He’s got 70 million followers but only hates one of them – me. Can two of the world’s most famous people fake a relationship in front of the cameras? Find out in this addictively fun romance from New York Times Bestseller Alessandra Torre.
There was a lot I did to get to this point, to get 42 million followers. Some of it I was proud of, most of it I wasn’t.
There was a group of us, all … wasn’t.
There was a group of us, all internet celebrities, and everyone wanted in, which is how six of us ended up living in this mansion, a camera always on, the public always watching. Two months and nine carefully scripted TV episodes that would get us more of the three F’s we were desperately chasing.
Fame. Fortune. Followers.
I knew my role. I was Emma, the unlikeable one. The dark villain with the devious smile. The package of dynamite that would blow up any chance of peaceful living and harmony.
Cash knew his role. He was the good guy. The lovable one. The one that everyone, even the darkest cast member of them all, would fall in love with.
They were supposed to just be roles.
None of it was supposed to be real.
My heart didn’t get that memo.
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The blurb for THE F LIST by Alessandra Torre sounded great: A villainous heroine brought to heel by love. A ‘good guy’ hero getting entangled with a woman whose determined path cared nothing for the destruction left behind.
This was not the case. There was a disconnect between my expectations from reading the blurb and what this book offers. I was left feeling unfulfilled.
My biggest frustration is that so often Torre touches on the topics and issues that I felt would be explored in greater depth, but her light handling of the plots often diluted them to the point of vapidness. I did not find Emma to be outrageous or villainous; any current Z-list ‘celebrity’ could wipe the floor with her. I felt Cash was aimless and directionless. I don’t think we were given an opportunity to really understand either Emma or Cash. And the ending was just bizarre.
I also found the romance to be flimsy. The seeds of a great romance and a great love were there but instead of nurturing this relationship, Torre just left it unattended – or interrupted it with a pointless reality show scene – and then expected us to believe in a happy ever after.
One character I did love was Vidal Franklin. He was cunning and brutal and a master of playing the Hollywood game. I’ll also give props to the disillusioned Bojan Frost. Both Franklin and Frost came across as much more genuine than Emma or Cash did for me.
Setting aside my opinion of the plot, I felt Torre’s writing style was easy to read and I would consider reading more of her books.
I was blown away by this book because its not your typical story, this is so full of twists and turns that your head will spin in a good way! I had to read it in one sitting because I was intrigued and the story sucked me in!
I’m always delighted and very often titillated while reading books by Alessandra Torre. The versatility of her characters and storylines never ceases to amaze me. The F List is a fun and fast-paced read with an “in her own way” endearing heroine in Emma Blanton, a girl is trying to be someone she is and yet she isn’t.
I like the duality of Emma. She’s found her opportunity to be something that’s not limited by her circumstances, and in the Instagram “influencer” age, she becomes a fast-rising every day, every girl star. With few trusted allies, she learns how to explore, and dare I say exploit, opportunities in a creative manner. She’s guarded at the same time that she’s vulnerable and I loved this about her character.
There’s only one male, a peer of sorts, that can get to her. Her long time crush Cash Mitchell. There’s something about him that brings out the worst in her, even though her unlying intentions are good and genuine, she just can’t seem to get it right with him. Professionally he inspires her, but fumbles with that energy. As for Cash’s feelings, well, he doesn’t trust her one bit. She has a lot to overcome to win him over, but their chemistry is palpable and they both struggle against it. They are also struggling with Hollywood’s fame machine and the ill-intended path they are forced to follow.
The F List tackles contemporary problems in a unique manner. I’ve read a few social media themed books and I this one really stands out. Torre created entraining and likable characters that you will make you cringe and yet you’ll root for them in the same breath. 5 stars and my recommendation!
This book was so different from what I am used to from Alessandra Torre. It’s an enemies to lovers story that is so fun, flirty and full of heart. Perfect quarantine read.
Unique, and sexy story, was just what I needed to put a smile on my face.
This fun easy read, had a little bit of camp with some edgy elements which made the book unputdownable!
Who knew that Social media could become a secondary character and add to the overall story!!
Read and find out!
This book is what everyone needs in their life right now!
This book is something I haven’t read before. I love the way it’s laid out and how it’s written. I like the story around both characters.
Selfishly I wanted more. More of them in the house, more time together and more time at the end.
Both main characters are likable even when you’re supposed to hate them.
It all ran so well together. I didn’t feel like the author just threw things in there to fill space.
I’ve been in such a funk and reading awful books that it brings me peace that this book was worth reading.
A lighthearted novel with heart!
