This young adult thriller creates a fun whodunit as a group of social influencers are lured into participating in a reality TV show on a remote island. These influencers are pulled away from their platforms, leaving some of them to question their own worth. After one of the participants die, the others are left to wonder who in their group is a murder. The author is able to create believable shallow and vain, yet complicated characters. Each character has a trauma that has changed their lives. The story is told through alternating perspectives; however, the author does not develop a few characters to the same degrees as others. The undeveloped characters are flat, and unfortunately detract from the ending.

Solid YA thriller. This was about a reality show with 10 influencers on a private island. I thought this was a good book for the YA genre. Only thing I didn’t love is because there were so many people in this story, it could get confusing at times. The different perspectives threw me off at times as well. Overall, great story for YA.

I wish I knew this was a YA mystery before I read this. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it just isn’t one for me!

The premise and plot were good - teen influencers go to a remote private island only for one of them to end up dead.

It was a decent story with some twists, I just felt a little old reading it. I’m sure the target audience will love this!

Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC!

A group of failing influencers all get invited to be part of a new reality show that details the dark side of social media stardom. They all know of each other’s platforms but nothing of the secrets everyone seems to have. Expecting them to be spilled once they all arrive, everyone is shocked to discover that the production crew hasn’t arrived and worst yet - they’ll all be left alone for the night. What starts off as an awkward turn of events quickly turns into a full-on nightmare once the first body appears. Soon it becomes clear none of them were recruited to boost their careers, but to end them. End their whole existence it seems like. But instead of teaming up to find the killer, the group turns on each other. Quickly, everyone begins pointing fingers and is quick to join the killer’s game of exposing everyone else’s lies. The need to protect themselves and their brands overrules all else - even if doing so comes at the cost of ending someone else’s life.


This book was incredible! The absolutely perfect sort of techno-horror movie - like Unfriended meets Cabin In the Woods with a little Jigsaw/Ghostface vibes for some extra razzle dazzle! I loved the set-up and the premise was absolutely killer. The #cancelled concept was such a smart play on every influencer’s worst fear. A fresh, cutthroat look at how grueling the influencer life can be, namely by its portrayal of the increasing need for influencers to maintain relevancy. Worley is an absolute mastermind, and this book a total powerhouse from start to finish. Not only do I recommend but I’m adding it to my kindle collection of “books I MUST read again!”

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Olivia Worley!!!

This book was... interesting. While I think that the storyline and the idea of the book was a good idea, I think that this book would become very dated very quickly. Even reading it now, a lot of the "trends" and reasons for being famous would become almost irrelevant if someone were to read this book in say 20 years.

My biggest issue with this book was the fact that, based on the way its written, you can tell this book is definitely for a younger audience, potentially teens in high school. Even though I do use TikTok and am post-college age, I even found myself missing certain references that I'm guessing were to do with some trend. Now, the reason this is my biggest issue is because there are a lot of things said in this book that I absolutely would not want to read as a teenager who's already insecure about my body. For example, there's one part of the book where one of the character basically repeatedly says how her stretch marks are one of the things she hates most about herself and I just think that's not the message you want to send out.

Triggering topics aside, I think that the end of the book just kind of showed that some of the character didn't really learn from their experience and didn't particularly grow as people and I has assumed, with a book about social media, the underlying message would be something about growing up and moving on; to me it felt like the characters didn't really change in any way.

Having said all of this, I do think that the idea of the book was good. I think that the storyline had potential, I just couldn't get behind young social media stars being killed and hating their bodies and being so destructive, both physically and mentally. Also, the only way I remembered how to distinguish between characters was that one of them always used the word "babe" but other than that, I did find it difficult to keep up with who was whom and who was dictating which chapter.

And Then There Were None, but with 100% more JoJo Siwa . . .

I knew going in this was going to be young adult, but since I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom who still appreciates YA (especially the stabby kind) and loves a good Christie knockoff I was all over it. I mean, a group of “influencers” get sent to a deserted island for some reality T.V. show where they aren’t allowed their screens for two weeks and then bodies start piling up? Um, yes please.

Well, it turns out I am a regular mom – not a cool mom *womp wommmmmmp* I appreciated the vibe of "do you want to play a game????" But not only were all of these characters completely interchangeable with the same voice (other than one of them calling every one “Babe” which made me wish she was the first to be whacked), they also seemed to keep forgetting their fellow island dwellers were being offed and did weird super teenage shit like playing spin the bottle instead of freaking the eff out or trying to find a way back to civilization like they should have been doing. I also guessed the first big “surprise” reveal right off the bat, but the actual whodunit was pretty satisfying and I’m always down for a good pool cover. Two Stars means “it was alright” and that’s about as much as I can say about this one.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Full Disclosure: The author was apart of a program I did a few years ago within publishing, but I LOVE seeing friends and acquaintances succeed.
This book is so good! Seriously thrilling and fun to read. Which sounds weird to say fun when murder is involved but it was fun! It was such a quick read, but in the best way. I'm so excited to scream about it when it comes out later this year. This is one you don't want to miss if you're looking for a fun new thriller and it's perfect for Halloween!

This wasn't horrible but, even for YA, this read really young (and kind of...silly? tone-wise). The content and idea for this story really wasn't served by the young-ness of the tone and characters at all. I read a lot of YA (mostly YA, actually, and a lot of sci-fi fantasy) as I oversee the YA and Sci-Fi collections at my library, but even I found this a bit hard to get through. I did appreciate how layered this story was, and the (very) full cast of characters kept the story fast-paced. This was an overall pretty fun ride, but nothing that I found great or that special. If you're in the mood for a not-very-serious mystery thriller with highly relevant topics and ideology (think influencer culture, TikTok, etc.), then you'll probably get a kick out of this.

