“People to Follow” is author Olivia Worley’s debut novel. Ten influencers decide to participate in a reality TV show on a remote island. Three weeks with no phones, no social media, and no contact with the outside world. What could go wrong? When influencers start to die left and right, it seems that this reality show might be a bit too ‘real’ for everyone’s liking. It’s only a matter of time until the next member of island gets ‘cancelled’…permanently.

This was a solid novel. I was easily able to read it in one sitting. As someone who isn’t super social media oriented, this book totally made me cringe (in a good way). I felt it really did hit on the issues involving content creators. I did find most of the characters to be unlikable, but I think that was the point. This did make me reflect on who I let influence me and why.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy of this novel.

People To Follow contains a very modern, relevant premise -- influencers and all the unethical things they do, combined with reality television. I cannot think of a more relevant premise to the modern youth -- the cast of this story is rather unforgettably Gen Z.

All of the cast whose POVs we get to see have distinct voices. Some of them will be instantly dislikable to some; Kira and Elody specifically will irritate people in different ways. The cast is just irreversibly unlikable, which is what makes this thriller so interesting. Morally grey characters are what we are all after, after all. And it doesn't get greyer than these influencers. The depths of this greyness weren't plumbed in the way I expected, but it was a fascinating journey nonetheless.

This is the perfect book for anyone who enjoys gossip and drama -- some of it is the harmlessly aimless kind and some is surprisingly dark. It is paced in a way which will be very agreeable to people with short attention spans. Each chapter moves the plot forward and heightens the mystery; every other chapter or so contains a revelation. It's the perfect book to get you out of a slump.

What actually was happening was a simultaneously more boring and more exciting than what I was expecting; it felt a bit like an intricate plot that somehow also relied on the idiocy of some characters. I wasn't very happy with the ending but it very much made sense and I think some people will absolutely love it.

Overall, I couldn't put this book down; fascinating mystery with a deeply entertaining cast.

I was quite excited to read "People to Follow" by Olivia Worley. Such a great premise and captivating characters.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martins Press and Olivia Worley for letting me read “People to Follow”!

Perfect for fans of “One of Us is Lying” by Karen M. McManus and “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson, “People to Follow” was a nail-biting YA mystery novel full of suspense. Each plot twist led to me trying to figure out what would happen next, and each time I was blown away by the result.

I do have to say, the novel came to a very abrupt end. If you’re someone who likes closure in a story, you may be disappointed. I gave this book four stars because of it.

Besides this, “People to Follow” was an amazing, suspenseful read, and Olivia Worley is definitely an author to keep an eye on.

This was a bit slow going at the beginning, but that improved as the book went out. I enjoyed the multiple POVs. However, there was a bit too much description, particularly with the secondary characters in relation to the main character. It's clearly a YA book, which I do enjoy, but it felt a bit like a soap opera. I didn't really like any of the the characters, and the storyline never really captured my attention.

Great high-concept and probably well done. I just couldn't get into the characters.

I think it started with too much description of all the other characters and not enough about the main character. To be honest, I'm not really sure who the main character even was. I only read a little bit before I got bored. I'm a mood reader and haven't been too much in the mood for YA lately. I thought this would be more of an adventurous, suspenseful read, but it just felt more like a soapy, whiney ya novel. Again, I didn't read too much, so I cannot speak for the whole book, but it did not capture my attention fast enough in a season with very competitive books.

I flew through this! An addictive thriller about ten influencers stuff on an island being picked off one by one. A fun and fast-paced update of And Then There Were None.

Isolation type thrillers are starting to become a favorite for me! The beginning of this book was a lot to take in, a lot of character introductions and backstories which I get is necessary but was a little overwhelming. I understand the basics of social media but this is definitely heard to a specific audience. You can tell this is YA but still plenty going on to hold my focus. I don’t mind multiple POVs but I definitely could have done with less here. The characters were written well and each one’s story equally engaging. Elody was the only one I really rooted for. But trigger warning. This may be a quick read but still addressed some pretty tough subject matter.

10 influencers you love to hate on an all expenses paid vacation in the Caribbean. What could go wrong? When I first picked up this book I was a little worried about there being 10 characters because that's a lot of characters to .keep track of (especially because I am guilty of reading 2+ books at the same time). Luckily the author only had us experience the events through the eyes of a select few. I'm relatively young but I HATE influencer culture and this book reminded me exactly of why it's so toxic. One had to wonder where are all the parents/adults in this book? Overall a good thriller that will keep you guessing who the Sponsor is and what secrets they each have to hide.

People To Follow is a great debut novel from Olivia Worley. This is a YA thriller about 10 teen influencers invited to a private island to film a reality show. The film crew doesn’t show up and they start receiving mysterious messages from the Sponsor. They need to figure out who the Sponsor is before they all end up dead.
This was a quick and fun read, thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this eARC.

A group of influencers participate in a reality show called "IRL" but it should really be called chronically online.

Every single influencer shows up to this island with a secret that could get them cancelled, but they show up because the career of an influencer can easily become obsolete and they need the clout. There's Elody, a Instagram model; Kari, a fitness influencer; Max, a YouTuber known for exposing his fellow influencers; McKayleigh, Graham and Zane, members of a social media house known as the "Bounce House" and their former member/friend, Logan; Carinne, a growing video game streamer; Cole, a freshly cancelled social media star; and Aaron, a former child star trying to take his shot again at fame.

