This was a fun and creepy book to read, around the joys and pitfalls of being social-media famous wrapped in a haunted-house story. I particularly liked the relationship between the triplets—siblings who stick together despite the odd falling out, and with markedly different personalities and interests. Appreciate the fat and queer rep with Amber, and the twist in Cecily's future.
The creepiness was right up there—at one point you aren't sure if this will take a supernatural twist or go in a thriller/mystery direction. That said, the suspense was somewhat spoilt because the actual reason behind the strange happenings around the house was kind of given away with the author signposting a particular aspect of the house that everyone kept talking about but nobody seemed interested in getting to the bottom of it. This is somewhat difficult to swallow, especially given that potentially life-threatening stuff happened.
The mental health connection also made me uncomfortable.
(Review copy from NetGalley)

I am kind of torn between how I really thought of this. Was it a good thriller? Yes. It definitely had some dark thrills and it was pretty crazy from the beginning. I just didn't love it and some things that happened weren't necessary. I love it when a book is told from multiple perspectives, but even though this was told from all three of the triplets perspectives I didn't care to know whose chapter was whose. I like that this is centered around a haunted house vibe and the three main characters were realistic. Their bickering with each other was so on point with real siblings. While the twist was not believable I think the author was going for shock more than oh wow I guessed it.

I really did not like two main things, the animal torture and the villain having mental health issues. Why oh why do we still need animal torture in books? It just makes me incredibly sad and I want to stop reading. No need for it, horror does not need to include animals. Also, mental health issues already get such a bad wrap in the real world, we don't need the villain to be the bad guy because of their mental health. They could have been the bad person without that.

While this wasn't the best thriller for me, I know so many people are going to devour this book in one sitting. It is fast paced, has action, and the writing makes you want to know more.

I wasn’t expecting loads from this really but I was so wrong. Despite a slow start, this book was creepy, suspenseful, modernly scary at its best. Growing up as a teenager with a life where I followed YouTube stars and obsessed over their lives, this was right up my street. The characters were realistic, they felt like they were the people I grew up watching. I loved the concept, with life online being tainted with strange people we don’t kinematic this story was scarily possible, I was literally left scared at points, feeling for the characters lives as they tried to live with what was happening. Whilst it wasn’t perfect and I did work it out, for a YA suspense I was so enthralled!

things i liked:
- sibling relationship
- fat & queer rep
- the scary parts were genuinely scary

things i didn't like:
- the writing
> was weirdly repetitive in a lot of parts
- alllll the focus on social media
- the reveal/twist
- the ending

i think this could have benefited from being like half the length. as i said, the creepy parts were genuinely creepy and the concept is an interesting one, but it just talked way too much about aspects of social media that i didn't care about at all. along with that, the reveal came out of absolutely nowhere and the ENDING? i did not like at all.

Suspenseful but it still managed to drag throughout for me. About 70% into it I was finally invested enough to make the push to the end to find out if the family was dealing with a ghost or human, but I had a difficult time up until then. Issues:

Mom's hard-driving personality
Mom's exclusion of the fat daughter
Dad's (prior) gambling problem
The unfixable consequences of the The Follower's actions - there was some pretty serious stuff going down.
The lack of police interest in all these really horrible things that kept happening (although that was explained later)
The bunny (although that was very obvious to anyone who has read or watched anything suspenseful)

Mostly, I get scared fairly easily by scary books and movies so I can't imagine why the family would continue to live in that house. At the very least, I would start sharing a bedroom with my siblings so I wasn't all alone at night! Still, this will sell very well with my students and is totally middle school appropriate.

The Cole triplets run a successful social media page flipping houses. When they purchase a house with a traumatic past, one of their followers is very angry. Their harassment doesn’t stay behind a screen.

This was a highly entertaining and scary story! I thought it was super spooky, even though a bit over-exaggerated and over the top. It still freaked me out throughout. I loved the mash-up of horror and social media, which I think could start to be a new trend. This book reminded me a bit of Riley Sager’s Home After Dark, with the spooky house! I didn’t really enjoy the ending as much as the story itself, but it was still a fun read.

“Before and after pictures. Luxury estates. Designer clothes. A window into the life of the rich and richer. Their followers eat it up.”

“You touch that house, I touch you.”

The Follower comes out 3/23.

Honestly, the premise of this book is really interesting, however the characters are so annoying. When I say the characters, really what I mean is the parents. I love books with social media in them, but these people are just so annoying and terrible - especially the mom. i hate everything they're doing to their children. i dnfed because they were annoying me wayyyy too much. i might keep reading in the future tho. the triplets are interesting. also, a list of trigger warnings would be appreciated in the future!

When I started reading this I expected a certain type of book, and I was happy to be proved wrong.

I expected quite a tame horror story for young adults, but this book was genuinely one of the creepiest stories I've had the pleasure to read - a stalker story for the Tik Tok generation.

