I read this book when I needed to. It made me quite Facebook.

What an incredible story. Almond had grown up with and on social media. Everything she does revolves around social media. It earns her a living but also ruins her mental health.

I couldn't put this down - such an important book!

2,5 ⭐️

It has really surprised me in a good way, I thought it was going to mention the bad part of social media but not in such a deep way, but I quite liked how the author has done it. I think it reflects today's society quite well regarding social media and influencers, as many people want to become one just because of the money they earn, all the free things they receive, etc. but they don't stop to think about the bad part behind it, the thousands and thousands of hate comments they receive and so on. I found the ending very nice, as after all the bad things, the protagonist is able to get something good out of all that experience.

A great, but very heavy, read tackling some tough subjects. We meet Almond Hazel Brown (I will admit this name started to feel really unimaginative halfway through), an influencer since childhood who is desperate to get out. The story was slow at times and I found some of the characters a little much, but on the whole, it was an interesting look at the world of influencers.

CWs: self harm, drug and alcohol use, racism, sexual harassment, bullying, suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts, toxic relationships (probs forgetting some).
This one was tough, but has a lot of important things to say about it. Which is always good.
I definitely want to reread this one at some point.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Even tho7gh this book is Fiction it was like a real insight to what darkness goes on behind the glitz and glam of being an influencer. Would recommend.

Almond Brown is a seventeen year old 'influencer', who's career started when she was only a child, thanks to her mother's own family vlogging 'influencer' aspirations. Her life is far from private and everything she does and posts is perfectly curated by a team, with an overbearing and selfish manager, brand deals who rarely want the truth from her, and a mother whose heart is in the right place, even if her head isn't always.

'Influential' by Amara Sage is the story of Almond. Along with her mother, she is a social media influencer and has had life documented on the internet since infancy. This is the story of her at 17, grappling with her mental health which is causing a skin disorder (carefully filtered and covered in every Insta shot). She is caught between wanting to make money from her endorsement deals to finally escape to a better, more private life and almost giving in to the more toxic, darker side of the internet which is threatening to destroy her mental health once and for all.

My favourite part of this book was the developing relationship between Almond and her mother. Their drama is at the heart of this book and the constant tug of war between followers and family. We also have a burgeoning relationship with Almond and Joss from her therapy group - I felt like they fell in love too instantly for it to be truly realistic but it was cute. Almond deserves to be cared for in the way Joss provides.

A quick, cute but dark at times read. 4 stars ****

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Almond Brown has no friends in real life . . . but 3.5 million followers online. A heart-felt, whip-smart deep dive into what it would really be like to be internet famous at 17: a cautionary tale for our time from a writer who has grown up with social media.

Almond is forced into the spotlight when she was just a perfectly filtered bump: her mum has been documenting their family through social media since before she was born. And her family enjoy all the rewards that come from that level of influence. Only, it's not the life Almond would have chosen for herself, and being on a platform all the time has made her anxious and insecure. When the darkest side of the internet begins to haunt her, Almond feels like she's going to lose everything . . . If only she could see that she has a real-life, too, full of friends and family who love her, and that it could save her. Generous, moving and alive. A gift….

A wonderful book that exceeded my expectations. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Wow, this book was amazing. I loved how many important topics this discussed, not only does it go into the highs and lows of being on the internet, but also discussed topics such as mental health, and racism among other things. I felt like the story flowed really well, and I was gripped by Almond's story. At times I really felt for her, and that's a testament to the author's great writing, That being said, this book may not be for everyone due to some of the topics being triggering. This story doesn't stray away from the real lows of depression, and I think it was important to show that. Also how therapy can work, but there are still highs and lows that come from it. I loved how she formed friendships with Heather and Joss, it really shows how much a good support network is needed. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, it's so important for the society of social media lovers!

Influential by Amara Sage is a YA novel about Almond Brown who has been thrust into life as a social media influencer by her Mother. Almond's whole life up til now has been filmed for YouTube and Instagram and she has her own account with 3.5m followers at age 17.

Almond has all these followers but no "in real life friends" and with her parents recently separated and not getting good enough exam results for a university place, she's not in a great place mentally. When she starts group therapy she makes some new friends (loved Hev and Joss so much!) but the dark side of the internet threatens to drag her down.

