Ten influencers, one month, one Caribbean island. The premise is a reality show, where ten well-known young influencers will come together in one house on an otherwise deserted island. They have no phones. There is no way to contact them. They are getting away from their usual streams (although many have scheduled posts to keep their followers hungry), to take a breath and film a show called “In Real Life.” The show will bump up everyone’s followers.

Unless they get cancelled.

The influencers are brought to the island in boats, 5 in each boat. So they don’t realize until they get to the island who all is there. There are the 3 founders of the popular Bounce House, Zane, Graham, and McKayleigh. Then there is Logan, a woman with a comedic streak who had been a part of Bounce House and then fired. There is Kira, a fitness influencer who was on a dance reality show as a kid with McKayleigh, and had been mercilessly bullied by her. There is a gamer, a documentarian, a disgraced child star, a woman known for her stunning beauty, and a prankster.

The boats head back out, with a promise to be back the next day with producers and crew, so the ten are on their own for their first night. The kitchen is stocked with food and alcohol, and they settle in to have a good first night. But hurt feelings, unrequited crushes, and old resentments start to bubble up almost immediately, offering up that drama that fuels reality shows. The house is stocked with cameras in every room, and the influencers are ready.

But the next morning, the boats don’t show up. There are no producers or crew. There are no boats. The one cell phone that had been left behind in case of emergencies is missing. And one of the influencers lies dead on the concrete around the pool.

As the influencers try to figure out what’s going on, they realize how much trouble they are in. There is no way off the island except to swim fifteen miles, and as time goes by, secrets come out. Then another influencer ends up dead. And another. No one knows who to trust. No one knows who is next. All they can do is try to survive. Otherwise, all ten of the little influencers will get canceled.

People to Follow is a fun, feisty, modern take on the classic Agatha Christie And Then There Were None. The idea of a reality show for social media influencers means there is instant drama, and the stakes just go up from there.

The thing about this book is that none of these characters are particularly likeable. There are some that are less offensive, certainly, but I had a hard time feeling bad for any of them. They chose their own paths, and they decided to do the reality show. But don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying I disliked the book because of that. I liked the book—no, loved the book—because of that. As these people went down one by one, I didn’t have to feel bad in any way. I could just sit back with my popcorn and watch the drama play out, because when a bunch of bad people try to take each other down, it makes for great entertainment. And this book is great entertainment! Read it when you’re between seasons of Big Brother of Real Housewives, and you won’t be disappointed.

Egalleys for People to Follow were provided by Wednesday Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A little too drawn out.

I like a good YA mystery, especially one that pays homage to And Then There Were None, but this one skewed a bit too young for me unfortunately. It's overall satisfying in the end once things are explained, but some of the things were kind of eye rolling as they were happening.

A group of ten influencers are invited to an island resort, leaving all phones and technology behind. They are participating in a reality series called In Real Life. But things quickly turn deadly and their darkest secrets start to be revealed.

Reminded me a lot of these books that I've read in the past year, You Can Trust Me
and Never Coming Home, so I feel like maybe I compared them a bit in my mind and got the situations a bit confused together. The "influencers on an island" thing has been a bit overdone at this point.

I thought the character development was a bit lacking, I had difficulty telling the various people apart and their immaturity made it even more difficult. It is a very quick read though and was entertaining enough to keep my interest.

People to Follow is a sun drenched scorcher of a book. Its glamorous facade soon crumbles into a nightmarish dose of reality in this thrilling take on influencer culture and reality television.

I was sold as soon as I heard And Then There Were None meets Love Island. Worley’s mystery delivers suspense by the bucketload, with mostly horrible characters and incredibly creative reveals that are very timely.
There is just something so surreal about writing about this book while Big Brother has returned to our screens. You see these people on a screen and they become the fascination of the world. I cannot imagine in today’s climate that feeling of being cut off but also on display simultaneously. Worley captures that reality obsession with stock characters and produced storylines and dials it up to eleven here. That sense of isolation and paranoia is executed perfectly, with a throughline about ‘cancel culture’ that is thoughtful and asks what consequences some actions truly deserve.

Worley really takes aim at the artificial narratives that drive our lives in today’s culture. This ranges from the social media gloss over everyone to the overly produced reality TV scenario. Of course, nothing is really as it seems here and these falsities are brought down in spectacular fashion. Within this, a lot of our central characters are deeply unlikable people. They are vain, shallow and self-serving, with some much darker natures hidden beneath. This is a book that goes there in terms of intense content, so please check trigger warnings. However Worley always imbues them with some sense of humanity and those we spend more time with are resolutely more three-dimensional and nuanced.

People to Follow is a creative, compelling and conniving YA mystery that pulls back the curtain on the curated reality of media for today.

Ten young influencers are invited to an island to take a break from social media and be on a reality television show. Of course, there’s a storm and a dead body, and everyone is keeping deadly secrets. Despite the cliched plot, this was a fun one- afternoon read. It’s told from multiple perspectives, and while cliched, it wasn’t 100 percent predictable. Readers looking for a fluffy, popcorn thriller should give this one a try.

Ten teen social media influencers have to travel to a deserted island to film a reality show called “In Real Life”. They are unable to bring their phone and computers with them, they are completely cut off from the internet world. 

We learn each of them are keeping a secret. As we read deeper we find out that one of the influencers is out for revenge and murders begin happening on the island. The story will keep you on the edge of your seat to find out who is doing this and who will be killed off next. 

I didn’t feel strongly connected to any characters throughout the story but I was immediately pulled in because I wanted to know who the murderer was. This story is told through four POV’s hopping between each of them. It is told through Elody a model, Kira a fitness influencer, Logan who recently got kicked out of the Bounce House, and Max who is documenting the experience. 

