This book is listed as teen and young adult but I would absolutely NOT recommend this book for a school library. That isn't to say that this isn't a good book, but it is very disturbing and there is quite a bit of violence with some slightly graphic descriptions. This book is written from the perspective of two characters, Aaron and Crystal. It alternates between each character's views and there is a stark contrast between them - good and evil.

I spent a lot of time wondering why I was finding this book so disturbing to read and finally worked out that while I love crime books, usually the ones I read are seen through the view of the detectives trying to solve the crime, not the perpetrator of the crime. It's scary to see the manipulation and control that the Aaron develops over others and I think that is because of the juxtaposition it created in my brain; that it felt very real and like something could happen vs the fact that I don't want to believe that people could act in this way. I definitely found this book difficult to put down as I wanted to get to the end and see if Aaron would get his comeuppance, to the point that I woke up in the middle of the night to finish it.

If I was to use this in the classroom with young adults, I think it would give the opportunity to discuss the influence of others and peer pressure. It also touches of the influence that people who create a mystic and a strong persona online can create, especially on the developing minds of children. Again, it is one of those where you hope it's fiction but worry it could and does happen in real life. As an adult in education reading this, it's very scary.

Did I enjoy this book? I'm not sure. Will I remember this book? Absolutely.

.25 ☆
i wish i never read this book. i truly, wholeheartedly wish i had never ever requested the arc for this wretched book when scrolling through netgalley. for your information, i didn't even make it past chapter 1.

now let's get into it~
ngl i think the premise of this book is okay? but oml the execution is so bad. the prologue (that is supposed to be sad) wasn't sad at all. it felt more like a joke. everything sounded like it was written by a teen wattpad author who has creepy sexual fantasies. and idk if this is js me but i do not want to hear the details of being pregnant. like personally, that is not my vibe...at all.

quotes~
"olivia's tongue pushes forward, and I have to open my mouth wider to accommodate. i'm not enjoying this." - page 13
you might be asking, 'wtf did i js read' and tbh i don't know. also, those are the very first two sentences on the very first page of the very first chapter. instant ick.

"just as i'm starting to get comfortable with the shape of olivia's tongue, the thin veins of its underside, she exhales through her nose and pulls its mass back into her own mouth." - page 14
sorry but ewww. ick. ugh. gross. disgusted. instant red flag.

- oh and guess what? the main character, aaron, is using olivia as a ploy to distract people from his intentions! ooh and even better! he drugs her so that way she doesn't know if they had sex or not! (if you couldn't tell this is some extreme sarcasm over here)

thank you to netgalley for the arc <3

Thank you to Netgalley, Union Square & Co, and Adam Cesare for this ARC of INFLUENCER. Available on Audible and coming October 1st to print and digital formats.

This dual-narrated story grips you from the start and never lets go. It's a YA horror novel so well-written that you often forget you're reading about high school-aged kids. The book gave me Netflix's YOU vibes in all the right ways.

Aaron Fortin, a mysterious new kid, moves to town and befriends an unlikely group. Almost immediately, Crystal Giordano recognizes him, and the group is stunned by who is sitting among them. From there, they begin to unravel into the crazy world of The Speaker. Friendships are tested, and the boundaries of right and wrong are pushed. You're about to discover just how far these kids will go to impress their favorite influencer.

Aaron Fortin, a new student and secret online influencer, arrives in town with a flashy and captivating persona. Crystal, part of a misfit group, senses his insincerity. As Aaron's true nature is revealed, he targets Crystal and manipulates her friends. Crystal must decide whether to protect her friends or succumb to Aaron's influence.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and this is my voluntary and unbiased review. It is currently available on Audible only, but is being released in October in physical and digital format.

I requested this ARC because I absolutely love Adam Cesare's Clown in a Cornfield series, and will be reading the third one soon! Something I love about his writing is that he is not afraid to make YA gory, which is something I look for in thrillers. The opening scene of this book hooked me right away!! YA can be frustrating to read at times because the characters, teenagers mainly, are stupid. I did find there to be too much boring friendship dynamics for the first third of this book that probably could've been pared down. However, the premise of this was really fun and it was also a topical look at the power of social media in 2024.

Adam Cesare is the up and coming prince of horror and gore, right behind Stephen King and Joe Hill and if you love both of those authors, Adam Cesare is for you. He has a way for dawing you in and creating characters that you can relate to and then altering everything by adding in that horror and terror you never really knew you needed in a book. This is a must read! 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of Influencer by Adam Cesare in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co. for the copy of Influencer by Adam Cesare. This book opens with a bang and the action may have slowed down but the tension kept ratcheting up. This was much darker than I expected, but the story and the writing were so good it was like passing an accident; you can’t look away. Aaron was scary, and his thoughts and the things he orchestrated might not be appropriate for younger readers. This horror novel was addictive and repulsive at the same time!

This is one of the best books I have read this year. Thank you so much for this ARC. Honestly why did this feel like something that could happen. I could not stop reading.

This book was really dark and disturbing. The thought that one person could have this kind of power over other people is scary. Aaron was a total psychopath and his inner monologue was frightening! I know people like this exist, but something about this book really got under my skin. I enjoyed the dual POV. I thought it was helpful to get Crystal’s POV too. The characters in this book were so easily influenced, I’d like to think it was unrealistic, but part of me thinks it could definitely happen. Which makes it just that much more disturbing!

