i wanted to like this more than i did but unfortunately it did fall flat for me a bit. the start was super slow, and by the time it did finally pick up, i was left wanting. the drama of it all was super addictive, though, which i really liked.

Oh wow. The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore was such a deviation from other works by the same author, with so much tension and mystery from each page to the next. Right from the beginning, I could see how the story was different, and was immediately hooked. There was never a time I could figure out the next turn we were taking and was eagerly along for the ride.

The different sisters were unique and fascinating, however, my own name blindness got the best of me with all of the month names. However, I could tell who we were following based off of their vibe. The different types of chapters, switching from different POVs, the sisters, the audience....other nameless characters. It was such a fast, hard to put down read with how I desperately needed to figure out the ending.

Truly, a jaw drop worthy, stellar novel.

this was a fun, easy read with a lot of interesting things going on — i liked the pov being from the audience, the twists in the second half, and the concept of how insidious family influencers can be — although i sometimes had a hard time feeling invested.

I did not find this book as interesting as other readers. It was good but it dragged for me. Halfway through I started putting it down for longer periods of time. I enjoyed the murder mystery parts but May and July, the major "influencers" in the family just became very shallow to me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary digital ARC. This review is my own opinion.

This could have been something special. The pace and the prolonged vagueness of the "missing" sister and the "estranged" sister took too long to clarify. It felt like work to read when it could have been fun and mysterious. Thank you, NetGalley.

The Influencers is what it sounds like and the setup to the reveal was many POV's which I liked. With influencers taking over our feeds and lives, I have been reading more books like this. There was a mystery involved but it's not one you can help figure out, even though some tried. Influencer kids are involved and of course they all have ridiculous names. I did like the getting to know each child bits and loved that the reveal was not predictable. Thank you NetGalley, Random House, and Anna-Marie McLemore for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I did decide to wait for the audio to come out and listened to the audio as a tandem read. Which I recommend as the narrator is Brittany Pressley. The book did feel more Lit Fic with many POV's, with a mystery as a background/resolution to the story. Pretty fast read and was able to finish in a day.

I had a fun time with this rich people family drama I thought the writing was unique and easy to follow. This book follows the Iverson’s a family of a mom, stepdad and 4 daughters and a mommy YouTube channel. We follow the Iverson after the daughters have grown up but the step dad ends up dead. This family drama almost had a mystery as its setting while it was taking place it didn’t feel like the main point of the story and I loved that. This felt more like a slice of life in the craziness of an influencer. Being a huge fan of reality tv this one hit home for me, some of the characters felt like a villains on real housewives, the social issues felt a little heavy handed at times but I still enjoyed the viewpoint. This is my first book by this author but hope to read more in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader's copy of this book. Unfortunately at this time I will be unable to give it my full attention, so I will provide a starred rating and return when I can give it a proper review.

This was really too long, which made parts of it feel quite repetitive. I did like the premise and I did have a fun time reading it, but it wasn't anything special. I also think the daughters were too similar, I would've liked it more had the girls been more unique.

What I liked:
* The family- it took me a minute to get used to the names but once I did, I really enjoyed learning about their individual perspectives on their situation.
* POV’s- it was interesting to get to see the viewpoints from viewers, haters and fans, as well as the family.
* March Iverson- that’s all I’ll say and let you read it yourself.
What needed a little work:
* There were times when the story felt like it was getting repetitive. All the “behind the camera” scenes were great at first but there were too many.
* May’s outcome- realistic but frustrating.

Overall, this was a great look at the toxic side of influencing and where it can lead if you lose sight of what really matters.

Lily May Iverson aka Mother May I’s seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when her husband is found dead and her house is on fire. May is known as an OG (original) influencer who documented motherhood for decades. This included constant coverage of her five children’s best, worst, and everyday lives. Now, May’s brand is in shambles with her children April, June, July, January, and March as the prime suspects of her husband’s murder– but maybe she could spin this?

Each character has their own chapters (and there are a lot of characters). We, the readers, get to partake, too, during the chapters referred to as “we the viewers of the influencers”. I found this a unique way to not only put the reader into the story, but to also highlight how we can be participants in the insidious environment of influencers who make a version of their lives consumable. We can’t look away. My favorite part of this was that it critiques influencer culture. Yes, so many of us partake in this phenomenon but how do we protect the children who have little say in their lives being scripted, crafted, and constantly on display?

Fans of reality television will love this. Especially the reality tv where you kind of become obsessed and form parasocial relationships whether from the invite to elite lives or the drama that you just can’t help but want to witness.

3.25/5 stars! This is a "what if the Kardashians killed their mom" mystery novel and I was here for that premise. For that alone, I found parts of this story really fun. I didn't like the kids all having month names and the dialogue was a bit bland at times. But overall and enjoyable read.

