The cover is deceiving. Harlequin Books, well I haven’t read many of them and I was expecting an easy read. Dystopian is never easy reading. Time travel and evil plots are not the Harlequin I remember from my high school days many years ago. This is much better! Makes me wonder if social media is making us overshare our lives.

In our current digital age people spend so much time building up their online social presence and many want to appear as perfect as possible to their followers. Most people are far from perfect but our imperfections are often times what make us unique and interesting.
Within the story it was interesting that people who spent so much time ‘sharing and posting’ about their fabulous lives had deep dark secrets that they kept under wraps. After a historical digital event happened, people started losing their minds and there was a ridiculous amount of collateral damage as an effect of the ’emotional terrorism’ and trauma that these people went through.
My personal opinion is that there’s a sense of true beauty in being able to be honest with the people closest in your life. Strive to be open and honest and be mindful about what you post online. Try putting down the phone and make it a point to look people in the eye and be present. Enjoy your life, your real life and experience your reality, not the warped reality that may appear online. If you feel yourself falling into the social media trap, keep in mind that much of what you see online is a curated presence and that there’s a real person underneath the filters and happy smiles. Be okay with who you are. Be okay with being the best version of you in real life, beyond the screen.
Fun Fact: I read an interview online that the author almost titled the book ‘Cursive’.
In a Nutshell: This was a very thought-provoking read and an absolute must for all. It’s an interesting concept that was well-written and intriguing and I highly recommend it.

DNF'd at about 20%. I could NOT get into this book. I tried multiple different times, over multiple different platforms (audio and ebook). I just couldn't get into it. The writing was good enough, but it was boring to me and the story itself, and the characters, never really captivated me the way I needed them to for this storyline.

*I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

This book was very hard to follow and understand at first. I was completely lost and kind of felt like giving up. It was just really confusing and frustrating. About a quarter of a way through, I fell into a groove and started to follow the story. I think it was partly the layout of the book, the flipping back and forth from past to present, and also the writing style. It was very detailed, intricate, and a little jumpy.

Once I got passed the confusing parts, I was completely addicted. I think I finished this book in one sitting after the complicated parts. I just wanted to know what happened.

Orla and Floss's stories were complicated and messy; it was very intertwined, a little confusing and self-dependent; throughout the book, I disliked them both more and more, especially Floss but that was the point.

When it came to Marlowe and the future world of influencers, it was hard to follow but very interesting. I much preferred Marlowe's stories than Orla & Floss. After "The Spill" which you don't really know what happened until the end of the book, influencers and technology became regulated by the government. Marlowe was a government-mandated influencer and her entire life is broadcasted to her followers.

The way technology affects her life in different ways from marriage, friendships, her health -- her followers are able to touch every part of her life and she has no choice... until she does. Marlowe makes a big decision to find out who she is and it changes everything, for everyone.

There comes a point in the novel when you realize the past and present are linked and I think that was the moment that I became more interested in the story. It was an 'oh my' situation and I couldn't believe things were going to go in that direction. It was so interesting.

On another note, "The Spill" that everyone kept talking about throughout the novel was really anxiety-inducing. Thinking about how that could happen to us one day was insane and it was just so eye-opening, seeing how reliant on technology we actually are. There's nothing we could really do about it if technology stopped working one day; it was scary and very interesting.

That's how I could sum up this book: interesting. Dreaming up a world where influencers are government employees and they have zero privacy is a scary thought. When you find out what "The Spill"is, you'll be nervous and think twice about what you share over technology. In the end, when everyone's stories connected, it made my heart happy. It was a beautiful ending that married both past and present in a great way.

"Followers" by Megan Angelo was one of the most interesting, thought-provoking books I've read in a while. It was a little scary, a little confusing, a little shallow but it all had an important message. I really loved "Followers" and Megan Angelo is a wonderful writer. I'm confident in saying that this novel will end up on my most loved book of the year list in December.