I think this is a really interesting concept for a story. Social media has been around for about 20 years now so we'll be starting to see the effects on young adults who have been filmed and posted from a young age. Teenagers whose first steps and gap toothed smiles are still out there on the internet for the world to see.

This book looks at the lies behind what you see on social media, the effect it can have on your mental health and other dangers such as trolls, abusive messages and strangers feeling they know everything about you.

In a world where kids in school tell teachers they want to be a youtuber when they grow up, I think this is a good story for teenagers to read as it highlights these dangers in a relatable, engaging way.

Almond Brown is not doing well and she's pretty much a loner. Except she has 3.5 millions followers on social media and they expect a lot from her. And so does her mom. After she gets enrolled in this mental health program for the summer, she actually makes new friends but that's also a cause for more stress and anxiety. It doesn't help that someone is harassing her on social media and sending her death threats. Basically, everything is going wrong but she still has to pretend and fake it, fake it through it all...

This one was hard to rate for me. I honestly still don't really know how I feel about it and I read it almost a month ago now. First, I want to insist on the multiple trigger warnings. (self harm, drug and alcohol use, racism, sexual harassment, bullying, suicidal thoughts, suicidal attempts, toxic relationships) and I feel like I'm forgetting some. It was a lot from beginning to end and I wasn't prepared for it. It was a pretty interesting read but definitely not a fun one. I'm still really torn about this, and maybe this just wasn't for me... It did bring up some very interesting points and some parts were pretty powerful... But, also, some of the romance and the language to express attraction put me off a little bit?
Overall, I often had to make myself read and that's not what I want from a book? I don't know, I don't think I was the right audience for this but, on the other hand, I will definitely be on the lookout for more books from this author... See, torn...

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book other than what I took from the obvious clues on the cover. While it was a fun, insightful book, I don’t think it did anything different, which was perhaps what I really wanted.

Almond Brown has over 3 million followers but very few real life friends. Her mother has been putting her life online since before she was born and now everyone thinks they’re owed a piece of her. When Almond starts getting threatening messages, it only further confirms that the internet isn’t where she wants to be. But a big skincare company want to sign Almond and her mum Eve up for a big partnership and it could bring in a lot of money. Almond must decide what really matters and who she can really depend on.

Almond’s experiences really hammer home the realities of being online. Outwardly, Almond is a charismatic, happy, beautiful influencer but her falling apart has to be done behind closed doors. She goes through some very dark stuff over the course of the book but she doesn’t feel like she has anyone to offload to. I really wanted her to get help for her trolling situation because it escalated into incredibly dangerous territory but she keeps it all to herself. It’s very upsetting and frustrating to watch.

Almond’s mum Eve really irritated me. She is a typical social media mum but she is also wholly invested in curating and controlling her daughter’s career and image. The more power that Eve exerts over Almond’s accounts, the less Almond there really is. I think lots of people can relate to their parents trying to steer their lives in a certain direction, even if they’re not being plastered over the internet without their consent.

Callie is Almond’s ex-best friend but the supposed reason that they fell out was so dumb. I couldn’t believe that Callie had decided to distance herself from Almond because publicly available images of Almond had been screenshotted by a guy that Callie was seeing. It was nothing to do with Almond at all but apparently it was enough for Callie to decide to call it a day on a 17 year friendship. Um… what?

The romance between Almond and a guy called Joss was very cute. It was easily my favourite aspect of the book because they were both so awkward around each other. They really were a great match, so watching their friendship develop into something more was really lovely.

In many ways, Influential is a exposé on the life of a teenage influencer. It sheds light on the unsavory side of being internet famous, which is perhaps something that young, aspiring social media stars don’t consider. It is also a story of finding your tribe and learning who you really are in the aftermath of a life that hasn’t been chosen for you. While I loved the romance and the side character of Heather, I think I wanted more resolution from the trolling storyline and something a little bit more unique.

This was a really interesting, and I feel important book within the YA genre.
My main issue though, is that I thought that in terms of the story it probably would've been more interesting for this story to not have involved nepotism. Having an organic, self-made influencer would have been more impactful a message for readers to be careful what they wish for.

INFLUENTIAL is one of those books that I’ll remember forever. The message it surveys is so important in this day and age.

