Quick moving and filled with characters who will feel familiar to anyone who's spent anytime on the mom internet, this is slightly over the top but quite entertaining. I didn't expect the ending!

After new mom Chiara goes missing after a mommy influencer retreat, her twin sister Adrienne will do whatever it takes to find out what really happened to her. Adrienne thinks everyone else is useless – the police, Chiara’s DH – so she’s just going to have to handle things herself. Convinced Chiara was the victim of foul play, Adrienne finds herself infiltrating a momfluencer “Style Summit” retreat at the same ranch her twin went missing from.

This satirical social media thriller is so snarky and fun! The pointed social commentary is scathing but hilarious, with the author nailing the archetypes of momfluencers (the fitness guru, the multiples mommy, the crunchy tradwife, etc), the blind devotion to the top mom, and the cringe-inducing dynamics of mean-mom cliques and parasocial relationships. The images of over-the-top insta-worthy perfection are deliciously hyperbolic, from copious hashtags and “tragedeigh” sibling names in various shades of blue (Navy, Cyan, and Azure) to handcrafting elaborate families of pumpkin-headed scarecrows. The last 25% of the book is non-stop action and it’s a crazy, campy, bloody ride that’s unhinged in the very best way!

Many thanks to MBC Books, NetGalley, and Thomas & Mercer for the advance reader copy!

📚: Follow Me by Elizabeth Rose Quinn
⭐️: 3.5/5 (rounding up on #goodreads)

Chiara & Adrienne. Twin sisters who ended up on two different life paths. After partying their way through their 20s together, Chiara finds herself married and a mom to twin boys. Adrienne can’t believe this is the life Chiara chose, and finds herself at the bottom of a bottle or baggie most nights.

Chiara, desperate to find herself kindred spirit mom friends, attends a mom-fluencer weekend. A retreat of instagrammable moms and everything to curate the perfect mom image. And then Chiara disappears and doesn’t come home.

Adrienne finds herself obsessed with her sister’s disappearance and finds herself willing to do anything - even become one of those moms - to find what happened.

This book was part dark comedy, part “this is so real about motherhood,” part thriller, and ended up being surprisingly horror. (Seriously, some of the imagery in this gets dark and gory, this is my warning.)

A quick pace that kept the pages turning for me, a rounded up score for how many times I said, “yeah I feel that,” but not quite a solid 4 star rating for predictability.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Follow Me is out now!

So the premise for this story was interesting and accurate in today's social media obsessed world.

I'm a mother myself, and I related to some of what the motherly themes (and pressures) were in this story.

With that said, it was all just too much. Too many hashtags, descriptions of posts, the conference twee themes and words ... I'm middle-aged (NOT elderly) and maybe, dare I say, I'm too "old" for this story?

I felt like I was trying to navigate another language. I found the dialogue and descriptions that hard to follow.

I get the comparison of Heathers and Stepford Wives. That was certainly accurate. And maybe the point is to make a satire or mockery of social media and motherhood. But, I just could not keep up with any of it.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for an e-copy of FOLLOW ME to review.

I rate FOLLOW ME two out of five stars.

I was drawn to FOLLOW ME because of its cover, and "frighteningly funny dark thriller" sounded good.

The first 20% or so seemed to both satirize and humanize mom-fluencers who have gathered at a weekend event. But then suddenly the novel veered directly into campy mode and while I know many who'll enjoy, it's not for me.

DNF at 23%.

Just by luck, mommy influencer Chiara became a viral hit on Instagram and one of my least favorite kind of mom influencers , the one that thinks the world should cater to her because she’s a mom. And I couldn’t tell if the author didn’t catch on to that or if it was written in irony. But luck would have it, she finally gets invited to a summit retreat, baby free and really trying to remember who she was before. Off subject- is this what influencer retreats really are? It feels like a bad work outing.

