“Trust me, it’s amazing! … By the time I finished this book, I wasn’t even sure if my name was Alex Heminsley.”
- Alex Heminsley, BBC 6 Music

“A topsy-turvy postmodern tour de force… a cracking satire on celebrity culture… [with] an emotional depth that metafictions often lack.” – Olivia Laing,
The New Statesman

“The narrative voice flows with wit and vigour… Benedictus’s debut ties author and reader in engaging knots.”
- James Smart, The Guardian (contains spoilers)

“Wickedly fizzing dialogue… delightful prose… Sharp, funny and sad.” - Jonathan Gibbs, The Independent

“Witty and somewhat confusing satire about celebrity culture…
The sustained originality is a little wearisome, but it’s worth staying on board for the genuine surprises.”
- Kate Saunders, The Times (paywall)

“It is clever, well paced and structured… Still, it all lets a bit too much daylight in on the magic if you ask me.” – Keith Miller, The Times Literary Supplement (contains spoilers)

“Sharp media satire meets a tricksy story-within-a-story format in this effervescent debut novel. The swagger and sparkle of Benedictus’s prose overcomes doubts about a fussily self-conscious plot.” – i

“Essential reading… The story of the ultimate celeb after-party, it’s a knowing wink at publishing and celebrity culture – a high-concept first novel sitting just the right side of salacious.” - Elle

Novel of the Week – The Week, 9 April 2011

“Wonderful… an intriguing thriller… great fun… This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we’ve been waiting for.”
- Ben East, Metro ****

“Uncommonly well written, with a bountiful supply of manic energy… Would Paul Auster kill to write a book as playful, fast-paced and unashamedly populist as this? Doubtful, but somewhere there’s a ‘Paul Auster’ who might.” – Alastair Mabbott, The Herald

“Brilliant” – Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian

“At once both scathing and humane, with a devilishly good postmodern twist… Compelling reading.”
- Liverpool Daily Post 9 out of 10

“As complex books go, this is certainly up there… Benedictus takes us on a trail of the contentious highs and lows of the rich and famous in a mixture of dark humour and sharp dialogue. For Benedictus, and his valiant debut novel, more of the same please.”
- Ben Bookless, The Big Issue ****

“Laugh out loud funny… totally addictive… I figured I’d try a chapter or two to see if it was my thing… Two hours whizzed by and I was so immersed in the story I just had to keep on reading… One of the smartest and most contemporary novels I’ve read in a long time.”
- Kim Forrester, Reading Matters *****

“Benedictus has crafted something people are going to talk about, something a lot of people are going to read and something that your average Joe Cool will think is seditious and perverse.” - Bookmunch

“Many are tipping it for Booker stardom so you are bound to hear more about a book that is employing some very tricksy publicity angles ensuring that, love it or hate it, an afterparty is exactly what this book is creating in its wake.” – dovegreyreader

“It’s not just the odd line that’s so wittily impressive. The characters become – in this case – ingloriously alive (despite all being a marvellous conceit)… And the structure too, oh the structure, oh that conceit, is doing things that makes you sit back and think, and think… Not to mention those sentences to die for…” – Henry Sutton

“This is probably my favourite book 0f 2011 so far. It is original, clever and entertaining….  I fully expected to hate it, but I was wrong… It is a gripping read with numerous twists and turns…The Afterparty is like nothing I’ve ever read before.”
- Farm Lane Books Blog ****½

“Utterly captivating and hugely enjoyable… With just a few words, Benedictus manages to capture moments of human interaction and experience that other writers would waste paragraphs trying to get… A fantastic debut novel. The Independent have already mentioned Costa or Booker nominations for it, and I concur.”
- Rob Cox, Bookgeeks

“Full of neat tricks… It zips along at a relentlessly fun, fast, funny pace. The reviewer is trying his hardest to not spoil this book for you.” – Booktrust

“Is The Afterparty an example of what contemporary fiction produced by the texting, twittering, mobile-chained generation is going to look like in the future?… I did finish the book with a sense of personal dread, I must admit… If The Afterparty makes the Booker longlist I am in serious trouble.”
- Kevin from Canada blog (contains spoilers)

“A novel as self-referential as The Afterparty risks getting lost in its own cleverness; but there’s such charm (and a certain audacity) in the way Benedictus lays bare the workings of his book that it won this reader over.” – David Hebblethwaite, Follow the Thread

“A terrific page-turner… Leo Benedictus tells an excellent story which is loaded with twists and turns… It is a frighteningly descriptive book and Benedictus’ turn of phrase makes you delight in the word-play whilst also enjoying the plot. I can categorically recommend The Afterparty. It is a modern triumph of drugs, celebrity, casual sex, lies and the fame game.” - Andy Jaye, shootingpanda

“It is great! … If you like a bit of post-modernist writing with a strong sense of humour and a purpose as well, this book is for you… And it messes with your head. Big time. In a very entertaining way.” – Wicked Wonderful Words blog

“An ingenious postmodern take on contemporary celebrity culture” – William Skidelsky
One of The Observer’s books to watch in 2011

“Gloriously original…a terrific piece of writing. I’m reading it and cringing – but I’m also wanting more… a creative tour de force… I loved it all.” – Louise Laurie, The Bookbag *****

“A mind-bending satire that is clever,
funny and gripping… a new kind of fiction…
and perhaps more importantly – a cracking
good read.” – Aesthetica Magazine

“Very impressed… I suspect it has
some tricks up its sleeve”
- Scott Pack, Me And My Big Mouth books blog

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