Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“The Influencers” by Anna-Marie McLemore is a gripping exploration of family dynamics, the impact of social media, and the dark side of growing up in the public eye. Centered around the Iverson family, a group of five sisters who have spent their lives as social media influencers, the book is part murder mystery, part critique of influencer culture, and wholly captivating.

The story begins with the death of the Iverson sisters' stepfather and the subsequent fire that destroys their mother's house. The sisters, who were once stars of their mother's highly popular channel "Mother May I," are thrust into the spotlight yet again—this time as prime suspects in a murder investigation. As the investigation unfolds, so do decades of family secrets, resentments, and the pressures of a life lived under constant scrutiny.

One of the strongest elements of “The Influencers” is its portrayal of the psychological impact of being raised as child influencers. McLemore does a fantastic job capturing the effects of growing up with every moment of your life on display, showing how it shaped each of the Iverson sisters differently. The exploration of parasocial relationships—the one-sided connections that fans form with influencers—feels both current and deeply relevant, highlighting the thin line between fame and exploitation. As awareness of these issues with child influencers and parasocial relationships becomes more and more prevalent in today’s society, I think this book will really help open people’s eyes to these issues.

The characters are richly developed, each with their own complex backstory. April, the oldest sister, has stepped away from the limelight to become a businesswoman. The twins, June and July, continue to thrive in the influencer world with their own channel, while January has distanced herself from social media entirely, working in theater tech. The youngest sister, March, is shrouded in mystery, having disappeared from the public eye two years ago. Their mother, May, remains a fascinating character as well—her perspective offers insight into her motivations and her justifications for the choices that have impacted her daughters' lives so profoundly.

The pacing of the book can be a bit uneven, with a slower start before picking up momentum. However, once the story dives into the complexities of the murder mystery and the family’s hidden tensions, it becomes difficult to put down. The twists and turns are well-executed, even if some of the plot points can feel a bit predictable. But the true strength of the book lies in its examination of the dark realities of influencer culture, rather than solely in the murder investigation itself, and this particular exploration is what I enjoyed the most about this book.

One unique aspect of the narrative is the way it includes the perspective of the fan base. McLemore cleverly uses this device to show how public figures are dissected and judged by people who think they know them through their online personas. It’s a striking commentary on how social media creates a false sense of intimacy, leading fans to speculate, point fingers, and even "gather evidence" without truly understanding the people they follow.
Overall, “The Influencers” is a compelling read that offers a sharp critique of the digital age while still acting as an engaging mystery. It offers a fresh perspective on the lives of social media influencers, particularly those who never had a choice in their fame. If you're interested in a story that dives deep into family secrets, the complexities of fame, and the impact of living in the public eye, this book is definitely worth a read.

The Influencers is my setting sweet spot. While I appreciated the interesting writing style and points of view, I would have been able to better connect with the characters had their POV chapters been written in first person. I also would have enjoyed more insight into details of the influencer lifestyle. Still, though the ending didn't completely land for me, I enjoyed the ride. 3 Stars.

The Influencers was a fun, modern who done it! I enjoyed getting sucked into this world. Perfect for any Kardashians or housewives fans!

I thoroughly enjoyed this as a concept, it uses the mystery and influencer vibe to its advantage. The plot was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed. The characters were wonderfully done and they felt like influencers and their world. I was invested in what was going on and figuring out what was happening. Anna-Marie McLemore does this story fantastic and glad I got to read this.

Written from an unusual POV. Enjoyable, intriguing, kept you guessing and wanting to keep reading. Also an undercurrent of sad.

Here is the tagline that succinctly sums up this popping fun story: A social media influencer's empire is burned to the ground—literally. The top suspects? The five daughters who made her famous.

Who burned down May Iverson 's (The woman behind the ultra-famous "Mother May I" media influencer brand) mansion? Did they know her new husband was inside? May's 5 children June, July, January, April and the mysterious March are the prime suspects! Join in as the police question each of the wildly different young women to learn more about the working behind the empire and the effects of growing up with the world's eyes can cause.