Definitely a book that is going to stick with me for a while! If you enjoy social media plots and YA horror, then I recommend reading this book!

Addictive and thrilling, Influencer offers a look into the messed up mind of a psychopath and a wannabe cult leader. I was intrigued by the narration, the story progression, and how the author managed to capture the thoughts of a narcissist and make it humorous and extremely disturbing at the same time. However, the rushed ending left me confused and wanting more.

Overall, a great YA thriller for fans of true crime.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Bloody brilliant.

A crime/horror novel for young adults but adult readers would definitely read this. Sort of a modern day Helter Skelter.

Excellent writing, fully fleshed out characters, fascinating friendship dynamics, massive suspense and compulsive page turning. Not at all predictable. So many books I've read lately have wrapped up the finale in a matter of paragraphs, leaving me feeling ripped off. Not in this offering.

The tension made me physically tense! I really cared about what happened to Crystal. And I was racing to the end of the book hoping for justice.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Influencer had an opening chapter that will stick with me for a long time. It took me a little bit to get into the book after the main part of the story started, but once the characters were established, I found that I really enjoyed the story and figuring out what was going to happen next.

Absolutely haunting, this story could easily be true!
Bram Stoker Award–winning author Adam Cesare sets the scene with Aaron, a wealthy new kid with secrets to hide and large scale plans. He easily manipulates his fellow students and utilizes social media effortlessly. Can anyone stop him? You might be surprised.,

#unionsquare #sterling #influencer #adamcesare

Wow. I read Clown in a Cornfield and... yeah, not for me. But I REALLY enjoyed this one. I liked the POV of the bad guy, and honestly, would have loved more! I thought it was a fresh take on the standard where we only get the POV of the victims.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC to read/review.

This is a difficult one to review. I alternate between a higher and a lower rating so I'm forced to go right in the middle with a 3/5. Parts were definitely a 5 star read for me, however. Like the great opening, the fully-realised and diverse cast of characters, the strength of the writing, and the commitment to going fully dark and not shying away from some very brutal moments.

Unfortunately, after that strong opening, the middle portion of this book felt quite slow. I became impatient, waiting for the next impactful moment after the big bang first act. It just didn't feel like much was happening at all. But this is where I struggle — because the pace dropped off in favour of building up the character portraits — which I think is a positive aspect of the book! I just would have liked those robust character studies with a few more inciting incidents sprinkled in.

Overall, this was enjoyable. I was getting vibes of "Saltburn" or "You."

The beginning of this story started out strong but it fell a little flat throughout the rest. I saw this was an audible original and now wondering if this would have been better to listen to. This is definitely for a niche audience. Aaron is definitely deranged and it does show the scary side of a cult like following.

Wow, a bit of a doozy. Definitely felt like some version of a young adult Stephen King type read. Lots of horror with a whole lot of "this hits to close to reality." An influencer who exerts power and control over people to help him do his bidding. Yeah, creepy. Not my cup of tea but could see this being a cult classic for others.

Thank you NetGalley for the-ARC.

An exhilarating read!

I really enjoyed Influencer, although I felt it dragged in some spots. But overall, I had a blast reading this. I loved the dual POVs, oscillating between shy Crystal, and psychopathic Aaron. Cesare delivered a tense, atmospheric novel that provided some great commentary on influencer and follower hive mind culture. I think if you can handle a bit more of an intense book for something classified as YA, then this will be a great read for you!

I love books about influencers as it's so relatable to us bookstagrammers and reviewers, but this one was just okay. I felt it dragged a little and was a bit too unrealistic.

A YA-serial killer horror book about the Influencer, an infamous social media star, who is exposed by Crystal as a high school student called Adam. Adam is a cold-blooded killer and once exposed he’s determined to make Crystal pay.

The story opens with a bang of a prologue as we follow Larissa, a high school student, who is pregnant and lives with her family. One evening she hears a noise and sees a group of masked people in her house. They’ve killed her parents and they’ll kill get too. Worse their death is being recorded on an iPhone. It’s being streamed.
Cut to the first chapter and we follow the cold-blooded villain who conveniently is about to move to another part of the country due to his parents’ job.

Honestly speaking this book was not for me. It’s not for my taste. My issue was the execution of it. I just found the premise of a high-school student who has this alter ego on social media and kills people for likes intriguing however the plausibility aspect of it fell flat. We have two dark, gripping chapters but then as soon as we get to Crystal’s perspective it’s suddenly all high-school-oh-my-she’s-so-popular-but-I-don’t-care-but-I-do-care-really-and-despite-my-attitude-of-whatever-I am-concerned-whether-I’m-pretty-enough-for-the-cool-guys-to-ask-me-for-prom. Plus the “dark” scenes felt thrown in more for shock value because they were feasible. How does a group of teenagers go around murdering people but still clever enough not to get caught. I also didn’t get the hype around the Influencer and how he become so followed. I wish we got another POV where we see updates from this account. Furthermore no-one seemed to care about Larissa and her family randomly dying. It was just absurd and not in a good way.

Another amazing story from Adam Cesare! Influencer is a dual POV following Crystal, a regular shy high school girl, and Aaron, a not so regular high schooler who has a thirst for murder. I knew I was going to enjoy this book and I was right. I will literally read ANY book that has this man’s name on the cover!