I am a sucker for plots related to influencer culture, especially in thrillers. For me, this one lagged a little in the middle and was more focused on commentary about influencer culture than moving the pacing along like the typical thriller I enjoy. I think it would work well for people who maybe enjoy general fiction with some mystery elements, as compared to a die-hard thriller reader. Again, the social media commentary was insightful and interesting, I was just anticipating a faster pace.

The world of a social influencer is a foreign one to me. But not to Evie, who grew up in front of a camera. Her mother controlled and monetized every aspect of her life, and the only link Evie had to a somewhat normal life was her sister Hazel, who shunned the cameras and the limelight. When Evie turned 18, she disappeared in the middle of a social media video. And though it took a while, Hazel eventually found her. Now Evie wants nothing more than to live an authentic, real life, one that she herself controls. But will society, and her family, allow her to do just that?
I loved he twist at the end!

I love thrillers where the protagonist is an ordinary person who gets pulled into a mystery and goes down a rabbit hole trying to solve it. That was one of the things that drew me to Such a Bad Influence (in addition to the fascinating influencer angle). I was expecting a fast-paced, suspenseful read, but the narrative was focused so much on introspection — what happened in the past, what Hazel's relationship with her family is like, what it's like to be internet-famous. As a result, the plot, which should be gripping, feels almost non-existent. It's really unfortunate, because this concept had so many amazing opportunities to be creative and nuanced.

This debut novel exceeded my expectations and was an amazing read!!

Such a Bad Influence follows the case surrounding Evie Davis' disappearance, which garners global interest seeing as, upon the abrupt day of her disappearance, she was the biggest child-now-adult influencer of the current times. It was eerie reading about Evie's life, and I must admit I kept picturing a carousel line-up of real child stars who relinquished their privacy to line their family vlogging parents' pockets. This topic is very important and Muenter executes it beautifully; I can see this novel being talked about for a long time, especially when (not if!) more laws come into play to protect child vloggers. Although fictional, Such a Bad Influence harnesses layers of realism, right down to the multi-media use of narratives - my personal favourite was the podcast transcripts and blog posts.

I found the writing to be very detailed, sometimes a tiny bit too much, but overall the depth of Hazel's narrative and worldview really added to the perspective of this industry many of us will never enter. The hopelessness, the fear of the camera - a really interesting take. While I don't think this book is a character-driven one, and I didn't particularly 'like' any of the characters that much, the plot was redeeming enough to rate this 4 stars. It was engaging, unpredictable and kept me on my toes. My only complaint was parts of the unexpected plot twist at the end definitely needed more explaining, as they felt a bit rushed and hastily added in. I sat there staring at my screen for a few minutes after I finished trying to process how everything tied together.

Overall, this was an amazing debut and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I will definitely be recommending this book to anyone who loves influencer culture and/or a good thriller with an unpredictable ending. I'm excited to follow Muenter's upcoming releases after this debut.

Thank you for the ARC!

I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to thrillers because they're either predictable or so out there that there's nothing believable about the plot. I'd heard good things about <i>Such a Bad Influence</i> on social media and was pretty excited to receive an ARC of the book, especially since I follow Olivia and her podcast (Bad on Paper).

Not only is this book great for an author's first book, it's a great thriller. It never veers into being too over the top, and it was really fun guessing at the different types of influencers who may have...well influenced Muenter's character choices. Plus, the ending of this book is awesome. I cannot wait for the publication date so that I can talk to more people about it. I think this one is going to generate a lot of talk and excitement when it's released. I enjoyed it so much.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I wanted to love this but it felt a bit unmoored in its tone. I can tell it’s a debut because the voice is a bit lacking. So much potential here but it fell flat.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

A thoughtful and provocative meditation on influencers, the monetization of [the cult of] personality, and social media writ-large. A smart and fresh thriller. I thought the book could have benefitted from a stronger editing hand, there was some character development that felt repetitive or unnecessary but overall this was a well-paced, slickly plotted debut. I think Muenter is one to watch in the thriller space.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk Books for an ARC, in exchange for this honest review.

This was NOT FOR ME. I wouldn't call this a thriller, nor a mystery. We were too much in the FMC head the whole time.... and NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. It was suuuuper introspective and just very slow. The ending, while some are calling it "SHOCKING", seemed like it came out of left field, and not in a good way. Overall, not for me. I love BOP and am a longtime listener but unfortunately I felt this one missed the mark. Interesting commentary on social media, influencers, consumers, etc but it wasn't a thriller.

Hazel has always worried about her influencer sister, Evie, despite her success. Now that Evie has gone missing in the middle of a livestream, she is afraid she was right the whole time.

I found the family dynamics of this one fascinating. I would have loved more of a look at the actual content Erin and Evie were posting, but I loved hearing about their influencer careers. I couldn’t stand Erin’s character and I’m sure most won’t. The pacing at times was a bit slow, but it always picked up. I also really enjoyed the ending and how it was ironic in the end.

“But if you look closer what you’ll find is what has always been there. A raw, shameless need. A hunger to know everything there is to be known about a person.”

Such a Bad Influence comes out 6/4.

Middle of the road for me and not really a thriller. Hazel was pretty tedious as a narrator and the introduction of the wellness cult came too late for me. There's a big twist at the end but it didn't feel earned.

It took me a month to read 20 percent of this book. I’m fascinated by influencers and their lives and why they’re so popular but I need more from a story. We have a missing influencer but then all we venture into is influencer life and how messed up it is and blah blah blah. I needed more showing than telling and also some progression of the story by 20% in. Perhaps my expectations were off but anyone expecting a page turner will be disappointed.

