Influencer culture is everywhere right now. In this new book, 10 teen influencers are invited to go to a remote island and “unplug.” No phones, no internet, no filters or airbrushing; but they will have their whole lives recorded and broadcast for the world to see on a new show called “In Real Life.”

Things get to a weird start when the crew doesn’t show up on night one. They are assured everything is fine, but they find one of their own has been killed. Now they have a dead body and no way to contact production or any of the authorities. They do however have an Apple Watch like gadget that sends messages to them, but they can’t send any. They are threatened with these messages to tell the truth or face their worst nightmare- being “cancelled.”

After each one of these truth sessions, they find another body. This dream trip and exposure for their careers is turning into the worst decision they have ever made. Who is killing their influencers? Is it one of their own?

This book was so over the top and soapy; I really enjoyed it. I could totally see this being a teen horror movie. The influencers were all just despicable people only looking out for their own careers. This debut novel was a great first book and I’m looking forward to more from @olivia.worley.

Thank you @wednesdaybooks for my gifted ebook.

Ten influencers in their late teens and early twenties are transported to an island to participate in a TV show. They wind up alone and stranded, with no way to communicate to the rest of the world, when the production crew does not arrive. Soon they start getting troubling messages from the sponsor, and one of them dies.

This plot has been done to death. The plotting and writing have to be extraordinary to make books like this stand out. Unfortunately, this book is just adequate. Maybe you need to be 15 years old to find any of this original. The characters aren’t interesting. It’s disappointing to think that these vapid and feckless people are actually successful influencers.The sole person of color is more or less ignored until the end of the book. On the positive side, I could not identity the culprit until their motivation was explained to me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

"People to Follow" is a YA thriller that follows 10 influencers who are given the vacation of the lifetime to star on a reality TV show centered around unplugging. With unforeseen circumstances causing the production crew to leave them stranded, a devious plot unfolds where body after body begins to pile up, leaving all to wonder who will get "canceled" next and who among them is a killer.

The premise of this book is incredibly promising and incredibly attractive to the YA crowd. For those who are past the TikTok craze and influencer obsession would find this more obnoxious than they would care to admit. The character themselves are incredibly shallow. But, what else are you expecting with an island of young influencers looking to make more of a name for themselves?

I will say the plot twist towards the end was intriguing and the pacing was good. Changing point of view was incredibly helpful too, keeping us guessing until the very end as to who was behind this nefarious plan. However, it didn't stand out for me, especially since I read another novel similar to this just a year ago.

I think this book is great for what it is: a young adult thriller that speaks directly to that crowd. If you try and look at this book beyond surface level, you might end up grasping for just a little bit more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a fun reminder of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Locked room (or island) thriller that has you asked who's killer and why? It's pretty far fetched but a good one for when you need a book to binge on vacation or over the weekend.

Ten influencers sign up for a reality show on a remote island. What they do not count on is someone ending up dead. This story is told from alternating perspectives, and you don't know who to trust. It definitely was influenced by And Then There Were None (which is one of my favorite books!). I thought this was a fun read, but I didn't find many of the characters particularly likable, although Kira and Max were probably my favorites. This was a light, fun read, and I would definitely recommend it for those who like YA mysteries.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the e-ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I was very interested in this book, as it sounded much like a YA modern version of Then There Were None.

The idea behind it was interesting, but I found the story slow and the character development lacking. 10 influencers are sent to a private island for a reality TV show where they are separated from technology and most means of communication.

