Book Review
Title: Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky
Genre: Contemporary, Horror, Thriller
Rating: 3.25 Stars
The opening to Lord of the Fly Fest was interesting as we are introduced to our protagonist Rafi, a podcaster who has spent her life savings to go to an exclusive musical festival on a desert island called Fly Fest but an artist named River is there and she wants to interview him about his missing girlfriend, a model who should also be there. However, upon arriving at the island it is clear that Fly Fest was never a thing and there is no one else there besides the guest who are all rich people acting like complete toddlers apart from a few like Rafi, Peggy and River. Rafi ends up exploring the small island with River and an influencer named Jack after being appointed to spokesperson by Peggy. During this brief trip they concludes that all the acts were cancelled last minute but River never got the message until it was too late and none of the people attending were informed. They end finding a shipping container which they hope contains their luggage but it doesn’t. This gave me really strong Lord of the Flies vibes minus the plane crash with a scam music festival added in but I get the vibe it is going to be a murder mystery or potential horror novel so I need to see where it goes.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, everyone spends their first night on the island and the next morning it becomes clear that people aren’t really looking for them and the boat was scheduled to pick them up in a week’s time which is how long they are going to have to survive with no supplies and very few useable skills between them all. Rafi also lets slip to Peggy that she believes that River Stone murdered his first girlfriend, Tracy or at least had a hand in her disappearance and that was why she came to prove it and publish her findings on her podcast to further her own influence and platform the same as so many others there. Rafi also seems to take the moral high ground with many of the influencers even though she is essentially doing the same thing in a different way but nothing has really happened yet apart from being stranded on the island and spending a single night there. No one has been hurt or injured, no one has died so there aren’t any real stakes right now just some theories and bit of a creepy atmosphere so I need to read a bit more to figure out what path the author is going to go down and whether or not I am going to enjoy it.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, things begin to change on the island very quickly when Peggy figures out a way to get internet and begins charging people for it with whatever they have. Rafi also plays into people wanting to stay by telling them that River’s girlfriend, Hella is on the island and they are still setting up the festival which is a lie but this is quickly overshadowed by the fact that Sierra, another influencer has gone missing. Rafi doesn’t actually believe that the girl is missing at first but after searching everywhere on the island where they are other people as the influencers flock together and not finding Sierra, Rafi begins to think that something might have happened to her and the last place she saw her was heading into the jungle with River which strengthens her theory that River killed his first girlfriend and might have done something to this sweet girl now. The atmosphere on the island has also changed from panicked to rather calm now they have internet but there is sense of foreboding building in the background that was making me a little uneasy.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, things are just getting stranger and stranger on the island and Rafi realises that she can’t do anything to stop it. Yes she did set it all in motion by convincing people that Hella was on the island and that they had a reason to stay but since so many people it now and are living their lives around this lie to avoid going insane there’s nothing she can do or say that will stop it. However, it is affecting River as well since he has always said that there is no way Hella is on the island but Rafi still doesn’t trust him because she thinks he killed Tracy. In a major bonding moment he does confess to her off the record that Tracy didn’t go missing but he didn’t kill her either, it turns out she was killed by wild animals in the bush which considering Australia is the land of things that have no business being huge that want to kill you anyway I believe it. This all adds to the mystery of where Hella really is and what happened to Sierra since she still hasn’t turned up but now no one seems to really care what happened since they believe she was given admission to Fly Fest and the rest of them have to prove they are worthy to get in.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the island is descending further and further in chaos and anarchy but not the disorganised kind, the kind you see when people form cults and how easily people believe the lies coming from them because they are desperate for some kind of answer. The myth of Hella being on the island is only gaining more attention since many people have claimed to have heard her and some even claim to have seen her which River maintains can’t be true but he doesn’t offer up any explanation either. It is decided that River, Rafi and Jack will go into the jungle to find Hella is she is really there and they end up coming upon the half built stage of where Fly Fest should have been happening making Rafi question why it was abandoned but all three hear Hella’s voice which cements the cult mind as being right. However, that night River tells Rafi he knows exactly where Hella is and it isn’t on the island but he won’t tell her where Hella is even knowing it can stop all this madness and allow them to convince everyone that going home is the best course of action which makes him kind of a dick. Despite this Rafi is still determined to at least get herself home but it will mean learning where Hella really is and what actually happened to Sierra in order to try and convince everyone but even then it might not be enough at this stage.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, I don’t really know what to say about this book. It genuinely seemed like the first half was going somewhere interesting and then it turned into a bit of a mess in the second half but it would have been worth it if there was a decent payoff at the end and unfortunately there wasn’t so I was deeply disappointed. The writing style was good and easy to read and certain characters like River I really liked and wanted to see more of so for that it gets 3.25 stars but apart from that it felt like a really big flop to me. I will try The Mary Shelley Club which I’ve heard good things about but if that doesn’t work for me then I think Goldy Moldavsky is going to be an author that just doesn’t sit right with my reading tastes and styles. Honestly, I think if you like books that take a singular point, like social media use and the role of influencers and run with it then you’ll really like this but it just wasn’t for me.
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