A fun twisty story of a toxic friendship and the destructive power of social media. Competitive, manipulative, unreliable and often unlikeable women who use their intelligence and creativity to create power and authenticity. Enjoyed the look at a very different way of life

Meredith, a young and promising influencer, met Aspen at a party and was immediately drawn to her unique qualities. She decided to take Aspen under her wing and offered to help her with her social media platform. As time passed, the two grew to be inseparable, forming a bond closer than sisterhood. However, their friendship was put to the test when Aspen's followers grew exponentially, leaving Meredith feeling resentful and jealous of her friend's success.

The book provides a captivating behind-the-scenes look into friendship, family, and the truth behind social media. It features a cast of characters including a devoted husband, twins, babies, a sister, and an assistant, each with a hidden agenda. As the story unfolds, the character's flaws and struggles are revealed, leading to a surprising and satisfying ending.

I enjoyed reading this book, as it was both smart and witty, with a captivating storyline that kept me engaged from start to finish. It offered a unique and insightful perspective on the world of social media and the challenges that come with it. Overall, it was a great read that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a thought-provoking and entertaining book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for this ARC.

Meredith and Aspen are best friends and aspiring social media influencers. Meredith, having the higher numbers of the two, has taken Aspen under her wing, giving her tips on how to succeed. Until one day, Aspen surpasses Meredith's numbers, creating a tension that escalates until a blowout fight finally breaks their bond.

This starts right off the bat with Meredith stalking Aspen with the intention of finally figuring out the secret to her major success while also missing her one and only friend. This was written in an addictive way, and I devoured it. About halfway through, things started feeling redundant and a bit drawn out and I started to wonder if this was the whole book, two women competing to be the top influencer and using any means necessary, no matter the cost. However, shortly after, things took a turn, and it picked right back up. The best part about this was the reality of social media and how it affects those who use it. This obsession many people have to stand out and reach those high numbers. Being a bookstagrammer, this really made me think, but it also left me grateful that I use it solely for one reason and never let it affect me or my family. I think for that reason alone, it deserves the four stars I am giving it.

Thank you, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, for this ARC.

This was an instant request once I saw who the author was! I’ve enjoyed most of the books I’ve read by Jesse, so I felt no need to read the summary. And honestly, I encourage you to do the same if it’s not too late. The summary spoils the whole book, it’s like those awful movie trailers that give away the best parts. Hope the publisher sees these complaints from the reviewers and rewrites the summary before the publishing date.

Both main characters, Meredith & Aspen, are influencers and besties. They started out as beauty/fashion influencers. Initially, Meredith was more popular so she showed Aspen the tricks of the trade. But once Aspen got married and started a family, she moved into the mom influencer space and took off, surpassing Meredith. This caused trouble in their friendship.

Overall I liked the pacing of the book but the beginning was a tiny bit slow. I did find myself checking the genre tags on Goodreads to make sure it was a thriller and not a contemporary. But around the 50 percent point… “okay here’s the TWIST! Well not twist but turn in the story? Plot thickens? The juicy part? The OMFG part? Jaw drops? Mouth agape? The shock?” -These were my exact annotations, after this I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down!

Warning, there are no likeable characters in this book. Which isn’t a bad thing, in a way it helps soften the ending. But I would have preferred a different ending, I don’t know what that would have been but something different. The ending felt rushed and I think a few additional chapters would have helped.

This was such a great story. Even though this is set in present time, it took me back to Dramageddon days of the mid to late-2010’s when the YouTube Beauty Community started to implode. Shamefully, I used to eat that stuff up. It was my soap operas lol

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC. These are my honest opinions.

This book was very entertaining and I finished it in less than a day. It centers on Los Angeles based influencers Meredith and Aspen, who have a falling out that causes them both to do all kinds of crazy things. Meredith is mad because she taught Aspen everything she knows and Aspen then got bigger and more popular than her.

Neither character (nor any other character in the book) is likable but I actually found myself rooting for one of them despite all the terrible things they do. The secrets and lies and overall fakeness of the world of influencers was very interesting to read about., and not something with which I had much familiarity coming in. There was constant action throughout the book and some strong twists. I liked the ending, though I suspect some may not.

