This book is certainly up to date with the times we currently live in, whilst social media definitely has its good points, it certainly also has some bad points. But then I guess that depends how much of yourself you put out there. Just writing a book review is something that wasn’t done as I grew up, not even sure how it would have been done then, I guess word of mouth. I only know of some of the Vlogs and “influencers” through my daughter, who whilst pregnant and after having her son, has followed other mums.

Violet Young is an “influencer” with a huge following on social media, her very popular mummy vlog, Violet is Blue, which she began to help other mums deal with, or even recognise postpartum depression, some women don’t always realise they have until months after having had a child. The problem with having a huge amount of followers, is that it can also come with a lot of haters, who make nasty comments, each and everyday, if you are struggling with any type of depression at the same time some of these comments can be hard to overlook.

It appears a follower knows more about Violet than she would like, her personal email address where she is being harassed more, the person states if Violet puts all the information out there, then she is asking for someone to follow the trail, and find her, seems whoever knows all about her.

People like 40 year old Yvonne who desperately wanted to have children with her younger husband Simon, but it’s not meant to be, as Simon is infertile, Yvonne turns to Violet is Blue as well as other websites and chat rooms.

Then Violets #1 fan is Lily a young widow, with a 3 year old son, since losing her husband she has struggled with depression, before losing her husband and having a child, Lily had friends, and hope, but now she has no one and nothing, so has turned to watching Violet to fill the void, she believes that Violet knows her, understands her and what she is going through. But does she really?

The story is told through three points of view, Lily, Yvonne and Henry, Violet’s shady husband. With alternating chapters from these characters, the story begins to unfold, with dark secrets, are these three connected? If so in what way?

Henry and Violet seem to have the perfect life to anyone looking in, Henry is successful, Violet is popular on her online sites, they have 3 children. But is everything that is shown online as good as it seems, after all people show what they want people to see, no one really knows what goes on offline or behind closed doors, only what you want them to know.

One day Violet is there, online, then she disappears, as does all her social media presence, everything is deleted. With no explanation, what has happened to Violet? This is the question fans discuss on forums, where things can be twisted, how fickle are fans, they go from liking someone until a little doubt turns them. Without knowing the truth.

This is a well written, clever twisty story, with some nice and not so nice characters, a great fast pace, the pages fly by as you get so engrossed in the story, this is the authors second book, I for one will be watching out for her next read.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Crookedlanebooks for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

A million subscribers tune in to watch the YouTube channel :

VIOLET IS BLUE

Violet, a Mummy influencer, with three children who has battled Post Partum depression and come out on the other side, now offers a daily glimpse into her life and words of encouragement to all of her fans...

Her followers count on seeing her every day.
But one day:

VIOLET IS GONE


Did the woman trolling her, finally force her to delete ALL of her accounts overnight? Or has something far more sinister happened to Violet?

Two of her most devoted followers, Lily and Yvonne are keen to find out, and the story mostly unfolds through their alternating perspectives.

This is an enjoyable, though not particularly dark tale of oversharing on social media, and I was drawn in as soon as I gazed at that FANTASTIC new cover, right till the last page when all was revealed.

I was a bit of an outlier when I read the author’s debut novel, The Rival” which was just an okay read for me, but found this book, her sophomore effort, to be quite a bit more entertaining!

If you enjoy the FUN thrillers, like I do, you can pick this one up in the US on March 10, 2020! Available now, abroad!

Thank You to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Charlotte Duckworth for the digital ARC I received in exchange for a candid review!

A rollercoaster ride of a thriller. The complex storyline draws you in, the characters keep you guessing and so artfully set in todays world of social media. When have you shared TOO much of your life on social media?

Thank you to #netgalley and Quercus Books for an advanced copy of Unfollow Me.

Unfollow me is certainly a relevant thriller these days. It centers on the sudden disappearance of an "Influencer" - Violet Young, the Youtube sensation Mommy-blogger extraordinaire has gone radio silent! Her followers are growing concerned and start discussing what may have happened in some Mommy forums.

The book is told from 3 perspectives, Lilly - a single mom and intense, shall we say, Violet fan. Yvonne, who is trying to conceive and has a shared past with Violet. And finally Henry, Violet's husband.

I enjoyed this book. I felt bad for Lily, most of the time. I liked Yvonne, most of the time and Henry wasn't so bad afterall, or was he?

A great, quick easy read that I would definitely recommend to my friends.

Unfollow Me takes a deep dive into the troubling world of social media. In today's society, everyone puts everything on social media -- which can be especially problematic.

