In 1998, we had "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey. Truman Burbank is an insurance salesman, who doesn't realize that whole life is being telecast, around the globe 24/7. The producer of the show tries to control his mind, even removing his true love Sylvia from the show and replacing her with another woman. A movie ahead of its time.

2015: Orla, New York, New York
A blogger and her roommate, Floss, an aspiring singer, demonstrating the use of the social media platforms we have today, to create celebrity.

2051: Marlow, Constellation, CA
Marlow is the "talent". (2051's Truman)
She has been given her story "arc" by the Government and she is to play her role, 24/7.
She must pretend to "just be living" (oblivious to those watching her every move)
To acknowledge the existence of "followers", is against employee policy.
Bots deliver and remove things from the set, depending on how they are trending.

Eventually, the two narratives will come together.

I have read several books about protagonists being "followed" and "unfollowed" and they have all been FUN.

THIS book is different-the dystopian 2051 timeline, imagines what today's norm may look like in the near future. It may not even be that far off!

More cautionary than fun, it is thought provoking but has a much slower pace.
I was interested...but, not riveted to the pages.

3.5 rounding up

Favorite Quote: 'There aren't heroes or victims or villains. Not in our story, and probably not in anyone else's.
I know you know this deep down: It's all in the edit.

Thank You to NetGalley, Graydon House and the author for the digital copy I received in exchange for a candid review. This book is available now!

Great in concept, a bit flat in execution for me. Too long and meandering at times - could have been about 100 less pages and still had the same impact!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Graydon House Books and Megan Angelo for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of Followers. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

For the next thirty years we, as a society, continue along our path of indulgent social media behaviour trying to procure followers. This leads to an event that causes a break in society so severe that the government has taken over the internet. This way they can “protect” its citizens’ information. Now there is a town dedicated to technology, for people whom the government chooses and puts them on social media. With cameras watching them 24-7, they have a chip implanted in their heads and chips in their fingertips. The feedback from your followers is instant and you must make adjustments or you’ll be out.


Marlow has grown up with this implant that provides a feed to her whole life. She was targeted as a young girl who needed anti-depression medication. She has millions of followers. Her whole life is geared to promoting products and the government controls all aspects of her life. It’s not just what she promotes, what she wears but also who she marries and when she’ll have kids. I mean every part of her life and she can’t take it anymore. She is not happy. She wonders what it would be like to be free of it all.

This book is set in two different time periods with alternating chapters. The time is now and it is a couple of years before the big event. Orla is living in New York writing for a rag of a publication about what the latest influencer is doing. Think TMZ for bloggers. She came thinking she would fulfill her dreams of being a writer but can’t seem to break free of the rut she’s in. She hasn’t even been able to work on her novel. Along comes Florence who rents a room from Orla. Floss, as she likes to be known is trying to break into the biz and become an Instagram sensation. She is a constant partier and a bit of a troublemaker. Orla has never seen anyone with such confidence. Soon the two of them figure out that they can help each other. Orla can make Floss’s dreams come true and Floss can then help Orla get her novel published.

There is obviously a connection between the two time periods, but you don’t find it out for quite a while. It was about 20% of the way through before I could relax, realized that I wouldn’t know until I knew, and started to latch onto the two stories. I was really confused about Marlow’s time period because I didn’t understand how the world worked. It is an easy read and for the most part, I enjoyed this story. It is a cautionary tale about technology, what we place importance on and what will happen if we continue down the road. At times it got a bit preachy, like, yes I get it, we are all doomed but I never appreciate being hit over the head with what the author is trying to say. The story does it well enough on its own. But overall, I enjoyed it.

Funny thing happened. I finished the book and I was feeling like, boy, this is really way out there. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love books that ask what if and what will the future be like but I felt like it was overkill. Two days later I was listening to the news about this new app causing all kinds of problems. It’s an app that looks at your face and then will scour the internet for every piece of information about you. Not just the stuff you post but what other people post, crowd shots, your business photo. Then, from all that, it can figure out where you work, your personal information like driver's license and social security number. The government was looking into shutting the app down, or taking it over because it was violating all kinds of privacy issues for individuals. So I felt like, hmmm, maybe this book isn’t that far out there after all…

I liked this book and the concept -- many of Orla's thoughts and comments in the current timeline made me think, and I kept reading to find out exactly what the Spill was. Floss was appropriately annoying, but in a way that is resonant of our times. Overall, I think the ending was a bit clunky and rushed, but would recommend the book.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing a copy for me to review.