While there is immediate "drama" between characters (which really made most of the characters unlikable to me) and the first person is killed off pretty quickly, it just wasn't enough for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Ten influencers sign on to a reality show taking place on an island. No phones, no outside connection, everything IRL - until things start going wrong and someone is dead. I found myself picturing this like a Summer House locked room Murder mystery. That all sounds great to me. Unfortunately the execution didn’t work for me and I found myself bored. This could definitely be a case of wrong reader so please try for yourself, ymmv. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

This mystery is a non-stop ride! The fast-pace, and constant reveals and twists made it incredibly difficult to put down, but sadly the ultimate reveal, and the motivation, was disappointing to me. As part of GenX, I've definitely met characters with personalities, egos, and insecurities that rival those of the influencers in the story, so seeing them portrayed in an almost satirically over-the-top manner was almost cathartic. All in all, a solid debut, and I look forward to what Olivia Worley publishes in the future! (3.5/5 stars)
Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

People to Follow was intriguing. It's really about this "other" world of influencers, but it turns wild pretty quickly. This is a detective book about who did it, who is involved, who knew about it, who, who, who. The twists and turns in the book are unexpected, mostly. She did a great job to keep my interest.

10 teen influencers are treated to a stay on a deserted island. The catch is they can't have any devices except a smart watch will be provided for communication with the sponsor of the trip. The communication is ominous with requests from the group. Devastating secrets are revealed about these very public influencers. As a result, they start dying off. This is a catty group and soon it appears to be someone is out for vengeance.

I liked the idea of influencers on an island and how narcissistic they are. The tale wound up nicely and surprisingly. A fun, indulgent, and a pleasure to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

3.5*

This was an entertaining whodunit that kept me engaged until the end. And kept me guessing until the end.
I liked the way the story was told in multiple points of view, but I did get confused a couple of times with the female characters and whose chapter I was reading. Elody was the easiest one to get back on track with, as soon as I read the word babe, I knew it was her.

The mystery played out well, although now that I'm a week or so removed from finishing it I almost can't remember how it ended exactly! I know I did enjoy the story, and was surprised with how it all came together. While I wasn't broken up about the deaths in this book as I have been in others, I did feel empathy for a couple of the ones who ended up dead, but not the others.
Some of these characters had no redeeming qualities, and it's easy to image some actual real life "influencers" are just like them, sadly.

I think this book is relevant for the times, but I don't know how well it will age.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I feel like the story is a bit forced in the way it portrays the influencers and their problems. It’s an interesting read anyway, with influencers meeting to participate in a reality show but then things take an interesting turn.

People to Follow is a wild book. Wild and fun and engaging enough to keep me bulldozing through it so I could find out what the heck was going on.

Ten teenage influencers descend on a private island for what they are told is a reality show. No phones, no communication with the outside world, just interpersonal drama and raw footage. But soon, things start to go wrong as the producer has to leave the island and the rest of the film crew never arrives. And then, people start dying as mysterious threats about "cancellation" are issued.

A bunch of people on an isolated island is a classic premise for a thriller, and it makes an excellent backdrop here. The influencers start to turn on each other as they wonder who's responsible for everything that's happened, and paranoia runs rampant as they all try to protect their secrets. There's a lot going on with all of the different influencers - past scandals, secrets, inter-personal tensions, etc. - and it gets a little hard to track at times, especially with information doled out so sparingly. But I was still hooked the whole way through.

Does this book get a little silly? Sure. Was the ending essentially satisfying? Definitely! This is a book to be devoured and enjoyed without too much thinking happening. Basically, a good time!

4/5

What in the world. I feel like I need to re-read this to see all of the things I missed. I truly didn't see that ending coming, at least not in the way it played out.

<spoiler>There's no way babe.</spoiler>

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a YA book with 10 influencers and I could not connect with any of the characters. I guess it’s just not my genre but will give it 3 stars. All opinions are my own and I received this from NetGalley and the publisher.

People to Follow was an exciting, fast-paced YA mystery/thriller. A group of social media influencers take an opportunity to spend weeks on a private island disconnected from the world and social media. But some weren't expecting to be on an island with people from their past - drudging up a lot of old drama. The group soon realizes things aren't right when their "sponsor" begins to expose their secrets and people end up dead. Told from the perspective of 4 different influencers throughout - you are constantly questioning who to trust. This was definitely a lot of fun to read - a great debut novel. Very entertaining! Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

People to Follow by Olivia Worley is a YA locked-room (or island) mystery about influencers who all have secrets to keep. I’m grateful to @WednesdayBooks for an advanced copy. This one came out on Halloween!