We are often warned that social media is ruining us as a society. In a world where everything is shared, from the banal to the sensational, fairly ordinary people's lives are put on display for all the world to see, warping our perception of what life is supposed to look like. So what about the consequences? After decades of oversharing our lives, what will the America of the future be like? Such is the premise explored in Megan Angelo's debut novel Followers.

Followers alternates between 2015 and 2051, examining how social media changed societal norms over the course of 35 years. Situated in the present day is Orla, a talented writer who just can't seem to get her big break in the literary world. Instead she is a blogger with a large following, but really, all she is doing is writing fluff pieces; click bait about Internet celebrities, who will do anything to gain followers. Things begin to change for Orla, however, when she makes friends with Floss, one of the aforementioned fame-hounds. Together, the women devise a plan to launch both of their careers to soaring new heights. But what is the price of fame? And just how far will these two women go to gain more followers?

Fast forward to 2051 where Marlow is living the life of influencer dreams. A resident of Constellation, a celebrity-only city in California, Marlow lives her life 24/7 on camera, where her daily activities are streamed live for her 12 million followers to see. But despite all her fame and fortune, Marlow dreams of a life off-camera, one where every minute of her life is not broadcast out to the world for people to pick apart, comment on, and emulate. Marlow's situation takes a drastic turn when she learns that the life that she lives on camera is a complete lie; that she is not the person she thought she was. She flees Constellation in search of answers, and that is when this novel's past and present clash in unpredictable ways.

Followers is a dark and gritty novel that explores the seedy underbelly of society's obsession with social media. This book will make you feel disgusted with the world's fixation with oversharing, but will also have you contemplating the larger implications of broadcasting our lives for all to see. Not only is this novel indicative of the times, it is also compelling and filled with characters you will love to hate. As a plus, Follower's present and past come together in twisted and convoluted ways, making this a shocking and disturbing debut.

Followers is recommended to readers of the Millennial and Z generations, those who are most familiar with the concept of influencers and oversharing. Readers who also want to experience the thrills and chills of a social media epidemic will enjoy this novel, which fleshes out this concept with calamitous results.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

It’s 2015 and Orla is a writer for a gossip website and not the published author she hoped she would be. She agrees to help her roommate Floss on becoming internet famous and they end up with a reality show, they are now big time influencers making lots of money. After a series of unfortunate events, overnight they are hated by everyone. This story is told in two timelines, now in 2051, Marlo is Floss’s daughter and her entire life is broadcast live. She has millions of followers who watches her every move daily. Every single thing she does is monitored and planned, she is not thrilled when she’s told she’s having a baby. She escaped when she learn some troubling news about her dad. I am trying really hard not to share the entire plot but this was such an interesting read. Very well written although the end was a bit rushed but it’s a long book, so I understand. This book is very relevant to our culture and maybe shows where we are possibly headed.

Though I did enjoy the book the story line is often hard to follow. The idea is a great one the execution of it was not.

I received this as an ARC via NetGalley.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but the synopsis definitely piqued my interest., First things first I love cover of this book. It made me want to see what the book was about. The author’s writing style caught my interest from the beginning and I was hooked. The originality and creativity of the story and the world made me want this to get a tv or film adaptation. This was so much like Black Mirror, The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits but in book form. Followers was a great social commentary on a future that could be. I will love to read more books from Megan Angelo.

A complex read that digs deep into our need for social interactions. The writing was impeccable and the story was addicting. I'm ready for more from Megan Angelo.

Excellent, compelling book. Dystopian, but still light and relatable. The story S characters drew me right into the story, and I could hardly put it down. Would recommend.

This book was fun, but got a little too plotty. I liked the first part, but the second half of the book started to go into eye rolling territory. Overall, I thought this was a fun and entertaining read, but I do not recommend it nor would I spend money on it.

