I was excited to hear Olivia Muenter had a book and this really delivered, you can tell she’s a writer and not “just” an influencer/content creator. (Those are worthy skills to but don’t always translate to a good novel.) Thrillers aren’t my favorite genre but this one kept me interested and guessing.

For fans of Ashley Winstead, a razor-sharp debut about what happens when one of the first child stars of the social media age grows up . . . and goes missing.

I found this book to be a compelling mystery that explores the world of social media influencers. The story follows the journey of a young woman who quickly rises to fame on Instagram at a very young age. The book includes a podcast that adds an extra layer of depth to the story, giving readers a glimpse into the life of the influencer. It's a thought-provoking read that will leave you questioning the true cost of social media fame.

Synopsis -

Hazel Davis is drifting: she’s stalled in her career, living in a city she hates, and less successful than her younger sister @evelyn, a lifestyle influencer. Evie came of age on the family YouTube channel after a viral video when she was five. Ten years older and spotlight-averse, Hazel managed to dodge the family business—so although she can barely afford her apartment, at least she made her own way.

Evie is eighteen now, with a multimillion-dollar career, but Hazel is still protective of her little sister and skeptical of the way everyone seems to want a piece of her: Evie’s followers, her YouTuber boyfriend and influencer frenemies, and their opportunistic mother. So when Evie disappears one day during an unsettling live stream that cuts out midsentence, Hazel is horrified to have her worst instincts proven right.

As theories about Evie’s disappearance tear through the internet, inspiring hashtags, Reddit threads, and podcast episodes, Hazel throws herself into the darkest parts of her sister’s world to untangle the truth. After all, Hazel knows Evie better than anyone else . . . doesn’t she?

I liked this slightly different take on a thriller, the influencer aspect was interesting, made more knowing that the author has some personal experience with it. I did feel frustrated at times with the MC, as it often felt like she wasn't really doing anything, and only reacting to the things around her without a lot of agency. However, this could have been the point since these characters are quite dysfunctional. The ending really threw me for a loop, I didn't see it coming at all, and I still don't know how I feel about it, and as a result its stuck with me, which I think it definitely the point.

Fans of The Book of Essie will have a new reality TV family to hate in this page-turning thriller best served poolside. Co-host of the Bad on Paper podcast, fashion and beauty influencer, and now debut novelist Oliva Muenter explores the seedy underbelly of child influencers, using her background to give readers an inside look into the industry.

Evie captured America's heart when a video of her dancing with her father went viral. The footage was taken on the eve of her recital, and her father had memorized her entire routine, offering a candidly adorable moment as he coached her to her final steps. But a couple of hours after this genuine family moment, Evie's father tragically died in a car accident at thirty-seven.

Her mother, emotional from this loss, posts the video with a caption sharing, "You will cry when you learn the whole story..." landing their family in both a heart-wrenching viral online moment and an instant media darling on national television.

Evie's mom had tried blogging with limited success with a family blog. But now that her daughter has captured America's heart, Evie's sponsored posts can easily garner them six figures and launch their family into fame. Now eighteen, her mother works full-time as her manager, helping document Evie's every move.

However, Evie is not an only child, and Hazel has grown up adjacent to this family spotlight while choosing as much privacy as possible. Hazel's viewpoint shapes most of this story, offering readers an engaging insider lens through which to view Evie and her mother's journey.

But when Evie suddenly disappears, readers are given an all-access pass to several potential suspects, including fellow influencers, to unravel where she's gone. Evie's entire life has been chronicled, and her disappearance is an online moment subject to more speculation.
Readers can access Reddit forums, podcasts, and TikTok commentary to view the internet in all its glory.

Setting the story in 2010 is not only wise but also a timely exploration of the world of mom blogging—an era that I knew well as I was working as an influencer in this space during its height. Our feelings have shifted so much around children in the spotlight, from Hollywood stars to YouTube families. While the internet feels more insidious, I can't argue that this was the Wild West as a family navigating this time online. There are meaningful interactions in this plot deserving of scrutiny.

I have been looking forward to reading this for a while, and it didn’t disappoint! The “influencer” aspect of the plot is unique and interesting, and the characters are well-developed. Overall, this is an enjoyable and addicting read!
Thanks to NetGalley for the copy to review!