Emma wants to be famous. Cash is famous but doesn’t truly want to be. These two have sparks from their first meet, but years later, the sparks are less passion and more despising each other. Emma appears shallow and vapid, but is there more to her than meets the surface? When the two of them are thrust together in a house with other social influencers, you see their real personalities, good and bad. I loved the enemies-to-lovers part of the book, and the characters were intriguing, although I will say it was difficult to like Emma in the beginning. Overall, I laughed, I cringed, and I rooted for these two. Definitely a great read to escape to!
The F List is different from what Alessandra Torre usually writes and of course, my curiosity was peeked immediately. Once I began reading about social media influencers, Cash Mitchell and Emma Blanton, I was hooked!! This book was trendy, exciting, very engaging and entertaining. It was also a great combination of The Real World and a TMZ book version of Hollywood’s biggest rivals.
The animosity between Cash and Emma was so real. These two seriously loved to hate each other and had fun doing it. I hung onto every chapter anticipating what they were going to do next. Both of them were enjoyable characters and although they had great chemistry, I wish there would’ve been more heat between them. The F List is a sweet, endearing and hilarious romance with low angst that I really love.
THE F LIST was such a delightfully funny and tender story. I enjoyed every moment of reading this book. The lead character, Emma, takes us on a wild ride on how to be famous and she’ll do anything to be the “it” girl. By joining a reality show, Emma knew this will boost her career. In that reality show, she’ll be spending some time with Cash Mitchell, a showbiz royalty, as one of the housemates. Here’s the thing, they don’t like each other. Cash accused Emma of using him to gain followers and Emma didn’t deny it. That’s what I like about Emma she owns whatever she said or did. Will the animosity between these two continue or being in the same house will give them a better perspective who the real Emma and Cash are?
You can’t stop reading to find out what comes next. It has everything a reader could ask for in a romantic comedy or enemy to lovers’ story. The writing is engaging. I leave this story truly happy.
The F List is about Emma and her dream is to be rich and famous. This is a dream of a lot of young girls and this social media era has really brought this to a whole another level. This books gives us a look into the background of what these people would do to get more followers. Emma is the unlikable one and she is okay with that. I have to say that I really didn’t like her, so she played her role really well. Cash who is the golden boy, the son of a Hollywood star, and has been in the limelight since the moment he was born. Emma loves the attention while Cash rather has less of it. I personally didn’t really enjoy the first half the book, I just couldn’t connect with Emma on any level, so that lessened my enjoyment of the story. The moment the filming for the reality show started, the story picked up. Also I started seeing a different side to Emma, and I began to warm up to her. There was also one side-character that completely stole my heart, and I loved his interactions with Emma. You’ll know who I am talking about when you meet him.
I just didn’t have enough time to fully connect to the main characters Emma and Cash. The moment these two started getting together, we were already at the last quarter of the book. I wanted to spend more time with them and see them grow more as a couple and as individuals. I didn’t fully believe in their love/romance because it was rushed at the end. This is the reason I am giving this a three star rating, because for the rest it was a solid light romance, with funny moments. Also the ending felt a bit unrealistic, and no way that they can keep living like that for the rest of their lives, especially in this era. The story was unique and not something I had read before, and I wouldn’t mind reading more books in a reality tv show setting. The story was well-written, which was to be expected because Alessandra Torre is a great author. I look forward to her writing more of these light and fun romances.
I needed this book right now! It broke a two month book funk. Thank you, Alessandra! I will never look at Instagram influencers or reality TV the same way again. This story is the behind the scenes look at what people will do to make something out of nothing with social media and get paid for it by making everyone else care. That’s a brain bender that we are so easily manipulated.
Fame. Fortune. Followers. That’s what all the fuss is about. Emma came from nothing with horrible selfish parents, but with a little luck she turned her dead end life into a living in the social media lime light. She started her fame off by trashing Cash Mitchell, a known social celebrity. Turns out Cash isn’t the normal guy he projects, he’s got a lifetimes worth of his own secrets. They don’t know it but they are more alike than they know.
So what do “almost famous” social influencers do next? MTV comes knocking with a reality show called The House of Fame. Six sorta famous socials in one house, with a script of course. *insert eye roll*.
Emma’s inner musings are hilarious. I liked her immediately. Cash is a good guy for real, but nobody knows the real Cash and that’s the way he wants it. I loved his brother Wesley. I liked the slow build to their relationship. In their world of flash it’s hard to know what’s real.
I absolutely loved the ending. So clever.
While I liked the concept, and enjoyed the story, I didn’t care for the way it was executed. The way this book is written, it felt like I was reading a documentary. It made me feel disconnected from the characters. I didn’t care for Emma. I feel like we didn’t really get to know Cash. I did not feel any chemistry (positive or negative) between them. I liked the ending although I didn’t feel any buildup towards it.
This was a pretty unique concept, a young woman clawing her way up the social media ladder, trying to get as many followers as her crush, Cash Mitchell. A chance encounter with him years ago, before she became Emma Blanton, has her kind of obsessing on him and she recreates herself with the help of a “team”, hoping she’ll catch his eye.
