This was an interesting YA read. 10 influencers go to an island to "unplug" for a reality show. While there, some strange things start happening, people start dying, and no one knows what will happen next.

This was a character driven novel that slowly revealed the hidden secrets of each person. They all were hiding some dark things which made for a suspenseful story. I couldn't figure out who the murderer was...they all has pressing motives!

The author did a good job of pulling you in and throwing in a lot of red herrings. This was a strong debut and I'm looking forward to more.

When ten teen influencers are invited to a private island to star in the reality tv show IRL, they’re looking forward to the digital detox that comes along with it. However, when one of them gets ‘canceled’ and their lies start being revealed, they begin to question if one of them has an ulterior motive.

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW by Olivia Worley is one of many recent “influencer thrillers” that I have picked up and devoured over the last couple of years.

The cast of characters was both fun and awful to get to know, and the intrigue of who can be trusted kept this story fast-paced for me.

This book didn’t do anything groundbreaking from what I’ve already seen in this sub-genre, but it was pretty freakin fun regardless.

Come for the drama and angst of influencers and stay for the mystery!

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: October 31

This was a young adult locked room thriller, with a burning message about the influence of social on our lives. This aspect made the overdone trope different and interesting. The only thing young adult about it were the characters; there is plenty of violence and language to satisfy adult readers. The characters were vile for the most part and if I see or hear the word “babe” again, I am going to totally vom! Overall, this was a fun page-turner. The mystery was nice and convoluted, making it difficult to solve. Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

honestly? this kinda reaffirmed why i dont pick up much murder mystery these days anymore. overall the book isnt that bad. key word "that bad". it was cliché and cringey and reading everyone's povs gave me the worst case of major second hand embarrassment. Especially when reading Elody's pov because i was not a fan of her bratty attitude even if it was just her persona. the book built up so much suspense only to have a poor execution and a plot that was so tangled up i had a headache keeping up with whose head i was stuck in for that portion of the "mystery". the plot twist was interesting tho ill give you that; except everything else that followed just went downhill from there. i didnt really care for any of the characters and felt like none of them really had a personality other than omg im trying to hide this big dark secret thats going to ruin my fame if the world finds out type of bs. while i do think the take on the dark behind the scenes and the concepts of pretty and white privilege is interesting, the book still fell flat to me and honestly just wasnt my cup of tea.

2/5 stars

**arc was provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review so thank you netgalley!! the opinions expressed are completely my own so please don't take offense to any of it; im just a stranger on the internet reading a book because she didnt want to do her homework and my opinion doesnt dictate your worth as the author, a reader or a person in general.
have a great day or night as as always, stay safe <3**

A group of influencers meet on an island to film a reality show. When the production crew goes missing, and one of the turns up dead, reality becomes too much.

A locked room mystery with influencers on an island; what isn’t there to like? There was a lot of juicy drama. It was a bit hard to keep track of everyone in the beginning but I made notes to myself and it became easier as time went by. I liked how as the secrets reveal, so does the mystery unravel. This was straight dramatic entertainment.

“Wonder if I was looking at this all wrong, the island and the solitude. Maybe it’s not freedom. Maybe we’re just trapped.”

People to Follow comes out 10/31.

The premise of this book is what sucked me in! I loved that the chapters were told from different points of view! It had me guessing till the end! I’m a sucker for a good twist and this definitely delivered!

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book!

3.5 stars, rounded up here.

For me, People to Follow started slow. I almost gave up but I'm glad I didn't--once the action started, it never let up! This is a tense thriller where a lot of bodies pile up. Ten teen influencers are sent to an island for several weeks of unplugged time, which means they don't have their phones or any way to contact people off the island. None of the characters are particularly likable, but that felt fitting for a book about influencers who are all pretty shady and full of awful secrets. There are 4 different POVs and I did have a hard time remembering who was narrating at times as their voices were not terribly distinct. I think this will be a hit with readers who enjoy locked room (or island) mysteries with lots of twists!

