And Then There Were None, but with 100% more JoJo Siwa . . .

I knew going in this was going to be young adult, but since I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom who still appreciates YA (especially the stabby kind) and loves a good Christie knockoff I was all over it. I mean, a group of “influencers” get sent to a deserted island for some reality T.V. show where they aren’t allowed their screens for two weeks and then bodies start piling up? Um, yes please.

Well, it turns out I am a regular mom – not a cool mom *womp wommmmmmp* I appreciated the vibe of "do you want to play a game????" But not only were all of these characters completely interchangeable with the same voice (other than one of them calling every one “Babe” which made me wish she was the first to be whacked), they also seemed to keep forgetting their fellow island dwellers were being offed and did weird super teenage shit like playing spin the bottle instead of freaking the eff out or trying to find a way back to civilization like they should have been doing. I also guessed the first big “surprise” reveal right off the bat, but the actual whodunit was pretty satisfying and I’m always down for a good pool cover. Two Stars means “it was alright” and that’s about as much as I can say about this one.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Full Disclosure: The author was apart of a program I did a few years ago within publishing, but I LOVE seeing friends and acquaintances succeed.
This book is so good! Seriously thrilling and fun to read. Which sounds weird to say fun when murder is involved but it was fun! It was such a quick read, but in the best way. I'm so excited to scream about it when it comes out later this year. This is one you don't want to miss if you're looking for a fun new thriller and it's perfect for Halloween!

This wasn't horrible but, even for YA, this read really young (and kind of...silly? tone-wise). The content and idea for this story really wasn't served by the young-ness of the tone and characters at all. I read a lot of YA (mostly YA, actually, and a lot of sci-fi fantasy) as I oversee the YA and Sci-Fi collections at my library, but even I found this a bit hard to get through. I did appreciate how layered this story was, and the (very) full cast of characters kept the story fast-paced. This was an overall pretty fun ride, but nothing that I found great or that special. If you're in the mood for a not-very-serious mystery thriller with highly relevant topics and ideology (think influencer culture, TikTok, etc.), then you'll probably get a kick out of this.

Gave this one 2⭐️ for a couple of reasons-

The book cover is GORGEOUS, and the description had me intrigued..but I didn’t realized until I began reading that this was YOUNG ADULT fiction- not my fave genre to read (with exceptions)

The premise felt very juvenile, but I was able to somewhat understand the structure of how these Influencers came to be…thanks to TikTok🤣

What I found hard to follow was the large number of characters and the chapters from various POV.

Guess I’m too old!!!!

Dang, I really enjoyed this book! It took me a little bit of time to get into, however, it was great once it got going. A mix of YA + reality tv + thriller, I could not put this book down and wanted to figure out what was going on. Perfect for reality tv lovers + And Then There Were None vibes, would highly recommend.

4.5 rounded up

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an ARC of People To Follow.

This book was so unique! I loved the setting and the plot kept me guessing the whole time. I cannot wait for this book to come out! Look for it on Oct. 31!!!!!

It’s not often I come across a YA thriller that catches me a little off guard. I didn’t expect this to take the twist it did, but I was happy to be on the ride! In the last two years there have been a lot of influencer survival horror novels, the kind with what basically amount to the MCs being more antihero than hero. I’m a sucker for survival thrillers where isolation or the elements are involved and modern technology is out of reach. I’ve actually devoured three influencer-specific titles like People to Follow within the last six months alone.

All that to say, this is a genre I’m really loving right now and People to Follow was no exception! It takes a lot for an author to hide the twist from me. I usually suspect it early on, but Worley got me off my game with this one.

It has the same general premise as most of its counterparts like The Island or Never Coming Home, except the plot for this is brings in a new element entirely: a reality show where influencers with huge followings unplug for the camera. It has all the elements you would expect with a reality show—people finding themselves on an isolated island with their peers, some of which are decidedly not their friends—with no outside contact with the world. Makes for great TV, right? Except…something here is a little off.

When a storm delays the film crew, leaving the influencers or “creators” stranded by themselves on the island, that’s bad enough. Then one of the least liked people on the island is found dead the next morning. They discover that not only have all ways off of the island been sabotaged, but someone is watching them through the cameras…and they want to play a game.

Packed with dark secrets and pretty corpses, this one is bound to be the perfect thriller for those who love drama, fear, and big reveals you didn’t see coming.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced ecopy in exchange for this fair and honest review.

Every game needs a winner, but this isn’t a game I want to play

This kept me guessing until the very end. I couldn’t decipher who I thought was guilty, and at the end the author had me swearing every other chapter it was someone else. The twist at the end shocked me!! I highly recommend the twists and turns and insights into the influencers secrets. Must read!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

5/5 ⭐

I LOVED this book! I don't usually read Mystery thrillers, but this one was so good. I thought it would be a cheesy and predictable read, but boy was I wrong. "People to Follow" kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot twists were shocking and attention-grabbing. Not to mention this book was so relatable, you felt connected to every character (even if they were the villain). I didn't want to put the book down once I started! I definitely recommend this book to everyone no matter what you enjoy reading. This book is a must. Congrats to Olivia Worley for writing a masterpiece🎉

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read “People to Follow” in exchange for an honest review.

This cover is GORGEOUS and honestly what attracted me at first to this book and then I read the description and was excited to dive in!

I couldn’t put this down, but overall, the secluded island and influencer trope in this story wasn’t for me.