I loved this fun novel. I wished there was a bit more spark to the language but I was there for every campy moment.
If you love current culture, media influencers (either for their rise or their fall!) or just like a nicely crafted who-done-it, this book is for you! #theinfluencers #annamariemclemore #randomhouse

~Contemporary, Mystery, Adult, and more!~

The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore follows the Iversons; social media influencers who grew up under the spotlight and in front of the camera. The five Iverson sisters have spent over twenty years being filmed for their mothers channel, 'Mother May I.' The once small channel became an empire with their lives plastered everywhere: from online videos to social media campaigns, the girls have done it all. So when their step-father ends up dead, and their mother's house ends up torched, they turn into lead suspects. The sisters have changed since the early years of Mother May I. April, the oldest, is now a successful businesswoman whose life isn't in the spotlight. The twins June and July have their successful channel called 'The Summer Girls,' which is projected to become bigger than their moms. January is living her own life away from social media as a theater tech. The youngest, March, hasn't been seen in 2 years. The girls have changed, but their mother hasn't. As the murder case goes on, resentment and secrets start to bubble over, and tension gets high. But that doesn't mean one of the girls really committed murder, right?

4.5|I enjoyed this book, but I had a hard time rating it. I think a terrific job was done showing the parasocial relationship between fans and influencers. This topic of child exploitation is so current, with countless stories coming out each year. The negatives of growing up this way were perfectly shown and described throughout this book. The pressure they felt to constantly perform and the want to just be kids was so compelling in this story. The building of resentment they felt for their entire lives being shown, especially personal moments being capitalized on, was strong—a fantastic job capturing this side of content creation, especially when pertaining to children. For the story itself, I enjoyed the number of twists throughout the book. The use of different perspectives was genius and allowed me to see both sides of the story. The characters themselves had good and bad points. At times, I empathized with them, while at others, I got frustrated with their decisions. The balance made the characters feel realistic, especially given their odd circumstances. I enjoyed the description of their world. The constant cameras, unrealistic expectations, and their hectic life greatly affected how I viewed the characters.

My biggest complaint in this book is about the pacing. It felt too slow at certain points especially in the beginning when I wasn't too invested in the characters or the story yet. As for the murder mystery aspect, it was a tad predictable. I won't judge too harshly, mainly because I read many murder mysteries and because this book focuses more on the influencer aspect, not the murder. I enjoyed learning about the sister's relationships with each other. I also loved the different perspectives we got to see; it showed how each Iverson viewed their upbringing. I will say my favorite perspective was May herself. Seeing how she justified her actions and viewed her children was interesting. The ending was a great wrap-up and showed how bittersweet it was for the Iversons to finally live their life how they wanted. The only thing I would have liked added to the end was an explanation of what happens to their neighbors' land.

Overall, this was a great book that dealt with the current issue of child influencers and the lifelong effect it has on them. This book could have been an easy 5-star for me if the pacing was easier initially. While some parts of this book were quite light-hearted, I got a melancholy undertone. That was primarily due to my understanding of this happening in reality so often. This book was enjoyable; the story itself was unique and unlike anything I had ever read before. I am definitely interested in reading more by this author!

This book is SUCH a good concept - it just wasn’t executed very well. I would have loved to give this 4 stars. A whodunnit centred around adult children who resent their mother documenting their entire lives online. I think this is something we will begin to see more and more in real life in the coming years, so I was very excited to read this story. While the parts that focused on the dark side of family influencing were very well done, the book as a whole was not written well. There were so many tedious sections of “telling instead of showing” that it was a chore to read at times, despite wanting to know what happened. So overall I consider it a really good concept, I just wish it had been written better.

This is the first book I've read that was written by Anna-Marie McLemore and it was fabulous! I really enjoyed the different perspectives the book was written in and I did not expect the twists that took place. The detailed descriptions of the characters made it so easy for me to envision this as a tv series or movie.

What drew me to this book was the fact that so many children are constantly posted on social media today and their entire lives are online for the world to see, so this book is sort of the reality for a lot of those children (minus the murder mystery....I hope). This was a really fun read and very unique because it is from the POV of the fan base. I haven't seen that done before so it was cool to be on that side of the "spotlight."

