Member Reviews

This lovely is out today!
I don't know where to start with this book except to say I loved it!
This suspenseful story follows Yvonne and Lily as the try to figure out why their favourite blogger Violet Young has suddenly disappeared from the online world.
I just love how many storylines are entwined throughout this book. Yvonne and her desperation for a baby, Lily and her life as a single mother and Violet, where has she gone?

This is such a readable book, literally from the first page, I was snapping up this book any chance I could get.

There were multiple plot twists throughout and always were revealed at exactly the right time.

This book alone has put Charlotte Duckworth onto my 'auto buy' author list.

I rated this 4.5 stars and it's out today for everyone to read and enjoy !

*Also please forgive the lack of actual pictures, I'm working all week and haven't had time to take a good snap of this book and as today is the release date, I really wanted to get this up!
.
.
.
.
.

Was this review helpful?

*MINOR SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW DUE TO DISCUSSION OF CONTENT IN STORY - NO TWISTS ARE REVEALED *

A book that is let down by the blurb, Unfollow me is unfortunately not what I was expecting despite being an engaging read. The story element contains a lot of difficult content to read about, including the death of a child, sexual assault and stalking. It also has a problematic element of trying to give one of our main characters (who victim blames and is a misogynist) a redemption arc that feels completely out of place and undeserved. The pacing also fell a bit flat because it starts really well, but becomes a bit bogged down towards the end.

In terms of the story, it wasn't my thing - but this does not mean it is a bad book in this regard. I found for me the characters are too unlikeable (we spend far too much time in their head when I think it would have been more interesting to see things from Violet's POV), the story contains far too much stuff that I found depressing and I just didn't like - it is not an easy book to read in terms of content. I also think that the final comments from Violet are unnecessary and add nothing to the story - I didn't like it at all.

I will say that Charlotte writes incredibly well - despite the fact I didn't like the characters and I wasn't a massive fan of the direction of the story I still read it in two days.

This book was not for me but that doesn't make it a bad book - I would definitely say fans of Gone Girl will enjoy this.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The story centres around Violet, who is a social media influencer, blogging about her mum life. She is married to Henry and has 3 young daughters. Violet has a huge following on each of her social media accounts. But one day her followers notice she’s disappeared, all her social media accounts have been deleted. We read the story from the perspectives of Lily, a single parent and avid follower of Violet, Yvonne, who is also a follower, but harbours some deep secrets, and Violet’s own husband, Henry. The story focuses on Lily and Yvonne (strangers to each other) who are trying to work out where Violet has gone and why, whilst dealing with secrets and lies within their own lives. The story shows that you really can’t trust anybody, and it’s surprising the lengths someone would go to to wreck revenge on others who have wronged them.
The characters were okay, I didn’t really relate to them, but they were good, solid characters for the story. The writing flowed easily, and was an easy read - I completed this in less than a day.

Overall, this was a great read and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

Was this review helpful?

I love a social media twist to a story and the title made me want to read it as the perils of this platform are being very well written about just now.
This is a great premise for a story. We meet various followers of the social media vlogger and super mum Violet who begin and end their days (and many hours in between this) following her every move. Violet seems to have the perfect husband and children and although she has suffered from post natal depression Violet seems to have overcome this and other mummy obstacles to show there is hope to her army of fans.
Suddenly Violet is gone. Her accounts all deleted, leaving her fans, who chat between them selves constantly about her. Her husband is nowhere to be seen and between super fans can they find her or discover what has happened?
Husband Henry is also responsible for telling some of the tale. He is interspersed with fans Lily and Yvonne and as the book goes on it is clear that Henry is not the perfect husband he seems. Will the fans find Violet and why has she disappeared?
Great read and pacy especially at the start. I liked the characters and found them engaging. I loathes Henry, as I am sure the author wanted the reader to do but I dropped a star as I found the ending a bit sudden and wanted maybe another twist.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Freaky Fran still has a big thing for Charles who is her long term crush from school days. Whilst following him one evening she witnessed the death of another schoolboy from that time. Was it an accident that he went under the tube train or somehow tied up with dark events involving her missing sister Ellie.

This is a well constructed story that takes its time to unfurl a good plot line that will keep you guessing to the end. Nice sense of private school, lonely flat/bookshop life and the role of social media in how people connect these days. No need to have read previous books in a series (hurrah!)

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Was this review helpful?

Violet Young has her own Youtube channel 'Violet is Blue' where she talks about being a mother to three young children and issues such as postnatal depression. She is very successful with lots of fans and freebies from companies desperate for her to feature their goods. Along with a handsome, successful husband, Violet seems to have a charmed life, until one day all her social media pages disappear. No-one has seen her for days, her neighbours say there was a violent argument and an ambulance was called, now her husband seems to be hiding something. What has happened to Violet?