Overall, this was a fast and twisty read that I enjoyed. I will be looking for more books from this author. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A twisty, physiological triller in the world of social media influencers, this felt like a different universe than the one I'm living in! With dual perspectives, the novel follows two young women navigating the highs and lows of social media stardom. The characters live in a world where every moment is an opportunity for content creation and the pursuit of likes and followers is relentless.

For those of us juggling young kids, it's eye-opening to witness how some people exploit their children for attention. The characters inhabit a world where every parenting moment is meticulously curated for likes and shares, blurring the line between genuine affection and calculated performance.

The pacing isn't always perfect. In the middle of the book one of the main characters, Mer, goes missing. A little reveal had me wondering if I would even finish reading the book... but oof! So glad that I did! The real magic of the book comes in the latter half. The twist is fabulously even more OOF!

This was a wild ride worth taking. Sure, the characters might be hard to relate to sometimes, and the pacing might stumble, but the payoff is well worth it. If you're into psychological thrillers with a healthy dose of mystery and cattiness, this one's for you.

I was happy to receive an ARC of You Will Never Be Me by Ms. Shrank and this is my first read of her work. Once I read that it was a thriller involving social media influencers, I couldn’t wait to dive in. The story started out captivating. Neither Meriden or Aspen were likeable, but the drama related to their toxic friendship, kept me interested in each character. One of them was some kind of crazy, delulu woman, but which one. Once I realized they’re both self absorbed, greedy women, the story lost steam for me. It’s still worth a read, It deals within toxic friendships, marriage infidelity and the behind the scenes antics of influencers, so it was still interesting. I prefer my thrillers a bit more psychological, edge of your seat plots and this didn’t hit the mark for me. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Meredith is an influencer in Los Angeles who taught Aspen everything she knows, but she can’t believe that their friendship is over just because Aspen has gained so much traction on social media. Incensed, Meredith does what any rational influencer would do – she stalks her friend, until an opportunity too good to be true presents itself. Aspen can’t understand why her perfect life is slowly falling apart around her, why friends, family, and sponsors all seem to be less than impressed with her. Could Meredith be involved? Or is Aspen perfectly capable of ruining her life all on her own?

This work is told from a dual POV and a very fluid timeline. There are a few instances when the shifts in time are clearly demarcated, and more instances where it’s not clear. This didn’t bother me too much, but it was used once in a way to cause a dramatic twist which felt a little cheap to me. The POVs use the first person, and Meredith’s broke the fourth wall several times, which took a little getting used to.

The characters in this book are unlikeable. But they’re written to be unlikeable and written well enough that it was enjoyable to watch the mess unfold. There were instances when they felt a bit cartoonish, but overall were decently written.

The pacing in this book was a little off as well. There were instances when it felt long and drug out too much, especially at about 50 to 80 percent, and got a little repetitive. However, the last 20% picked up the pace and kept me turning pages until the end, which I enjoyed.

While this wasn’t a perfect read, it was quite entertaining. If you’re interested in Influencer drama, ex-best friends, and unlikeable characters, this popcorn thriller is definitely worth checking out. My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for allowing me to read this work, which will be published August 20, 2024. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Friendship drama plus influencer thriller? Sign me up! I have loved a few of Jesse Q. Sutanto’s books before and was excited to receive this ARC. I’m happy to say it did not disappoint! Sutanto did a fantastic job of writing the characters as truly not likable. The book was fast paced and kept my attention until the very end.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted (free) ARC

This book got me out of a reading slump, I was completely hooked from the very first chapter.

Aspen & Meredith have been best friends for years, making their own names as influencers with Meredith acting as a mentor to Aspen. But when Aspen surpasses Meredith, it puts a wrinkle in their relationship.

Told in dual POV, this book will have you completely consumed. I was so confused about who I was rooting for here, and honestly I don’t know that I ever came to a clear conclusion on whose side I was on. I would definitely recommend reading this book!!

Many thanks to NetGalley for offering me the chance to read the latest Jesse Q. Sutanto. I've read one of the author's previous books and was about to start the series when this one showed up, so I opted for it instead. Mostly focused on two uber popular influencers, the book shows their rise and fall, their friendship and difficulties, and what others thought of them. But don't think it's so straightforward. I'm humming along, knowing it's a mystery, when bang, someone is killed. Sudden whodunnit, tho we know who it is... more about how to catch them, and what the real creativity of an Instagrammer and TikToker is really all about. Good story, lots to ponder... mostly disliked the characters, but you're meant to. Some people are just terrible! Liked that it was about Asian-American women, so it added a nuance we don't see often enough.

