The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore is a send-up of all of the mommy bloggers who have profited off their children in the 21st century. I could see much of what happens in the book around the murder of the husband of "Mother May I" such as the commentary of the followers and the reactions of the adult children who were under the spotlight growing up. I highly recommend this mystery, especially for fans of Big Little Lies .

I loved this book. It was a great reflection on how we handle social media vis-a-vie our kids, sometimes intentionally, but often without even considering the consequences. Great character development with the kids, although not so much with the adults. Certainly a book I'll recommend again and again.

📖 Book Review

Title: The Influencers
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore

Description:
Mother May I is a wildly successful influencer who built an empire with her five daughters. Now grown up, two of the daughters (June and July) continue their influencer lifestyles, while May and January stay far from the limelight—and their sister March has gone missing. But when their stepfather is murdered, the family is forced to unravel secrets both personal and public. Who is behind it all?

My Thoughts:
Imagine the Kardashians with a twist of murder mystery, and you’ve got The Influencers! The premise hooked me instantly, as it dives into the life of influencers while tackling important issues like children being exposed on social media and how that affects them later in life. These themes feel incredibly relevant, making it more than just a fun whodunit.

While I loved the fresh take on influencer culture and the book’s start was gripping, I felt the second half lost some of its momentum. I also wished it had been a little shorter to maintain the tension. Still, it’s an intriguing read with a unique premise!

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Age Range: Adult

Favorite Quote:
“She was Mother May I. She was a brand. She was an empire.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

🗓 Release Date: August 13th, 2025
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC!


I will be posting this review on my instagram on January 15th 2025

3 stars

As an incoming McLemore fan, and one who has read most of their YA books and even taught a couple of them, I had a lot of excitement around this adult debut, and that was heightened by both the stellar cover and compelling premise. There are elements of McLemore's characteristic authorial charm here, but a few areas just feel off for me.

It's impossible to be a modern reader of this novel and not make constant comparisons to Kardashians for many undeniable reasons. While I expected a Kardashian-like setup, this is too on the nose. I found myself regularly thinking, "Oh, so this one is Kendall," and the like. It's hard to get as attached to characters - especially so many of them - when they are both too closely paired to real life counterparts and, in most cases, not quite interesting enough to help readers easily distinguish them. This is not a problem I've ever faced in a previous book by this author, so I was surprised and disappointed to find it here (because let's be real, some folks only write with constant "borrowing" from current events; McLemore isn't one of them).

There are some high notes here, but they made me desperately wish that the novel had been reworked to focus on them. The whole murder situation? I could not ever get to a space of caring about any part of this (a challenge in such a lengthy book). For me, the standout is Marc. I'd have LOVED a book focused on Marc from top to bottom. Give me his experiences in this environment, sibling relationships, thoughts, etc. I want all Marc all the time. When readers DO get to spend time with Marc, they also get discussions of food, culture, and relationships that are all characteristic of McLemore's writing. These are the good parts! Reading these sections made me (1) mad that the focus felt so off and (2) curious about whether earlier drafts read more like the author's other works and were somehow watered down in multiple edits.

I really enjoy this author, and my central issue with this book is that so much of it doesn't feel like theirs. I am really looking forward to many more reads from McLemore and will hope enthusiastically that they read truer to form.

This book was quite the glimpse into influencers and that lavish, entitled lifestyle you see some adopt. Mother May I has 5 daughters that she dutifully named after other months, and a husband named August who was murdered in the beginning of the book. The following chapters follow each daughter and May as they try to unravel who could have taken August’s life.

There’s drama, fights and so many dirty secrets come to life as the public speculates and true crime fanatics take hold of the story.

The end was a bit anticlimactic but I enjoyed this read

This is all about the world of social media influencers, and it is fascinating! The five daughters of "Mother May I" Iverson (January, March, April , June and July) have grown up completely under the spotlight, featured for twenty five years in their mother's social media accounts. When mom's new husband is murdered, each of the daughters is a suspect. The author has a lot to say about how children are affected by social media, particularly when their parents use them for content, which is something a lot of readers will relate to. I look forward to recommending this book.

The influencers is about exactly what the title implies: influencers. May is the face behind the massively popular Mother May I instagram account and brand built upon her successes as a mother and the over the top documenting of every aspect of her life. When her husband of just a year winds up dead and her mansion on fire, the world of internet sleuths take it upon themselves to help solve the mystery of who killed August. May’s 5 daughters (April, June, July, January, March) each had reasons to target August and more than enough time in the reality spotlight. The book follows the family members as the mystery unfolds and all while their private childhood videos are being leaked to the world.

Thanks NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my unbiased review. I REALLY wanted to uphold my New Year’s resolution to DNF books I don’t like but because I am reviewing, I pushed through. I will say after half the book I started skimming the story because I truly couldn’t stand it. I found none of the characters to be likable and it’s pretty bad when out of this many sisters I couldn’t find a single one I didn’t hate. The story as a whole felt slow for me and I didn’t like the perspective of the “fans”. There plot lagged quite a bit and the mystery aspect became muted as the story focused more on the sisters and their experiences being filmed growing up. It’s sad to have to write a negative review but alas here we are and thank goodness this book is done.

I truly wanted to love this book. The premise had so much promise, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me. I liked it, but there were some flaws.

The start of the book was very confusing. The story felt lackluster, slow-moving, and a bit scattered. I struggled to follow the plot and figure out which details were actually important. At times, it seemed like much of the content was just filler.

