Bodies, Bodies, Bodies meets And Then There Were None in this debut isolation thriller following a group of teen influencers on an island for a reality show when people start dying. This is a very solid debut that is plotted in a way that will probably surprise teen readers and will keep you turning the pages. It's a lot of moving pieces to keep straight and doing that effectively is impressive for a new author. There's also a lot of great social commentary and this was written by someone who feels very in tune with the landscape of YouTube, social media, and influencers.

That said, I wasn't as invested in any of the characters as I wanted to be for building tension of the book to really work for me. And some of the decision-making and thinking felt conveniently stupid. Plus I don't feel like the ending was super satisfying for spoilery reasons. I think this might have worked better if there was at least one character the reader really cares about. That said, I still liked this and there's definitely skill to being able to manage such a sprawling cast of characters and complex plot. I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book, as I enjoy the premise. Unfortunately, I don't think it was executed well. It didn't really hold my attention, but I pushed forward, hoping as things picked up it would. I typically really enjoy thrillers of this nature, so I'm not particularly sure how this one went wrong for me, but I am hopeful that trying again later may help. This is no one way a slight to the author, I just wasn't captivated by the story, and that happens and is okay.

This was a little drawn out, but I liked the story and would try this author again in the future. I think the plot and cover reeled me in initially and then I just really started to get into the story.

Teen influencers are filming a reality show when someone starts killing them. This is kind of fun in an embarrassing sort of way, but should in no way be confused with a good book. Most of these people are too shallow and interchangeable to want dead or to hope they survive. This puts us all in the position of Mean Girls.

I love a good locked room mystery! This was filled with unexpected secrets. Damn everyone had a wild secret. It was a little hard to follow each character at times but not too bad.

Most of the characters were shallow and really only cared about themselves but i liked the underlying theme of basically there’s more to “influencing” and don’t lose yourself in it. We definitely live in the world of everything is on the internet and gotta post it and make content and i liked that this brought attention to maybe we should be more careful. I grew up before the internet and i kind of miss it 😅

It was an interesting case to figure out how and why each character landed on this island & i definitely was puzzled the whole time on who was actually behind it all.

I enjoyed this one.

Ten influencers are stuck on an island after signing a contract to be on a reality show. It quickly becomes apparent to them that not all is what it seems after their "sponsor" makes them vote on who to cancel... and the first person voted out is killed.

*YA thriller
*multiple POV
*pop culture references

Unfortunately this one was not for me. I'm probably not in the right age demographic because I was really annoyed by the character's dialogue and decisions. The characters were unlikeable and one-dimensional so I found myself not caring who the perpetrator even was.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was such a fun YA mystery. Everyone wants to secretly see influencers struggle, and boy did they In this one. I loved it.

I did not love this book. I found the characters unrealistic and unlikable. I liked the premise, but something was lost in translation for me.

Honestly this book was not a favorite for me. It took a while for me to get through. It felt very immature to me and while I know its a young adult book I expected the characters to have more depth. The storyline did pick up in the last half and it was more interesting to me.

Overall I would say it was good book but I wouldn't read it again.

This book was super twisty. SO much happened, but the change in narrators made it really hard for me to follow and keep track of the characters. There were just so many names, and it really look away from the story for me. Overall, this was just fine.

People to Follow is Olivia Worley’s debut novel, is yet another retelling/reimagining of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. These seem to be particularly popular lately, and I don’t hate it since it’s one of my favorite Christie works. It shares a similar tone with Lucy Foley’s The Guest List but is distinctly tailored for a younger audience. This became apparent to me about halfway through. It’s technically considered a YA Thriller, but I would consider it more of a mystery than a thriller.

The characters in People to Follow are an intriguing mix; none are particularly likable, each harboring both annoying traits and deep-seated secrets. These secrets are the threads that bind them together and lead them to an isolated island for a three-week retreat. What starts as a period of relaxation quickly turns sinister when a storm leaves them stranded, and the murder of one among them sparks a tense whodunit.

10 young influencers are invited to a private Caribbean Island for 3 weeks of relaxing and unplugging, all to be filmed of course for a new reality show titled IRL. Each of the characters is facing some sort of personal crisis, mostly revolving around their dive in popularity. A “storm” strands the production crew, and the emergency takes the PA off island. She leaves a cell phone for emergencies, and each influencer has a watch. Turns out the cell phone goes missing, and the watches only get messages from “The Sponsor”, and they can’t send any outgoing messages. When one of their number ends up dead, the remaining 9 come to the logical conclusion that one of them is a murderer.

