What happens when an influencer family’s children grow up and rebel against the ideal that their parent has set? We’ve seen a lot of news recently about influencer kids and the abuse they endure. I was very interested in this fictional whodunit mystery about a family of influencers, but unfortunately this wasn’t a win for me. I REALLY loved the premise of the book and really enjoyed the actual plot. At the heart of it is a thought-provoking look at what social media is doing to families. The family drama itself was really interesting and could have been compelling if I hadn’t been hung up on the character names and the POV. The mother’s name is May Iverson and her brand is “Mother-May-I.” In an attempt to be thematic, she names each of her five children a month as well - June, July, April, March, and January. She even marries a man named August. I’m sure it was supposed to be funny, but it was completely confusing and took SO much away from the book, in my opinion. I also found the changes in point of view hard to keep up with. There was so much back and forth that it seemed difficult at times to keep up with. Overall, it was just ok!

Thank you to @netgalley and Random House - Dial Press for the opportunity to review. All opinions are my own!

Loved the premise, however one dimensional characters and a plot line full of holes made this a chore to finish.

The names of these characters got so annoying that I didn't finish this book. I know the names were supposed to be a play on the mom's name, but honestly, this was a mistake and took away from the story.

I was totally down for a fictionalized Kardashian saga, but this one just fell flat for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I found it a bit of a slog. DNF'd. Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I will not be reviewing this for Goodreads or Instagram.

Anna-Marie McLemore’s The Influencers is one of the most interesting, frustrating, thought-provoking books I’ve almost not finished in a long time. We start with a chapter title telling us that there has been a murder, but before we hear anything about the crime or the victim, an anonymous chorus called “we the followers of Mother May I” tells us about May Iverson, mommy vlogger and influencer, and her 5 adult children, who she named April, June, July, January, and March. The murder victim is May’s second husband, August, who is not the father of any of her children. The Influencers has several mysteries, but it isn’t really a who dunnit. It’s a family drama, a look at motherhood, a study of the impact of turning a family into a consumable product and the parasocial relationships that form around individual members of the family, and racism.

There are a few crimes central to the story, the murder, a fire, someone is leaking unedited footage that reveals ugly truths about the Iverson family, possibly the youngest, March, is missing, and more.

The book marks time by how much time has passed since August’s murder, but the story is told like a mosaic. We get short bursts of point of view from the daughters, May, and different groups of viewers. The picture becomes clear only when most of the fragments are in place. For all that the chapters advance time linearly, the story jumps around in time. We hear about things that happened, but it seems random until the piece with the context is shared.

There were a few points in the first half of the book where I had to decide if it was worth my time to keep reading. I did, and in the end I thought it was a worthwhile read. McLemore has put a distance between the reader and the story, which initially frustrated me, but now that I’ve finished it, I think it was a good choice. May turned herself into Mother May I, changing her children’s last name from Iniesta to Iverson and white washed the Latine until it was more a light dusting than a racial or cultural identity. She drew in fans with “remember, you are already a good mom,” while being an awful mother to her children. This is a story ripe for big emotions and catharsis for the reader, but McLemore creates a distance so that we think about our own relationship to the story.

I am leaving out a lot. But to dive more deeply would ruin the experience for fresh readers.

I received this as an advance reader copy from The Dial Press and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

The Influencers unfortunately fell flat for me. The character who was killed meant nothing to the reader, so it was difficult to be invested in solving any mystery around their death. All of the points of view were confusing, and the daughters were described so many times and somehow still had no real substance to their characters. I just couldn’t get into this.

I'm not familiar with the author's YA work, but this might serve as a nice transitional book for those following them from YA to adult reading. With the majority of the characters in their 20s and a focus on those who have grown up in the age of mommy blogs and social media, this will be relatable.

Oh....this is going to happen, I can feel it.

The Iversons have been in the spotlight most of their life. "Mother May I" Iverson has made a living off the last 20 years off the backs of her 5 daughters. What started as a way to update friends and family has turned into an empire, with videos, social media campaigns and appearances.

When their step-father dies and their mother's house is burnt to the ground....the five girls are the prime suspects. They are no longer the cute, little girls growing up online. April (oh...just wait) is out of the spotlight and hugely successful on her own terms. Twins, June and July (told you) have their own brand that's growing to be bigger that their mother. January works as a theater tech, staying in the background. March, the youngest, hasn't been seen in years.

As the investigation goes on, the girls and their mother must reconcile their family secrets, and family tensions.
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Man.....this is going to happen soon. Kids are being used to run entire family businesses, all for some clicks and views. While this is clearly a "Kardashian" influenced story, we have to look at the child exploitation that is all over our social media.

Is this a dark comedy? Yes, but all comedy comes from truth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I am very invested in psychology/ sociology of our modern influencer culture. The idea that we live in a world where our privacy is no longer ours but something for mass consumption, kind of freaks me out. I choose to live a private life online, but I don’t think young people are afforded that option anymore. Especially the children of so-called influencers, whose private lives are monetized by their parents. Once on the Internet cannot be taken back. In the past year, I’ve read a few books dealing with influencers and children of family blog, influencers, and the more I read about it, the more it freaks me out. This book really brought up a lot of the issues that I’m intrigued by in a fascinating thriller/mystery. I definitely recommend this book! It takes a little bit to get moving, but I found myself invested pretty quickly.

