This Young Adult thriller was centered on ten teen (and twenty-ish year olds) social media influencers who go to a tropical island to film a new reality TV show called In Read Life. They have to give up their phones while on the island and have no contact with the outside world. In essence, they're totally isolated from real life. Things begin to go awry when the first dead body is found and it is one of them. The way it happens is that they have to reveal secrets about their own lives. I thought the pacing was really good and it did hold my interest.

Told in four different POV's, it gives us the main characters: Kira, Logan, Max, and Elody. You couldn't ask for a more diverse group of influencers. I thought the multiple POV's added good suspense and made it harder for me to predict what was going on and who the killer (killers?) might be and why. The sponsor of the In Real Life trip to the island was my biggest question. It seemed obvious that it was a perfect place to kill one or more people since they were isolated from the rest of the world. I'll say that if you read this, one big clue to watch carefully for is those things that have to do with the "Bounce House."

The characters brought fun and life to the plot. And I thought the author did a great job building in witty dialogue that kept me laughing or at least light weight chuckles. If you are one who enjoys a clear resolution, you'll find that in this book. No major cliff hangers that'll have you shaking your head or throwing your book.

This book had such a fun premise with a dark twist. As someone who enjoys reality TV and understands the world of influencing, I really loved the concept. Putting a group of influencers on a remote island under the promise of being on a reality show only to start killing them off one by one was dark, but also a brilliant setup. And the book definitely delivered on that plot.

Like many of the other reviewers I read, I didn’t initially realize this was a YA novel. That said, I still enjoyed it. With social media becoming an aspirational career path for many kids, I found myself wondering how many real-life influencers have experiences that mirror those of the teens in this story who are willing to do anything, even risk their lives on a reality show just to stay relevant. It really highlights how putting your entire life online becomes a kind of currency.

I liked the storytelling style, and the pacing was solid as the plot moved quickly and made sense (if I’m explaining that right). However, I did find some parts predictable, and I was able to guess the big twist pretty early on. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it was laid out in a way that made the twist obvious, so I wasn’t surprised when it was finally revealed.

Overall, it was a fast, entertaining read and a strong debut novel, even though I’m trying to move away from YA since I feel like I’ve outgrown it.

People To Follow is a YA thriller mash-up of And Then There Were None and Survivor, but with teen influencers. The premise is entertaining—10 social media stars stranded on an island for a reality show where someone starts picking them off one by one. While the setup promises drama and suspense, the execution is uneven. The multiple POVs—Kira, Logan, Elody, and Max—are hit or miss, and most of the characters are unlikable enough that their fates don’t hit too hard. Still, the murder mystery offers some clever twists and red herrings. If you enjoy messy drama and don’t mind some influencer angst, this debut makes for a quick, guilty-pleasure read.

Thank you Netgalley for ARC.

I loved the premise of this book, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t ever really get into it. I found myself putting it down and not having the want to pick it back up, so it took me a couple of months before I finished it. I think this book has an audience that will love it, but it just wasn’t for me.

People to Follow: 👍🏼☀️📲

Thank you so much @wendesday [partner] for my gifted copy!

“I really wish he’d made it a little easier for us to be sad for him.”

This is how you do insufferable people correctly. They were insufferable, but they weren’t insufferable in the way that you don’t want to read anymore.

I love a good locked room mystery. Remote island?! Catnip to my soul! Influencers behaving badly? Oh yes sign me up! The characters I actually liked were easy to cheer for to hope they got out ok!

This is definitely popcorn thriller worthy and really was fun to read. It gives you ATTWN vibes, but the twists at the end were so good.

If you’re wanting a fun summer locked room mystery with influencers behaving badly, this is the one for you! I really loved the snark as well in this one.

Out now!

I am a huge fan of isolated thrillers especially those that take place on islands. This does a good job of discussing influencers.

People to Follow by Olivia Worley is a fast-paced thriller that keeps readers hooked from start to finish, but ultimately falls short in its execution and character development. The story follows a group of social media influencers who find themselves trapped on a remote island while a deadly game plays out around them. As the influencers are picked off one by one, the tension rises, but the story takes some troubling turns that might not sit well with every reader.

The setting is a standout element, with the isolated mansion and looming tropical storm creating a tense, eerie atmosphere. The book keeps the suspense high as the influencers’ dark secrets slowly unravel, but I found the pacing to be a bit uneven. The beginning of the story felt slow and struggled to hook me, but once the first body was discovered, things really picked up. The mystery kept me intrigued, and I couldn’t help but turn the pages to see who would be next.

However, my enjoyment was dampened by the characters. None of them were particularly likable, which is clearly the point, but I found it hard to connect with any of them. The constant use of modern slang and “like” filled dialogue made them come off as shallow and bratty, and it felt like the author was trying too hard to capture the essence of Gen Z culture. While I understand the need to portray these characters realistically, it became exhausting to read and detracted from the overall experience.

The mystery itself was solid, with plenty of twists and turns, but the reveal was a bit chaotic. By the time everything unraveled, it felt a bit anticlimactic, as if the buildup was more satisfying than the actual resolution. The ending, though shocking, left me feeling unsatisfied and wanting more depth to fully wrap up the story. The author did a good job keeping me on my toes with unreliable narrators and secrets being uncovered, but the final payoff didn’t quite live up to the tension built throughout the middle of the book.

