Sigh. People to Follow by Olivia Worley was a book I was so excited for and I am sad to say I was let down. Perhaps it is because there have been a lot of books about influencers on remote islands getting picked off one by one. There's always some overlap and connection, there's usually a host who bails, the boathouse with a useless boat, and of course an insane storm.

If all of that interests you, then this book is for you. Influencers are brought to an island for a reality tv show- In Real Life. They think they are just going to spend time on the island with each other. The book is told from multiple perspectives which I liked a lot. Each of the influencers has a secret they hope isn't uncovered. When their PA leaves them alone on the island due to some issue with the crew getting there until the next morning, things start to unravel. They have no phones and no access to the mainland. All they have are their sponsor watches telling them to do things.

I think the reason this book put me off was because of the unnatural use of teen slang. I work in education and am quite well versed in teen talk and it felt forced in the book and quite frankly sometimes used incorrectly. I also struggled to connect with the four characters from Bounce House. I don't know why, but all I could imagine was the Mickey Mouse Club, but in reality it was one of those like Tik-Tok Homes for influencers. Their "crimes" or bad deeds were all pretty horrible, but some of them felt too mild to earn them a spot on this hell hole of an island.

I will happily read other novels by Olivia Worley. I just think this was a miss for me. Thank you so much St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for granting me access to this title.

What a great novel! I could hardly put it away and finished it within a day: A group of young influencers travels to a remote island to participate in a reality TV show. Only then one after another dies, and the Sponsor forces them to make their biggest secrets public.
I enjoyed how the whole story unfolds. The chapters are told from the point of views of several influencers, which makes everything even more mysterious. On the one hand, the reader gets to know much about the young people's jobs; on the other hand, we get to know them as people who have the same insecurities and issues just like everyone else.
The style of narration is fast and gripping. It drives the plot forward, neither the reader nor the protagonists get a break. But everybody wonders who is responsible for the mess, the killings - and how will they resolve it?
Without giving much away, I loved the plot twist at the end and how everything unraveled. While there are clues from early on, I did not guess right who was behind all of it.

A group of influencers travel to a Caribbean island for a reality TV show - but then one of them is found dead and they realize there is more at stake than just their online careers.

This locked-room style thriller was engaging throughout. It's definitely geared more towards a YA crowd but still interesting enough for adults. The multiple POVs were written in different styles which helped add dimension to the characters. Overall it reminded me of One of Us is Lying and I enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my complimentary ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. I feel like this book should have been published in the summer because it has more summer vibes. If you are a fan of off-the-wall crazy reality tv shows, this book is for you! The first few chapters took a while to get going because it was the introduction to the characters and what brought them to the private island. For a little while, some drama unfolded but no one was killed. Once the first murder happened, things got so wild and bizarre. It becomes clear that the characters are being punished for crimes that they committed and you feel like these characters are so complex and complicated. There were three characters that did not deserve to be there because their supposed "crimes" are so minuscule that it is laughable. I enjoyed it for the most part but the last five chapters were just so unbelievable that it took away from the rest of the story.

I thought Worley played the line really well of the characters being scared and focused on that fear while also not letting the fear consume them. There was still a plot of secrets, betrayals, and emotions outside of the fear that brought the situation back down to earth a bit.

Many of the POVs sounded similar since most were hiding secrets or afraid to speak their mind, with one being distinct for calling everyone and anyone "Babe," but I think it made the story flow easier to quickly understand the plot moving forward. There were small differences to give you clues to who was each person in how many thoughts came out of their mouth compared to what they were thinking, or if their anger showed or was perfectly hidden under a mask.

Overall, I thought this was a fun, quick thriller. The setting and the characters were a good mix together and it was quite the take on a remote reality TV/influencer trip.

This was quite a page-turner! I have seen a lot of books lately with the same topic of social media influencers trapped on an island together, but this is the first I've read so far. I was eager to see what would happen next and read this pretty quickly, but I actually really disliked the turn the story took towards the end as the mystery unraveled. There's a lot of sexual assault and grooming and it all felt very victim-blamey. It's impossible to guess who the real villain is, as a faceless/nameless entity picks the influencers off one by one, but the author made it very simple to guess who was going to die next. So in some ways it's super predictable, but in other ways it's not. If you like a solid mystery that keeps you constantly on your toes, I think you might be a little disappointed. If you like a good endgame plot twist, though, this one's pretty shocking.

The setting is fantastic (a mansion on an island with a tropical storm on the way) and the author seems to keep good track of all the pieces on the board when it comes to setting up the mystery and how the story will play out, except telling us where the bodies are. lol When people start dying, the group moves the first body to a secure location and cover it with a tarp, but after that they just leave them where they fall. It's almost hilarious but I'm not sure if it was intentional or if the author just forgot about them... Like there's a body on the porch and they are constantly coming in and going out of the house. Are they just walking overtop of it??? lol!