I thought the three main characters were very well written - they were the perfect insta influencer but with a substance that made them likeable. I especially liked the stories engagement with issues are body image and fatphobia, especially within the family unit. As a fat girl myself this resonated.

I went into this story expecting a tame YA thriller but I was given so much more, I love it!

I was instantly hooked. This is an edge of your seat rollercoater, can not put it down, from page 1.
The characters were instantly like-able and well developed. The plot was unique and I loved the Instagram shots and inclusions. It made the story feel real. This one kept me guessing until the very end. It had some horrifying moments that made my jaw drop. I especially loved Ambers unique character and how she grew throughout this story. What a great read.

This definitely gave me some old-school R.L. Stine Fear Street vibes. The cover with the quote, "You never know who is watching," sets the perfect creepy tone for this bone-chilling YA mystery thriller.

The Follower, Kate Doughty. 3/5

Rudy, Cecily and Amber are insta famous triplets whose sponsored posts help keep their family afloat. Whilst their Mom and Dad flip houses they also keep a firm grip on their kids shared social media handle. The most recent house they are flipping, Tremont House, is unlike any other.... this one has a dark past and something is lurking, something doesn’t want the house to be changed or the Cole triplets there and they’ll do anything to get them out.

A YA thriller that just tingles with the implications of what it is like to grow up in a generation where everything you do is being filmed and watched. This captures the general feeling and attitude of a life lived online perfectly, the comments, accusations and demands are spot on. Much like YOU this also manages to bring in social media to give a clever twist on an old genre. With YOU that was stalking/thriller, here there is the vibe of a haunted house.

A fun, clever, quick little thriller that will still have you questioning at the end.

This book had me scared and on edge every night till I finished it. Really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

I don't remember requesting this book and unfortunately I'm not interested in it. I read some reviews on goodreads to see if I would be interested and I read some trigger warnings which helped me realise it's definitely not for me. I wish ARCs came with trigger warnings in the descriptions before you download them. I will make sure to be more careful with what I request in future and I hope this book finds the right audience.

The Follower • Kate Doughty⠀⠀
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This book really peaked my interest from the synopsis, and I always love a good thriller! The stalker/follower of the Instagram famous Cole triplets was crazy. I felt I had an idea about where the book was going but totally surprised me! Keep an eye out for this one when it releases!
Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC. ⠀⠀
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synopsis • Three triplets, Cecily, Amber and Rudy, are famous on Instagram and children to renovation famous parents. They move onto their next project in a new small town for the summer. Soon after moving in, a follower of theirs sends anonymous threats about them being in that house. This follower does not believe the Cole family has the right to be in the house and the threats become more than just an internet troll.

THE FOLLOWER by Kate Doughty is a fast paced and addictive YA thriller that takes some inspiration from the true story of "The Watcher", an anonymous troll who sent letters to a family that bought an old house and harassed them until they packed up and left. The mystery of who The Follower is has a lot of predictable elements to it, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It kept me interested and it kept me reading, and while I was able to predict a number of twists and turns, and while there was a bit of a reliance on old hat tropes, I really did like The Cole Triplets. I felt that all of them were well rounded and realistic in their aspirations and passions, as well as their insecurities. I especially liked Amber, the plus sized fashion maven who has been relegated off camera because her mother thinks that she isn't 'on brand'. I liked that while Amber was understandably hurt by her mother's judgements and misconceptions, she herself was perfectly happy as who she was and didn't have any moments of doubting her appearance, which I thought was a good message. I also liked how Doughty does bring up the pitfalls of being famous and having a large online following, as as things start to go south, the fans assume that Coles are lying, and start to harass, smear, and denigrate them. I wouldn't call it an attack on so called 'cancel culture', but I do think that it brings up how the faux intimacy of social media can make fans feel like they know more than they actually do, and how it can make them feel entitled to get whatever they want from those they 'admire'.

So while it was predictable and trope-y, THE FOLLOWER was a quick read with likable characters and a fast paced speed. Teens just getting into the thriller genre will probably find a lot to like, but so will those who appreciate the genre as a whole and the building blocks that go into it.

This book was a fairly quick read and is a thriller/ mystery that follows the Cole family (who are Instagram famous) as they move into a new house that they plan to do up and sell. But they learn that there was a suicide in the house and they want to find out more. Then this follower starts commenting on their posts telling them to leave the house and leaving things like ‘this is my house’.

The chapters are written from a different triplet’s view, but is written in third person. I found myself not really reading the triplet’s name at the start of the chapter and having no issue following the story. This felt a little odd, as I didn’t really feel like there was much else to distinguish who the chapter was meant to be following. The triplets didn’t really have different personalities as such.

I kinda guessed the main twist but more in a ‘it’s probably them, but I don’t understand how it’s going to be revealed and I’m probably wrong’ kind of way. The ending twist felt a little rushed and something just didn’t feel right, almost like it was just thrown in there. Apart from one thing, it didn’t really feel like the reader was being lead to be able to understand who and why it is that person. A good twist should be ‘it’s kinda obvious now I think about it’ and when you reread, you should be able to pick up on more clues. But this felt like it was going more for a shock factor.