I was given a free copy of this book from #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. How far would you go to get "followers" on social media. Orla was living a mediocre life until she is introduced to Floss, who develops a plan to shoot both of them to stardom on social media. 20 years later, a social medial star named Marlowe wants out of the limelight (she is filmed 24/7) and stumbles on a secret involving Orla and Floss. The book was interesting but drug on a little too much for me. #Followers

This was a really good one I read along with the Bad on Paper Podcast Book Club. It’s half present day, half 30 yrs in a somewhat dystopian but completely so believable future. There’s a lot of questions about celebrity and reality TV and influencers and how much of ourselves we share online and what would happen if there was a massive global hack. But there’s also a lot about family and female friendships. I did not listen to this on audiobook but the podcast girls said the narration was great.

This is normally not the type of book I really get into, but I loved this one! It was the right amount of snarky and thought-provoking. It raised really good questions about the world of social media, privacy and the internet all while using a realistic parallel between real life and the book. Will definitely recommend to friends.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Followers - I had a vague sense that it was about the perils of social media. It is, but it's also about family and fame and finding your place in the world. Orla is a celebrity blogger in New York in 2015, but what she really wants is to get her book published. In a separate timeline, in 2051 Marlow is a reality star whose every move is followed (kind of Truman Show-esque, except that she's aware of it), and there are references to a mysterious Spill that happened in 2016. We see Marlow get increasingly disillusioned with her life, while we also follow as Orla, along with her friend Floss, moves closer to the Spill event. How their storylines intersect propel the book forward. I really, really enjoyed this one. It satirizes the weird fame that comes with having followers and what people will do to achieve it, and also imagines consequences to our dependence on technology that feel very realistic. Often when a book has competing storylines I only care about one of them, but that wasn't the case here. Floss and Orla have a toxic, co-dependent relationship, but they're both so beautifully rendered that I understood why they behaved the way they did and how they put up with each other. I also couldn't wait to figure out Marlow's past (and future) along with her. Once I got about three quarters of the way through I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.

I ended up listening to the audio version of the book on Hoopla. Held my attention and I was most interested in the story lines of Orla and Marlowe. I would recommend to anyone looking for a fast read.

Sharing every detail of our lives socially and becoming insta-famous is something everyone alive in 2020 is familiar with. This book hints at possible effects of said obsession and the future doesn't look pretty! This book literally draws you in during the Prologue and makes you scour it over for every detail about the characters and situations that you could possibly imagine. The idea that social media is manipulative and has lasting effects is not only scary but haunting. This book takes a familiar and well known subject and turns it inside out so that you are desperate to continue the story just to see how things work out. This book is sure to be a massive hit and I would not be at all surprised to see a movie come out of it. I predict it to land on many books lists this year! MORE THAN Recommend!!!! Well done!

I enjoyed this book about a bunch of people and about a society (our own, and extrapolated from our own) that were all complex and pretty terrible.

Alternating between two storylines, one in 2015 following an up-and-coming journalist and her ‘influencer’ roommate and the other in 2051 in a society where social media celebs in Constellation, a closed city in California where every minute of their lives are broadcast, Followers shines a light on the dark reality of society's addiction to technology, the world of celebrity and social media consumption.

Followers is definitely one of those books that slowly suck you in as I started by telling myself I’d only read a couple chapters, then 30 more pages, then finally just cleared my Friday night to finish it. While it was fun and fast-paced, and there are some largely futuristic parts, every situation seems so plausible and realistic, which adds a bit of a dark side to it. It is intense at times, but a good read.

It took me a little while to get into this book. I almost gave up on it before Chapter 3 because I couldn't figure out what was going on. I read some other interviews that raved about it and I stuck with it and boy, am I glad I did! It is a commentary on the current American obsessions with selfies, social media, sharing personal information, getting likes and shares and, of course, reality tv. People become famous because their siblings were in a boy band or their sister had a sex tape. You can't go to a restaurant or a waiting room without noticing that everyone is looking down at their phones, oblivious to the world around us. Megan Angelo's fertile imagination follows this current trend and wonders what might happen to change all that and what does the future look like? I loved the dual story lines and how the two converged. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know.