I'm really torn about this book. I would have rated it more positively if it didn't like like it frequently shamed and blamed girls who were groomed and sexually assaulted. Other than that facet, I enjoyed it a lot. I'd be interested in seeing what else the author has to offer in the future. This was, on the whole, a fun time.

This was a perfectly acceptable beach read, but I don’t think fans of thrillers will fall in love with this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital review copy.

Fantastic book that had me reading as fast as possible to find out what happened next. There are a lot of characters that are introduced in the beginning but I didn't find it overwhelming. My favourite chapters were Elody's and she was probably also my favourite character. Even though I don't think I'd have anything in common with someone like that in real life! Loved the island setting and the creepy messages from the Sponsor. It gave me flashbacks to Pretty Little Liars! Would highly recommend.

Ten influencers decide to take a break from influencing and participate in IRL, a new reality show. Dark secrets come out and bodies start piling up, but is it one of their own? Or someone else? In the age of digital everything, this book hits relevancy on the head!!!

This was a great teen slasher. I liked the modern twist with the influencers. This book certainly wasn’t perfect but it kept me up late reading into the night and I didn’t figure out the twist so five stars from me!

Ten influencers are stuck on a deserted island under the guise of, being filmed for a reality TV show about "unplugging". Meanwhile, someone has a sinister plan for revenge and when an influencer is found dead, everyone is worried that they're trapped on the island with a murderer.

The story is told from the point of view of, Max, Kira, Elody, and Logan even though, there are 6 other influencers in the house, plus a PA who set everything up, Tilly. I have to say, I was glad that there were not chapters for every single person, it was already overwhelming keeping up with the dialogue. I often found myself swiping back to check whose chapter I was reading. Also, there is not a lot of character development or character backstory -- which is a given, just based on the number of characters. But I found that it was hard to connect with any particular character because they all seemed selfish, naive, and foolish. But then again, I'm not the age demographic for this type of story, so take the previous sentence with a grain of salt.

Zane being a Leo... spot on!

Final Thoughts: I think this trope has been done over and over again and every time I think writers have found a new angle -- NOPE. The incriminating evidence on some of the influencers is wild, probably the best twists in the whole book. However, the unraveling of the plot and the final chapter just didn't seal the deal for me. It was a good read. The writing was okay - no complaints there, it reads like it was written by a Gen-Zer and for Gen-Zers.

In my opinion, there were too many characters and too many things going on. I get that, with multiple characters it's a ploy to throw the reader off of the actual culprit but, like I mentioned before, it made the dialogue hard to follow with so many people speaking often at once. The plot twist was, meh. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of Jigsaw -- like from the Saw movies but, considering the genre, I should have known better. Would I pick this up again? No. Would I recommend it to young readers, sure!

"People to Follow" by Olivia Worley is your ticket to a modern-day slasher with a twist! Brace yourself for a mix of "And Then There Were None" and "One of Us Is Lying," but set on a deserted island with ten influencers who are all about hashtags and likes.

I thought the multiple POVs were on point and that characters were easily distinguishable (although I saw harsh reviews on here saying the contrary) ... You might feel a bit overwhelmed by the number of characters and their Gen Z lingo, but as a zillenial who lives chronically online, it was pretty easy to follow. Welcome to 2023.

"People to Follow" should definitely be on your TBR list. Expected publication: October 31, 2023.

Thanks to Wednesday Books I received an advanced reader copy in exchange of my honest review

Thank you Wednesday Books for my Netgalley copy of PEOPLE TO FOLLOW by Olivia Worley, out 10/31/23.

Ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of being “canceled” could be their lives.

This book was outrageous! It was completely goofy and ridiculous, but also I finished it in practically one sitting, so…..

This book is a page-turning ride with multiple POVs that are pretty easy to keep separate with distinct voices and commentary on influencer culture that is very modern, very true and very disturbingly fascinating. Definitely for fans of Gossip Girl, Love Island, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Dance Moms, etc. This is a YA thriller so it is very juvenile at times, but it’s so fun and fresh. Compared to your run-of-the-mill thriller, you need to love pointless drama to really enjoy it (it’s me, I love drama). The ending reveal is nuts and I loved every second of it.

Would love to read more from Olivia Worley and hope she comes out with an adult novel next!

4.5 rounded up. The thank you NetGalley for the ARC on this book from a new and upcoming author. For a debut author this book was great and definitely kept me on my toes throughout. It had a similar starting premise to the book She Started It but overall I found this one to be way better and the characters more like-able. There was plenty of drama and mystery to keep you turning the pages. After finishing the book I really wanted to go back and look for breadcrumbs along the way because I believe they were there but I just missed them. Definitely was not expecting the ending at all!! There was one motive I found a little over the top but aside from that it all came together wonderfully! I wish they put the text messages in the book in a different font or separated more to make it easier to know when the message began and ended. If you're looking for a murder mystery with some reality tv type drama this is a good one to read.