Followers is VERY similar to crazy scary dystopian stories such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, but also reminiscent of the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show-if Black Mirror decided to get involved. Followers will make you want to log out of all social media permanently. 2020 seems to be the year of these warnings with the success of the book/show You and then I just read Follow Me by Kathleen Barber- which was fantastic- and now this one. I think everyone really gets how bad of an idea it is to overshare, but then we also think that is someone else's problem.
The book follows the timelines of two women. Orla's story starts in 2015. Marlow's story is taking place in 2051. Orla is a blogger with dreams of publishing a book. She lives in New York City with her roommate, Floss-an up and coming Instagram star. Marlow lives in a town where her every movement is recorded and broadcast to her 12 million followers. She gets one hour of privacy a day, between the hours of 3 and 4 am. I found myself equally interested in both timelines, though if I was pushed I was maybe slightly more invested in Marlow's chapters. Her futuristic (scary) world is something I could see being not far from reality. I really enjoyed this book and I am definitely paying attention to these warnings and honestly sharing less and less.

There was a time when social media felt innocent. But those days are long gone. We have influencers now. This phenomenon is at the heart of Megan Angelo's debut novel, Followers. The book follows two separate storylines: in one, set just a few years ago from the present day, Orla is a wannabe writer who moved to New York City to chase her dream...and ended up writing posts for a celebrity gossip blog. Feeling stagnant, she finds herself receptive to a proposal made by her pretty new roommate and aspiring reality star, Floss: to cover her on the blog, raising her profile towards at least the D-list. It pays off when Floss starts dating a former child star, Aston, and Orla becomes a bit character on the reality show that films in their apartment. She's no closer to her professional dreams, but her association with fame brings a long-held personal dream suddenly within grasp: her high school crush, Danny, wants to reconnect, changing her world in ways she never could have imagined.

In the second storyline, taking place in the 2050s, Marlow lives in a real-life version of The Truman Show: she and the fellow residents of her town, Constellation, are on-screen 23 hours per day and live as government-appointed, network-controlled full-time influencers. After a violent incident in her childhood, Marlow is sponsored by the mood-stabilizing drug Hysteryl, which keeps her numbly content with her life of constant surveillance. But when she and her husband, Ellis, decide to have a baby, she goes off the drug in preparation for pregnancy and finds herself deeply unhappy. Unhappy enough to make a run for it into an outside world she's never really known, where the consequences of a cataclysmic event called The Spill several decades prior have rendered it very different than we might have thought.

The world is definitely ready for novels that try to reckon with the damage that has been and could be wrought by the rise of the internet and the proliferation of social media, so I'd been excited to read this book. It does some things very well: both Orla and Marlow are rich, interesting characters. Neither are particularly sympathetic, but they feel real in their struggles, especially Orla. But Floss never develops with any similar level of care despite some early promise, and the decisions that Orla makes sometimes feel more like plot contrivances than organic...this problem becomes bigger as the stakes are raised later in the narrative. The book as a whole is paced well, I found it compelling enough to keep turning the pages and invested in where the story would go next. Angelo has good prose styling, neglecting neither humor nor pathos.

It's fairly evident, however, that it's a debut. The dual timeline structure loses balance every so often, and it was just usually as one part really started to cruise along that it would switch to the other, stopping the momentum of the story. Failing to really dig into developing Floss hinders the book, as she appears throughout both timelines and her decisions often steer the course of events. And most of all, I found myself at the end unsure of exactly what it was that Angelo was trying to say. There's clearly a message that more privacy, and less screen time, is preferable to the alternative. But that's pretty wishy-washy, and there's no real strength behind it. There is very much potential here, so it's frustrating that it never really comes together. I do look forward to seeing what Angelo does in the future, but can't recommend this book for more than a plane/beach read.

Thanks Netgalley for an advance copy.
This was a fun, fast paced read. The topic is timely and the writing is good. I will recommend through my personal social media.

I found the premise of this book really interesting, and the author didn’t disappoint. She delivered an intriguing tale split between two time periods (pre and post ‘internet spill’ — 2015 and 2051), following the lives of two girls on a quest for fame and success. In the post-spill America, no one wants to share anything online anymore, so a whole community has been set up to live-stream the lives of government-appointed celebrities, including product placements and brand ‘endorsements’.

It is a book about technology and how it shapes society but it’s also equally about relationships, family, and the choices we make to get where we want to go. There were certainly aspects of each character that I identified with, and it’s a topical book that I would definitely recommend.

