I honestly have no words for how terrible this book was. The heavy-handed and overt attempt to be "woke" and include reference to every recent political event came off as insincere and surface-level; it would've been far more effective had they just included one or two culturally relevant events. The storyline also just made no sense. It was hard to follow. I kept reading hoping that something would be made clear but I read the last page and had more questions than I started with.

Ultimately, I think this novel suffered because of the author's attempt to shock and awe its audience. Unfortunately for the author, this cultural commentary was just a mess. I would give this novel 0 stars if I could.

If there were content warnings about this book I completely missed them. There are things discussed and experienced by the main character that I've experienced before/am currently experiencing now. Due to this, I can't really review this book correctly as it was so hard for me to continue after reading that. I feel terrible, but I'm struggling myself right now and it's honestly really hard for me to read about someone else going through the same thing willingly. I sincerely apologize.

Hayley Phelan's "Like Me," a psychological thriller, delves into obsession, illusion, and the complexities of female identity in the digital age. Mickey, a troubled nineteen-year-old with a faltering modeling career, becomes fixated on Gemma Anton, an Insta-famous model who represents Mickey's idealised self. Mickey's infatuation with Gemma intensifies as she meticulously observes her actions and strives to emulate her.

Unexpected success takes Mickey by surprise. However, as her online persona takes control, the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, ultimately leading to Gemma's mysterious disappearance. "Like Me" explores themes of infatuation, detachment, and self-discovery in an interconnected world. Phelan's narrative is keen, insightful, and introduces a talented new voice to contemporary literature.

A huge thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader’s e-book.

Really interesting and what feels like a realistic premise in todays social media obsessed world! Readable but still shocking, I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys a very contemporary thriller!

Some very big themes addressed in this book. It is dark and twisted and surprisingly relevant. A thrilling story, with a dark side.

Thanks to Netgalley for sending me the ARC! I so wanted to like this book but it was a total let down. Mickey was disappointing to be a lead character. I rate it a 2.2!

A lot of big themes raised in this book. Overall, it was intriguing and I kept reading to find out what would happen next. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book

Like Me is an engrossing, scathing, and timely novel about identity in the digital age, featuring an unreliable and acerbic narrator. Mickey Jones is an aspiring model in NYC who becomes obsessed with another model named Gemma Anton. The difference between Mickey and Gemma is that Gemma has already made it, and Mickey pores over her Instagram, soaking in every gridded moment of Gemma's life, becoming increasingly desperate to emulate Gemma's success -- and Gemma herself. After a chance encounter with Gemma in the real world, Mickey finally gets a break of her own -- but as her Follower count grows, her hold on the real world begins to lessen, with horrific consequences.

With pitch-black humor and biting insight, Hayley Phelan perfectly captures the world of influencer culture in Like Me: the constant need for validation from strangers, the monetization of entire lives for more likes and follows, the oversharing, the BS inspirational posts. And she brilliantly portrays what it's like to be a social media user on any given day: the dazed detachment of the endless scroll, the voyeuristic and addictive nature of social media platforms, the desensitization that occurs when details about horrific events are sandwiched between memes, ads, and food photos. It's frighteningly accurate and sharply observant -- a painfully realistic look at the social media age.

Phelan explores all of these ideas, intersecting them with themes of privilege and sexism, through Mickey, who narrates the book and offers us her perspective on modern life through the skewed lens of her own experiences and feelings. She is at once unreliable and honest, which makes her such an interesting character. Because we are in Mickey's head and with her in her downward spiral and break with reality, there is a lot in the book that is open to interpretation, which to me just worked so well with the story Phelan was trying to tell.

Like Me is an impressive debut: unflinching, relevant, and engrossing. I think Phelan accomplished exactly what she intended to with this book, and I'll be eager to see what she writes next.

'Like Me' is perfect for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh or Mona Awad. It reminds me of 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation,' but instead of the protagonist being passive, she's entirely active. Mickey is THE unhinged main character for the Instagram generation.

I never knew where this book was going to take me and it was compulsively enjoyable, a page-turner in every sense of the word.

My first book to read by this author but definitely not my last! Such a gripping novel that made it hard for me to put his book down once I started it. Highly recommend!!

3.5

Although I really try not to request books I’m not realistically going to read, and after learning not to take too many chances and generally stick to authors I know or I’ve heard good things about, occasionally I’ll have a request granted and think: Why/when did I want this?

Like Me was one of those books.

But I was really into it!

Like Me is the story of a young model, Mickey Jones, living in NYC and trying to make something of herself after her dad was imprisoned for embezzlement. She becomes obsessed with another model, Gemma, who she follows obsessively on Instagram and who looks a lot like Mickey herself.

