Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the author. Thank you so much! 

This is an incredibly brutal story about a young woman’s rise to fame, beginning in Bulgaria and ending at the 31st Artisan Fair New York as the four members of the girl band Moxxy have finally had enough of their abusive Managers and the way the industry exploits young talents and spits them out broken and rebel against their contracts in an explosive fashion. 

Katya is an incredibly interesting character, from her childhood fascination with fame and her desperation to become famous and the creeping dread as the stress and lack of privacy and constant crossing of boundaries take their toll. The girls literally live in a glass house where fans can stand outside and take pictures or pay to listen to the recordings of their conversations. She is also queer, unable to come out or even explore her feelings because her every moment outside of her room is scripted or observed. When it all comes to a head for her and the fear of retribution loses to the sheer terror of the abuse she and her bandmates faced, you can’t help but feel terrified for them, angry on their behalf and also grieve for how much time and relationships they missed out on. 

While this story is set in America and exaggerated the way celebrities are treated to a (slightly) more dystopian level, I do think that the comparison to K-Pop bands was important to draw, especially with the incredible control of a person’s public image and the heavy control of interpersonal relationships that happens already under these circumstances (I don’t necessarily believe that the control that happens to American or European celebrities is much different, it just happens a bit more covert). 

I also really like the last chapter, it is a very satisfying end and I really, really felt a lot of emotions at that point, for the characters and the story. 

All in all, this was a really great read, that I really enjoyed a lot. I love the cover, it is pretty and fits the theme perfectly and if you enjoy stories that dive deep into a character’s psyche, feel a bit like a car crash (you know something bad is coming, but you cannot look away) and feature really interesting female characters, please do check this one out. It is really good.