You guys, I knew I was going to love People to Follow, by Olivia Worley. I love reality TV novels, I love stories of social media performance, I love influencers in fiction. Also, I love locked-door mysteries in which everyone gets cut off from civilization. So good.

"Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars–including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators–it’s about to turn into a nightmare."

It was a little hard to keep track of all 10 influencers at the beginning of People to Follow, especially the crowd of famous-for-being-famous types. I think that’s intentional, because it starts the novel in an island party house full of interchangeable attractive, entitled people. Once the story gets moving, the infighting and secrets help develop the characters.

As the story goes on, the mysterious Sponsor of their free influencer getaway asks them for secrets and promises to cancel anyone who lies. The worst secret, or refusing to participate, gets someone voted off the island for a dark reality show feel. Oh, I forgot to mention that everyone’s left their phones behind for a social media detox (to be filmed and shown on TV, love it), and that a terrible storm has prevented the crew from arriving on the island, cutting the influencers off completely. My favorite. As bodies and dark secrets mount up, it becomes clear that the deaths are not tragic accidents and the guest list isn’t random.

So, there are definitely some parallels with Agatha Christie‘s And Then There Were None. All the baddies have been tricked onto an island, where their dark secrets come out and the body count keeps rising. It seems impossible for anyone to be doing all these murders, since there’s no one else around. Such a great premise. The weak part in And Then There Were None is how much of it feels too contrived for me.

In People to Follow, we have a similar feeling with 10 people on an isolated island, facing murderous revenge for their past actions. Mostly I loved it, with all the elements of twisty drama, what’s not to love? But, again, the weak parts for me were moments that felt contrived and forced. I absolutely bought the overall story of influencers going on a trip, leaving their phones, bumping into their enemies, and discovering it was all messed-up Revenge Island. But there were still a few moments that felt like too much coincidence and too contrived (spin the bottle? right now?), and some uneven moments. (We have a collection of backstabbers, liars, scammers, and literal murderers on the island, and then one influencer whose “crime” is basically not personally dismantling weight loss and diet culture?)

Still, even with a few heavy coincidences, a murderwall of interlocking secrets makes for tense reading and so many possible motives and suspects.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, a few killers,, A great who done it, and a few crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! A storyline that definitely made you think! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Honestly, this falls under the caption of like.... a perfect beach read? A little contrived, a little on the nose, but genuinely a deeply fun book to read. The mastermind reveal had me rolling my eyes a bit, which is why it lands somewhere in the real of 3.5 stars, but the author had a way of nailing first person character voice for all of the narrator's in a way that was really delightful. Honestly, this would makes a great film in the vein of Bodies Bodies Bodies, so fingers crossed that the movie deal mentioned in the acknowledgements goes through.

All of that being said, I think some of the lower ranking lies in how dated this book will probably feel in 5 years. It's very of the moment of TikTok hypehouses, of burns at Harry Styles, etc etc. Like! Genuinely something is fun to read, right now in 2023, but not something where I feel like "oh I want to immortalize this." Also, some of the discussion of holding people accountable is... very done? Like if Gossip Girl also had murder, I guess.

Anyway, great beach read if you're looking for one!

I don’t think I was the right audience for this book, since it’s geared towards YA. I think it was too much of a riff of the tiktok house and just fell flat for me. The twist at the end was nice though!

Olivia Worley’s People to Follow is an exciting adventure. Ten influencers head off to spend three weeks on a private island. But not all of them will be coming home. Lots of twists and turns throughout the entire book.

This was a POV book and I sometimes forgot whose viewpoint I was reading from. It is a good thriller, though! I was kept guessing and second guessing myself the whole time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Booms for this copy!

A group of influencers are together on an island and people start dying. It’s a fun murder mystery, but also has some valuable commentary on the lives of influencers and how choices we make can affect our lives.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

WOW. Rarely do I inhale books as quickly as I did PEOPLE TO FOLLOW. From the jump, this book is a voice-driven masterpiece (I mean, how could I *not* love Elody immediately?) that kept me guessing until the last minute. Worley will be an author to watch, no doubt.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for an early review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun book from start to finish. However, I do wish a few of the reveals at the end would have been a little better... I felt like the big reveal at the end fell a little flat which is unfortunate.
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HOWEVER, I really did enjoy all of the POV characters and there were no chapters where I was ever bored which sometimes happens when I read books with multiple POV characters. There is usually always one POV that can be kind of boring but that was not the case with this book.

I really had a hard time putting this book down as well and pretty much read the entire book in one sitting.

I think my main issue with this book that kept it from getting five stars was the pacing. I feel like the pacing was great for the first 75% of the book but then everything at the end felt a little rushed.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book and I will continue to read any books that this author publishes because even though I did have the few issues mentioned in this review, this book was still a lot of fun to read!

Ten teenage influencers arrive on a private island to star in a reality TV show. But will they all make it home? Not if they get #canceled first.

