cover was a great idea! This delightful book hits the spot like an ice-cold lemonade on a sweltering day. It was the perfect treat and palette cleanser after a lot of heavier topics in the reading I've been doing. I spent about 80-90% of it howling with laughter, because it is full of snark, sarcasm, and wit. I had a blast with all of the dunks on influencer culture, the doomed “fly fest” with references to the infamous "Fyre Festival", and even the murder-mystery-obsessed podcaster tidbits. It’s got just enough mystery to keep you going, and plenty of Scooby Doo energy. Of course, the most terrifying part of it all is the frightening truth that, well, “hell is other people”. 

10/10 a really fun time with this one, and I'd pay to have my memory of it wiped just so I could enjoy it with the same level of enthusiastic laughter as I did the first round. I mean that entirely as a compliment, hahaha! I'm all about anything that shreds pop-culture and trends, even if I'm guilty of loving those things avidly myself. I relish a good moment of cringeyness, ha! It is the PERFECT summer vacation read, made of pure entertainment and unbridled joy and goofiness, and makes a wonderful break from literary fiction or long, dense reading.

Points for including plenty of queer rep including one hella, hella gay makeup influencer, and a nonbinary/gender queer secondary character named Peggy, neither of whose sexualities or genders are a source of trauma or discussion, but they just simply are.

Review by Ellen Avigliano
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