Excellent page-turner with great characterization. Veers off a bit at the 80% mark but the stunner of an ending knocked me flat

Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter follows Hazel Davis as she searches for her sister Evie Davis , a popular influencer on social media. Evie has loved the spot light and shares her limelight with her mother Erin. Hazel wants nothing to do with social media and is drowning in her own problems between losing her job and her mother. When Evie has been missing for a week Hazel is contacted by Evie's boyfriend Gavin. He seems worried and Hazel now has to stay with her mother while the police are searching for her. Having not grown up with social media myself this was a very cleaver subject for the book. If an influencer is missing the whole world is watching and speculating on what had happened. There is a twisty ending that I didn't expect and I was sadden by Evie and Hazel's relationship at the end. Hazel just wants Evie to have a normal life and not be in the spotlight. But if you grew up in the spotlight would you want to stop being the center of attention? I would like to think both NetGalley and Quirk Books for letting me have an advance copy of this book to read.

I’ve been a massive fan of Olivia’s writing for years and it was an absolute treat to read her debut novel because her personality, wit, and voice all jump off the page in the very best way. If I didn’t know who wrote this, I would still know who wrote this. Olivia’s writing is beautiful and her razor sharp commentary on social media, influencers, and the dark side of the internet is timely and thought provoking.

This is not your typical cookie-cutter thriller with cheap thrills and predictable twists. It’s a deliciously slow burning and thoughtful mystery with complex characters, unsettling themes, and an ending that you’ll be thinking about for a very long time.

I have so much to say about this gem of a book but I don’t have the words to adequately express how perfect it was. The thing is, because I know Olivia, there was no doubt in my mind that SABI would be one of the most well written books I read this year. The fact that I was also blown away by the flawlessly executed (and incredibly addictive) plot, the compelling characters, and the juicy twists just goes to show how wildly talented Olivia is. I am so excited to see what her future as an author holds!

My only complaint is that I wanted to read about Hazel and Evelyn for 200 more pages.

My book club is reading this in June and not to toot my own horn BUT I think it’s my best pick yet. I’m desperate to talk about SABI with more people and I just know it will spark a juicy conversation!

I love titles from Quirk Books, but this one didn't work for me. The concept is great, and the book started strong. It just reads incredibly slowly, and I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. I decided not to finish the book as it was just okay, and I wasn't invested enough to continue.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This started off strong - a well-known influencer has gone missing, and her sister is trying to put the puzzle pieces together to track her down. About 3/4 of the way through, the plot lost me. It got too convoluted and far-fetched. Really enjoyed the first part of the book tho!

A compelling mystery centered around the disappearance of a young social media influencer, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. There is plenty to digest with regards to the unhealthy role social media plays in our lives, our addiction to our phones, our need to be constantly connected (which is perhaps actually making us feel disconnected), and our over-analyzing of ordinary people who we feel owe us pieces of their lives. The writing is even and the pacing is good, the plot is strong, and the ending is chilling. It will make you think twice before you mindlessly scroll again!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hazel’s life is at a stand still. She lost her job, doesn’t love where she lives, but when she gets the call her sister is missing, all of that falls to the wayside. Evie has been an influencer for as long as anyone can remember, but Hazel remembers that first viral video like it was yesterday. She has always felt overprotective of Evie, especially since their mom seemed to benefit from Evie’s career just as much, if not more than Evie herself. Now the entire world is wondering…what happened to Evie?

When one of your favorite influencers writes a book…you beg for it! I have been listening to Olivia on @badonpaperpodcast for so long and have loved every second of her journey to this book being out in the world! So obviously I have been dying to get my hands on and it was worth that dying! This book looks deeper into something that I for one think about a lot. Who is looking out for these child influencers? How do we make sure they don’t end up penniless for all the work they did for their entire childhood? Not only that, but how does growing up for the entire world to see affect you as you get older and want to live your own life? Phew! It’s a lot and Olive does such a fantastic job exploring it through Hazel and Evie and their very different childhoods. While I did guess some of the twists, I did not guess them all, and they hit me hard! Like mouth fully dropped open hit me. If you don’t follow Olivia, you are missing out! I highly recommend following along with her amazing home reno content, and grabbing a copy of this book when it comes out June 4th!

The first 80% of this book is utter art. I'm talking it's a read in one sitting but think about it for days in how well-written it is. The last 20%, however? Kind of let me down.

In short, Evie Davis, a 'famous' (by internet standards) influencer suddenly disappears. And the details of her disappearance are suspicious. And no one is more invested in discovering what happened to Evie than her older sister, Hazel. But as Hazel uncovers more details about her sister, mother, and the internet stardom their family cashed in on, she has to grapple with what kind of people influencers truly are. And what extent people will go to to keep that "fame."

SABI does a phenomenal job fleshing out all the arguments associated with influencers and child stardom without sounding biased or accusatory. On top of that, the characters seemed incredibly well-fleshed out and unequivocally real, and I could imagine this happening in real life. (I also have quite a few questions for the La Brant family, iykyk).