The story is told from alternating points of view between 4 of the main characters. Max, an aspiring documentary YouTuber who has had trouble catching a new story since his smashing expose. He’s here trying to catch a story on The Bounce House, a famous TikTok trio who have also been invited to the island. Kira, a fitness influencer who was a former reality star of a popular dance show. She finds her old nemesis from the dance show, a member of The Bounce House is also on the island. Logan is a former member of The Bounce House who has recently been kicked out/left. Who knows, but the internet is awash with rumors and conjecture. She isn’t happy to see her former friends. Then there is Elody. She’s the most annoying of the bunch, but she has the most distinct voice of all the characters. She has no apparent ties to the other influencers but seems to be there as the life of the party. When in doubt, she finds a way to make it fun/interesting. I found myself enjoying her chapters the most as the book unfolded.

I managed to guess the murderer’s identity mid-way, but the specific character revelation was a surprise. Particularly interesting was the plot involving Max’s secret, which led to a predictable yet intriguing revelation of the perpetrator’s identity and their accomplice. Despite some predictability, the book’s ending was engaging, with a well-executed plot twist.

This book is literally begging to be made into a movie. It was an absolutely solid debut from Worley. While the ‘closed-room mystery’ theme might seem overdone, Worley’s take is great.

The market is over saturated right now with influencers on an island and so you really need to be special to stand out. Unfortunately this wasn’t it. All the characters were caricatures of personalities. None of them were likeable and it was hard to tell them apart. One of my least favorite influencer stories

I am a huge fan of reality shows and this one has influencers on a reality show. This was a fun debut by Olivia Worley and I am looking forward to more books by her

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of People to Follow by Olivia Worley.

People to Follow is such a fun debut! Influencers stranded on a remote island without their phones, mysterious messages coming from an unknown person, and murderous activity. What’s not to love?

Worley unravels our story through the eyes of four different influencers, which gives the reader the opportunity to both, get to know them and to learn about the others on the island through their eyes. As things start to ramp up and get more tense it was fun to see what these individuals would do and who they would believe among them. I loved how each character had a distinct voice that fit their influencer personality. They felt exactly like how I would imagine an 18-year-old influencer to talk and behave in this situation.

There are so many secrets in the pages of this story that you’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention throughout. I found myself multiple times kicking myself for missing something as Worley revealed a pivotal connection or truth.

This is very much an And Then There Were None type story, which I absolutely adored. Trying to guess who would fall victim next or what secrets would be revealed about who kept me consistently coming back for more.

A huge thank you to Wednesday Books for my gifted copy!

So many moving parts! The story is told from four different points of view, who all sound somewhat the same, and there is a lot to unpack, most of which is a bunch of whiny teens crying about not having enough followers and all sorts of other drama. They are all killed off, one by one, which was kind of nice as they weren’t particularly likeable (I don’t think they were supposed to be) but it leaves you with no one to root for. There are some funny lines but not enough to really make this a great read. If it wasn’t for the last chapter, I still would be confused about who killed who and why. I just wasn’t the right audience for this book; young adult readers and fans of influencers would love this.

People to Follow by Oliva Worley. This book had a lot of characters and a lot going on but once I got about 25 percent in, it was easier to keep everyone straight. The book was action packed and you never knew what was coming next. So many influencers, so many problems. I enjoyed this book and the ending was unexpected. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the ARC.

"People to Follow" was a unique and fun read! I know it is geared toward young adults, and i'm not a young adult but I still loved it! It was complete of so many twists and turns and kept me invested throughout the whole book. I couldn't put it down and needed to know how it ended!

This book kept me guessing. I enjoyed the chapters alternating between the influencers - it did keep the mystery going and made it hard to determine who was telling the truth. I do appreciate this style of book, the "locked room" type situation and I think the author executed that incredibly well. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers, mysteries, and especially the "locked room" mystery style.

Wow, wow, wow — at the time of writing this, I finished People To Follow moments ago and it truly had my inquisitive self surprised at the outcome! I can hardly believe that this is Olivia Worley’s debut, there was clearly so much thought put into carefully planning the plot and each of the characters.

As with many mysteries/thrillers, the reader is usually trying to take a stab (pun intended) at what is happening before it is made clear. In People To Follow, trying to make a guess just wasn’t happening for me once it came to light that things weren’t as simple as they seemed… And I loved that!

I look forward to reading more from Worley, and can certainly foresee more brilliant thrillers in her future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read & review this ARC!