The Con of the Century: A Review of Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

It’s time! It’s finally time! Time for the first review of 2026!!

WOOHOO!!

I hope you’re all ready for another year full of reviews, nonsense and insanity, listicles full of niche interests, and I’m sure a Death Match or two. As for today, get ready for insane crimes, gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing, and the FBI.

Please give a warm welcome to Cover Story by Susan Rigetti!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review of this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. So let’s crack in.

In the summer of 2017, Lora Ricci snags a coveted internship with ELLE magazine. It’s a small bright spot in an otherwise shitty year. She’s on academic probation from NYU, she’s also lost all her financial aid given her poor grades, she only has this internship.

This internship changes Lora’s life. At ELLE she meets Cat Wolff, an enigmatic contributing editor and Austrian heiress. Cat asks Lora for help on a huge article she’s working on and the two begin bonding. In fact they become close friends. As her internship is ending, Lora confides in Cat about everything. Her financial struggles, her terrible grades and academic probation, and her dreams of becoming a writer. Hearing of Lora's woes, Cat forms a plan. She too dreams of being a published fiction author, but her writing isn't as good as Lora's. So she hires dear, sweet Lora to be her ghostwriter.

With no other options, Cat agrees to the job. This new gig also comes with some great perks, namely moving into Cat’s apartment at the Plaza Hotel and getting to live there for free, and never having to buy anything with her own money. Yeah, I would jump at this job offer too. Alas this fairytale is soon to become a nightmare.

Cat isn’t who she says she is, and being Cat’s ghostwriter isn’t a gig that pays. The harsh reality is Lora has found herself being used and manipulated by a world-class grifter. Thanks to Cat, Lora has cut herself off from all her friends and family, she’s dropped out of college, her whole world now revolves around Cat. Now Cat is running from the FBI and Lora’s whole life has gone up in flames.

I fear the term dumpster fire doesn't even begin to cover what is going on in Lora's life.

Told in a modern day epistolary style, had this novel not been told through text messages, diary entries, emails, and social media posts, Cover Story would not be as enjoyable as it was. While I obviously knew Cat was a con-artist, learning exactly what she was doing and seeing her thievery as the same time as the rest of the characters, along with learning Lora's inner thoughts and all the gossip regarding Cat, made for a satisfying read. A traditional linear narrative simply would not have worked for Cover Story.

Though while I enjoyed the story at large, the details didn’t work with me. Cover Story was inspired by various con-artists throughout the years. Cat was heavily inspired by Anna Delvey and it shows. I fear all the small details Susan Rigetti includes, i.e. Cat tipping people in one hundred dollar bills, one of Cat’s victims penning a major article detailing her experiences with Cat, are all details ripped straight from the headlines. Had I not read the original Vanity Fair article about Anna Delvey, nor had I watched Inventing Anna before reading Cover Story, the book would have been stronger, I would have liked it more. But knowing a lot of the little details aren’t original, the story feels lesser. It feels phoned in in various places. I would have preferred the author to create the details on her own. There were so many points throughout the novel in which the story felt more like a retelling of the infamous fake German heiress and her crimes than anything else.

Thankfully I can overlook this as the final twist will live in my head rent free for the rest of my days. I gasped! My flabbers were gasted! And the best part about it? The twist was expertly revealed slowly throughout the book. The reader should know exactly what’s going to happen in the end if they pay close enough attention. And while I did pay attention, the reveal did get me and I am obsessed! Truly, the best part of the book. Plus, it changes the whole story. Cover Story can be read again and essentially be a whole new book thanks to the final reveal. Honestly, I do recommend reading this book twice in a row. There is so much more for readers to pick up on during a second read.

Cover Story is a decent book, but it is not one I would highly recommend. It’s simply an okay book. While the final twist is great, the rest of the novel is average. Read it if you really want to.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you all enjoyed the first review of 2026. I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait that long then give Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can follow RHRML on Twitter and BlueSky too (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly recommend you check out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends. You can currently find the show on Spotify and YouTube. We have episodes on Scooby-Doo, Disney, Barbie, ghosts, weird people and moments from history; there’s bound to be something that strikes your fancy.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!