There are other things that bother me about this, but I think that’s just down to personal preference, mainly how reading this, I could already tell that the ‘follower’ would be shown to have a history of mental health issues and history of being medicated. There’s just something about having a thriller using mental health as a way to show that the person is ‘dangerous’ that feels not only predictable, but also adds to the stigma around mental health.

I don’t like to end on a negative, so here’s one thing I did enjoy about the characters. I like that Amber is fat, and is into fashion and posts about body positivity and breaking ‘the rules’ around plus size fashion. I liked that at no point did she try to lose weight to fit into other people’s ideals when she was posting fashion things on instagram, and that she gets into a relationship with a girl, that isn’t toxic.

The Follower follows the story of triplets Cecily, Amber and Rudy who run a popular Instagram account which documents their parent’s renovations, however things at the latest house take a dark turn when an internet troll goes too far.

The book was a fast paced and creepy read, it was fun to read and I really liked the eerie atmosphere to the story. The book is told from the perspective of each triplet and right from the start we know things in their lives are not as perfect as they portray, they all have their own personal problems, and I liked their distinct voices and their relationship together. As the triplets are influencers it was interesting to read about their daily lives and what goes on behind the scenes for their content.

The plot focuses on the family renovating a new house which has more history/issues than they expected, and I really liked the creepy atmosphere in the book and what happened to the family and how they dealt with everything. The book is fast paced, and a lot happens in it, because of this it felt like some things were not addressed that well or enough and so the mystery side of the book was lacking build up. There were too many aspects to the plot which were dead ends/lead nowhere and so there was little build up the actual reveal. The ending itself was kind of disappointing and rushed and I personally did not like the final reveal.

3/5

I won't be reviewing this on social media, because I submitted it for the YALSA quick picks list for 2022.

The Follower is a YA story that follows the story of teenage triplets, Cecily, Amber and Rudy Cole. They are the personalities that front the family's social media influencer account about house flipping. They take on multi million dollar makeovers, live-streaming and photoshopping their way to sponsorships that increasingly become needed due to the family finances.
The majority of followers (The Cole Patrol) are in awe.
The triplets each had their own "thing" on social media. Cecily does make up and wanted to delve into the chemicals and science of the make up. Amber has been relegated by mum to the behind camera operations, despite wanting to promote her plus size fashion tips and Rudy has become the "host with the most", when all he wants to do is investigate and dabble in his music.

But all is not as "prefect" as it seems, both on social media and in their lives. The triplets are increasing fed up with their mother's control of their output (mainly due to financial pressures) and the never ending need for the perfect shots to up the follower count.

When they take on a house in the New York suburbs that has been empty for a few years after a suicide, the locals are none too happy and neither is one particular follower. This is when things start to totally unravel for the Cole family.
The Follower posts messages to their account warning them off "my house". The family ignore these until strange things start to happen. Items are moved or disappear, doors are locked that were previously open, shadows are seen, footsteps heard...but no solid evidence. The normally encouraging and cheerleading followers start to take notice of The Follower's postings and accuse the Coles of fake news and faking accidents for internet hits, turning against the family.

I wanted to tell them to stop posting, but like all horror stories, characters always do things we all know would be sensible not to.
The incidents become increasingly life threatening but are difficult to prove to the police. Rudy takes on his own investigation, with the support of his sisters and a couple of local teenagers they have befriended. This just increases the rage of The Follower.

The tension builds during the story, clues lead in a range of different directions until the final, slightly bemusing denouement. I felt there were not enough hints earlier in the story to have possibly worked out who The Follower was. However, the explanation added to the depth of the back story. There is no final "happy" ending...we are left wondering what will happen next.

There are some difficult themes in this book: loss, disfigurement, stalking, death, suicide, as well as the overarching theme of social media portrayal of life vs reality (lies vs truth?), which leads the narrative and is very uncomfortable at times.

There are some follower posts between each chapter, on a background of a shadow (The Follower). These add to the creepiness of the story. I noticed that the shadow is not always in the same place, which added to my unnerved feeling.



Cover and other illustrations are by Hana Anouk Nakamura.

This is a story loosely based on an ongoing true story. It is deeply unsettling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Amulet Books/ABRAMSbooks for an eARC.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of The Follower in exchange for an honest review.

While Kate Doughty does an incredibly job at capturing how teenagers actually talk to each other (bonus points for a realistic sibling relationship between the triplets!) most of The Follower's thriller-claim seem like they should draw on the central mystery and they just don't.

This is the kind of book that tells you everything three times but makes sure to never tell you enough that anyone could reasonably solve the mystery on their own and while I get the appeal of a twist, a good twist should be one that makes you suddenly connect all the clues you missed, not one that makes you go "wow that's so crazy and random! I never could have guessed!" and this book is definitely more the latter.