This one was a fun lil 🍿🥨🍟 I whipped through in one sitting apparently 🤣 think And Then There Were None meets The Club meets Hype House (tik tok for anyone i just lost). Don’t go into it thinking you’re sitting down for a serious content mystery/thriller but if the synopsis sounds good to you it DELIVERED.

However. And let me get this out now. If I ever read one more HON or BABE I will lose it 🫠 drove me bonkers.

A whole bunch of characters you love to hate and sometimes hate to hate mixed in with a little horror movie-esque moments where you’re like BUT WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT THAT’S ON YOU. The thing that makes this stand apart from similar ones (like The Club) is that it all came together very satisfyingly imo. The author truly was like this is what I want to happen here, and went for it. Which doesn’t always happen!!! Especially for a debut.

For a debut it was DRAMA ✔️ PAGE TURNING ✔️ DEVELOPED CHARACTERS ✔️ and ENDED WITH A BANG ✔️, what more could you want?

it started off okay, but gradually got worse. i also found half the characters really annoying and were whiney, rich, kids. it's like tiktok but in a book form which isn't so good in my case. The plot and how it unravels was also very predictable, despite seemingly interesting from the blurb. and the teens talk weird?? especially the lingo they use is just off and sounds forced. I think this book will be up someone else's alley, but it wasn't up mine.

Oh, this was such a fun, twisty thriller. I didn’t guess the twists, and I actually enjoyed every character (even the more amoral ones). Definitely recommend this one!

PEOPLE TO FOLLOW by Olivia Worley is a modern, teenaged take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, featuring a group of ten social media influencers. The teens are recruited to shoot a reality series on an isolated island but quickly find out that they've gotten roped into a deadly game. The story is fast-paced and tense, which makes for a fun read. It explores themes relevant to influencer culture like self-image, grooming, and the responsibility that influencers have toward their fans' behaviors. Plausibility issues aside (and most of us have learned to accept high levels of implausibility in our thrillers), it could use some more depth in the character and theme departments, but it makes a fun beach read.

I loved the concept of this story. A bunch of influencers in an "And Then There None" type scenario. Varying perspectives is also nice, especially with unreliable narrators. It took me a bit to keep everyone straight. While I didn't anticipate most of what happened I will say I was a tad disappointed. Too much seemed to rely almost on chance. Plus I still don't quite get what the original end game was supposed to be.

Title: "People to Follow"

Author: Olivia Worley

Genre: Thriller

Publication Date: October 31, 2023

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

In her debut novel, "People to Follow," Olivia Worley dives into the treacherous world of social media influencers. With a high-stakes plot and a cast of interesting characters, Worley takes readers on a well-written journey filled with suspense, danger, and unexpected twists.

The story revolves around ten young adult influencers who, enticed by the promise of continued or renewed fame and fortune, find themselves isolated on a private island for a reality show. What initially seems like an escape quickly transforms into a nightmare when they discover the true purpose of their trip: to pay for their past transgressions. As the body count rises, those who survive must navigate a treacherous game of trust and betrayal, desperately trying to unmask the person, or people, behind their impending cancellation.

Worley's portrayal of the social media landscape is on the nose. With a sharp eye for detail, she captures the alluring façade of influencers' lives, contrasting it with the darker underbelly of social media. Through her exploration of the modern-day practice of sharing our lives online for the world to see, she raises important questions about the consequences of our actions and the power dynamics that shape our virtual world.

The strength of "People to Follow" lies in its well-developed characters. Each influencer whose voice is used throughout the book possesses a distinct personality and backstory, making them feel authentic and relatable, sometimes annoyingly so. As their secrets unravel, Worley adeptly portrays the psychological toll of constantly living in the spotlight, and how much those living in the spotlight can sometimes get away with.

The pacing of the novel is quick, with tension building steadily from the moment the group arrives on the island. The alternating perspectives offer a multifaceted view of events that, while hard to keep up with in the early chapters, levels out and enhances the suspense of not knowing what will happen next. 

There are moments when the narrative becomes slightly predictable, relying on familiar tropes of the genre. Additionally, some plot developments require a suspension of disbelief, stretching the boundaries of plausibility. EIther way, Worley's talent shines through, and these minor issues do not detract significantly from the overall story. "People to Follow" firmly establishes Worley as a promising new voice in the genre. Prepare to be riveted, shocked, and left questioning the influence of social media long after you turn the final page.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.