This book is wild.

I watch a lot of reality TV, so Heather Gudenkauf’s premise for Everyone is Watching definitely piqued my interest. Five contestants come together to an estate in California to compete for a $10 million prize. They all have their reasons for wanting the money, and the realization that they’ll do whatever it takes to be the winner.

Early on, it becomes very apparent that this isn’t your average reality TV premise and that these folks weren’t randomly selected. Each of these contestants has something to hide, some have connections to one another or folks behind the scenes, and the competitions within the show are deadly.

The chapters were focused on each contestant in the present, and for some, their past. There’s also chapters focused on some of the people watching the show (though I didn’t think many of these added to the story outside of the very first one). Knowing how heavily reality TV is produced, mixed with how elaborate many of the set-ups for the challenges were, the number of people who were on set/involved on the production side was a bit unbelievable. Fern was clearly very competent and resourceful, but her pivot to be the host (without any direction or coaching) really felt like a stretch. Initially I felt a lot of empathy for Fern and all that she faced, but as time went on she became complicit and deeply woven into the destructive events of the show.

That being said, the book was compelling and I kept reading furiously to find out how the story would come together and understand the why behind this complex and harrowing show. There was a lot of tension, twists & turns and unexpected moments. It definitely had that can’t look away quality of reality TV.

Content warnings: gun violence, mentions of sexual assault, stalking, child illness

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.