The story unfolds through the eyes of three characters: Lily is one of Violet's fans, a young single mother, she watched Violet's vlogs avidly but had become jealous of her lifestyle. Yvonne also watches Violet's channel, envious of the fact that Violet has 3 children whilst Yvonne and her husband are struggling to conceive. Finally, there are several chapters from the perspective of Henry, Violet's husband. All of the characters are extremely flawed in some way and at least two of them are borderline sociopaths. The story lines of all of them gradually weave together culminating in the twist ending. I thought it was a tense read and I was enthralled with every minute of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Quercus Books, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Was this review helpful?

This was an advance review copy of Unfollow Me by Charlotte Duckworth / Querus via NetGalley.

I LOVED this book. As a blogger myself (albeit on a MUCH smaller scale than Influencer Violet Young), I often worry about how much I share about myself online; being careful to reveal too much about my identity and private family life.

Violet Young however is a huge online YouTube vlogger and influencer with over 1 million subscribers on her channels. She lives the picture perfect life with her husband Henry and three children, with many women logging in for her weekly vlogs and following closely her motherhood trials and tribulations from sleep deprivation to tantrums. One morning her fans logon to see her social channels have just disappeared. There's no explanatory blog post, no instagram grid picture, NOTHING. She's gone; and her husband Henry is carrying on as normal -smiling over sponsored cereal posts and failing to reassure her fans that she's safe and well.

The GoMama message boards are going crazy with speculation. has he hurt her? Remember that bruise she once had? What if she's dead? Why aren't the press wondering where she's gone?

We are introduced to two of Violet's most committed followers - Lily and Yvonne, both of whom are big fans of her channels. They are completely invested in her life - Lily a single Mum with a 3 year old son, and Yvonne, a married woman struggling with infertility but desperate to conceive again after losing a child in her twenties.

It isn't too hard to use the information Violet has shared about her life to try and find out the truth. Remember the school uniform shot she shared? The photo of her front door? The time she forgot to blur out her address on a parcel?? But is this obsession with Violet healthy. Are they really just super fans? Or is there a more sinister reason for their interest?

As the narrative swaps between Lily, Yvonne and Henry (Violet's husband), the back stories of the characters is slowly revealed, with lots of twists, turns and unexpected detail;s emerging. I loved the ending (other reviewers haven't).

Overall, if you're familiar with the online world, forums, mum bloggers and such the like I think you'll really enjoy this. Its not your traditional thriller, but I found it a really gripping read and would definitely recommend.

Was this review helpful?

Do you ever worry about how much of yourself you put out there on social media? In Unfollow Me by Charlotte Duckworth, influencer Violet Young should probably been a lot more careful about what she shared!

Her vlog and Instagram followers are dismayed when all Violet’s socials are deleted overnight with no explanation. The GoMama message boards are rife with speculation about what’s happened to her, some suspecting foul play. Single mum Lily, one of Violet’s loyal fans, is determined to find out the truth and is prepared to go to great lengths to do so. The narrative alternates between Lily’s point of view and that of Yvonne, a woman struggling with fertility issues who also seems disproportionately interested in Violet and her family. There are occasional chapters from Violet’s husband, Henry, through which we start to build up a slightly truer picture of the Young’s not-so-perfect family life.

This is a tense and sinister thriller, which I found to be a quick, page-turning read. It got me thinking about privacy and internet safety since it was so terrifying how much Lily was able to find out about Violet just through trawling through her photos and videos. But also I’d never really considered the fact that anyone could be so obsessed with influencers that they would so comprehensively stalk them! I guess that shows my age 😂

There were plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing but I have to say that I was a touch disappointed by the ending. Perhaps I was expecting a bit more drama than I got. I would also say that if you’re distressed by stories of baby loss and infertility then give this one a miss, as there are some particularly upsetting scenes and descriptions.

If those things don’t put you off, it’s a compelling book, which is definitely worth a read. It’s published by Quercus and is available in ebook now and in paperback on the 15th October. The publisher gifted me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Violet is a successful mummy vlogger who captures her daily trials and tribulations of being a busy mother of three and posts it to her followers on social media. Her fans find her relatable despite her seemingly perfect life and she is hugely popular, so when she disappears without a trace out of the blue, they start to worry.

I really enjoyed all the smaller stories and how they entwined together. The twist was completely unexpected-wow!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus for a copy of Unfollow Me.

This was an underwhelming read for me.
One of those books where both the title and the summary makes you picture a story that's far from what the story actually is.

It started out well; I liked the different points of view, and trying to understand what exactly linked those different people.
But then, the book felt – for lack of a better term – monotonous. You know, a bit like those teachers who tell everything in the same (boring) tone and make even the most exciting wars seem uninteresting.
This is what this book felt like. A story that had the potential to pick up and bring a lot of suspense, but, somehow, never fully did. There's not much suspense; never did I feel like I couldn't put the book down because of how much I wanted to know what was about to happen.
I just didn't feel this spark, and though there's nothing particularly wrong about the book, it just didn't work for me. What I can't deny is that it has a nice set of characters (I really liked Luke!) and talks about an important topic nowadays, namely where the limit should be on putting your children on social media and using them to promote stuff.

So, all in all, a disappointing read that wasn't bad, but just didn't work for me – as some books are bound to be!

