People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd had so much potential, but unfortunately it was not the book for me. I am always intrigued by a MC having a blog or large following. Emmy was that MC, who runs a popular instagram. But I kept signing at her and Dan's choices the entire book and wasn't really rooting for them. I felt that these characters were unlikable in a way that took away from the plot for me. I ended up finishing it, but I did have to make myself keep reading. I think Ellery Lloyd's writing style/book format will appeal to some, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd.

Listen, was this read a bit ridiculous? Yes. Did I still have an indulgently fun time with it anyway? Totally.

Emmy is one of THOSE instafamous instamommy influencers. She constantly posts relatable and adorably messy pictures of her life as a mom, telling other moms that they are all doing a great job. Millions of moms look up to her, and Emmy has made a great living as this pinnacle of perfect, white mom parenting.

But not everyone is thrilled with Emmy, her family, or all the advice she is doling out. One woman in particular has become obsessed with Emmy, and the need to be close to her family. But it's beyond being star struck, this woman is seeking revenge.

Listen, as I said, it's far reaching and silly, but I also think that it's an important bright light on what can definitely be a toxic culture. Influencers are simply people who society has deemed interesting enough to give a platform to. It doesn't take long for them to form an online cult, their followers unquestioning to any of their advice. And also, authenticity in influencing? Are we still pretending?

I give this a solid three stars. Definitely not boring, but just a bit out there.

Now every time I scroll on social media, I think in the back of my mind, could this be real? A book that is definitely needed for our trying times - and a great ending I didn't see coming!

This was an awesome twisty read. Thrillers have turned into my favorite genre and I can't wait to read more by this author. She is truly talented!

A compulsively readable banger about terrible people, social media, and obsession. Loved it! I went in knowing very little and was pleasantly surprised the first time it went dual POV... the ping-pong between Emmy's "mumfluencer" bs and Dan's telling it like it is was FUN. Then the mysterious third POV coming in, the one with an axe to grind against Emmy... a fun thread of tension that held off just long enough, re: the who and why--the whole book was well-paced and sucked me in.

Read this is you're a fan of domestic suspense, but are intrigued by the social media influencer angle. I LOVED all the little ins and outs and details that felt SO REAL and also so gross at times. The dichotomy between who Emmy really was vs. her online persona... but also how the book makes you question where the lines blur? The tension just from "what horrific thing will Emmy do that is completely normal to her in this world?" was GREAT. There's so much material to mine from influencer moms specifically.

But I liked what the book had to say at many points about serious topics. There were some gut punches. The tension in the last act was LEGIT. I was so scared of what might happen. [Content warnings featured on Goodreads under spoiler tag]

It has a nice, soapy finish with some not-so-nice takeaways, but that's kind of delicious? It did surprise me in the sense I was fully hooked in for a grounded ending and then the book really turned it around. Though I can see it not landing with some, and it almost didn't with me because (spoiler redacted).

So excited to see what Ellery Lloyd does next (it's a husband/wife writing team) b/c this was a fantastic debut.

DNF

Very grateful for being approved for this book, I just did not connect with the MC and could not bring myself to continue further. Nothing personal. Its a solid book as far as I've read and I can definitely see other people enjoy it more than I did. So, pick it up if the blurb sounds good.

I did not read People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd through an educator lens, but rather through the lens of an avid reader of mystery/thrillers. Lloyd's first adult novel was one that captured my attention, particularly with the plot. I found Emmy to be quite annoying and it made me actually go through and delete a bunch of influencers out of my Instagram account. Llloyd kept the plot moving and I wanted to know more. I did find the ending lacking - it came together too nicely for the situation.

What does it mean when the title is the best part of the book?

Such an interesting premise, and the beginning did an excellent job of setting the stage for you to dislike the main characters, influencers, and their whole world. (Emmy takes the role of unreliable narrator to the nth degree) But it was too long, taking nearly 50% of the book before any action happens. And then when the action started there were too many side plots that didn't add to the story.

This could have been an intriguing thriller (I think that's what they were going for) still including their statement on society if they had stuck to one main storyline and developed the heck out of it. The red herrings were cumbersome.

There were some formatting issues that made the book awkward to read. Each chapter is assigned to one character and told from their perspective. Until, that is, you come to a slightly indented portion which takes a minute to figure out that it's a different person speaking. Jarring to say the least. It would not have detracted from the story a bit if the villain was given a name and her own chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very fast read. Makes you think twice about posting your family's pictures online. Story kept taking surprising turns,

I was looking forward to this book because a psychological thriller featuring a social media "instamum" sounded really good. However I couldn't enjoy the story because Emmy, the protagonist was really hard to like or care about. I did think the later part of the book was twisty and more enjoyable to read.

This book (suspense) was a little outside my typical genre (romance), but I really liked it! Emmy is a #instamum - a popular mommy blogger - who seems to have the perfect life. Her husband knows exactly how much of this carefully curated life is fake - and how much of their life is paid for by her Instagram following.

Told in alternating viewpoints - Emmy, Nate, and a crazy fan. It starts with a bang, and you spend the rest of the book wondering how it plays out. I couldn’t stop listening!

Thanks to @NetGalley and Harper for my ARC!