Someone has killed the husband of May Iverson, an influencer EVERYONE knows. But who did it? Did May, or one of her five daughters?

You get to see how growing up in the spotlight was like for the daughters, and how if affected their lifestyles. It was easy to get invested in this book.

This is the first time I’ve read something written in a style where you also get to see a fans point of view but like collectively. Seeing how famous people in the spotlight are seen and how fans pick a part every single thing that happens is interesting too. They started pointing fingers at who did it and what their motives were. They would find “evidence” as well to say who they thought did it. It’s honestly wild because this happens a lot in reality and seeing it written was definitely interesting and eye opening.

This book is a captivating murder mystery that’ll make you wonder who did it. The ending though!! 👀👀👀

Unexpectedly poignant, deeply entertaining, and mildly prophetic: The Influencers is a real stand out, one I'll be thinking about for much longer than I would have anticipated.

I enjoyed the concept of the book and the way it was written. I did get a bit bored when I found it to be uneventful and wordy at times. Overall though the insight and intriguing content about influencers and social media was enjoyable. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

when my mom enters a worst mom in the world competition and May Iverson shows up :///

What I loved?
The writing felt natural and realistic for the subject matter.
It was SO funny!!
I LOVE love the Iverson siblings and I truly wish we got more of them. Just more background and more of their lives in general
This was such a great take on mommy bloggers, true crime bloggers AND watchers, out of touch influencers, and the worst of the worst - gym bros.
THE ENDING HAD ME CRYING DA HELL

What I wasn't a fan of?
Not much if I'm being honest! My only complaint is that the mystery / murder plot fell flat but that's only because I cared more about the drama with the family and the family itself.
the timeline towards the end got confusing as hell.

Would recommend, would read again.

Very interesting book on influencers who are all online all the time shown in the spotlight of their social media. This book covers a murder and the 5 suspects are the 5 daughters. This book has a pacing issue, It was lacking at times. Overall it was an interesting read!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this advance readers copy in exchange for my honest feedback! Really enjoyed reading this one! Interesting take on the dangerous of being an influencer especially in today’s world!

I have a feeling that this book will be a lot of young people's reality in the upcoming years, especially those who were raised in front of a camera and constantly posted online for "content" In this book we follow a family of social media influences and there is a mystery of who killed the matriarch's second husband. Was it her or the five daughters she raised in the spotlight? This was an interesting read but I felt like the pacing could've been better.

This was a fun read. Social media and technology has taken over everything and to see it from a family of influencer was interesting. I was curious as to who could have killed the husband. The "fans" on social media are scary and what you post online can live there forever. This was fascinating and I enjoyed reading this book.

Someone has killed the second husband of family influencer May Iverson - did she do it, or did one of her five daughters, who grew up in the spotlight she cultivated, do it?

This story had such an interesting premise and did not disappoint. Seeing how growing up in an influencer family affected each of the children was incredibly interesting. I was sucked into the story from the first page.

Also, seeing the story unfold from the perspective of the fan base was such an interesting experience - and so fitting given how social media works. Public figures are picked apart constantly and discussed on multiple online platforms in the exact way that the fan base perspective unfolded. Seeing how fans immediately started pointing fingers, placing guilt, and gathering “evidence” on people they don’t actually know was poignant, fitting, and incredibly realistic.

This was a solid mystery, but even more so an amazing look into the digital realm and how it affects those who grow up in it as well as a look into family dynamics. Four stars from me. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really really REALLYYYY wanted to love this. I could see so much potential in it, but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

I found this book to be so lackluster, dragging and a bit all over the place. I found it kind of hard to follow what was going on and to discern what was relevant information. A lot of the content of this book felt like filler to me at times.

This book has such an amazing premise that so much can be done with! The dangers of child influencers and the power given to influencers in general...and that leading to murder?! Such a fun murder mystery concept.

Weirdly, I think this would make such a good tv show! I kind of really want this to be a tv show. I really think it would work so well in that format.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.