I liked the chapter headings which tell you what’s going to happen in that chapter. The chapters felt more like I was reading journal entries rather than a typical book, so that was kind of different and a fresh concept for telling a story.
It took me a bit to like Emma. She comes into the whole reality star/social media presence thing under not the most honest of ways, and even though she’s the main character, she initially felt like a two dimensional character to me. It was not until she meets one of the secondary characters and we got to see her interactions with that person, did she start feeling “real” to me. I mean like a real, normal person, and not the “real” reality person she was portraying to the media.
Cash on the other hand, I liked right off the bat from their first meeting years ago. But once he and Emma start running in the same circles, I lost some of the connection I felt to him, especially during their time on the reality show house. But he felt pretty lost himself during that time, so perhaps that is exactly how I was supposed to feel about him.
Alessandra does a great job of peeling back the covers on the whole ugly world of reality TV and social media stars who really have no talent other than they look good in front of a camera and somehow have managed to get millions of followers to watch their every waking move.
Like I said in the beginning, this was a pretty unique concept that Alessandra came up with, and it was an entertaining read. I loved the ending!! Big smile on my face with how the story turns out. I was kind of hoping maybe Emma or Cash would cross paths with characters from Alessandra’s other stories, like maybe SOLE – Cole and Summer. But it’s all good, it was a fun story!!
4.5*
The F List is quirky, humorous, and heartwarming. If you love Hollywood elite drama, you’ll enjoy this one.
Cash was born into fame because of his renowned actress mother and Emma is banking on how many people will follow her on social media to gain the fame she desires. These two dislike each other. When both are invited to be on a reality tv show they accept and well… let’s just say the dislike starts to wane. Like any other reality show, the producers want their drama and will do whatever they can to make sure they get it.
It’s a fun quick read!
* A review copy was provided by the author *
#EnjoyableRead!!
If you are looking for a lighthearted, enjoyable read about what goes on in the world of Reality TV and instagram, then this is the book for you.
The F List is different than what we normally get from Alessandra Torre, but it was no less entertaining. This book gave me the same light hearted feeling that Love, Chloe did. No don’t fret….this book still has some drama in it to keep you interested and turning the pages. It just is as jaw dropping as her books usually are. Plus one major difference with this story is, if you are looking for that steam factor that Alessandra usually gives us, this is not the book to read. There is no sex in this book….now I found that refreshing.
This is Alessandra’s latest standalone novel. It is told in dual POV. No other book needs to be read before enjoying this book. If you are new to her work, this is a great place to introduce yourself to the lighter side of Alessandra. This is an opposites attract story. It is about the rich guy who falls for the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. But it is set in the reality world of social media.
What would you do for followers, fame and fortune??
That’s the question that is answered in The F List. The story revolves around Emma and Cash. Emma is a girl who has had a hard upbringing and just wants to change her life, so when some good things come her way, she is determined to make a name for herself. But at what cost?? Cash grew up privileged and came from a wealthy family, but things aren’t always roses when you have money. I don’t want to say much more about this story. I think this is a book to just go in blind and enjoy all the wit, sarcasm, and quirky fun that it is.
If you are looking for that fun and easy beach read for that lazy Sunday afternoon, this is the book to read. The storyline will suck you into a different world and won’t let go until the very last page.
I love this book. From the hilarity to the hashtags, Alessandra Torre tells one fun story.
Emma wants to be famous. That’s it. Fame and the fortune that comes with it. She wants to escape her self-involved parents and find some sort of limelight. If it can’t be through talented means, and because she isn’t related to someone famous, she has to get into Instagram influencing. (I liked the scenes where we learn how Emma built her following base.) Fame, though, turns out to be somewhat unsatisfactory, particularly when Emma realizes that what she really wants–what she really really wants–is Cash Mitchell.
Unlike Emma, Cash has fame, the sort that comes with an actress mother. Nonetheless, he, too, is an influencer, and he, too, likes watching his followers increase. The first time he and Emma meet is interesting, and I loved that we get both perspectives on that night. Now, years later, they are reunited on a “reality” TV show. He fights his attraction to her, whereas she tries to rein in her attraction to him.
This is a quick read that lets you escape into a whole other world. I like how different this is for Alessandra Torre in that it isn’t erotic. In fact, sex isn’t really a part of this story. Attraction, yes. Lust, yes. Torre plays with those two, in fact. Attraction to fame, lust for attention.
When you sell yourself on social media, what kind of life do you really have? What do you have left for yourself? Torre’s characters confront this, but it doesn’t get too heavy. She gives you just enough to think about without feeling like you’re in a lecture. It’s fun. Emma and Cash, for all of her disasters and his sense of disquiet, are fun. I liked them, and I want more of them.
And I really want more of Bojan.