I did not like the character Chiara at all; spoiled, lucky, not very bright; so it was a lot of pages in the beginning of dealing with her, I wanted to DNF. If you like your novels front loaded in set up, this is the one for you. It was way too much for me and I think I would have enjoyed it a little more sprinkled in. When the transition to the missing sister thriller part happened, I was completely thrown- definitely felt some transition needed there. But the thriller part of the story feels better written, the Adrienne character not so cliched; and it was enjoyable reading the self reflection she had when thinking of moments she should have had with her sister she missed out on, moments she wished she could do again. The regret there was relatable. The dynamic between Adrienne and Bernice was the best and really let the reader see how much Adrienne was missing her sister.

What this novel was missing was recognizing the “cheesiness” or some of the writing cliches, some of the insincere emotional moments that felt too on the nose and i wish it had been written in a way that felt like the author recognized it too. And for a comparison to Heathers and The Stepford Wives, it was missing some of the darkness, even the subtlety of it. The back half of this story gets so much better, it’s a shame the almost first half felt like a first draft. But the ending was confusing- don’t look for a motive in this one. A story with a fun idea but not my favorite execution

It took me months to finish this book, I almost DNFed it. The premise was interesting, but it just didn’t hook me enough to keep turning the pages. The characters felt forgettable, and I struggled to connect with them. Well except for Chiara’s exhaustion and needing a break. But beyond that, nothing really stood out.

At first, I rated it 2 stars, but then I realized I’ve given 2 stars to better books. Here’s to a 1.5 then.

I found out after finishing that this was a debut novel, which makes sense. I hope Quinn continues to grow as a writer, adding more depth to both the characters and the plot. The twists could be stronger, and the execution needs work, but the concept itself has potential.

I love both Heathers meets The Stepford Wives so this was a perfect read for me. It was a very intense and suspensful read that showed a dark side to influencers that had me hooked.

Follow Me was such a fun read. It's a wild ride, part psychological thriller, part commentary on the loneliness of motherhood, and part satire of the mommy-blogging industry. I loved it, particularly the insane, darkly funny resolution and the touching epilogue.

This was a fun and entertaining read. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about a book set at a mom influencer retreat, but I really enjoyed this one! I really liked the mystery of what happened to the main character’s sister. It was interesting to follow along with the MC as she explored this crazy world of mom influencers. Some of the story was predictable, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. The ending was bonkers and it kind of felt like a different book. It went from feeling like a mystery/thriller to a horror/slasher. I did enjoy the ending, but it was wild!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Amazon Publishing for gifting me both a physical and digital ARC of this debut book by Elizabeth Rose Quinn. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Adrienne Shaw feels like she is the only one who really believes that her twin sister, Chiara, who went missing at a mom-fluencer weekend, never left the resort. The authorities found nothing, and she feels her brother-in-law is useless. Adrienne decides to go undercover at the next influencer retreat to see if she can find any answers.

While this is all a bit over the top, this was an entertaining story with a very relevant storyline. Especially for moms who are struggling, it’s impossible to measure up with all the Instagram/Facebook perfect pictures and stories. Adrienne is single and childless and it’s funny to watch her try to fit in with these “perfect” mothers. Plus, it’s a good mystery to try and figure out exactly what happened to Chiara. Will absolutely pick up more books from this debut author, plus the film rights have been optioned by Amazon MGM Studios!

I love stories about sisterhood and this felt like a unique, darkly fun take on that. Thrillers in general have been hit or miss lately for me, but this one had so many elements that I really enjoyed!

This book wasn't for me. I found the writing included too much telling and not enough character work. It also wasn't a thriller--more a social commentary.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. This book reminded me a great deal of the book Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard. I have to wonder if Elizabeth Rose Quinn was inspired by that book?? Coincidentally both books are narrated by Brittany Pressley. Overall this was a good thriller.

Where do I even start? I wasn’t sold on this book from page one, and somehow, it just got worse from there.