Seven years ago, Meredith was a social media influencer on the rise when she met Aspen, a woman who was struggling to find her own footing in the cutthroat social media world. Meredith took Aspen under her wing, and showed how to grow her following. But as Aspen became more successful and eventually bypassed Meredith's follower count, the dynamic of their relationship changed — what looked peachy on the outside was rotten on the inside, much like the social media personas they created. With heightened competition and cutthroat tactics, who knows what they'll do to get ahead of each other.

Prior to this novel, Sutanto's novels have been funny and filled with quirky characters that you'd love to spend time with (even if it's just a short period of time because they're a LOT) — see Dial A for Auntie and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murder. This book, however, is a straight-up thriller with absolutely despicable characters (with the exception of six-year-old Elea, who I think I would get along with quite well) doing horrible things in the name of self-promotion and garnering a few more likes on Instagram. And you know what? Sutanto nails it. This book is full of slowly ratcheting tension, crazy twists, and everything you want out of a psychological thriller. Plus it drives a stake through the heart of influencer culture. Absolutely fantastic, and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone.

As a rubbernecker of online drama I keep up with the scandals of way too many influencers I never have and never will choose to follow, so this was right up my alley. It was fascinating to see the business portrayed so starkly, and just as frustrating as it is to watch stuff like this go down in real life, particularly when it comes to influencers who exploit their children. The unreliable narration got a little goofy in retrospect after the midway point - it's giving villain who pretends to be good and then smiles evilly into the camera after they've gotten away with it - but I'll forgive it because this was just too right up my alley and engrossing enough to finish in an afternoon.

I also want to note something weird about my own reading habits, which is that every time I've read a book that prominently relies on the use of Facebook I've felt like it's already dated by the time the book is published, yet we're still societally so deep in the TikTok of it all that books like this feel more like cultural artifacts in progress. It won't be relevant forever, and it will actually be hilarious if the TikTok ban goes through before this book is even on the shelves, but the phenomenon especially as portrayed here is, I think, absolutely something worth thinking about and commenting on.

My thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

Rival social media influencers. Frenemies. Two women willing to do anything to stay on top.

Meredith Lee is a social media darling and was one of the biggest influencers once upon a time. But when her protege, Aspen Palmer, becomes a bigger success than her, well, something drastic has to be done. How did Aspen become so much bigger than her? When Mer (kind of breaks into Aspen's house but not really) and finds a family iPad just lying around, she had to take it! Maybe the secret to Aspen's success is hidden in its digital depths! What Mer discovers is jaw-dropping. Aspen's life isn't as #authentic as she wants everyone online to believe. So Mer decided to do a little (just a little) sabotaging... Just enough to even the playing field and maybe come out on top.
But Mer has vastly underrated what her friend/ex-friend/rival. Aspen will do anything to stay the big social media influencer she is. She didn't work this hard for nothing after all. The question is, will she figure out who is trying to sabotage her? And what will she do if she does?

This book is an exploration of internet fame and the unraveling of a toxic friendship.
Mer and Aspen have an interesting dynamic. Very love/hate. And I loved the power shift within the relationship and how unhinged it made them both. The depths of depravity that they would go to for the price of internet fame was shocking and delicious to watch unfold.
There were some great twists thrown in here too, and the ending was fantastic. I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way.

This is a quick and fun read that I recommend to anyone who's a fan of thrillers featuring female friendships and/or social media.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jesse Sutanto writes some of my grandma's favorite books, so I was curious how You Will Never Be Me was going to go and it went....perplexingly. The story centers around Aspen and Meredith and their obsession with being influences, specifically, momfluencers. I appreciated the concept behind this story because it is interesting to consider the behind the scenes of influences, but the story lacked characters with their own independent personalities and relied upon an unreliable narrator to progrss the plot. Meredith and Aspen sound too much alike in their chapters and Aspen's character seems to do a 180 in the later halves. Is it intentional? Are we, the readers, purposefully mislead to believe Aspen is somehow the way she's not similar to her TiKtok viewers? Why does the author choose to tell us about how confused and arrived Aspen is in certain chapters when it turns out Aspen plotted things all along. That comes across as disingenuous. Don't essentially fool readers into thinking X is happening because our narrator is telling us X is happening and then later say "haha, just kidding! I actually did Y" and forget to address the emotions you were sharing with X. The twists also seemed a little nonsensical with an ending that felt rushed and slapped together in the last half.