That said, the concept is fantastic! Exploring the dangers of child influencers and the immense power influencers hold, all leading to murder? It’s such a clever idea for a murder mystery. I also really appreciated the honest portrayal of the sisters’ relationship—it was one of the highlights for me. Finally, the Mom was well...something. This is a bit of a rip off of the Kardashians or the Hiltons.

It would work better as a TV show than a book.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Thank you to Dial Press for this e-ARC of The Influencers in exchange for an honest review. I'll have to echo what a lot of previous reviews were saying because I love a good unlikeable character but these characters were downright unrootable [for]. I love watching a good influencer here and there on Tiktok and Instagram, but that charm that keeps you engaged with an influencer through a screen was just absent here. Maybe this book is too meta and I don't really get it, but I just tried really hard to have that break the fourth wall experience and I guess it just didn't work. I'm interested in the author's future works in this vein but this one was not enjoyable for me.

i loved the idea behind this one and loved hearing about the social media aspect and how is affected the family. It was difficult getting into this one at the beginning. I wasn't invested in the characters enough so the beginning was quite slow.

The Influencers is an interesting premise that falls flat in my eyes. I know the characters may need to be unlikeable but I did not like any of these characters at all and did not care what happened to any of them. I hope Anna-Marie McLemore has another chance to write a book because this was not it.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

This book was a fun, quick read. Very unique concept, I loved it!

The Influencers is the story of May Iverson of the popular lifestyle blog “Mother May I” and the events that happen after her husband August is found murdered. The book was interesting, but I found myself wishing the story moved more quickly. Most of the characters were one dimensional and several were insufferable.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Pub date is April 15, 2025.

I was excited to read this book but couldn't get into it. The family was an odd mix of Martha Stewart / the Kardashians and I had trouble keeping track of who was who or why I should care. I'm sure other readers will enjoy it but it really wasn't for me.

Could not do picked up and put down multiple times but no I don't know what it was going for a Martha Stewart × Kardashians vibe or what but it was confusing and a mess and I could not get into it maybe someday I'll try again but 5 or 6 times was enough for me - sorry if you loved it
Thanks net galley for the arc

I really enjoyed this book. The chapters alternated between characters, including the followers which kept it interesting and made it move fast. This book was also so not what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a silly (in a good way) murder mystery with absurd influencers but this was full of social narrative, reflection on the influencer space and conversations about perceptions about race.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me this arc! This review is already uploaded onto my Goodreads account.

This book is so Kardashian coded it’s crazy. If you like following their insane life, you might want to try this one out. This book follows this family full of girls led by May, the mother and founder of their influencer life, and the aftermath after May’s husband was found dead. May started her empire with family vlogging that included her oldest daughter/copy April, the twins June and July, January, and the one who mysteriously left, March.

This book did a great job of showing the odd parasocial relationships between influencers and their fans. As well as touching on exploiting children from a young age. These factors boosted this rating by a lot. However, the fact that this book felt slow overall and the ending lowered it. Not to mention that the husband wasn’t one that we had a lot of details on, he was someone not worth caring about. Maybe had he had some redeeming factors or just had more information about him, the story would’ve flowed better.

"Mother May I" began as a social media page to for mothers trying to get by and featured May Iverson and featured her five daughters but after 25 years turned into a huge influencer empire. May's daughters (April, June, July, January, and March) are now grown up and living with the consequences of having their entire childhood documented and viewed by millions. The Iverson family is thrust into the spotlight even more when May's husband is murdered and a fire was set in their mansion to try and cover up the crime. The public thinks that they know the Iverson family because they watched them for decades and strong opinions are made on who from this family could have possibly committed these terrible crimes. Then there's also the mystery of March- at age 18 she disappeared from the family and the public hasn't seen her since. What's going on in the Iverson family and who of them is capable of murder?

I thought I would love this book because I thought it was a new idea surrounding a murder mystery. However, I realized that the murder mystery was probably the most boring part of this entire story. I really enjoyed the narrative of seeing how being forced into the spotlight as a child shaped each of the Iverson sisters. I wish it explored deeper how April and January sued their mother to take down the videos because that idea to me was fascinating. The scene when April explains to her mother that the videos of them as kids eating popsicles was shared wildly in pedophilia groups was such a scary look into reality and how May didn't even care, it was wild. When they confronted their dad and asked why he didn't fight was heartbreaking since he did want to fight and he loved his kids, but he knew that the courts would never take his side. Hopefully some of these influencer moms take a look at this story and make some changes to their content because that should be eye opening to any parent. I almost wish the murder wasn't a part of this story at all since it didn't really add much to me and made the book too long and instead focused on the ramifications of airing "everything" on social media.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Random House for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The Influencers is my first from Anna-Marie McLemore. An intriguing premise, with unique POVs. Currently timely in my opinion as an examination of influencer culture. The book does drag on a bit too long, as the "twist" is on the easy side to guess if you are paying attention.

“Mother May I” Iverson has created a very lucrative social influencer realm, often on the backs of and to the detriment of her daughters, January, March, April, June, and July. When her second husband, August, is found murdered and part of her mansion burned, her audience (and the police) carefully follow the family to try to discover the culprit. Soon the family’s true dysfunction becomes fodder for all.

This book is a great idea. Written from different POVS, including May’s audience, it is very contemporary with some clever actions and Iines…a good satire with harsh truths about our social media driven world. However, it just went on too long. The story dragged. It could have been so much more entertaining if it just hadn’t been so bogged down in length.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseBooks for the DRC.