We meet Violet, a "mummy vlogger" who has amassed a large YouTube following based on her confession of suffering from postpartum depression. She turned to YouTube and now documents her entire life (and the lives of her children) through YouTube and her blog. But suddenly, Violet goes "off the grid." And all of the mothers religiously following her blog are concerned for her well-being. What happened to Violet?

Unfollow Me is primarily told through the point of view of two of Violet's loyal followers. With a fast-past, twisting plot, Charlotte Duckworth had me hooked up until the very last page. What a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are a glut of mystery novels on the market at the moment that use social media as a plot device. Some play a major role in the unfolding narrative, whilst others are merely a sop to the technologically savvy 21st century reader and/or a publisher’s marketing arm looking for that USP to sell their books. In Charlotte Duckworth’s well-crafted and imaginative “Unfollow Me”, social media, somewhat obviously, given the title, is an intrinsic part of the plot. The book focuses on Violet, a yummy mummy with her own YouTube channel and legion of ardent online followers. All is seemingly well until one day Violet’s online presence is completely erased as if it never existed. What’s more it seems Violet has disappeared, too. Propelling the narrative forward are several of Violet’s fans who take it upon themselves to unravel the mystery of her real life and virtual vanishing. Cue an enjoyable thriller that is at once a cautionary tale about the nefarious uses of social media and ‘over sharing’, and a thoughtful meditation about the collision of real life with our virtual selves.

An enjoyable read. 4 Stars.

The book is written from the point of view of some “followers” of Violet. Very different from what I expected in advance. Many aspects are deliberately kept vague and during the story you find out who all the characters are and how their lives are connected. This was done in an interesting way, but unfortunately a lot of aspects were very predictable.

Unfortunately, this way of writing made the story feel a bit inconsistent for me. It was kind of all over the place and at times there were even some contradictions. Facts that were suddenly different and where very little effort was put into explaining why. It was just like that and the reader has to deal with it.

The book is certainly not bad. The writing style is very pleasant and the writer really knows how to tie the readers to the story. It soon feels like you know these people and you sympathize with them. Yet it was far from the great book I had hoped it would be.

To quickly read in between (it is not a very thick book) when you love thrillers and a nice mysterious aspect, this book is highly recommended. But don’t expect a high quality story.

A compelling story that uses multiple character perspectives to explore our relationship with social media and why we feel the need to follow people online, especially people we may not know personally. Duckworth managed to hook me in reading this book in one sitting with her unique plot and her ability to weave mystery with social commentary and biting humor. This was my first book by Duckworth but I’ve already ordered a copy of The Rival to read more from her.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When mommy blogger Violet’s YouTube channel and all of her other social media suddenly get deleted, avid followers Yvonne and Lily wonder what happened to her and start to investigate. The story is told from their perspectives as well as Violet’s husband, Henry.

When I started this one I really didn’t know where t would go, but I found it to be a pretty easy read that held my interest so I stuck with it. It had some good twists and turns that kept me guessing and I enjoyed it.

Excellent cautionary tale of over sharing online. Violet is a super successful vlogger with tons of followers. When one day Violets social media accounts disappear without a trace the rumors start flying. Has something bad happened to Violet or did she simply get tired of sharing all the details of her life online? Told from many points of view, including some of her faithful followers, how well can you really know someone you haven’t met and how safe is it to share so many details of your life with strangers. Well written, suspenseful, highly recommend.

Unfollow Me is a fantastic thriller that keeps you engrossed in the story. It is well written and has great characters.

Unfollow Me is about a mommy blogger gone missing. While I thought it was going to be fluff, the variety of characters kept it interesting. You know *someone* is unreliable, but you’re not really sure until the end. I appreciated the spotlight on Postpartum Depression--being a new mom is tough. It’s often lonely and confusing--not everything Insta-worthy. Glad this book didn’t disappoint. Quick, intriguing read.

What happened to social media influence / mommy vlogger Violet? That is the question that Unfollow Me attempts to answer. Told from the viewpoint of several narrators, I found that following the who's who in this story to be difficult, and I never really cared about any of them, which made for some slow reading. I love books centered around social media though, so I wanted to find out what the "message" here was going to be. Essentially, in the end, I was left with feeling like this was a simple message to be careful about oversharing and what some potential dangers of that could be.

Social media maven, Violent, abruptly goes off the social media grid, leaving her fans left to speculate as to the reasons why. Gossip and theories of what happened ensue and we discover that everything may not be what it seem.