When ten teen influencers show up on a remote island to film the new reality “In Real Life,” they all have their own reasons for being there. But when a possible storm sends the show runner back to the mainland and none of the crew shows up the next day to film, they realize they’re stranded with no internet access and no way to contact the outside world. And then someone dies.

This book had a lot of enjoyable elements. A locked room mystery is always exciting to try and solve and many of the characters were unpleasant enough that it was fun to try and guess which one of them might be behind things and why. This was also a quick, propulsive read with great cliff hanging chapter endings making it hard for me to find a good stopping place while I was in the middle of the book.

But there were a lot of characters to keep straight from the beginning—ten in fact. And while I eventually sorted them out (it was made easier, obviously, when some of them started dying), I do wish it had been a little easier to tell them apart. About a quarter into the book, I realized there were two characters with names starting with K (or maybe one was a C with a K sound) that I’d been thinking were the same person for a chunk of the book. I could have solved this by making a list of the characters early on, but I’m just not that conscientious of a reader. I also found the resolution a little wanting. It’s hard to explain without going into details, but I was hoping for a more cohesive, meaningful end.

All that said, this book is aimed at teens, and it’s a book I’m positive would work better for the intended audience than adults like me who are reading YA. I can completely see teen readers enjoying all the drama and influencers acting out and hiding secrets. It actually reminded me of the Christopher Pike books I loved back in the day.

There is one main storyline in People to Follow. It follows the ten influencers and why they are on the island. Then, it morphs into a fight for survival when the Sponsor starts making their demands. This storyline was well-written, and I couldn’t put the book down. It was also a chaotic mess. I’m not too fond of books with more than one viewpoint. But in this case, it worked. The author would end one POV with just enough information or half of the information given about a person and then start the next chapter with that person’s POV.

Numerous secondary storylines are married to the main storyline. Some will not make sense initially, but a lightbulb will go off while reading, and you will understand why the author mentioned that storyline. All of the characters are intertwined in one way or another. Even characters that you think didn’t know each other are connected. It makes a massive spiderweb of storylines that can be difficult to separate.

The mystery angle of People to Follow was excellent. I didn’t figure out who the Sponsor and the killer were until almost the end of the book. And even then, I was only halfway right. The author had a massive twist in the plotline where the author revealed everything, and it was freaking wild. My mouth dropped because of not only who it was but because of why.

The thriller angle of the book was just as good as the mystery angle. The author used being confined to an island during a storm with no electricity to give an appropriate background and feel. The characters’ helplessness and horror over what is being done to them come off the pages.

The end of People to Follow was very anticlimactic, but it gave me chills. I can’t go much more into it, but I will say that the killer was not sorry.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, NetGalley, and Olivia Worley for allowing me to read and review this ARC of People to Follow. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

A fast-paced, unputdownable novel perfect for young adults and those older adults who like to read young adult books every now and then. That's me.. I'm the older adult. Told from multiple points of view, the pages fly by.. I'm the type of reader that likes to end my reading session at a chapters end.. People To Follow broke this habit... as the chapters end on cliffhangers, making me not want to put the book down. A bunch of influencers are stranded on an island, and when the bodies start piling up, the mystery to figure out the killer and why becomes more pressing. A modern-day twist on the Agatha Christie locked door mystery. I loved the pacing of the book, the characters were a tad annoying and I silently rooted for a few of them to be the next victim (but really that was the intent I'm sure and it was well done).

I was given a complimentary copy by the publisher and netgalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Thank you for allowing me to read this advanced readers copy of this book! I really enjoyed reading this book, it had me guessing until the very end!