It's giving Glass Onion (Knives Out) mixed with all the reality TV.

I'm very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I'm also very impressed that this is Olivia's debut. Sure it's not perfect, but for a first book? Whoa.

People to follow is a YA Thriller set on a private island. 10 teen influencers are brought to the island under the premise of being on a new reality TV show "In Real Life." However, when the producers fail to show up for the first day of filming, and one of the influencers is found dead, the teens begin to realize there might be more going on than what they signed up for.

Obviously this book is not for everyone. I personally love reality TV and thrillers so I enjoyed it. And I especially enjoyed the way it makes the reader look at influencer culture especially at this moment in time. I can't wait to see where Olivia Worley goes from here!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book!

When seemingly desperate group of influencers are called to an “experiment” on an island where they must relinquish their phones, you’d expect there would be some drama. But pretty quickly they realize they are more isolated than they thought, as a storm arrives, cutting them off even from the production team. At first, they cope with drinking and party games, and then one of them ends up dead. And another. And another. You are left to wonder exactly who is hunting these kids and why.

OK, this group of influencers is exactly the vapid group of unlikable jerks that you could ever imagine. As long as you know that going in… and that at least, some of them are going to get a brutal comeuppance, it makes the book infinitely more readable. Don’t get me wrong… There was a point when they started playing spin the bottle as adults, literally right after someone died, I thought about DNFing. But, I was actually kind of curious to see how many more would end up dead and why. The ending made sense. I think that’s all I have to say about that.

Thanks to Wednesday Books for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions above my own.

Overall the book was entertaining. At the beginning I did have a hard time keeping track of who everyone was and how they related to one another. It was also hard to keep track who was narrating each chapter so I would just go back to look. After awhile everything became clearer and it was easy to follow along. The characters can be annoying but I know some are suppose to be unlikable. It was an entertaining slasher.

If you have ever read a book about a bunch of people stuck in one place and one of them dies while the others make stupid decisions, you’ve read this book. The only difference is that every character is so over the top annoying that you kind of want a tsunami to just take them ALL out.

DNF @ 15% - okay, listen I really hate to DNF books, especially those I get as an ARC, but I couldn’t put myself through this. as a millennial, I’m really not at all interested in tik tok, “houses” on social media, reality tv stars online, “celebrities” who just dance and somehow make millions … I just think the target audience for this type of story is for gen z and below. the concept sounded great, and the writing style was excellent, I just really couldn’t get past the influencers and their obsession with each other for no reason. thank you to netgalley and st martins press for the advanced copy!

Ohh my god I was obsessed. I barely remembered the premise when I picked my copy up but I was hooked from the start. As someone who loves Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, it was so fun to try and play along to figure out how everyone related to the original work. I especially loved the way that everyone was lured to the island and then cut off from the rest of the world.

I found it a little hard to follow all the characters, especially with the changing POVs, but that is my only real critique of the book.

People To Follow follows ten young social media personalities stranded on a desert island to film a reality show. Meanwhile, there is someone who has sinister plans for revenge as they start noticing that influencers are showing up dead. The rest are afraid they are trapped on the island with a murderer.

This book reminded me of Pretty Little Liars meets Big Brother and a twist on And There Was None. I loved the concept of unplugged influencers coming to film a reality show with all of their scandals and secrets. The execution of the plot was excellent. However, the story was told from the point of view of several characters, and it took me a while to get accustomed to the many perspectives, which was sometimes overwhelming. It did not help that most of the influencers were not likable and came off as privileged and annoying. None of them had distinct personalities, and the abundance of times each character said babe was nearly enough to make me want to quit. I understand the horrible personalities play into their teen influencer persona, but it was still tough to get through.

The plot itself was great and saved the book for me. The execution of the twist, similar to And There Was None, was done perfectly, and I felt there was enough action to keep me interested. Also, this book looked at the wild effects of being an influencer on their viewers and themselves. This book is still a great debut by Olivia Worrley and an entertaining mystery If you can get pass the influencers’ horrible personalities.