Almond Brown is the daughter of a social media influencer, thrust into the limelight before she was old enough to state whether that was what she wanted or not. Almond is suffocating under all of the attention, being judged and scrutinised by the public before she’d even turned eighteen. Add in her parents’ divorce and her father moving out with her beloved dog, Honey, and Almond is dangerously close to hitting rock bottom. Enter Heather and Joss, two friends she meets at group therapy sessions, and things start to look up. But with her mother and her manager bearing down on her to keep a perfect imagine, and an anonymous blackmailer threatening to ruin her life, Almond’s not sure if she has the strength to keep going.

This book is a perfect portrait of our current state of media. Kids too young to consent ending up as YouTube famous by their second birthday. The pressures of the internet expecting the kids who grow up in this limelight to be absolutely perfect or risk being ‘cancelled’. I enjoyed how accurately portrayed the other side. The side behind the camera, where everything is not perfect and behind the curtain of makeup and filters, there’s an actual person there. I felt for Almond at every turn. I grew angry with her, angry for her, I grew sad when things seemed to be taking a turn for the worse, I grew happy when her relationship with Joss and Heather blossomed into something.

I will admit it didn’t blow me away, but that’s okay. It didn’t have to. I didn’t really have anything I disliked about this book. It was fairly entertaining, and it was both fun and sad being in Almond’s head. I’m excited to see what Amara Sage releases next.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Have you ever wondered how was the life of the influencers' kids when they have always been watched by strangers? I have, which is why I requested this book on NetGalley. This book follows Almond Brown, an English teen who has millions of followers on her socials. But she has never chosen this life for herself, it was a decision her mother took when she wasn't even born.

At the beginning of the book, Almond hates her life. She wants to leave everything behind and go somewhere where no one knows her, but for that, she needs a last contract to fund her escape. She has a lot of anxiety that makes her hurt herself and the situation at home doesn't help either as her parents just got separated AND her mom doesn't want to keep her dog. Almond accepts to attend a therapy group for teens where she meets Joss and Heather. I was so suspicious of these two but they were as cute as they seemed.

I don't follow any family influencers because I always thought it was kind of weird to film your kids without their consent and even showcase elements of their life they'd wish to keep for themselves (Almond has a collab with a menstrual cup brand when she gets her period for the first time). Even if her mother is very cringe at times, I also found her very human in that we see that she has lost her way. I very much liked how Almond's father was depicted: he also felt lost but loves his daughter and does everything to show it. Honey the dog was amazing!

Almond is the typical case of the kid who wants to protect her parents but it's at her expense. She doesn't want her father to know that she hates being an influencer and her mother, that she's being sexually and racially bullied on the internet. Almond is very aware of these issues and knows very well that they can fall easily in the "drama" category.

They are a lot of TW but the book was easy and pleasant to read as we follow Almond in her path to recovery.

Rep: mixed race MC, black SC, anxiety, depression, chronic illness, fat SC
TW: anxiety and self-harm, depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, racism, (cyber)bullying, blackmailing, death threats, bodyshaming, fatphobia, alcohol use

Influential is one of those novels that everyone should read at least once in their lifetimes. Even more so now with the rise of teen stars during the pandemic.

Almond is such an easy to love character, and I found myself relating to her more than I thought I would. Her perspective on the background and behind the scenes of child influencers really sheds a lot of light, and it’s interesting to see (and read about) what it’s actually like. It was also a quick read, which would make it great for all age groups.

Thank you to NetGalley, Faber & Faber and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Brilliant look at being forced into becoming an influencer as a child.
I can't think of anything worse than having my whole life online and yet so many people are born into that now. While fame and wealth sounds appealing this shows the reality of all that and will maybe get people to see what's behind the influencer mask.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. I am leaving an 100% honest review.

I think this book is simply amazing.

Not only does it tackle the important topic of influencer and how toxic they can be not only for impressionable teens who look up to them and maybe don't grasp the concept of their purpose. It also shows how toxic and dangers it is for the influencer themselves. There are no laws to protect these kids or the money the earn.

It also shines a light on mental health and especially excoriation. I have this and although I'm 38 I can relate to what she's going through in this regard. It's something so many people understand.

Did this book make me cry?100% yes Am I buying it for my 17 year old niece right after I finish this? 110% yes