This is a great young adult thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press Wednesday books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Definitely a Gen Z read. Plot was completely unbelievable. It is fast paced and kept my interest but felt like a huge reach.

If you like influencers being bad this is the book for you! It was messy and twisty and way darker than I anticipated. Could definitely see this being made into a show!

Thank you St Martin's and Wednesday Books for People to Follow. This is a great, twisty, locked room story that brings in social media influencer themes, which I do love. It's a fun read for a stormy night, a winter weekend... (even with the island setting this would be a great winter storm read with the locked in vibes).

I liked the plot, an homage to classic locked room plots, and the pacing was solid. For me, a character driven fan, my quibble is the multi POV format, I am not sure if it added much to the plot to have each chapter from a different perspective, esp with short chapters. For me it was hard to remember who was who without more time for character development and background. Other readers won't mind this but it was my one dislike for overall a fun mystery book that despite my quibble did suck me in, which is the best kind of thriller!

Thank you NetGallery for the arc. You have to go into this book with the understanding it’s about young adults who are influencers. Taking it for what it is, it’s a good book when you don’t want anything too mentally taxing, but want something good with a little mystery.

This book was promising. There were too many people to keep up with and I never quite understood why Kira or Aaron ended up being there. I also think Graham and Zane could’ve been combined into one person. It was also weird that they were dealing with an unknown murderer and then going off to kiss or play spin the bottle like nothing was happening.

This book plays on the fears about influencers. It is a good YA thriller that will keep you engaged the whole time. Can't wait to read more from Olivia Worley!

This was such a fun “locked room” thriller. I enjoyed the main characters being influencers and not being able to trust any of the narratives/POVs. While I read it close to publish date, I wish I had saved it for a summer read as Jr would make a perfect fast-paced beach read.

This had such a great premise that I thought I would love it, but turns out I did not unfortunately. It was a little drawn out and listening via audio it was hard to keep everyone straight. It took a while for me to be vested as well, but once folks started dying it became more interesting (and less people to keep track of haha). I love the locked room mystery trope and like I said this type of plot is normally right up my alley but this one just missed the mark for me.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the digital copy to review.

People to Follow takes the concept of influencers and shakes it upside down. Invited to a special IRL reality show taping on a beautiful private island, we quickly learn how each influencer has a secret to hide. Is their secret worth killing for? The body count and tensions rise as the pages turn in this unputdownable book.

Quite the homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None in a fresh new take. Please tell me it's being adapted for the screen!

I think this has a lot of potential. To start out I didn’t realize it was ya and it’s definitely written like one. I also think there were way to
Many character POVs and I had a hard time following some of the povs and remember whose it was. I also think that maybe influencer based books just aren’t my thing. This one gave me “We were liars” vibes so if you like that one you might enjoy this one. Great doom and gloom drama, with manipulation. I definitely didn’t see the reveal coming but it just wasnt enough for me to truly enjoy this book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for an advanced copy of this book via Netgalley.

When I initially started this book, I rolled my eyes. I’ve seen too many thriller books about influencers “getting what they deserve.” But I am so glad a kept going because this was such a fun ride.

A group of influencers travel to a secluded island for what they believe is a reality tv show where they go unplugged for three weeks. When they get there, they discover that there are much more insister plans for them in store. They need to keep playing by the rules as one by one, their secrets are exposed and they are found murdered.

The book starts out with 9 or 10 of them there, and it is a little hard to keep track of them at first, but the author does a pretty good job giving each of them their own personality to fit their “brand.” There were just two of the guys that I kept forgetting who they were and getting them confused. The book was told from the POV of four of the characters. It was a few too many POV’s for me, but it wasn’t too hard to tell who was who.

I liked the escape room vibe to the book. Not only is the group trapped and being picked off one by one, but they also need to figure out puzzles along the way and keep getting hints, messages and directions from “the sponsor.”

Overall, I thought it was a fun read.

This one surprised me!

I honestly wasn’t sure after the first couple of chapters, because I’m not a big fan of the whole “influencer” thing, but this story actually had me on the edge of my seat a lot wondering what would happen next!

Some characters were more likeable than others, and I could do without seeing the word “babe” for a while, but wow, a really well put together story.

Great YA thriller in my opinion, and appropriate for that age range.

Lots of twists and who-dun-it and overall I really enjoy this one!

Did this book end up being far-fetched and completely ridiculous? Yes, but I was also thoroughly entertained, which is sometimes all I really need from a book. This was a fast-paced YA thriller that was full of secrets and twists.

We start off with 10 main characters, but I was able to catch on pretty quickly to who everyone was. And since people are getting killed off one-by-one, it gets easier to keep track of everyone as the book goes on. None of the characters are very likeable, so I didn't really feel any attachment to any of them or sad about their deaths, but this book was definitely more about the plot and shocks than character development. The four characters were get POVs from are definitely more fleshed out though.

Overall, a solid debut that kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat. I'd recommend if you're looking for something fast-paced and thrilling.

A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body.

When I read that tagline, I knew I wanted to read this book and I am so glad I did! The constant twists and turns in this YA thriller had me guessing (wrongly!) until the very end. Olivia Worley wrote some pretty heavy content besides all the death, but I felt it was done well and truthfully. There are so many layers behind influencers and what their content does to followers and I feel this book was eye opening in that regard. Definitely an enjoyable book! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Author Olivia Worley for the ARC!

A true thriller!

Olivia Worley wove socially conscious and relevant themes of influencers culture, feminism, and financial privilege into this storyline without distracting from the thriller nature of this novel. Each character and chapter revealed more and more secrets adding layers to the mystery, keeping the reader invested and guessing! The end was sarcastically satisfying and allows the reader to grapple with their own idea of justice and fairness