We are officially in the season of cozying up in a blanket, putting on a show, and staying indoors with this chilly weather.
Streaming services have been on the rise, but you know what else is? Books! So, what better than to merge the two! I have collated a list of books below that do just that! These books take you through stories that go beyond the screen - whether this being through the life of an influencer to a dystopian game show, we’ve got you!
'The Running Man' by Stephen King
Dystopian style game show
A breathless, gritty thriller featuring a futuristic game show where a desperate contestant must evade government assassins live on air for public entertainment.
Adapted for film last year, it's still worth retuning to the source material for this dystopian thriller. The only objective for contestants is to stay alive (easier said than done), worth it to be in to win one billion dollars despite a crew of elite killers trying to prevent it happening. It's a fast-paced, adrenaline filled plot that feels like something straight out of the most stressful Black Mirror episode.
'The Compound' by Aisling Rawle
The Off-Camera Trap
A breathless, gritty thriller featuring a futuristic game show where a desperate contestant must evade government assassins live on air for public entertainment.
Fellow Book Hero team member Lizzy read this and loved it for all it's slightly strange and unhinged speculative nature. It's also excellent if you, like her, have spent far too many hours watching Love Island - this is basically Love Island but if the stakes were much, much, higher. It's a fantastic read and one deserving of more hype!
'Yesteryear' by Caro Claire Burke
The Fake Frontier
A famous digital influencer whose perfect vintage lifestyle that is intentionally staged, suddenly wakes up trapped in the actual, brutal, and unglamorous reality of 1805. She is forced to navigate a brutal historical era without directors, scripts, or editing to save her.
Everyone and their neighbour is currently talking about this book - some people love it, other's are full of critique - but either way it's one of the most hyped reads of the moment for good reason! Yesteryear is not only hitting on a very trendy subject at the moment, looking at trad-wife culture and the way influencers present online, but it's also a very compelling story that will keep you hooked til the very last page (because what the HECK is going on??).
'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins
Broadcast from the Reaping
A famous digital influencer whose perfect vintage lifestyle that is intentionally staged, suddenly wakes up trapped in the actual, brutal, and unglamorous reality of 1805. She is forced to navigate a brutal historical era without directors, scripts, or editing to save her.
This one needs minimal introduction - it's YA Dystopian at it's absolute finest, and still holds up to plenty of re-reads as an adult. The characters are iconic, the gameshow itself is disturbingly entertaining and brutal, and you won't be able to stop with just Book One.
'One Perfect Couple' by Ruth Ware
Scripted Love, Real Blood
‘One Perfect Couple’ is a story following five couples on a remote island resort rigged with hidden cameras. As a violent storm cuts off communication, the story highlights the terrifying contrast between manufactured on-screen romance and raw off-camera survival.
Ruth Ware is one of the queens of high stakes thrillers and psychological suspense, and this one is one of her most ingenious storylines ever.
'The Charm Offensive' by Alison Cochrun
Scripted reality, unexpectedly real romance
The book is written from the perspective of a reality TV producer whose entire job is to script romance, structure camera angles, and manipulate the contestants' emotions behind the scenes to create "good television." It pulls back the curtain on how reality television is artificially manufactured to craft the perfect romance for millions of viewers.
To recover from some of the more disturbing reads above, this is a witty and romantic queer love story, all about a dating show that goes wildly off script.
