The BookTok Retreat Being Called Fyre Festival 2.0

Sweet baby angels, BookTok has officially entered its Fyre Festival era.DISCORD: https://discord.gg/cWY7F5K6cFirst there was Fyre Fest. Then Wonka Fest. Then Barbie Fest. And now apparently we have the BookTok version: a $900 reading retreat that promised relaxing bookish activities, delicious food, fantasy photoshoots, crafts, snacks, connection, and a magical weekend away… but according to people who attended, things went very differently.In this episode, Wilko and Courts dive into the BookTok / BookThreads drama surrounding the Finger Lakes Romance Reading Retreat, the online backlash, the sad food allegations, the promised itinerary, the host’s response, the attendees speaking out, and why everyone is comparing the whole thing to Fyre Festival.We’re talking BookTok girlies, fantasy books, fairy photoshoots, retreat chaos, Threads drama, influencer events gone wrong, and the eternal question: why do these “luxury” experiences always end up giving foam-container sandwich energy?00:00 The BookTok Fyre Fest begins00:41 Why everyone is comparing it to Fyre Festival01:50 The Barbie Fest comparison02:10 Nikki brings the drama from Discord02:35 What is BookTok?03:26 BookTok girlies are basically marathon runners04:34 Courts tries ACOTAR and fantasy books06:06 How BookTok became a whole online ecosystem07:15 Who is Celestial Meg?08:21 The $900 reading retreat price tag09:16 What the retreat promised10:10 Paying for uninterrupted reading time12:06 Reading while your partner watches TV14:02 The fantasy photoshoot, crafts and swag bags15:20 The retreat website gives 1998 energy17:07 The official itinerary18:05 Cat the photographer enters the story18:31 Meg’s story and the birth of the retreat19:35 A second retreat is already planned?20:32 BookThreads starts investigating21:18 The alleged food and activity disaster22:19 Cat tries to calm the backlash23:29 The drama goes viral24:49 Attendees speak out about what happened26:23 Meg responds to the food complaints27:23 What people expect from an all-inclusive retreat28:33 Mental health, accountability and refunds30:14 Why the backlash got so messy31:39 How Meg could have handled it33:00 The internet reaction and advice for Meg33:59 Would we ever go on a retreat?35:20 More Fyre Festival-style disasters#BookTok#BookTokDrama#FyreFestival#BookThreads#WilkoAndCourts