I did still enjoy the storyline and was intrigued. It isn't the greatest thriller I've ever enjoyed, but I did find it a quick read overall. I'd call this a "popcorn thriller" or in line with expected for the thrillers that happen on Lifetime TV. I do, however, think the book dates itself with all the references to current social trends and medias and this may be difficult for future readers to relate to or find interest in because they won't have the context for the book. I also saw some missed edits, so it seems like it needs another round of copy edits. I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher providing me this copy to read and review!

Synopsis:
Influencer Meredith was ditched by her mentee Aspen as soon as Aspen blew up. So when Meredith does some light stalking, it’s hard to feel bad for her. When she steals Aspen’s ipad and then her ideas, things get interesting.

Aspen is struggling. Her seemingly picture-perfect life is falling apart around her. She’s late to appointments, her daughters are rebelling, and even her husband is finding her hard to deal with.

When Meredith goes missing, Aspen’s world is upended, and she starts getting threats. But she won’t let anything, or anyone, get in the way of her life.

Thoughts:
I love books about influencers. There is just something about them that makes me want to grab the popcorn and a blanket and cozy up for a great read.

I loved getting this story from dual POV. Books done this way are usually more enjoyable for me, and that was the case with this one. In this case it was prior best friends, and I don’t think I’ve ever read one done this way before. Usually, I get dual POV in romance books, not necessarily thrillers, so it was refreshing.

I really loved to hate both Aspen and Meredith. Aspen decided to take the filtered approach to everything, and hey it worked, until it didn’t, and she hit a wall. Meredith struggled with ideas because she was so tired from being a single mom, but just when I thought I could sympathize with her, I learned something shocking and NOPE that went out the window – ha.

It wasn’t surprising that there were some generalized stereotypes thrown in throughout the pages. I know that they exist for a reason, but I think there were some good points as well. People want relatable but not unattainable, so it has to fit that niche when we post online. It’s a tricky balance and I know that I’ve struggled with it myself.

Seriously this book would make a good movie because it had so much drama and was a lot of fun!

Thank you to:
Thank you to Berkley Pub @BerkleyPub and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.

I was thrilled to get a copy of Jesse Q Sutanto’s upcoming novel, You Will Never Be Me! You already know I love influencer drama in fiction, and a good twisted friendship thriller, and basically everything Jesse Q Sutanto writes, and the combination didn’t disappoint!

You Will Never Be Me is a pageturning thriller about two influencer friends/rivals, but I also found interesting themes about online identity.

I previously read Sutanto’s YA novel Didn’t See That Coming, about high school students, online gaming, and identity. The two novels have wildly different plots and vibes, but there’s a similar exploration of online and offline identities. In Didn’t See That Coming, teen gamer Kiki gets sick of the online harassment as a girl playing a fighting game, so she makes a new character under a male name. Not exactly to deceive others, just to be able to play without harassment. When she strikes up a friendship with another player, her offline identity and her online identity threaten their very real friendship.

You Will Never Be Me explores some of the same questions about the dissonance between online and offline. Influencers Mer and Aspen curate their lives for their online followers. Ok, curate may be an euphemism, the story reveals lots of faking it for the ‘gram. Motherhood influencer Aspen cooks photogenic but flavorless meals for her adorable kids (and her terrible husband, Ben), she bribes her kids to be adorable for the camera, and she secretly feeds her children grocery store fare. Motherhood influencing is her fulltime job, so she’s constantly maintaining the brand. There’s a lot of tension from Aspen as she worries that someone will uncover her secret, even though these seem pretty mild so far.

When this shocking truth came out to the followers, though, I was sort of surprised. Surely we all see those gorgeous Insta reels and know they’re fake, right? If not entirely fake, at least carefully edited, filtered, and exaggerated for effect.



Quinn Morgendorffer, the OG of GRWM Filters

Even though I didn’t think worries about organic recipes or kid’s clothes were particularly high stakes (yet… that part’s coming!), this raises interesting ideas about the performed lives of influencers. Influencing has the same power of reality TV for me, that idea that it’s showing real people and real events, but also highly edited at the same time. The novel looks at this idea of living a curated life, carefully being the right kind of Asian, the right kind of mother, the right kind of effortlessly perfect, with a curated streak of imperfection for authenticity!