3.5 stars

Hazel is 28, lost in life, and used to being known just as Evie's sister. Evie Davis is 18 and has been one of the biggest social media influencers in the world since she was 5 years old. She's also missing. Hazel has drifted away from her family and their internet-focused lifestyle, but is determined to make up for that by finding her sister. Evie was last seen on a livestream, where a man appeared in the frame just before the video cut out. Hazel is forced to confront the momager who's monetized her family's life, Evie's prankster YouTuber boyfriend, her good girl ex-best friend and fellow influencer, and deal with speculation on gossip forums, podcasts, and a from a mysterious gossip girl type newsletter. Throughout all of this, she realizes she doesn't know her sister as well as she thought she did, and that being packaged into a consumable product impacted Evie more than she'd realized.

I love a good social media skewering, and this was well-written and felt uncomfortably realistic with how it confronted some of the moral and legal issues with family vloggers and the rights (or lack of) of their children. It felt timely, too, with more states exploring giving these children legal and financial recourse to money they eared as kids once they turn 18. However, I wanted a bit more from the thriller side of this, and the resolution didn't do it for me. I texted my mom when I was 85% in and said I couldn't decide if this was going to end up being really good or just weird, and it landed more on weird for me. I do encourage you to check it out if it sounds interesting to you, though, because I think my lack of satisfaction with some storylines is more personal preference than anything. I did really enjoy the mixed media bits and wish there had been more of those, and more from Evie's pages would have been nice, too. I know that part of the point was that Evie was a lot of things and that no one really got all of her, but I think I would have enjoyed coming to that conclusion more myself than hearing about it from the other characters' experiences.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A deep dive into the dark side of social media influencer culture, this debut novel took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. Thought-provoking, insightful, and disturbing all at once, the writing flowed smoothly and the pace was fast. The twists and turns kept me guessing. The ending though...well, I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it was definitely unexpected.

This was a mixed bag for me. I really enjoyed the themes of child exploitation on social media, and how parents are willing to put their children in vulnerable and very public spheres to make money and to bring attention and clicks. This has been showing up more and more in public conversations thanks to the Ruby Franke/Jodi Hildebrandt case and the New York Times article about predators who lurk on child influencer channels, and I thought that Muenter did a good job on addressing these things as part of the plot. I also thought that the suspense and mystery was top notch for the first three fourths of the book, as I couldn't put the book down and was very interested to see what happened to Evie Davis and if it was foul play or not. But the downsides were that 1) I thought that the first (fake, more on that in a moment) ending was a bit of a let down on its own because of all the build up, and 2) there was another last moment twist that happened in the last pages that changes everything, and I really, really don't care for that.

If you do like big shock twists in your thrillers, SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE is probably going to be a hit for you. I'm just sick of big shock twists and that preference brought my enjoyment down.

Adults facing the consequences of taking advantage of and monetizing their kids on social media PLUS a mystery? I couldn’t have been more excited for this book, and I think it delivered. Muenter is a thoughtful writer and already adept at surprising even the most devout of mystery fans. An excellent debut.

Oh wow that was an incredibly WILD ride!

This book completely hooked me a few chapters in and I couldn’t put it down! I usually do get a little sidetracked by my phone during my reading sessions but for this one it was like I even forgot I have a phone. I just wanted to find out what was going to happen.

The ending is not something I saw coming and really was just *chef’s kiss*. You are going to want someone to talk to about this so I suggest a buddy read or book club for this one. There are so many themes to discuss and think about.

Cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

A solid thriller about a woman whose younger sister is a successful influencer. It raises some interesting points about what happens when "child influencers" grow up. Apparently the author is herself an influencer - which I wasn't aware of when I started the book - which may add an extra dimension to it for some readers. A little slow in the middle but in the main a good read.

Hazel is living out every sisters worst nightmare in this social media stardom obsessed world. A great read for all thriller fans.

Such a Bad Influence is the story of a missing young influencer told from the point of view of her older sister. Hazel has always been protective of her sister, Evie, who is 10 years younger. When Hazel was 15, their mom posted a video of Evie that went viral and from that point they lived their lives online although Hazel refused to be part of it. Now recently turned 18, Evie is one of the most successful lifestyle influencers in the country with millions of followers, lucrative brand campaigns and a career still managed by their mom. Amid much online speculation, Evie goes missing after abruptly stopping a live video and Hazel rushes home to Phoenix to try and untangle the truth about what happened to her baby sister.

Such a Bad Influence is a strong debut novel by Olivia Muenter, co-host of the Bad on Paper podcast. This is a slow-burn mystery/suspense novel but it's still a pageturner that I could not put down. The commentary on issues relating to social media and influencer culture as well as privacy issues for children who have grown up with their lives on display for the world to see is thought-provoking - this is an entertaining story that will also make you think! Well-written, complex characters, excellent pacing, a twisty plot and an unexpected ending - a great choice for summer reading!

This is described as a thriller but it's not particularly scary. I enjoy suspense but don't like anything too scary or that has graphic violence and it was perfect for me. I saw it referred to as "thriller adjacent" and that's a great description.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I think the premise of this book is very intriguing. It brings up some thought provoking questions for the readers about social media and how it is utilized. Overall, I am giving the book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I liked how quickly I was hooked into the story. I did find the middle part slow. The ending threw me for a loop and left me wanting more. I think this book has the possibility to be a huge hit with how relevant it is to modern society. I just didn't connect with any of the characters and found them all troubling in their own ways. The ending however will leave me thinking for a while and I would like read a sequel to see how things play out.

Thank you to Netgalley, Quirk books, and Olivia Muenter for allowing me to read Such a Bad Influence as an ARC.