Thank you to the publishing house for providing a review copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Do you ever open a book and find yourself hooked from the very first page?  That was the case with this one. This futuristic book that was just as satisfying as any episode of Black Mirror. 

Orla is stuck in a job writing clickbait articles about movie-star hookups and about the latest influencers. 

When Orla meets Floss, someone striving to make it in this weird online world, they hatch a plan to launch them both into the high-profile lives they have always dreamt about.

Thirty-five years later, a woman named Marlow is discovering secrets about her own past. Despite her online popularity (with twelve million loyal followers) she dreams of escaping it all and regaining her own life and privacy. These discoveries, about her past, help give her the courage to run in search of the truth. 

I can't rave enough about the depth of the plot on this one. As someone who lives a life online (on a very small scale), I found this plot far too relatable. 

This book is thought-provoking, wildly imaginative, and so beautifully imagined. I could not turn the pages fast enough and I have a good feeling you will feel the same way. 

Put this novel on the top of your stack and suggest this for your book clubs too!

This satire, thriller, quasi-dystopian story tells the tale of two women, Orla and Floss, who become friends through a mutual desire for fame. Starting in the 20-teens, Orla is a writer, slaving away at a pop culture news site and waiting for her big break. Floss is a Kardashian wannabe: she wants to be an influencer, she wants followers, she wants insta-fame. She and Orla, her roommate, hatch a plan where Orla creates the Floss persona, and it works, to dizzying success. The story shifts between 2015-2016 and 2041, where society lives in the aftermath of an event that leaves those of us glued to our screens shadows of our former selves. Reality stars are moved to a government-run, enclosed village where they live their whole lives on camera, with implants that buzz to let them know when they've gained or lost followers, or if they've been off screen too long. Here, we meet Marlow, a 30-something who lives in the village, and dreams of a life off-screen. Discovering a long-held family secret gives her the courage to go on the run, where she heads to New York to get answers.

Followers is a realistic sci-fi thriller that posits an entirely plausible future. Social media-obsessed characters and a screen-consumed society are instantly recognizable - it does take place in 2016, after all - and the tempting mystery that unfolds through two timelines is fascinating and kept me turning pages, wanting to know what happens next. It's a good book to handsell/booktalk to teens, and let them work through the story by asking them what they think future social media and reality stars will look like. Put this on your "this could be our future" shelf with Vox by Christina Dalcher (another YA/Adult crossover), and Caragh O'Brien's Vault of Dreamers trilogy.

I got a little over 20% into Followers, but I was having a difficult time getting into it. I didn’t like the way that it was written and it seemed more confusing to me than anything else. I would still recommend giving it a chance, because so many other people are raving about this book and it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Megan Angelo, and Graydon House for an advance copy of Followers.

There were parts of this story that I really loved, but overall something was just missing for me and it ended up being a book that I wasn't eager to pick back up and get farther into which is why I missed getting it completed before publication date.

I knew going into Followers that I presumably would not like any of the characters, which for the most part was true, but it served its purpose for the book and added rather than took away from the story. Also, you couldn't help but sympathize with some of the characters for being bred to think and act a certain way.

The story jumps back and forth between the near future and about 30 years into the future, in a world where technology and social media rules all...to a world where technology and social media are 100% government-controlled. The stories intertwine, though we don't see how until later in the book. I enjoyed how Megan Angelo tied the two together and kept bits and pieces from the reader all the way up until the end. The story came together nicely. I found myself feeling bored in the middle, maybe a combination of some repetitive plot combined with the 'I need to know how these two portions are connected!'

All in all, it was a creative spin on the world of social media and how it affects us and also the potential fear and consequences of the government overstepping boundaries.

2015: Orla Cadden dreams of becoming a well-known writer. She currently finds herself writing pieces for an online blog about celebrities. Her work ranges from covering events to what someone ate for dinner. Orla wants more for herself. Enter her new roommate, Floss, who is striving to be the next big name. She would love to be the star in one of Orla’s pieces and that’s exactly the plan that the roommates hatch: an accelerated plan to social media fame.

2050: Marlow lives in an exclusive California village strictly controlled by the government. Those who live here have been hand selected for fame. Every move they make is recorded and streamed to the general public. Every action they take has been carefully scripted. Marlow dreams of something more. She wants a life where she can feel real emotions instead of projecting the reactions she is told she should feel. As Marlow’s life is forced to adhere to a new script, she finds a massive family secret that could change everything for her.