This was really hard to get into for me. Some of it seemed a little far fetched. Would try the author again, but found myself picking up other books while reading this one.

3.5 stars. This book was pretty entertaining and a good listen on audio but I’m not really sure it had anything new to say. I’ve read a number of books in this “expose the influencer” genre and after a while they all seem be saying the same thing. The mystery in this story was lackluster (and tbh, after listening to the entire book I’m not really sure who killed the stepfather) and it just seemed like a device to explore the different Iverson sisters and their mother. I did enjoy the different perspectives of the different sisters and how they each reacted differently to their mother’s narcissism.
Thank you to Netgalley and The Dial Press for an advanced copy of this book.

The influencers by Anna-Marie Mclemore is a fun but surprisingly timely exploration of influencer culture-more explicitly family influencer culture. The family of influencers has the names of the month, headed by matriarch, May, and her daughters-June, July, April, January, and her missing daughter March. May has remarried August who has been found murdered and sets the action in motion. The short chapters alternate between the family and the followers on social media documenting their lives and the murder.

I enjoyed the structure of the narrative and the commentary on the influencer culture-especially the lens of the family influencers. I did find the characters to be somewhat similar in their characterization (I almost feel that it was a choice and added to the commentary of the culture) but it does add to some confusion and a lack of investment in the characters and plot. The book does drag a bit and could have been cut as it does seem redundant hitting the finish line. Overall though, I did enjoy this and thought it was a strong and fun mystery that had something to say! I would be interested in more from this author. More 3.5 stars than a straight 3.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I just cannot resist an influencer novel. This one really looks at the impact of children growing up as content for their parent(s) which definitely is a timely narrative. This used social media viewers POV well and looked at the parasocial relationship some people have with influencers. I enjoyed the big mystery surrounding the death and didn’t figure it out which was fun. This was a big too long coming in around 440 pages and started to get repetitive at times. However, this would make an excellent limited series so I need Netflix or Amazon to get it on it.

This was kinda fun! Social media influencer May Iverson (aka Mother May I) has built an empire on the backs of her daughters (I regret to inform you their names are April, June, July, January, and March). When her husband (August, sorry) is found murdered, her now-adult daughters are all suspects.

I loved the writing style of this and it was a fun read, but it did take me a while to get into it. I felt like there were sooo many sisters and they were all vaguely similar so it took some time for me to be able to remember who was who.

Overall it was a fascinating commentary on influencer culture (more specifically, influencer family culture). I will say that I had no idea where the story was going but I enjoyed where it ended up.

A solid three stars from me - thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I've been waiting for a plot line like this ever since I first told my teenage daughter she could not post pictures of any and everyone without their permission.......some people don't want their lives lived in public!!!!
While THE INFLUENCERS does have a murder mystery at it's heart, readers are first introduced to the suspects.....er.....characters. And what a cast of unique characters they are. A Mother who has become rich and famous by "sharing" every detail of the lives of her four daughters. The daughters are now adults and have a few opinions on how exposed they felt and whether their mother has the right to continue the "show" their lives became. Along the way, we meet the stepfather who was universally disliked and is murdered, stirring up popular opinion on who killed him and why. The answer is shocking!!!
Anna-Marie McLemore has skillfully built the family from hell and named them after the months of the year!!! A winner of a book that is an easy 5 star read.

This was difficult to follow. The back and forth with all of the characters got a bit confusing at times. Also, I just didn't really connect with it. Someone might enjoy this premise of what happens when kids thrown onto social media by their parents grow up, but it wasn't for me.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely.

The Influencers gives Kardashian vibes. The mother swears everything she’s done is for the girls, to make their lives better. The daughters all push back in their own way, whether it’s following closely in Mom’s footsteps but not quite, or disappearing once they turn 18. It feels like you’re reading a dumpster fire of a story. And I mean that in the best possible way. I struggled to put the book down, I had to keep reading, I needed to know what happened next.

The only issue I had with the book was at the beginning, when meeting the daughters. At first, they all seem similar; there doesn’t seem to be much difference between them. But the more you read, the more you learn that there are differences, especially between the twins, June and July. That’s right, all of the girls are named after months of the year. That alone feels wrong, but it fits with the image of May Iverson.

There are a few mysteries in the book. One who set fire to the house? Two, who murdered August? Three, what happened to March? Four, who’s sharing the old footage of the Iverson family? Five, why are they sharing the footage?

I figured out one of the mysteries early on and felt vindicated when I was proven right. As for the others, I was surprised by the answers. I had my suspicions, but wasn’t 100% certain until McLemore spelled it out on the pages for us.

I haven’t read any of McLemore’s other books, so I can’t compare this to them. But I do know, if they write more books like The Influencers, I will be clamoring to read them. This felt like reading a tabloid magazine, one filled with stories of the rich and famous. But better, as it was full of so many juicy details.