This book is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend it to people who usually like the books I like. But I just found something about it so compelling! It’s part satire of influencers and part mystery, but under everything it’s the story a girl unravelling.

I loved how Mickey would list all the clothes and designers she was wearing, as if it were crucial information for the reader – it reminded me of Patrick Bateman’s album reviews. And the conversations with both of Mickey’s parents were scary as some parts were almost line for line conversations I had with my own parents at age 19. Phelan definitely had an eye for detail in many parts.

Sadly, the ending was a bit of a let-down for me. I knew where it was all going but I felt the explanation wasn’t strong enough and parts of it just didn’t work given what we already knew. I enjoyed getting there though!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Read this book if you like: relevant thrillers, twists

Wow. This is a very dark, eerily realistic thriller about social media, mental health, and peer pressure. Mickey is beautiful, cunning, and privileged, nineteen-year-old with a stalled modeling career, an escalating drinking problem, few friends, and next to nothing in the bank. She becomes obsessed with building her online image on Instagram. She also obsessively tracks the movements of Insta-famous model Gemma.

Mickey sees Gemma as a perfected version of herself. Gemma is living a seemingly perfect life: a skyrocketing career, a famous boyfriend, and adoring followers. It’s the life Mickey wants more than anything. Mickey studies every detail Gemma offers through the window of her phone, trying to absorb, mimic, even become the object of her growing fascination.

When a chance encounter thrusts Mickey into a world of opportunity, she is met with surprising and immediate success. But as her online persona begins to take over, the line between reality and illusion disappears. Then suddenly, so does Gemma.

This book was shocking yet so possible in today's world. This book had me on the edge until the very last page. I definitely recommend this book. Check the triggers.*

Thank you to NetGalley, the author Hayley, and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC!

I literally couldn’t put this book down from the moment I picked it up. Have you ever seen that black mirror episode with Bryce Dallas Howard? This instantly reminded me of this. Obsessed with social media our heroine does whatever she can to stay relevant for the gram. She has inspirations and people she is I will say loosely obsessed with that help her with her looks. As time goes on reality may become distorted. Or is it? This definitely has me guessing until the very last page. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A seductive psychological thriller about obsession, illusion, and female identity in the digital age. This book was such a pleasure to read, such a beautifully written, atmospheric book , everything about this book is just so perfect and beautiful, the writing, the characters, the world building and the story.

This book is so dark and twisted that it seems perverse to also say that it is, so relevant. The context and character are really current and relevant to all we see and read in social media and, increasingly, mainstream media. That lends a sense of foreboding to a thrilling and appalling story about a social influencer and the darker side of what being a public persona brings. I didn’t like the main character much but she is very clearly developed and credible.

This is a true page turner very dark haunting.Touches on today’s social issues such as peer pressure and other problems.The book kept me reading late into the night.Well written an author to follow.#netgalley #amazon

This is a very dark, very of-the-moment thriller about social media, peer pressure and mental health. It's not going to be for everyone, and its subject matter will definitely be triggering for some. But I found it to be a compelling exploration of the extremes that online "celebrity" and fame can drive a young woman to in the 2010s.

This wasnt for me, had to DNf it. I coudnt connect with character as well as story. It was a huge no for me. It was so cliche

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, Hayley Phelan for a review copy of Like Me

Trigger Warnings: This book contains themes of drug use, sexual assault, suicide, mental health, eating disorders and abuse

Like Me is told from the perspective of Mikey, a 19-year-old social media influencer and model. Right from the start you can kind of tell the type of character Mikey is, completely all over the place, delusional - an overall unreliable narrator. Throughout the book you cringe at some of the things she says and does in order to gain the approval and attention of her followers and acquaintances.
Phelan's character building is exceptional. I felt as though I was going a little insane reading her work. I'd reread parts to make sure I was understanding what was being said, and also because I was completely and utterly confused at what was happening. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but for this book it was great. It put everything into perspective, and up until the end you're questioning everything (well, even after I've finished it I'm still a little confused).

There are relevant point of views and topics within the book that are important to discuss in todays world. Social media and mental health are at the forefront of these topics and Phelan did a good job at using an unreliable narrator to explore 'the other side'.

Definitely took awhile to get into, and I felt a few scenes within were irrelevant or too long. But nevertheless, it was a dark and engaging read and a great debut for Phelan!

This book really surprised me. Each time I thought I understood where we were going things shifted. In the day and age of our phones and social media being our constant companion, knowing that every one is at risk of falling into the comparison game, it seems the world of fashion and fame are on another level. This book reads like a stream of consciousness and that took some getting used to, but this cautionary tale of what lengths someone might go to, to get what they think they want was compelling.