Does that sound like a lot of names and people to keep track of? It's because it is. And it's made even harder by the fact that this book is written entirely in the first person and not a single character has a distinct voice.

While this book was a fast-paced and (semi-)fun read, I could not get past the cringy dialogue, endless internet slang, and the author's diction. I thought this was an interesting choice to make on the author's behalf considering how quickly internet trends seem to come and go, and a lot of the reference made already felt old and cringy. There were references to Among Us, a near-chronic use of the word "yeet", and so many other quotes where I had to put the book down and stare at the wall for a second.

In other words, go in with low expectations and you might just enjoy the journey, but not the destination. Go in with high expectations? You're going to be disappointed.

This book was so fun! I really feel like this would make a great tv show! I enjoyed being immersed in the world of the influencers and didn’t figure out what was going on for a while!

2.5 stars rounded down.

I really thought I would love this one...a locked room trope, the main characters are influencers trapped on an island together...but the main issue is that I just wasn't the target audience for this book. First, there were too many POVs, and since there was no real clear delineation among all the characters, I often found myself confused as to who was who. Everyone seemed vapid, shallow, and almost a caricature. The incessant slang got on my nerves, and there were just too many moving pieces of the plot that never really came together in a satisfying way.

I think my high school students would enjoy this book, but it just wasn't for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the early read. PEOPLE TO FOLLOW publishes October 31, 2023.

Ten influencers go on a device-free retreat to a private island. And then they start dying. Turns out, everyone on the trip was chosen for a reason, and the villain was a complete surprise. This YA thriller was a fun read!

What I loved: the characters were realistic portraits of IRL influencers and lived that untenable influencer culture before heading to the island (hello, including the TikTok content creation house!) They were all completely unlikeable in a way that literally everyone is familiar with now. The book was written in present-day, with all the conveniences and tech that we all have now. And everyone had secrets. (It’s a thriller, of course everyone has secrets!) The clues are peppered throughout, but the mastermind behind the trip was pretty safely hidden until they were actually revealed.

What I didn’t love: a handful of the characters seemed more forced than others. McKayleigh, Elody, and Cole for sure. Or maybe I was just annoyed by their “hun” and “babe” speak because it was *so* condescending. There was also very little time for the group to settle into the house before things went off the rails.

Overall, loved reading this debut and can’t wait to read other books the author writes!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for a review copy!

Loved loved this one, such a great thriller and kept me guessing until the end. The influencer culture was so different than anything else I’ve read and I loved the twist at the end. Would recommend to anyone else who loves a good mystery

Debut novel by Olivia Worley

Cover- fantastic!
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you Olivia Worley, Netgalley and St Martin's press for letting me read this ARC!

I enjoyed the book, a lot of twists and turns. Some I saw coming and some I didn't.
I found the plot to be really interesting, especially in today's times of influencing and how it affects everyone differently.

The multiple points of view was interesting, I found it confusing at firsr, but once I got into it and knowing who everyone was it was good.

Can't wait to read more by Olivia!

This was a fun YA thriller about influencers stranded at a retreat where they are being killed one by one. I enjoyed the modern take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, and it was definitely reminiscent of Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, but it kept me guessing. The characters were a bit outlandish at times, and the pacing was off in the middle, but overall this was a fun summer read.

This book had the ingredients for a great thriller read: mystery on an isolated island, a cast of TikTok influencers, multiple POVs. However, it fell flat for me. The characters felt more like caricatures of real people. I thought they were vapid and one-dimensional. I didn’t connect to any of them, even the supposedly “better” and less self-centered characters. I also found myself questioning the characters decision-making and actions a lot of the time. Someone gets ousted as a serial groomer, but then they play a gave of spin-the-bottle with him??

The story could have been more fast paced, but it dragged at many points. I didn’t ever really get pulled in to a point where I was flying through pages, which is what I look for in a mystery/thriller. That said, it was still a quick read.

By no means did I hate this book, but it wasn’t everything I was hoping it would be.

This book was good but definitely for the younger crowd. I didn’t realize what I was getting into. I do think it’s a great YA book, perfect for gen Z. I would recommend it to my younger followers for sure.

Wow, twist after twist! A really well done debut novel. People To Follow is a YA mystery and the language and slang used in the book are definitely targeted towards that demographic. The references to different social media trends is very current which I fear could date this book pretty quickly.

The story follows 10 influencers disconnecting from social media on a reality show. In the beginning, it is hard to keep track of all 10 influencers and what makes them unique/different from each other. We get POV’s from 4 of these characters but honestly the voices sound so similar that after a few pages, it was easy to confuse whose POV you were in.

Once you get deeper into the story and start to learn more about the characters, it does become easier to keep them straight and the story kept me guessing! There were lots of puzzle pieces to put together but the writing kept me intrigued. I really enjoyed Worley’s writing and would definitely look for books by her in the future. I think teens and young adults who are really into social media (especially TikTok) would enjoy this twisty thriller!

(Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for a digital copy of this book!)