Was this review helpful?

Unfollow Me is about the disappearance of a social media star, Violet Young, and two women who are desperate to discover what has happened to her. It’s unclear at first how Lily and Yvonne are connected to Violet, and I loved the way Duckworth gradually brought everything into sharp focus, drip-feeding information at the perfect time to allow her reader to put the pieces together.

Was this review helpful?

This starts off really strong, told from a few different perspectives we follow the lives of a number of people all connected in some way to a social influencer. As time goes on their lives are somehow linked, revealing ugly secrets that they all are trying desperately to hide. The pace doesn’t continue throughout and although it kept my interest, there wasn’t some twist that really shocked me. Instead, it’s just a tale of some not very likeable, sorry characters. At times I just downright didn’t like them and found their behaviour at times just completely bizarre. Unfortunately I wouldn’t say this was thrilling, it was just a look into the lives of some utterly selfish people.

Was this review helpful?

Well, that was a bit of fun! Violet Young is a social media influencer, a mummy blogger on You Tube, Twitter, Instagram and so on and one day in December her feed suddenly ‘goes dark’. She has shut it all down without explanation. Nobody knows what has happened. Her hundreds of thousands of followers are gutted. Personally I don’t get it. Some of these fans are literally addicted to Violet.

We follow the story through a couple of these followers - Lily, a 27 year old single mother struggling on a low wage and Yvonne, 40 years and old married to a younger personal trainer and desperate to have a baby. Later on we also hear from Henry, Violet’s husband. These people are all liars, they are all hiding things and they are very unreliable narrators! I love a good unreliable narrator story and three of them is very delicious indeed! And even better, the mystery surrounding Violet’s disappearance from social media becomes more and more sinister as the story progresses. I really enjoyed this change of pace and genre. Many thanks to Netgalley, Quercus Books and Charlotte Duckworth for providing a copy. My opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

I am seriously in the minority here, but this was not a great read for me.
The book skips between different people and at times I couldn't keep up with who was who and then there was those anonymous emails as well.
It got to the point I really didn't care what was happening, I just wanted to finish the book and be done with it. My part of the deal is I read the books and review them.
I don't buy what happened wouldn't have made it into the press at the time, these things do especially when it involves a child.
A truly depressing read and shows that you shouldn't post your whole life on social media, especially pictures of your children for the whole world to see.
I don't understand the title as no one unfollowed Violet, she deleted her accounts and a bunch of sad people decided to find out why and stalk her even more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely loved this book - the suspense of what was happening to Violet and why she had suddenly disappeared from the public eye kept me flicking the pages until the end. It had lots of twists and turns, and I really loved the different viewpoints the book came from. If you've liked books like "Filter This" by Sophie White, you'll love this one.

Was this review helpful?

An interesting read delving into jealousy and post natal depression in the age of ‘everything’s available on line’ that we live in today. Good characters that weave together throughout the book each giving their own version of events.

Was this review helpful?

A very easy read and the first I have read of Charlotte Duckworth, I would definitely read more of her work after this. I couldn’t relate to the 2 main characters very much as vlogging is not something I’m overly interested in. However it did highlight some important issues with social media. I really enjoyed the book and liked the fact that it was written from various people’s points of view. Certainly worth a read!

Was this review helpful?

I was drawn to the premise of this title and was keen to see how the story would develop. Social media has exploded in recent years, and we all know the dangers that come with it. Platforms that were once only accessible to celebrities are now available to anyone – so long as they’re willing to expose themselves to the world, and this is exactly what happens to Violet – an influencer with a million YouTube subscribers. She regularly shares her life, her three young children and her husband Henry, often oversharing, until one day all her accounts are deleted and she “disappears” from the online world. The book is written from the point of view of two main characters – Lily and Yvonne – who are both avid followers, almost to the point of addiction/obsession, and are distraught at her sudden disappearance. Everyone starts to speculate as to what has happened and as the story and characters develop we learn that all is not as perfect as it would appear in Violet’s vlogs.

I enjoyed this book, it was a well written, fast paced thriller with an interesting storyline. There were some fun moments plus a few twists and turns – enough to keep the reader gripped until the very end. Many thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley UK for the free review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Violet, a well known Mummy influencer disappears, deactivating all her social media.
This story is told from the perspectives of two women who follow and rely on her, and some small part by her husband.

I don't want to give too much away but this book is brilliant, insightful and very well observed. It is not hard to believe and no point slips in to too much fantasy. It's an astounding rhetoric on what social media is and the danger it can bring.

Was this review helpful?

Oops I’ve already read this one! Here’s my previous review -

I absolutely loved Unfollow Me! As someone who spends a lot of time on social media following influencers and their lives it made me take a good look at myself.

Meet mummy blogger Violet (or don’t actually the book isn’t from her perspective) and her amazing life, three kids, gorgeous husband and a huge internet following but when she goes missing and her social media is shut down how will her fans react?

The characters are all so unlikable and I love it! Captivating writing and I was hooked from the start.
A strong 5 out of 5.

Was this review helpful?