FOLLOWERS is a debut release from Megan Angelo that feels like anything but a first book. Angelo has carefully written a story woven between timelines and narrators about the impact of social media on happiness. This book examines the fine lines between what is right and wrong and pushing that line to get the success you crave. In a world where social media is for some, their livelihood, nothing about this story in present or future feels forced or unrealistic.

Megan Angelo has given the reader not only solid, fully-developed characters, but made sure that the spotlight of her story is on women who fit this bill. Orla, Floss, and Marlow are all female characters that a reader can get behind. They’re empowered to reach the heights that they aspire to hit, they’re willing to take chances for a big reward, and they’re determined to stop at nothing to achieve their goals. All of this isn’t to say that these characters aren’t without their faults and flaws, but it is those very elements which make them so relatable and easy to become invested in. I loved watching their journey, through all of the good and bad, until the very end of this book!

In addition to fully fleshed out characters, Angelo gives the reader two time periods to alternate between. They almost feel like two different worlds despite being only set thirty-five years apart. There’s a reason for this feeling, but to avoid spoilers I won’t reveal why. Each time period came to life as Angelo provided the reader a front row experience into the lives of her characters. I felt like I was watching a movie or a television show while I was reading this book with how solidly formed everything came across.

FOLLOWERS is timely, original, and downright addictive! This is the type of book that fits readers across genres and I cannot recommend it enough!

A huge thank you to Harlequin Books for sending me a free copy of this book!

I did not expect most of anything that happened in this book, it was that insane! But, let me back up to the beginning.

The plot of this novel really hit close to home for me in that (much like one of the main characters, Orla Cadden), I moved to New York to pursue a writing career that ended up with me becoming a magazine editor that eventually wrote lifestyle posts for websites such as Yahoo! (when it was cool) and Cosmo.com. However, that's where the similarities end. I definitely felt her pain, though. I read this book in advance of its publication via Netgalley (shout out to Graydon House for the approval) and plowed through it because I just could not believe what was happening. The story ended up being much darker than I initially thought it would.

Orla meets another young woman on the come up named Floss and they hatch a plan to help them both move up in the world. Orla hopes to get a book deal and Floss reminds me of a wannabe Kim Kardashian. But, the story doesn't stop there. We also get a futuristic view of the world via the view of Marlow, a famous girl who wants to escape her life. I will admit that it was sometimes hard to follow exactly what was going on with the story and a lot of it (especially the futuristic part from Marlow's point of view) was kind of scary in how real it all seemed. But, despite its darkness, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more novels from Megan Angelo.

I will be recommending this book to my followers on social media as well posting a review on my blog. I will also post this review via Amazon and Goodreads. Thank you for the advance read! xo

So original and intense. Quite gripping and definitely something I’ll remember all year long. and one I’ll be recommending too!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK. It’s unique and original but totally felt familiar and I think that’s what made it all the more scary. It had it all, suspense and cool tech, a warning bell constantly in the background reminding you that all was not well.

I cannot wait for pub day on this book! I want to discuss all the details with someone so badly! To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement: I read it so fast that I was sure that the page numbers were mismarked because there was no way that it was over. I will be recommending this to friends, library patrons, and my book club.

This one wasn't for me. I could not connect with the story or characters, which I found to be unlikeable.

The one word that comes to mind when I think of Followers is “relevant.” The novels follows two characters, Orla and Marlow and takes place in two time periods, 2015 and 2025. The two perspectives offer insights into Orla and Marlow’s different but similar worlds – how Orla’s world became Marlow’s. I saw a very human side to the characters, they seemed so relatable to me, and even though this novel had a science-fiction feel to it, it could still take place today, it’s still so relevant to what we’re seeing on social media today.

I love this book, it made me reflect back on how we use social media, how a person becomes famous or becomes an Instagram “influencer” which is exactly what Floss is. This novel asks the questions of how a person becomes famous and at what lengths will a person go to gain that status and to stay in the spotlight.

I get passionate about a book that makes me feel a wide range of emotions, a book that leaves me to question everything that I’ve read, and a book that leaves me feeling exhausted at the end in the best possible way. Followers made me reconsider how I use my social media accounts, I was tempted to delete most of them when I finished the book.

Interesting dystopian novel, covering Internet privacy and social media fame. Some of the twists were very predictable, but the way the backstory unspooled kept me hooked.