Gave this one 2⭐️ for a couple of reasons-

The book cover is GORGEOUS, and the description had me intrigued..but I didn’t realized until I began reading that this was YOUNG ADULT fiction- not my fave genre to read (with exceptions)

The premise felt very juvenile, but I was able to somewhat understand the structure of how these Influencers came to be…thanks to TikTok🤣

What I found hard to follow was the large number of characters and the chapters from various POV.

Guess I’m too old!!!!

Dang, I really enjoyed this book! It took me a little bit of time to get into, however, it was great once it got going. A mix of YA + reality tv + thriller, I could not put this book down and wanted to figure out what was going on. Perfect for reality tv lovers + And Then There Were None vibes, would highly recommend.

4.5 rounded up

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an ARC of People To Follow.

This book was so unique! I loved the setting and the plot kept me guessing the whole time. I cannot wait for this book to come out! Look for it on Oct. 31!!!!!

It’s not often I come across a YA thriller that catches me a little off guard. I didn’t expect this to take the twist it did, but I was happy to be on the ride! In the last two years there have been a lot of influencer survival horror novels, the kind with what basically amount to the MCs being more antihero than hero. I’m a sucker for survival thrillers where isolation or the elements are involved and modern technology is out of reach. I’ve actually devoured three influencer-specific titles like People to Follow within the last six months alone.

All that to say, this is a genre I’m really loving right now and People to Follow was no exception! It takes a lot for an author to hide the twist from me. I usually suspect it early on, but Worley got me off my game with this one.

It has the same general premise as most of its counterparts like The Island or Never Coming Home, except the plot for this is brings in a new element entirely: a reality show where influencers with huge followings unplug for the camera. It has all the elements you would expect with a reality show—people finding themselves on an isolated island with their peers, some of which are decidedly not their friends—with no outside contact with the world. Makes for great TV, right? Except…something here is a little off.

When a storm delays the film crew, leaving the influencers or “creators” stranded by themselves on the island, that’s bad enough. Then one of the least liked people on the island is found dead the next morning. They discover that not only have all ways off of the island been sabotaged, but someone is watching them through the cameras…and they want to play a game.

Packed with dark secrets and pretty corpses, this one is bound to be the perfect thriller for those who love drama, fear, and big reveals you didn’t see coming.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced ecopy in exchange for this fair and honest review.

Every game needs a winner, but this isn’t a game I want to play

This kept me guessing until the very end. I couldn’t decipher who I thought was guilty, and at the end the author had me swearing every other chapter it was someone else. The twist at the end shocked me!! I highly recommend the twists and turns and insights into the influencers secrets. Must read!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

5/5 ⭐

I LOVED this book! I don't usually read Mystery thrillers, but this one was so good. I thought it would be a cheesy and predictable read, but boy was I wrong. "People to Follow" kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot twists were shocking and attention-grabbing. Not to mention this book was so relatable, you felt connected to every character (even if they were the villain). I didn't want to put the book down once I started! I definitely recommend this book to everyone no matter what you enjoy reading. This book is a must. Congrats to Olivia Worley for writing a masterpiece🎉

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read “People to Follow” in exchange for an honest review.

This cover is GORGEOUS and honestly what attracted me at first to this book and then I read the description and was excited to dive in!

I couldn’t put this down, but overall, the secluded island and influencer trope in this story wasn’t for me.

As I’m nearing 30, I’d say this book threw me off with some of the language or “lingo” used and is definitley geared more towards teens and early 20’s.

I think I shouldn’t have requested this. When I read thrillers, I prefer those in the adult category.

This reads very young. And as someone who doesn’t even use TikTok, it made me feel old AF.

Overall, it’s not a bad story. It’s just definitely for a different audience.

What a fun ride this one was. There were a lot of characters that made it a bit difficult to keep track of but once you got to know them, the twists and turns were so fun. There were so many layers to this story and connections that had me guessing until the end. Highly recommend this one for a fun murder mystery with major social media/influencers themes!

This is a good YA thriller that I read in one day. While I didn't absolutely love it I did end up reading it in one sitting and enjoying it. I recommend it for fans of YA novels.

Ten popular influences are invited to participate in a three week taping of a new show called "In Real Life". None of the guests know who's coming (which makes the opening chapters very entertaining), and everyone is curious about what will happen while filming on a remote island without devices or technology. Then, of course, something goes wrong, and they find one of the influencers has died. Was it an accident? Is it a killer? If so, who's next?

And you just dive right in.

There was a lot of variation with the characters in this story, which I enjoyed. I am not personally into the influencer life (chalk that up to my Gen X age), but I could comfortably read about each cast mate as we wheeled through all of their stories trying to figure out who is leading all of this.

Think "Clue" meets "And Then There Were None" and you have our new book. It gave off the total mystery/ thriller vibes but had that YA silliness attached (though I'm not COMPLETELY convinced silliness is the right word... maybe lack of seriousness is better? Once again, I'll attribute this to my "lack of youth"). It was a good balance and made the book fun to read overall. For anyone looking for a good, easy to read, fun "whodunit", this is a solid candidate. 3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The premise of this book was so unique from the thrillers I usually read. The POV switches between characters, but the characters were well developed, so I never forgot the POV I was reading in each chapter. The plot kept me guessing and the ending lived up to my expectations. I look forward to reading more from this author!