People to Follow was a fun read. The premise? Absurd. But sometimes, that's exactly what I'm looking for in a book; People to Follow delivered. 10 influencers on a desert island. They are there to disconnect for a new reality show: In Real Life (IRL). They have a relatively uneventful first night, but by the next morning, one influencer is dead and they're all wondering, was it an accident or is there a murderer among them?

Turns out, these influencers aren't great human beings. One by one, their secrets get shared and they get canceled. Truly, for the amount of murder, it's light reading and not particularly painful, just light and ridiculous. There are a few poignant takes on influencer culture, catfishing, and the invincibility of cis white males, but the rest is exactly what you think it is. It's a quick read, perfect for a short flight or a day on the beach. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Thank you, Net Galley, for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This follows the story of ten influencers that are sent to an island to film a reality show. It’s all fun and games until the film crew never shows up and one of them turns up dead. Now, they are all stranded and start receiving mysterious messages.. is this all a game?

This is a great young adult mystery/thriller. It is quick paced, and keeps you guessing. I enjoyed this one!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

A group of influencers is invited to a remote island to participate in a new reality show that forces them to unplug for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, things go haywire almost immediately, when one of them is found dead. With no way to reach the outside world and a group of people with a ton of secrets, anything can happen.

While this wasn't the most original book I've ever read, I enjoyed it a lot! It was fast-paced and engaging and just a fun read. If you're looking for a fun little locked room type of book that has a lot of action, this is a good one to choose!

This was such an interesting book! YA is a little outside of my normal reading, but Olivia Worley did such a great job at commenting on influencer culture and the impacts we'll see from social media's prevalence while still creating a light yet suspenseful read. Would be a great recommendation for the teens/young adults in your life who are sorting out the differences of social media vs. reality.

This was the first book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story was different from anything I've read recently and really captured my attention.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of PEOPLE TO FOLLOW by Olivia Worley in exchange for my honest review.***

3.5 STARS

Ten social media influencers together on a private island without Wi-Fi.

What could possibly go wrong?

Everything.

Throughout reading PEOPLE TO FOLLOW, I thought, “This needs to be a miniseries.” This twisty story was made for streaming.

Told from the points of view of many of the ten influencers, I enjoyed getting to know the different characters but had difficulty remembering who was who and who’s POV I was reading (I’m terrible with names no matter what medium including day to say life). Some of the individuals seemed to be tropes, like the pro-gun southern conservative, but that didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the story.

The plot was well-conceived and executed.

I bumped up to four stars because I’m not the target audience for the book. I don’t follow influencers, though reading about them was intriguing. PEOPLE TO FOLLOW has crossover appeal for YA and NA readers, as well as general fiction and mystery/thriller aficionados.

I absolutely loved this book. It was clearly set in the present year and it showed the effects that social media can have on someone while also being a very intriguing book! I would definitely recommend this book to a friend and will be purchasing my own paper copy when it gets released. The ending definitely surprised me but it made so much sense when I really thought about it. Overall, a really good book!

These influencers are about to be cancelled...permanently. At first, People to Follow seems like it may have been inspired by Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None. There are ten characters, all lured to a remote island where they have their evil deeds and dark secrets exposed. One by one, they start to die (which is a relief, because each one is absolutely insufferable). If you've ever wished that And Then There Were None would he retold about a group of vapid, fame-obsessed teenage influencers, this book is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for an advance ecopy for an honest review. This was a solid 3.5 stars for me.

Ten influencers go on a reality tv show on a remote island wherein they are to be social media free for 3 weeks. They all seem to have their own secrets that they don’t want shared. As the secrets come out, so does the true personalities.

This was a young YA book. It was fun but I don’t think I was the target demographic

This book deserves a standing ovation and I am SO here for it.

People to Follow

I cant even tell you what I thought I was going to read compared to what I actually did read but I can tell you, this book is one that I will never be able to stop talking about and it deserves every bit of the hype it is about to get..

Here we go...

People to Follow, had me addicted to each turn of the page. I was squealing in delight as each secret was revealed . I was completely consumed and transported straight into the book. The characters came alive before my eyes and I felt every emotion they felt. The narration was executed with perfection and the plot twist was not only incredible but believable too! When everything came together I was left in sheer disbelief with my jaw on the floor.