Thank you to NetGallery and to St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of the book.

Eh - the story felt too familiar to me. Nothing new. I enjoyed the way the author writes but there were too many POV. Lost interest & didn’t finish. Maybe next time. A beautiful cover though.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

And Then There Were None meets teen influencers trapped on a remote island where they are slowly being killed off or "cancelled" if they don't reveal the truth about themselves... sounds fun! Ten teen influencers are invited to star in a reality show on a remote Caribbean island:

Elody- an instagram model who loves chaos

2. Kira- a child star turned fitness influencer, only looking for a break from social media

3. Logan- disgraced TikTok celeb and former member of the Bounce House

4. Max- YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators

5. Zane- leader of Bounce House

6. Graham- upcoming musician and member of Bounce House

7.McKayleigh- girlboss and member of Bounce House

8. Corriane- Twitch streamer

9. Cole-cancelled prankster

10. Aaron- former actor

All of them are trapped on an island and many of them are hiding terrible secrets, secrets that could destroy them. When bodies start dropping and someone threatens to kill them if they don't start exposing their secrets, tensions will rise as they try and figure out who is the killer and if it is one of them.

I adore And Then There Were None, so this was such a fun read. I love the twist and turns and the overall ending was great. This is a great mystery read that keeps you interested throughout the entire book. Its perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, The Glass Onion, and locked doors mysteries!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Revenge gone bad or a murderous plot to kill teen influencers. Ten influencers are on an island partaking in a reality show where their only connection to the outside world is Tilly who set everything up. Chapters in this book alternate among four of the influencers on the island. As expected of teen influencers, they were all quite self-entitled and self-absorbed, so it was difficult at times to determine which character was telling the story. This was an interesting premise for a thriller. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of PEOPLE TO FOLLOW by Olivia Worley. I forgot what this book was going to be about in the months between when I got a copy and when I actually read it, and so I was a little shocked by how dark and twisted it got about a third of the way in. It was an interesting modern take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, including social media influencers. The commentary on the toxicity of influencer culture was on point and definitely important for teens to read about and examine. It also got hard to put down toward the end as the mystery and suspense of the story ramped up higher and higher. It has a creepy feel to it that sometimes had me scared reading it at night. Definitely an intense book with lots of twists and turns. I couldn't look away.

A fast paced thrill ride where a group of social media influencers are all stuck in a house, each with secrets. Someone pulling the strings has dirt on all of them and when people start dying, the group begins to learn none of them can be trusted.

This was a fun read, full of surprises. Each of these people have something to hide, something that could cancel them. Each gets exposed to the group, creating an air of mistrust and disgust.

I like books discussing the toxic environment around influencers, like the personas that don’t personify the real person, the steps they take to “make it” and the grooming that can occur when young people get involved in this whole world.

Thank you to the author Olivia Worley, and publishers Wednesday Books, for an advance copy of PEOPLE TO FOLLOW. Thank you also to NetGalley for the widget. All views are mine.

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The details are really doing it for me and possibly even glue this story together.

2. Elody is a very interesting piece of character work! (But that linguistic quirk ("Babe!") of hers becomes annoying bordering on rage-inducing.)

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I don't really believe the story parameters; even the producer in the book says how unbelievable and unprofessional it is that producers would leave all these people alone on this island. And yet, the story proceeds with those parameters.

2. There are so many different perspectives, and with the exception of Elody's "Babe"s, there are no linguistic or tonal differences between them. It's so hard to know who I'm reading from chapter to chapter, since I can't identify the characters by name.

3. Granted, I'm only 60% of the way through this book, and maybe this would change by the end, but this book is a real mess. That's because nothing really happens on the page except endless conversations about murder.

Rating: 📱📱/ 5 smartphones
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: July 27 23, August 28 23
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, SMPI
Read this book if you like:
💄 social media Influencers
😈 mean girls
🍻😱 irresponsible partying as danger looms
⚰️ body count