This was such a great, twisty domestic drama featuring daughters of a famous influencer and the mystery surrounding their stepfather's death. I loved the narration by Brittany Pressley, the bipoc/Latinx and trans rep. Anyone who enjoys entertaining social media influencer stories will not want to miss this one. Highly recommended for fans of books like Hate follow or People like her. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Not a very convincing story - there is a confusing amount of characters, each named after a month of the year (?)
The writing is telling you about the characters instead of fleshing them out.
I am also reading "Influencer" by Sara Shepard and Lila Buckingham and that narrative makes you feel as if you are actually there, involved in the conversation, and experiencing what the characters are going through.
"The Influencers" by McLemore seems more like an overly long parody about a murder mystery that nobody really cares about.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and to PRH Audio for the alc.

I must say I chose to request this book on NetGalley because of that fabulously adorable cover!!! I mean just look at how cute it is. I love the color scheme especially!

Overall, I had a love-hate relationship with this book of sorts, This is because I found the mystery aspect of the story intriguing, but I also found the main characters semi-annoying. I can imagine they may have written to be this way on purpose though. So this book was both addicting and a slog for me. This is why I am confused on how to rate this book slightly.

I must say that I am super glad Brittany Pressley narrated the audiobook as she is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and she did a fantastic job. I think it is possible that if she didn't narrate this book, there would've been a strong chance that I dnf'ed it. But at the same time, i am also glad that I did not do this as the ending resolved the story quite well in my opinion.

Overall, I would probably rate this book somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars, and I do think that I would be willing to read more by Anna-Marie McLemore in the future as well.

I’m fascinated by our societal obsession with influencer culture, so I have very high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, they were disappointed. The multiple POVs were all over the place, and the characters lacked depth. For me, the pacing was the worst because IT DRAGGED. Truthfully, I had to push myself not to DNF this one.

For a mystery novel, I couldn’t have cared less who committed the crime because the victim was just a terrible person. Also, the “twist” was very predictable.

I just don’t think I was the right target for this book.

I will always read a book about an influencer, there is something endlessly interesting to me about the world’s obsession with social media influencers. The murder mystery wasn’t the most interesting part to me, it was the dynamics between the family. I can’t imagine growing up with the whole world watching my every move, it honestly sounds miserable and I liked that this looked at the dark side of social media. If you have a fascination with family vloggers like I do try this! Brit Pressley is one of the very best and she shines so bright here.

3.5 stars!

As a proud hater of family vlogging, I was on board for this. May Iverson, when I catch you...

There was a lot to love here. The dialogue and writing felt real, with some really funny lines among the heavier stuff. I loved all the siblings, but won't be naming my favorite. For spoiler reasons. If anyone reading this has read it - you'll probably know. The takes on mommy bloggers, family channels, and even true crime channels, were all really well done.

I think what is keeping it from being a four star or higher for me, is that the formula of it got a bit tedious. The leaked video reports every other chapter, and then not much happening elsewhere plot-wise. It was more family drama than mystery/thriller to me - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just found the repetition starting to stale and wishing more would actually happen in the current timeline, outside of the leaked videos.

It was still a fun read! I did enjoy myself and definitely intend on checking out more from this author.

DNF at 32%. This book couldn’t decide what it wanted to be, and at a third of the way through it really should’ve.

There are two stories here: first, the mystery surrounding the murder of a wealthy social media influencer and the investigation into the lives of those who have the means and motive. Second, the lives of young adults who were part of family vlogs as children and how that impacted their growth as individuals. Both of them would’ve been captivating to read, but they just don’t tie together well, at least not here.

The best parts of this were the interludes with the fans, their clowning (to borrow a term from the Swiftie community) to investigate the murder themselves and feeding into parasocial relationships.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, since it seems like something normally up my alley, but I just could not get invested or give a single fuck about any of these people.

Thank you to NetGalley, Anna-Marie McLemore, and The Dial Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Remember, you are already a good mom."

A family that relied entirely on documenting their lives for the public to see. A mom influencer that thrived on filming every reaction, moment and event from her children so she could curate her perfect life. Four daughters that paid for the price of reality fame and a dead husband that no one knows how he died. That's the life of the Iverson's that anyone and everyone wants to follow on now. Mother May I may be a brand that May Iverson has perfected, but did she really get her own signature line correct?

