Lord of the Fly Fest

Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky is a 320-page novel that is equal parts Fyre Fest, Lord of the Flies, and the end of the TV version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when the idiots are trying to rebuild civilization.

Ravi Francisco is a wannabe podcaster who comes to the Fly Fest on an island to get a scoop for her podcast, hoping to get picked up and become successful. The topic of her podcast? Is Australian rock star River Stone a murderer? She uses all her savings to get an economy ticket for supposedly unfettered access to him.

The only problem?

Fly Fest is a scam. There are no luxury accommodations, no models, no bands, and no festival. It’s just a bunch of influencers, River Stone, and Ravi stranded on an island. The novel is full of absurd twists and micro-fads on the island.

It’s a quick read (it's only 7 hours as an audiobook), and the pacing is suitably quick. Told in third person limited to Ravi’s POV (except for a few chapters that are from River’s POV that were jarringly weird). It’s YA, but at times the storytelling feels uneven and more adult than it should be. This is the third book by this author that I’ve read, but it is by far the most disappointing.

Silly and fun, this book is a solid 3/5 Stars.