As I’m nearing 30, I’d say this book threw me off with some of the language or “lingo” used and is definitley geared more towards teens and early 20’s.

I think I shouldn’t have requested this. When I read thrillers, I prefer those in the adult category.

This reads very young. And as someone who doesn’t even use TikTok, it made me feel old AF.

Overall, it’s not a bad story. It’s just definitely for a different audience.

What a fun ride this one was. There were a lot of characters that made it a bit difficult to keep track of but once you got to know them, the twists and turns were so fun. There were so many layers to this story and connections that had me guessing until the end. Highly recommend this one for a fun murder mystery with major social media/influencers themes!

This is a good YA thriller that I read in one day. While I didn't absolutely love it I did end up reading it in one sitting and enjoying it. I recommend it for fans of YA novels.

Ten popular influences are invited to participate in a three week taping of a new show called "In Real Life". None of the guests know who's coming (which makes the opening chapters very entertaining), and everyone is curious about what will happen while filming on a remote island without devices or technology. Then, of course, something goes wrong, and they find one of the influencers has died. Was it an accident? Is it a killer? If so, who's next?

And you just dive right in.

There was a lot of variation with the characters in this story, which I enjoyed. I am not personally into the influencer life (chalk that up to my Gen X age), but I could comfortably read about each cast mate as we wheeled through all of their stories trying to figure out who is leading all of this.

Think "Clue" meets "And Then There Were None" and you have our new book. It gave off the total mystery/ thriller vibes but had that YA silliness attached (though I'm not COMPLETELY convinced silliness is the right word... maybe lack of seriousness is better? Once again, I'll attribute this to my "lack of youth"). It was a good balance and made the book fun to read overall. For anyone looking for a good, easy to read, fun "whodunit", this is a solid candidate. 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The premise of this book was so unique from the thrillers I usually read. The POV switches between characters, but the characters were well developed, so I never forgot the POV I was reading in each chapter. The plot kept me guessing and the ending lived up to my expectations. I look forward to reading more from this author!

This book brought me out of a little reading slump I was in. I devoured it in basically one sitting. The concept is 10 influences all brought to an island to film a reality show with no technology of their own. The drama lies in the connections between the characters and the secrets they are all hiding. The book had lots of twists and turns and kept me guessing the entire time. I wanted to know more and more about the characters. The entire book I was trying to see if I could guess who was connected to who and why they were selected to be on the show.

I enjoyed the commentary on social media & influences. All the characters reflected the different stereotypes of influencers and it made you think about the content you are consuming and the people behind it.

A couple things I didn't love: It was tough to keep track of all the characters and 10 POVs is a lot to follow. The concept is great and I thoroughly enjoyed it but ultimately it's far fetched. It would never have been allowed to go on if this was real.

I gave this 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins & Olivia Worley for this ARC. Book will be released October 31, 2023!

In this day of influencing being an actual thing it was interesting to see who and what makes them want to possibly off one another. I was like a modern day And Then There Were None and I thought I knew who was the bad guy but I had no clue. Enjoy the ride.

I wanted to love this one but I just could not get fully engrossed in the story. I think because I am not the correct audience. This should be geared toward YA.

I found the characters somewhat insufferable and annoying (but again, I am the wrong audience).

I think this will resonate very well with a YA audience.

Rating 3.5

I found this story on NetGalley and fell in love with the cover (I'm a sucker for an eye-catching cover) so I was excited when I was able to get my hands on a Advanced Readers Copy [ARC]. This story is a great YA thriller, although it's got some crazy topics and covers some deep issues, and really is a good way for someone to try out an easy thriller. I will emphasize that this may not be a book for the general thriller enthusiast but as a YA thriller story it was great. Fair warning though, the lingo can throw you for a loop if you aren't use to Gen Z vocabulary and phraseology at times!

Influencers need a chance to unplug and check out and ground themselves back to reality. And that's what these 10 young influencers thought they were signing up for - a reality show on a remote island with no contact to the outside world - what could possible go wrong? IRL (In Real Life) is sponsoring these young influencers and putting them up in a house with cameras everywhere and a communicating watch / tool (very Big Brother meets Love Island type of vibes). But these kids couldn't even last one ight until all hell breaks loose.

Is everyone who they say they are? What secrets are they hiding? What is going to happen when after their first night on the island they find a dead body? What do you do when the secrets your holding threaten to ruin your life? Can these influencers avoid being #Cancelled or will the truth come out? When one dead body becomes two in a matter of hours, these teens learn that they have to navigate their remote island, try to save their careers, and try to stay alive all while their every move is being recorded and no help is coming to save them.

Worley did a wonderful job of transporting her readers to the island and I could truly picture the IRL 'set' in my mind as I read the story. With 10 main characters and several POVs, I will admit that it took me a little while to figure out the who's who of the story and it was tricky to keep all the characters aligned... especially because they all have their issues. TWs are definitely present in this story too so check those out too - there's some exploration of trauma as part of their secrets!

Thanks to NetGalley and Olivia Worley who, in collaboration with St. Martin's Press, who provided me a copy so that I could provide an honest review prior to publish date!

Now THIS is a novel. This Olivia's debut novel and is a YA thriller about a reality show featuring ten influencers on a private island. On this island, they are completely cut off from their followers and their phones, and the DRAMA is next-level. I should add that all ten have HISTORY with each other, so...you know how that ends, well usually. Except, in this case they start dying...one by one.

Really loved this novel and I would've eaten this up as a teen too. If you liked One of Us is Lying, you'll love this one too.