Overall, People to Follow is a quick read that will appeal to fans of thrillers and mystery, especially those looking for a fast-paced story. While it had some great twists and an engaging premise, the character development and resolution left much to be desired. It's not a book I would revisit, but it does show promise for Olivia Worley's future works. 3 stars.

Ten influencers are brought to a remote island to film a reality TV show, but when one of them winds up dead, secrets and lies start to be revealed. This was an interesting look into the lives of influencers and the dark side of what it takes to create content for a living. This was definitely one of those highly entertaining thrillers and I did keep wanting to listen. There are ten characters, but as bodies start to drop, it becomes clear which ones are the major suspects. They all have secrets and are all hiding something nefarious. To be honest, I didn't love any of the characters and did hope for more development from all of them. But, because they are all unlikeable characters, I did have fun trying to figure out who the murderer was and what their motivations were. Overall, this was a fun thriller with a lot of drama. I liked the audiobook and thought it was an entertaining read!

People to Follow is a thrilling locked room mystery full of lots of drama and annoying characters. Locked room thrillers are my favorite. Deserted on an island with a killer? Sign me up! (Not literally, though.) I struggled keeping track of all the characters at the beginning, but I loved the multiple POVs, and eventually it all worked out. I thought the characters were a bit older, so I was surprised that they were all baby teenagers. But that explains why they were so annoying to me. 😆 I couldn’t stand the way Elody talked. The whole book was pretty action packed, and I didn’t end up putting it down. I read it in one sitting. The drama kept me hooked until the very last page. Everything was wrapped up rather neatly, too. Highly recommend this for fans of YA locked room type thrillers

People to Follow by Olivia Worley had such a fun premise—social media influencers trapped on a remote island with a killer on the loose—but unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read an early copy.

I think I was the wrong audience for this novel. I love mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie, I love pop culture, and I love YA. On paper, this should have been perfect for me. But between the overuse of cliches and a cast of unlikeable characters, I struggled to stay invested. The influencer angle was interesting, and the social commentary had potential, but it often felt more forced than insightful.

That said, I think readers who enjoy fast-paced, drama-filled thrillers with over-the-top twists might have a better time with this one. It reads quickly, and there’s certainly no shortage of secrets and betrayals. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)

Picture And Then There Were None, but make the island tropical, modern, and switch the cast to all influencers, and you have this book. It is a YA book, and I am an elder millennial, so the language used in the book took some getting used to for me. I thought it was an interesting take on the locked room thriller genre, and I liked the commentary on influencer culture, white privilege, and gender dynamics.  I kept confusing all of the characters in the early chapters (there were so many), but eventually, I was able to mostly keep them straight. Although I didn't love this book and thought it was probably a bit drawn out, I still enjoyed it overall. 3.5 stars

People to Follow by Olivia Worley offers a timely look at influencer culture, blending mystery with social commentary. The premise—social media stars trapped together under suspicious circumstances—has all the makings of a gripping thriller.

However, while the setup is intriguing, the execution falls short. The pacing drags in places, the characters feel more like stereotypes than fully developed people, and the twists lack the punch needed to keep the suspense high. Though the commentary on the dark side of internet fame is thought-provoking, it often gets lost in predictable plot turns.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of People to Follow by Olivia Worley in exchange for my honest review and opinions. I found this to be an entertaining book (YA) which didn't really bother me. Loved all the crazy twists and turns that kept my interest all the way to the very last page. Fun read!

The cover of this book is perfection. I really don’t care for books written with influencers are the main characters. It always feels like a copy & paste. This reminded me of The Island by Natasha Preston. It was just ok for me.

Super fun YA thriller. As an And Then There Were None fan, this absolutely held up! Worley did a great job at capturing the gen-z/influencer essence and voice.

Fun and juicy, with a lot of brains and wit for a YA novel! Olivia Worley has a little something to say about our modern influencer culture, and she has fun doing it in People To Follow. I likewise had fun reading about the characters and their various secrets as they filmed a reality show that turned deadly. This is Traitors meets Survivor meets murder. An Instagram-worthy guilty pleasure with some interesting and valid points to make about our culture.

Influencers are the perfect subjects for a thriller because they're all so deeply annoying. The ones in this book are teens, so I wasn't actively wishing death on them or anything, but--yeah. We have what is basically And Then There Were None where the characters stuck on an island together are all social media stars. There are so many of them that I had a hard time differentiating the characters until 3 or 4 chapters in, but eventually I got hooked. Not a book I'll read twice (or admit to many people I read at all) but this was a fun YA thriller.

People To Follow is the exact kind of mystery I was looking for. I adore reality tv competitions, murder mysteries and teen dramas so this was an exquisite mix of everything I needed! This is the first Olivia Worley book I have read and I know that after joining her on the bloody twists and turns of People it will not be the last!

this was different than any other thriller/mystery i’ve read before. the overall idea and aspects of the book were a bit cringe but for a younger audience (which this is intended for) i think it is a lot of fun!

I usually don’t enjoy YA thriller/mysteries but this one pleasantly surprised me.

The life of an influencer is something I could never want. Especially if it results in a situation like this book. Honestly as much as this was a thriller, it was eye opening as I’m sure shady things go on in influencer culture everyday. The characters I this were so intertwined and connected it made guessing the ending really tough. I will say I binged the audio because of the multiple narrators.