I enjoyed reading from Hazel's perspective the most because her motivations truly seemed altruistic, but the few 'outside' perspective tidbits you receive make you wonder how reliable of a narrator she is or how inherent the victim complex reigns.

That being said, I thought this book could have gone without the chapters from Evie's perspective. I would have much rather her true character remained a mystery to the reader, and I especially thought the epilogue shorted the overall message/themes of the story (plus, it was rather predictable IMO).

I think if the author had chosen to go in a slightly different direction with the ending and Evie's character, this book would not only have gotten a five-star rating from me, but also ended up on one of my "favorite mysteries/thrillers of all time" list.

However, I realize that authors can't please everyone and that this ending might suit a lot of people's fancy-- just not mine. As it is, I still found this book worthy of four stars, and I'll definitely be thinking about it for a while.

My deepest and most sincere thanks to Netgalley, Olivia Muenter, and Quirk Books for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Who doesn't love a book about social media and its dangers? This one is a crazy-good novel about two sisters--Evie and Hazel--who have grown up with little sis, Evie and her 4 million followers. When Evie suddenly disappears at 18, Hazel is dumbfounded as she knows her sister wouldn't abandon her "people" as their father died when they were young and their mother is their only remaining family. Alternating in time from present to past, the book details Evie's "grooming" by mom, Erin as she is taught to showcase her looks, products she loves, and outfits that people are encouraged to buy. But now missing, Evie is even more beloved by her fans and there is speculation about her whereabouts: has she been abducted, killed, or left by choice? And as Hazel sets out to uncover the mystery, Darker--a true-crime podcast--also speculates about what might have happened. It's a thrill-ride like no other and I inhaled it like a great meal!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

As a huge fan of social media/influencer-based thrillers and horror, this one really grabbed me and compelled me through from the first page. I saw absolutely NONE of the twists coming, and the way morality was played for a grey space (particularly in relation to money) was incredible. I will recommend this to everyone!

1) omg that ending!!!
2) I appreciate how complex this story was
3) I will be thinking about this book for a long, long time

Full disclosure: I was already a fan of Olivia Muenter from the Bad On Paper podcast, so I've been looking forward to this book for awhile and just knew it would be good! I wasn't disappointed. Such a Bad Influence is a compelling, funny, dark debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This great cover should signify what an ELECTRIC THRILLER this is!

Hazel Davis has little to show for her work as an adult. Anything she does is overshadowed by her younger sister who is a mega-influencer on social media. Hazel loves her sister but hates that her mother has taken advantage of her since she was a little girl.

When Evie disappears, Hazel is forced back to her hometown and her must interact with her mother. What happened to Evie? Was it her on-again, off again boyfriend? A jealous fan? A sworn enemy?

How can she explain to the local cops that a girl growing up on social media 24/7 would not disappear freely? Muenter provides social media posts, interesting characters and plenty of theories to drive an exciting story to it's mind-blowing finish. If you ever enjoyed social media, or hate it with a passion, Such a Bad Influence is for you! #Suchabadinfluence #oliviamuenter #quirk

I figured this would be a scathing review of social media, but otherwise I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a character-driven story about Hazel. Her sister, Evie, is a mega-popular influencer managed by their mother. Suddenly, Evie disappears. Has he been abducted? Did she run away?

This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- thought-provoking mysteries
- complicated family dynamics
- solid twists

Such a Bad Influence was entertaining and sparked a lot of thought about its themes. The pacing was on the slower side, but it didn't bug me. As Hazel navigated her feelings about Evie's disappearance, there are a lot of memories and moments of reflection about her family's journey to the present. As the book neared the end, I had no clue where it was going, but at the last page I was like UMM WUT?! Damn, Olivia Muenter! I think the ending bumped up my enjoyment of the book overall.

Rating: I really liked it! (4)

This was a fun surprise, a thriller-adjacent book about the dark side influencer culture that is well above average in terms of both writing and storytelling for books in this genre.

Olivia Muenter hosts the always excellent Bad on Paper podcast, and is an influencer herself, though this book is more about the extreme end of the profession and the pitfalls that come with it.

I’m not terribly interested in influencer culture as rule. I tend to mostly ascribe to the idea that this is a perfectly respectable job and am pretty grossed out by things like trolling and hate following. But it certainly exists, and this book reckons with the impacts of that as well as how accountable influencers (or in this case, their stage parents) are for their online fates.

The pacing of this book is excellent and it has a few chilling moments that make it a worthy thriller (the creepy doll! Eeeeek!), but the best of it is more in the ethical debate of parents monetizing their children online and what happens to those kids when they get old enough to start calling their own shots.

It’s a thoughtful portrayal of the issue but still fun enough to be a great beach read if you’re looking for something that is fun and compelling but not devoid of substance.