Thanks to NetGalley, Charlotte Duckworth and Crooked Lane Books for providing an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Recently finished reading this upcoming 2020 book: 'Unfollow Me', a story about obsession, revenge, lies and the dark sinister side of social media. The story revolves around two avid fans and their obsession to find out the truth behind the sudden disappearance of Violet: a famous YouTube influencer who has deleted all her social media presence. Afterall putting yourself and family on the web can bring stalkers, psychos and people from your past close to home and lead to deadly consequences. But it's already too late for Violet to realize this and now she cannot keep them out of her perfect life that has started to crumble down.
I loved reading this unputdownable book that grabbed my attention from the very first sentence: "I know everything about you, Violet". Though I must add that this book is not a crime thriller, nonetheless it was very entertaining and you will find yourself flipping pages to find out what actually happened to Violet.
This book made me question my time online and interactions with social media influencers. How will we react if someday our favourite influencer disappears?
Highly recommend this thought-provoking and very suspenseful read. Overall 4 stars.
Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wild ride that involves parasocial relationships. Violet seems to have a perfect life until she mysteriously disappears and fans are desperate to find out what happened.

I am a sucker for thrillers that integrate social media so when I saw this upcoming book about a mommy Instagram influencer who disappears, I had to have it. The author did a really good job of keeping up the suspense about what happened to the influencer while integrating the stories of a couple of her followers who may be a little obsessed with her. I enjoyed how all of the characters grappled with integrating their online and “offline” selves.

Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author Charlotte Duckworth for an advanced digital review copy. This book will be published March 10, 2020.

I recently read an article about a popular Mommy blogger that one day up and quit, so when this book came across my dash I was very interested. I don't know if I liked this all that much but it did keep me turning the page. It's just that all the characters were both crazy and unlikable. Violet was a cipher -- not a true character but a plot device to keep the story moving. Henry was weak and pathetic. Yvonne was overtly crazy and getting crazier with every swipe of the page. Lily was deceptively crazy. She seemed the sanest of all until all her secrets spilled out. I think that's why this book was compulsively readable. You didn't know what would be revealed next, and you just had to know even as you were repulsed.

I do recommend it. Like I said it before, it was a page turner. But this is one of those books where I was rooting against everyone. lol

Unfollow Me is a wild ride into the new age world of Social media/online presence. When you think you've got it figured out.... think again. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thrill!

I don't read much fiction but I requested this book after reading some reviews by GR friends and getting intrigued about the premise. I read the US version of the book with the window on the cover but apparently it's exactly the same as the UK version with baby shoes that was released by another publisher last year. You can tell, as this is very heavy on British dialect and references. I still have no idea what dungarees are are what a dungaree dress is, and why it matters so much in terms of your fashion sensibilities if you're wearing these, for instance.

The basic premise is that a super popular mommy vlogger has suddenly deleted all of her social media presence and gone missing online, and two "fans" in particular are obsessed with finding out what's happened to her. The story is told first person by these two women and then later we have some of her husband's perspective.

It is all kept very confusing so you can't figure out what's happened. This is needed for the mystery aspect, but it makes it really annoying at times because you don't understand things that are going on with the characters or what's happened in their pasts. I was frequently just kind of annoyed at this. Am I supposed to like this character or not? Is she sympathetic or a fruit loop? What on earth is happening right now? It's hard to be in someone's head (it's written first person and supposedly as it's happening) when you don't know most of their story.

I ultimately did not see the twist coming at all, but it was a bleak twist and made it not such a fun book to have read. Eh, I don't know. I didn't like most of the characters at all, but ultimately understood them enough to feel bad for all the bad in their lives. It's an interesting book but for my first book to venture into fiction after this long I think I needed at least one person who was fun or kind or funny or anything positive.

I told my husband yesterday that I tend to let the characters of books into my head and feel like they're people I know after I'm done with a book, and like they influence me a little bit the way you pick up the mannerisms of your friends. I told him it's kind of depressing having these people now permanently part of the folks in my head. I also told him that perhaps in light of that, I need to start reading books with characters who are really good at cleaning. ;)

All in all, it's well done in the aspect of keeping you guessing, but kind of depressing.

I read a digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

I enjoyed this book thank you net galley for the copy.
The story plays out through the lives of three main characters as you try and figure out what has happened to Violet.
The characters are not overly likeable and lily especially felt like she was portrayed as a bit to weak and self centred
I did like the ending and didn’t guess how it was going to play out however I felt we were building to a more climatic ending than we were given
All in all a good read that gripped me and kept me going and I read it really quickly