How the heck is this a debut?

5 stars 5 stars 5 stars!

Teaser :

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

Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars--including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators--it’s about to turn into a nightmare.

When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these social media moguls find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game…and one of them might be pulling the strings.

With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled--like, literally--before their #1 follower strikes again.

And Then There Were None meets Lord of the Flies and influencer culture.
I loved this book so much, it kept me guessing at every turn while interjecting relevant critiques about the culture of influencers.
I didn’t see the end coming and was anxious and guessing every step of the way, I loved it

Honestly, at first, I was pretty apprehensive about People to Follow because I've already read a book with the EXACT same concept (10 influencers, private island, multiple POVs, murderer, etc). While I did find many parallels between the two books (I mean, with the concept being so similar you can only do so much), People to Follow was a thrilling mystery from a promising new author.

The pacing of this book was quick, the spooky mystery vibes were so intense I didn't want to read this at night, and there was plenty of plot twists I never saw coming! The mystery was well crafted and by the end, I felt like I had been thrown around a dozen times. Worley's twists never ended and I never successfully guessed any of the twists - which to me is always a sign of a great mystery!

My other complaints about this book are all minor but worth mentioning. The "gen z" language used felt cringey at times. I *hated* the use of the word "yeet" in this book. Also, one of the character says "babe" after the end of every sentence. Also, with there being 10 characters in the beginning it was overwhelming and confusing to differentiate them (especially because the voices in the different POVs all sounds the same).

This was a great debut book I couldn’t put it down and read it in one night, it was full of twists and I think fans of YA mysteries will love it.

People to Follow
By Olivia Worley

The concept of this book can be described like when reality tv meets and then there was none.
I flew thru the first sections of this book! The concept was so cool. Yet I expected so much more. I didn’t realize this was YA, which to be fair isn’t my cup of tea. The characters were unlikable, shallow, and interchangeable. The dialogue I found to be rough. Especially the girl calling everyone babe. What lost stars for me was the characters didn’t really try to escape. And finally…people are dead but they play spin the bottle?

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review

A fun, modern update on “And Then There Were None,” People To Follow kept me on my toes and second guessing who I thought was the bad guy. Well written, well thought out. Worley’s debut is a page turner that can’t be missed.

What if all your favorite influencers were on an island together for a reality show, and things started to go wrong? That's what happens in People to Follow. After the first influencer is found dead, the crew begins to suspect a murderer at large on this remote island. And time is running out until they are all cancelled.

This was a great thriller that pulled me in almost immediately and had me until the end. I've read some books with similar themes and felt this book did it justice. The characters were flawed in the best way, and the twist and turns kept coming. There were some predictable moments, but enough suspense to keep me reading. Definitely recommend for aynone looking for a great thriller!

I am so thankful to SMP, as always!

However, I didn't seem to be the audience for this. I have tried to stay interested for months and it just wasn't happening.

I love the setting and the concept of this story--a reality tv show? teen influencers trapped together on an island? murder mystery? yes please! I enjoyed learning about all of the characters' careers, motivations, and pasts, and I think the author did an amazing job writing from so many different POVs. All of the characters sounded and felt distinct, and it was fun to see what they each knew that the others didn't. Some of the twists, I was able to guess, and I was right about which characters the Sponsor was not, but who the Sponsor really was shocked me. It was impressive how the author was even able to deceive the readers, while still leaving clues. The only issue I had was that I would have liked to know more about the aftermath from the thoughts of the other survivors, not just the Sponsor, because we had the thoughts of the other characters the entire time.

But over all, I read this so quickly and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I think this is a really masterful exploration of the pressures of fame and life in the public eye, especially on kids/teenagers, as well as how social media can dehumanize and alienate us when used wrongly. And I do love a good thriller! I highly recommend and can't wait to see what else this author does!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

A YA thriller that asks the question: how would you behave if you thought everyone was watching? Would you ask the same way of you thought no one was watching?

Ten teenage influencers sign up to have their entire lives recorded on an isolated island as part of a reality series. But when the TV production crew fails to show up, the teens are thrown in to a world more uncertain and unpredictable than they bargained.