The premise had potential—there’s so much to critique about mom influencers and the general weirdness of trad wives, clout-chasing parents, and the “my kids are my brand” internet culture. And to be fair, this book tries to take a jab at those things. But instead of a sharp, insightful critique, it feels more like "Ugh, look at these dumb women being dumb!" Which… okay, that’s not exactly the hard-hitting social commentary I was hoping for.

The Mom Squad—our main group of influencer moms—are cartoon characters, not people. One of them is a trad wife, of course, because no internet drama is complete without one. But instead of digging into why people buy into these toxic online personas, the book just dunks on them in the laziest way possible. Is it satire? Social commentary? A fever dream? I honestly could not tell.

Then there’s Adrienne, our main character, who voluntarily spends thousands of dollars to infiltrate an influencer retreat—only to spend the entire time complaining about being there. This is her idea! She chose this! And yet, she has zero plan, zero investigative skills, and mostly just walks around being mean and confused. Imagine Nancy Drew, but instead of solving mysteries, she just hates everyone and gets nothing done.

And the plot—oh boy. I finished this book and still don’t understand why any of it happened. The big mystery? Makes zero sense. The explanations? Absurd. It’s as if the book realized it was supposed to be a thriller halfway through and just threw in some random chaos for vibes.

And the ending? OH MY GOD. I can’t spoil it, but let’s just say that if this book were a movie, this is where the audience would start throwing popcorn at the screen. It tries to go full Scream with a wild tonal shift, except Scream is clever, and this just felt like a bizarre prank on the reader.

If this book had fully committed to being either a sharp satire OR a legit thriller, it might’ve worked. But instead, it halfheartedly attempts both and lands in a weird, frustrating in-between space.

Apparently, everyone else loves this book, so maybe it’s just me. But personally? I thought it was messy, underdeveloped, and as deep as an Instagram caption.

A familiar plot- a woman searching for her sister (in this case a twin) - made topical with the addition of influencers. Chiara and Adrienne have drifted a bit apart from one another but Chiara mobilizes when it appears that Adrienne has disappeared into a sort of cult. This uses a lot of hash tags (the influencer thing) and satirizes the mommy-influencer. There aren't many surprises but there are a few chuckles. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Oh man I didn’t like this one at all unfortunately. I don’t usually enjoy the Momfluencer storylines, but this one was a little bit extra. It felt like weird satire I just didn’t enjoy it

I really enjoyed this descent into mommy-fluencer-madness!

When Adrienne's estranged sister Chiara goes missing at a mommy-fluencer summit, Adrienne decides to go undercover to see if the organization had anything to do with her twin sister's disappearance. Once she's there, the manipulative, coercive and cut-throat world of mom-fluencers is harder to navigate than Adrienne planned for, and she must up her game to get answers AND get out alive.

I loved the snarky tone and the subtle build up to a truly explosive ending! Fans of social satire, mommy-grammer dynamics and thrillers that bleed into horror, this one is for you!

Follow Me is an impressive debut novel! Elizabeth’s writing is brilliant, quick and funny. If you are a fan of campy horror movies this book will fill that need with the use of clever hashtags, unique plot with a relevant theme of influencers and social media. This book focuses on a group of mom influencers specifically but even if you are not a parent or interested in that culture this is still enjoyable for everyone! Elizabeth dives deep into influencer culture and how social media shapes the way we present ourselves to others, something that many of us understand and experience.

Adrienne’s character is deeply compelling, her dedication and what she was willing to do for her sister despite having a rocky relationship is truly touching. The cultish atmosphere that Elizabeth has created will draw you in immediately! This is a fresh and original take on the thriller genre. There is one twist in this book that made me want to throw my phone across the room. You won’t want to miss out on reading this, especially since it’s already picked up for a feature film!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. It seemed more light mystery than thriller. The premise is interesting and I love the idea of a momfluencing retreat related to a cult. The characters are interesting, I was just thinking it should be more thriller.