This locked room/teen slasher story kept me guessing - and turning the pages! Fun, fast-paced, and easy to read, I had no problem keeping track of the different characters and POVs. I really enjoyed this one! Highly recommend for fans of Gretchen McNeil and Karen McManus!

A fun twist on the AND THEN THERE WERE NONE story!

Each character had such distinct voices; it was easy to keep track of whose head I was in. I loved the island setting, and each of their ‘sins’ were definitely big enough to carry the story. And the ENDING made this book—it was so clever and twisty, and believable, and I just loved it so much. An extra star for that ending alone.

I’ll admit, I’m not into influencers/social media, so that ‘over the top’ aspect wasn’t really appealing to me—but that’s just me, and I really enjoyed the commentary on how social media has affected our culture. The characters are teens, some adults just barely, fueled by fame and money and this book really shows the dark side of all of it. I think this is a great read for lovers of locked-room mysteries, AND thoughtful explorations of social media.

3.5 stars, rounded up. So grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

-A

This is definitely a novel for the YA crows as it follows a group of influencers embarking on a reality show. Part humor, part who-dun-it, readers will easily relate and recognize the characters we follow. The issue is none of them are very likable so it’s hard to truly care when death becomes them.

I was SO excited to recieve this ARC! I was interested by the beautiful cover and once I read the blurb, I KNEW i needed to read it immediately. I was hooked from the vey beginning and read it in one sitting. It was such a unique concept and I adored it. I loved the influencer and reality show aspect and couldn't wait for the answers to unravel. a MUST read!

This modern take on “And Then There Were None” had me hooked! I read it every spare moment I could over a day and a half and stayed up late to finish it.

This book had a lot that intrigued me right off the bat: Agatha Christie-style plot? Check. Influencer culture? Check. Teens behaving badly? Check.

I was initially concerned that I might have a hard time remembering who everyone was with so many characters, but the author did a great job of using defining characteristics and nicknames that helped keep it all straight.

Told through 4 perspectives, the story unfolded at a good pace, and the short chapters made it easy to read “just a little more!” 😆

The dialog and terminology felt very of-the-moment and so spot on for influencer culture (Bless by Kaylz had me cracking up).

I did see the twist coming which is always a little disappointing, but there was still a lot to be surprised by with this book. Overall it was super enjoyable!

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Well…Shitake mushrooms. What a story! Olivia Worley can write. I really enjoyed People to Follow. It was fast paced and from multiple POV’s. I usually don’t like more than 2 POV’s but with this story is was needed and so well done. I’d bet this book turns into a movie or show down the line. I’d read books from this author again and hope she does have more YA murder/mysteries coming!

Thank you to NetGalley, Olivia Worley & St. Martin’s Press Wednesday Books for an arc of People to Follow in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own & may not be reproduced.

When I read the description of this book, it made me think of a cross between Hide & Small Game. I was on board!

Reigning social media influencers compete on a new reality show called In Real Life to unplug and go live for 3 weeks with no filters. When it comes time for the cameras to roll, the production crew is MIA and one of the influencers turns up dead. They are all completely secluded and again, unplugged, so they have no way to reach the outside world. Then they start to get messages from a “Sponsor” that they are going to expose each of the influencer’s darkest secrets and only then do they realize they’ve been lured into a deadly game and it’s possible that one of the influencers is behind it all. They have to work together to figure out who is behind it before they all wind up dead.

Set for an October 31, 2023, release, this is a perfect thriller for the spooky season.

With an isolation trope and told from multiple POV, this story will keep you hooked from start to finish. All characters were well developed & unique. It is easy to become invested in each of them in different ways. Very fast paced & a quick easy read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s touted as YA, but it’s a more mature YA.

I give this one a 4/5 Stars and definitely recommend picking up a copy!

This book is about influencers invited to an island to film a reality show. One by one they end up dead. Multiple perspectives are flipped through in the story but it’s easy to keep up. This book is a page turner. It’s very well written.

3.5/5
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

People to Follow is an entertaining read that is told in multiple POV’s. Teen influencers are brought to a private island for a reality tv show. When one is found dead they wait for the TV crew to show up for help. But no one shows…..the only communication they have is with a watch they’re all wearing and get messages from “the sponsor”. One by one they get exposed with their secrets. One of them is a murderer…. Will they figure it out before they all get “canceled”?

The beginning was a bit slow for me to get into and the way some of the influencers talk was way to cringe for me. I know they’re teen influencers but it was a lot. But this was still a fun read that had me trying to figure out who the Sponsor was with all the twists and turns!

This YA thriller is a must read for anyone that’s a fan of the genre! Quite the page turner I could not put it down! The isolation trope is one of my favs for thrillers and this did not disappoint.

Amazing cover and great story idea even though I feel like it's been done a lot. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Three stars. It just didn't capture my full attention.

I loved the multiple points of view and the twist at the end! It was a little slow for me at the beginning and took me a few chapters to get in to but then I wanted to keep reading. Overall this book was just okay for me.