Okay I loooved this one! I enjoy anything surrounding the bizarreness that is social media and this one did not disappoint!

This was a good, twisty read that left me guessing what the truth was several times. The characters are interesting and I wasn’t sure who to root for sometimes.

This was so, so wickedly, deliciously good I can barely put it into words. The protagonist, Emmy, is a social media influencer. I’m not on social media at all, unless you count Goodreads, and I only know what an influencer is thanks to my two teenage daughters. Emmy takes manipulation to an extreme level and it’s fascinating! It is a whole new world than from what I grew up with. Emmy’s whole life revolves around painting a picture in order to gain followers and reap the benefits that come with this following. But Emmy has angered the wrong person and, unbeknownst to her, she has a predator and her life and the lives of her family are in serious jeopardy. This was a thoroughly entertaining, original, timely and unputdownable read.

I really thought that I would like this book more than I did. I just couldn't get into it. Everyone in the book was shady. The main character didn't have any redeemable qualities, and the actual murderer's reasoning for trying to do it wasn't very good either. By the time it was over I was just ready for it to be done.

Emmy Jackson is one of the most influential mothers on Instagram, using each post to (falsely) connect with fans and gain a bigger following. Nothing is off limits in any corner of her life and she’s no stranger to lying to gain popularity. She seems to never think about the women who look to her as an expert and how her daily advice could change a life.

It's a known fact that I love books that have to do with social media or celebrities - even more so when tied into a thriller. When I heard about People Like Her, I knew I had to give it a chance, especially since it’s about an influencer and social media gone wrong.

This was an okay read for me. The first 3/4 are pretty repetitive and weren’t that interesting to me personally. I had a hard time connecting to the story, possibly because I’m not a mother, and all of the parenting talk was not relatable to me. I’m not really a fan of stories about missing children, abductions, or terrible things happening to children (not a spoiler). It’s just not something I care to read. However, the story really picks up during the last few chapters and that’s when I had a hard time putting it down. I liked the twists mostly because I didn’t see them coming.

The characters, though, were unbearable. Emmy got on my nerves to no end and seeing where the story ends up only made my view of the parents worse. Without spoiling anything, I think they made some questionable choices regarding the aftermath of the “big reveal”.

I got some Liane Moriarty vibes from this, so if you’re a fan of her writing - women’s fiction with a splash of thriller - this may be a good book for you!

3.5 stars

People Like Her is a fantastic, thought provoking thriller that raises some great issues about sharing daily family life online. Unlike most Instagram lifestyle thrillers, this one isn't a condemnation of sharing online but instead asks what is "real life" when it's carefully created and orchestrated to look perfect or maximize engagement? Is it wrong to do this when it's clear that no one posting on social media is ever totally truthful?

It's also a great thriller with complex, fascinating main characters. Emmy, who worked in magazines before pivoting to be an Instamum, and Dan, her husband who was once a semi successful novelist who wants to be famous on his own but is now living off Emmy's tightly packed and extremely well orchestrated online life.

Emmy and Dan both are manipulative and seem to use each other while unaware of how deep each other's deception, self and otherwise, runs. It makes for fascinating reading, especially as People Like Her is all about how we try to create ourselves and our lives. And throwing the creation of a perfect life online adds even more complexity.

The thriller part is pretty standard but Emmy and Dan's reactions to the person determined to hurt them and what they do is brilliant! I also loved the twist at the end.

In case it wasn't obvious, I loved this and think People Like Her is an absolute must read--I hope this clever novel finds the audience it deserves! Very highly recommended and one of the best books of 2021.

People Like Her is a thriller written by Ellery Lloyd, a pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. They’ve managed to write a page-turner that’s one part Real Housewives (the characters gave off big Gretchen and Slade vibes) and one part Harlen Coben thriller. Emmy and Dan, the main characters, are the first to criticize their insta-fame but it’s been so successful, putting their entire existence online, that they can’t figure out how to do anything else. And Emmy’s agent, Irene (tough as nails and can’t be found online at all), is happy to coach her client through exploiting fame and her children for more clicks.

People Like Her was easily readable. The authors do a great job making two very unlikable people interesting enough to keep gulping down the pages. Every character, from the two main, to her agent, to Emmy’s fame-chasing assistant, to the person stalking Emmy, are all pretty terrible in their own right. After a while, I found myself needing a break from these terrible people because there was too much second-hand embarrassment from them genuinely being selfish and lacking empathy. Even the stalker, who bears some bizarre grudge against Emmy, is more of a wince and an eye-roll for the truly tenuous anger they hold.

Where the book really shines is making the reader guess whodunnit, who is going to cause Emmy the heartache or the be the danger that gets promised in the first few pages. The red herrings were where the book really shone. It really isn’t until the last few chapters that it becomes clear who is the problem and that’s rare. Most readers are primed to start guessing whodunnit from the start and have it nailed down by chapter 5. People Like Her uses the whole book to develop the motive and the culprit.

People Like Her feels more like a summer book, though reading it during lockdown isn’t a bad thing. It’s definitely a vacation read and a read to feel much better about your life choices when they get held up against such two-dimensional characters. Fans of Megan Abbott and Sara Shepard will enjoy.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.