The story is told in alternating chapters from Meredith and Aspen’s viewpoints. This style is usually not my favorite in thrillers, mostly because it often relies on the Unspeakable Secret Plot Device, referencing the terrible thing that no one can even know, and then swaps for a new narrator. But here, I think You Will Never Be Me is playing with that trope, because after all Aspen’s anxiety over her dark secret of feeding her kids upscale grocery-store food, after that, when Aspen has a real secret to keep hidden, she’s practical and not dramatic at all.

Both perspectives, Aspen and Meredith, were entertaining, even though they were both unlikably self-centered. I tend to enjoy an unlikable female protagonist, especially when she has a clear, believable motive for all her unlikable, unrelatable actions. Here, we see both women put so much time and effort into their influencer status, and see their anxiety that they might lose it. It’s not a creative hobby for them, they’re not enjoying coming up with new or creative ideas (Mer even steals Instagram Reel ideas from Aspen), it’s 100% work, with deadlines, constant pressure, and networking requirements.

The motivation works because they’re both just so very committed to being influencers. Women characters aren’t usually permitted to be unlikable and single-minded about their success, unless they’re mean-boss side character (Mossa, in The Mimicking of Known Successes and The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, has the same single-minded focus on her career, at the expense of personal relationships. Of course, Mossa is a wildly different, way-more-likeable character in a wildly different genre, but it still stands out to me because it’s unusual for a female protag to focus intensely on career success.)

The conflict comes because Mer, who was a successful influencer first, showed Aspen how to establish her brand and grow her platforms. She remade @RyleebelleSings as Aspen. After marriage and adorable twins, though, Aspen’s overtaking Meredith, and doesn’t seem to remember who built her up. This thriller has hacking (the modern kind with synced iDevices), stalking, influencer posturing, and a best friendship turned evil. I enjoyed the misdirections a lot, mostly because Sutanto is great at playing with genre expectations. I read a lot of thrillers, and I can get a little annoyed when I feel like the resolution is too obvious. (I don’t mean foreshadowing — I love foreshadowing and hints! I mean the genre-aware obvious ending, when the book follows a thriller pattern too closely.) The resolution of You Will Never Be Me was not obvious at all, and I actually wasn’t even sure what kind of ending I was hoping for! Our murderer was so heartlessly manipulative, but I was also weirdly impressed with her highly practical plans. The Insta Lives were so high stakes! Without a hint or a spoiler, I’ll say the ending is satisfying and solid.

Fans of this one will enjoy Amanda Jayatissa’s You’re Invited, another story of ex-besties, layers of lies, and social media influencing, set at a lavish Sri Lankan wedding, and Social Creature, a thriller about twisted friendship, jealousy, and social media alibis, set in Manhattan.

ARC book review
You Will Never Be Me, by Jesse Q. Sutanto, will be published by Berkley on August 20, 2024. I received an advance copy of this book to review. Opinions and reactions on my book blog are my own, as always.

You Will Never Be Me was an amazing drama giving insight into the world of influencers. It had the perfect blend of humor, drama, and suspense.

In this binge worthy thriller, two mom influencers are enemies after being friends for years. Aspen has become more successful as an influencer in recent years, and Meredith found herself left behind and jealous of her success. What was once two best friends working together devolves into stalking, jealousy, and dangerous deception.

This book was delightfully fun and I devoured it! The characters are intentionally extremely unlikable and shallow, but they all end up surprising you by what they are capable of. It was interesting to see inside both Meredith and Aspen’s thoughts as they both narrate the story. It’s a psychological thriller with a domestic setting and I really enjoyed the way it was written. I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy a domestic or psychological thriller with a focus on female friendship, influencer culture, and multiple POV.

Thank you to Jesse Q. Sutanto, Berkley, and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

What a fun and twisted book this turned out to be! I was easily swept right in with this one. Flawed friendships are one of my favorite tropes in a book. Meredith and Aspen a were both interesting to read about. Both narratives were entertaining. I read this over the course of the weekend and I can feel the book hangover setting in already. I wasn’t sure how the ending would play out, and as unlikeable as Aspen and Meredith were you couldn’t really help but root for them both. Jesse Q. Sutanto is a really talented writer. There was not a stone left unturned in this book. Definitely recommending this one to other readers. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley publishing for providing me with an advance reader copy.