The concept of this story was what had me intrigued from the get go. I enjoyed the alternating POVs from the Iverson's and the chapters about the "followers", as if they were paparazzi/fan excerpts that helped tell this story. The sisters all had their masked personalities, much like their mother May did. What made them different was that beneath the layers of social media, grooming and pleasantries was that each sister had their own trauma from being in the public eye that they never recovered from. Their characters and POVs were my favourite moments in the book. May's moments were my least favorite and I wasn't surprised with how her demise came to be. The death and mysteries were a bit underwhelming and predictable, still entertaining and helped shape the plot to what it needed to be.

For fans of reality tv shows like The Kardashians and families in the spotlight, this one may be a good pick for you. I can only imagine what children of celebrities and reality stars go through after finishing this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House/The Dial Press for providing a digital copy for my honest opinion and thoughts!

📖 Title: The Influencers-a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Anna Marie McLemore-new to me author

📅Publication date: 4/15/25 | Read 4/10/25

📃 Format: e-Book 448 pgs.

Genre:
*Mystery/Thriller
*Contemporary

Tropes:
*whodunit
*family drama
*social media
*true crime
*social satire
*being biracial

👆🏾POV: 3rd person, multiple

⚠️TW: death of a spouse, arson, child exploitation, transitioning, infertility, secret identity, surprise pregnancy

🌎 Setting: CA

Summary: After twenty-five years of living in the spotlight, May and her daughters "The Iversons" deal with the fallout from May's husband August death where her daughters are all suspects.

🎭 Characters:

*August Ingraham-May's newlywed husband-murdered

*Ernesto Iniesta-May's ex-husband and father of all the kids

* May Iverson-53, matriarch of the family, creator of "Mother May I" social media empire

* April-29, the oldest sister, a businesswoman who is feuding w/ May over intellectual property

* June and July-26, twins that smile in May's face but threatens her spotlight, both also social media influencers

*January- 24, a theater tech, stays away from the spotlight, and is the black sheep of the family

*March-23, the youngest daughter, gone missing


🤔 My Thoughts: After getting all the characters straight, I enjoyed the commentaries on motherhood/sisterhood, social media, morality, and
how it manifested into the Iversons' adult lives. I enjoyed January and March's stories the most because they felt the most authentic. Even though the world building was sparingly addressed, the themes resonated with me.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 1/5 🌶️

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group | The Dial Press, and Anna-Marie McLemore for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are mine alone.

I’m not an immediate fan of the writing style. It feels almost like a stream of consciousness, which isn’t my cup of tea. The chapters often felt like they were telling rather than showing, hindering my engagement with the book. The chapters either felt too long or not long enough. The pacing is slow because we actually know the passage of time that is occurring and the book tells rather than shows. The biggest disservice to the book, in my personal opinion, is the fact that it is marketed as a mystery. To me, the book is more of a fiction book that is meant to be a social commentary about influencer families that just so happen to have a mysterious death. I do, however, like the Iverson siblings. I think they are easy to empathize with and that even though we are shown some of their faults, their personalities as a whole show them as good people.

This book is outside of the typical genres I read, and unfortunately I had trouble connecting with the characters. I found the book to be much more of a character study than a mystery, the actual plot was the least developed aspect of the book. I also felt like this book was longer than necessary, and it took me a significant amount of time to get through it. That being said, the writing and setting was very entertaining and I could see this being adapted into a television show easily.

3.5 ⭐️ Okay this one was fun if not a little too realistic. Like I feel like I could see this happening in real life with actual influencers, which was both exciting and really crazy to think about.
When a famous mommy influencer’s husband is murdered and her house goes up in flames the suspects are none other than her five now-grown daughters. Each daughter having had their entire childhood commodified has a valid reason for doing it. Told through multiple (and I do mean MULTIPLE) perspectives, what unfolds explores race, class, family dynamics and gender/sexuality.
Like I said, I feel like this book comes at the right time because these conversations are unfolding right in front of us. That being influencers using their children for financial gain and the morality behind it. I really did like that aspect of the book. However, I did not enjoy the multiple pov in this one. I don’t feel like it helped move the story forward and we could’ve just gone with an omnipotent narrator. I also feel like the mystery of “whodunnit” was never really solved? I mean kind of.. but I needed more from that as well.