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

May Iverson is a social media influencer known for her channel "Mother May I". When her house is burned to the ground and her husband, August, found dead, her five daughters are the prime suspects. As the investigation into August's death continues, videos start to surface showing a different side of the Mother May I channel. With more videos being posted on social media, the Mother May I empire is put at risk and followers all have an opinion on what daughter is the killer.

Told through the POV of May, each of the daughters and the followers of Mother May I, The Influencers is not much of a mystery/thriller but focuses on the darker side of influencer channels.
Each daughter seemed to have motive for wanting August gone and the Mother May I channel to be removed. The followers POV was unique as they were an unreliable narrator, and their information seemed to change as each video was posted. My only complaint would be the structuring of some of the chapters. The different POVs abruptly changed in the middle of the chapter, and I had to go back occasionally. Overall, this was an enjoyable read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House- Dial Press for the opportunity to review The Influencers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

“Remember you are already a good mom.” That’s how May Iverson closes her videos when she poses as “Mother May Iverson” on the internet but, is May simply acting and putting on a show or does she reap what she sows?
This book was addictive! Anytime I thought I had the mystery solved I would turn to the next chapter and discover I was wrong. This book also makes you really think about current family influencers and how you always can’t believe what you see.
This book was the Kardashians mixed with murder mystery and I was eating that up! I recommend this book for someone who is looking to read something with multiple POVs, serious family dysfunction and some suspenseful drama!

This book was absolutely fascinating. I loved the concept and thought it was such an interesting story to tell. It took me a minute - like at least 30% of the book - to really get hooked, but once that happened I could not stop reading. I liked how it highlighted our society's complete obsession with influencer culture, the co-dependency of a creator and their audience, true-crime, and parasocial relationships.

While the switching of POVs between all the Iversons, the mystery guy, and the social media followers did make it harder for me to truly know our main characters, I thought it added to the story in a weird way. At the end of the day, we as the audience do not really know all these different people that we follow online, and the commentary/searing indictment on parents using their children for likes, follows, and sponsorships was done so well. I feel like I'll think about this book for a long time.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC - all opinions and thoughts are my own!

The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore was a fun little mystery.
It was cleverly written with excellent plot development, interesting characters and a story that kept me glued to the pages.

Thanks to Net Galley and The Dial Press for the free copy in exchange for my honest review! I love all things influencer discourse and the changing understanding of exploitation of children in these influencer families, so I thought this would be right up my alley. The mystery( main plot) felt like it was actually a small b plot, and unfortunately the rest of the book didn't hold my interest and perhaps would be more enjoyed with an understanding that the mystery is going to take aback set and instead this is an exploration of the characters feelings about being social media famous from a young age.

I didn’t enjoy this one. The plot was hard to figure out, and I kept feeling like I was missing key pieces the whole time. It jumped around so much, I had trouble keeping up—and not in a fun, twisty way. It just felt messy and confusing. I really wanted to like it, but this one was a struggle for me.

I was really excited to read this book. The entire premise was really interesting to me however, when I started it, I just couldn't find myself yearning for more. It could just be a personal thing- that I wasn't immediately attached to what was happening, but there was some disconnect between myself and the characters while I was reading.

I do think other people could really enjoy this book and I wish it all the success when it hits the book shelves :)

Grateful for the chance to read an advance copy!

The Influencers is a sharp, darkly funny, and compulsively readable take on fame, family, and the fallout of a life lived online. Centered around the enigmatic “Mother May I” and her five now-adult daughters—each uniquely scarred by growing up in the spotlight-the novel blends murder mystery with biting social commentary.

As secrets unravel and public opinion swirls, the story explores generational trauma, performative perfection, and the cost of turning real lives into content. With a campy, satirical edge and a whip-smart narrative voice, this is both an entertaining whodunit and a searing critique of influencer culture.

Bold, twisty, and unflinchingly timely, The Influencers is the kind of book you’ll devour-and then want to talk about

I was so excited about this book but it just fell flat and I found it boring . I read about 30% and just couldn’t so I thought I’d at least skip and read the end but still meh ..

The author’s writing style is clearly not for me

4.5 stars. Meet the Iversons; social media influencers who grew up under the spotlight and in front of the camera. The five Iverson sisters have spent over twenty years being filmed for their mothers channel, 'Mother May I.' The once small channel became an empire with their lives plastered everywhere: from online videos to social media campaigns, the girls have done it all. So when their step-father ends up dead, and their mother's house ends up torched, they turn into lead suspects. The sisters have changed since the early years of Mother May I. April, the oldest, is now a successful businesswoman whose life isn't in the spotlight. The twins June and July have their own successful channel called 'The Summer Girls,' which is projected to become bigger than their mom's. January is living her own life away from social media as a theater tech. And the youngest, March, has completely disappeared. The girls have changed, but their mother hasn't. As the murder case goes on, resentment and secrets start to bubble over, and tension gets high. But that doesn't mean one of the girls really committed murder, right?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for this digital e-arc.*

When I read the description I was sold! I would limit the amount of Kardashian comparisons because that would not sell me on it and I am glad I didn't see that until after I was approved.