2.75 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and The Dial Press for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Expected Publication: April 15th, 2025

I reallyyy wanted to like this book but it unfortunately fell flat for me. The idea is very interesting, especially considering the rise of influencers and child exploitation on social media, but the execution didn’t work.

I liked the character descriptions at first, they really brought the characters to life, but it started to go downhill with the AMOUNT of descriptions. May and her children were described at the beginning… and then multiple times again throughout the book with the same repetitive details. And despite the amount of descriptions, the characters were very one-dimensional because all we learned about them was the most basic parts of their personalities.

The “mystery” is the main part of the plot and yet the least developed. We follow the lives of the Iversons after the murder of a character that we don’t know nor do we particularly care about, and neither do they. The book focuses more on the children’s feelings towards growing up in the spotlight than the actual murder. I do think it’s interesting to read from the POVs of people who grew up with their entire lives plastered on social media (especially with the upcoming Piper Rockelle documentary and her continuing to be exploited by her mother), I just wish it had been executed differently.

Thank you Netgalley & The Dial Press for an eARC ❤️

The book is about this mega-famous mom-fluencer, May Iverson, who built her entire brand on cute videos of her five mixed-race daughters—except now the girls are grown, and let’s just say they’re not exactly sending her Mother’s Day cards. Things go full dumpster fire when May’s shiny new husband turns up dead and their mansion burns to the ground. And the suspects? Oh, just the daughters who spent their entire lives being exploited for likes.
The sisters are a *mess* in the best possible way. There’s April, the corporate shark who’s basically a Disney villain in athleisure; the twins June and July, who smile for the camera while low-key plotting their mom’s downfall; January, the black sheep who’s *way* too good at disappearing when drama pops off; and March, the missing sister who may or may not be the puppet master behind everything.
What I loved is how the book balances over-the-top drama with real, cutting commentary about how messed up it is to monetize your kids’ childhoods. There’s a scene where one of the sisters finds old footage of herself crying as a kid—only to realize her mom edited it into a “relatable parenting struggle” vlog—that actually made me put the book down and stare at the wall for a minute. 😞
If you love messy families, true crime vibes, and stories that make you side-eye every “perfect” Instagram mom, this is your next obsession.👍🏽

DNF at ~20%. Just really couldn't deal with the writing style. I think if you like books with a bit of kitsch you'd enjoy it but I'd also recommend about 10 other books before this one really,

Who killed May's husband August and set her house on fire? That's the question that the multiple narrators of this satiric mystery and critique of the influencer culture struggle to answer. May made her money off her daughters-January, March, April, June, and July-but they're grown up now. Oh, and March has gone missing. There's a greek chorus of sorts from the online community which is actually pretty snarky. This zips along until it becomes a bit tiresome in spots but then it picks up again. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. How much you enjoy it might depend on how attuned you are to the influencer community but at its heart it's the story of an unhappy family.

this defiantly was a book for all the juicy thriller girlies. I loved the multiple points of the story however the names of the daughters I thought was a bit confusing at parts. Also I thought a few of the twists were kinda give aways based of some of the bread crumbs.

This really made me think of the Kardashians and Kim Jenner as their manager/momager, whatever she is. It was an interesting murder mystery/thriller, but the pacing really was a bit off for me. Although, I do think I am going to explore more books by Anna-Marie McLemore. This one has intrigued me and I want to explore more of their work. 3 stars is not bad, just not my favorite book. But I am sure they have one I will enjoy even more if this is far from their first novel.

The stepfather of a Kardashian-like family is murdered but who did it?

This book has a large family of influencers, all with names of months. I found this to be very confusing when it should have been a fun gimmick. The author does very little to distinguish the characters from each other and I found myself not caring about any of them. Unfortunately, I didn't find this book to be very good but hopefully it'll find its better audience.

this has a really interesting core but i got really easily confused with all the month names at the beginning (i get the point but still), and in the end, everything was still not quite solved and that annoyed me

thank you netgalley for an arc of this in exchange for my honest feedback