The Influencers is a sharp, twisty look at the dark side of fame and family. When the husband of a mommy-vlogger-turned-empire-mogul is found dead, her carefully crafted world starts to unravel—and her daughters might know more than they’re saying.

Told from multiple perspectives, the story blends murder mystery, family drama, and social commentary in a way that feels fresh and haunting. If you’re into messy family secrets and the toxic underbelly of influencer culture, this one delivers.

I was offered this book and accepted it without reading much about it - I found it very entertaining.

The characters in this one are all unique and fun to read -- and it kept me guessing as we figure out what happened to August.

I always love a book that talks about social media and influencers and really enjoyed those parts of this one, especially the mommy-blogger aspect of it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore.

The husband of huge social media mogul May, of "Mother May I" has been murdered, and the May's mansion has been burnt down to cover it up. All five of May's children, also named for different months of the year, are suspects, and each has their own reason for wanting to see May fall, but who actually did it, and why?

You got to be careful with stories like this. It's an delicate balance having a lot of players, but not TOO many, lest it get to bogged down. That's exactly what I felt happened here, too many suspects, too hard to keep them apart, it becomes overwhelming and hard to care. I did enjoy the book, but I admit to feeling lost on occasion and fading in and out of the plot.

The Influencers was a quick and compelling read. It’s the Kardashians stumbling into a murder mystery, except the dead body is one of their own. The format of the short chapters in shifting points-of-view between many characters (and unknown entities) kept the reader guessing about how much they could trust what they were reading. Everyone had opinions, and they often conflicted. Secrets were gradually revealed. Clues dropped incrementally along the way. Most of the characters are deeply unlikable, but especially the matriarch of the family, who is the OG influencer among the family. Between the format of the short chapters and shifting POV along with the constant clues, this book was fast paced up to the reveal at the very end.

A muddled mess, unfortunately. I wanted to love the story of a mommy-blogger and her 5 daughters as now adults, recovering in different ways from growing up in the spotlight. But the story gets bogged down by a murder mystery (May, the mom's new husband, is killed and then their house burns down! Did May, or one of her daughters do it?) that I ended up not being that invested in.

I thought McLemore did a good job trying to explore the minefield of children of influencers who did not consent to be entertainment and content for their parents social channels. I wish the book was more straightforward and about that instead. There were way too many POVs, twists and turns that you could see coming, and a writing style that felt very hard to penetrate. The bones were there, but the book fell flat for me.

The Influencers is messy, dramatic, and fun. Anna-Marie McLemore crafted a juicy mystery that's extremely timely in today's social media influencer-obsessed culture.

The premise is instantly gripping: a murdered husband, a burnt-down mansion, and five daughters reckoning with the fact that their entire childhoods were turned into online content. The shifting perspectives worked really well for me; despite the many, many characters, I was never confused about what was happening.

That said, the camp sometimes overwhelms the emotional stakes, and not every sister feels fully fleshed out. The tone walks a fine line between sharp satire and soap opera, occasionally slipping into excess. Still, for readers who enjoy high-drama family sagas with teeth—and a timely critique of digital fame—The Influencers is an entertaining, thought-provoking ride.

The Influencers hooked me from the very first page. This book has a Kardasian vibe. Imagine your whole life being documented and put online for others to judge. The Influencers was told from multiple points of view which was a little tricky to follow at first, but then blended seamlessly. This is definitely a messy family drama with the affects of living your life on social media. The banter was snarky and at times laugh out loud funny. As this family was starving for fame and approval online, what wouldn't they say to get some "likes". Society is definitely obsessed with social media and following this family's drama. How do you know what is true and what is just for their online presence. The Influencers is both entertaining and thought-provoking—as we scroll our way through life.

This is a very different type of novel from this author, and I want the old ones back. If you're into stories where terrible people are terrible to each other and the narrative is a hate-watch spectator sport, you may be into this. Wasn't my cup of tea, unfortunately.

I was so excited to read this one and in the end it felt too much like trying to be the Kardashians that I just couldn't fully get into it. I loved the dynamics of the twins. I felt like the twist with the youngest was trying too hard. I wish we got to see more of the dynamics between all of the sisters and less of the mom.

I really thought the premise of this book was interesting! As someone who grew up in the height of the Kardashian/Jenner clan's prime, nothing intrigues me more than a group of sisters! And throwing in a side of *murder*? I couldn't wait to read this.

Mother May I, or May Iverson has 5 daughters, April, June, July, January and March. Each of them have their own personalities, and their opinions on their mothers influencer life. When their moms new husband (August of course), turns up dead all fingers point to the sisters. This was a complex family dynamic, and was written in a way I have never read before. This book could've been at least 50 pages less and I truly wasn't rooting for any of these characters (not even 1).

I did like how this seemed like it came right out of the Bravo/E! reality cannon.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dial Press and Anna-Marie McLemore for my ARC!

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Influencers was an ARC I was invited to read, and I was definitely intrigued by the premise. Once I dove into the book, I had a really hard time putting it down! It took a little while to get into the style of writing but I was hooked by the characters and the murder mystery. This isn't my usual style of book, but I loved it regardless!

Thank you again for the ARC!

This is just not my kind of book but I'm sure others would like it. This is focused on a family of influencers, led by mother May "Mother May I", who has given all her children month names and filmed them for their whole lives in order to get money and products. The novel starts with a mystery, May's husband, August, has been murdered, and all the family members are suspects. A lot of the book is written from the "we" perspective - from the followers of Mother May I and her family. Which makes it read more like a news story than a book. I guess I'm just not into the whole influencing industry, but if you are, this book is more for you.

Marketed as a mystery and felt that it did not give that at all. I thought it was a lot of mother may I and just really satire and over done. Not how it’s been marketed to be about.

The Influencers follows a family of influencers who were thrust into the spotlight by their matriarch, “Mother May I” Iverson, and again after tragedy strikes. May's new husband is found dead and part of the mansion set on fire in what might have been an attempt to cover up murder. At the same time, May's children are dealing with the fallout of growing up online in very different ways. Twins June and July have embraced the influencer lifestyle, although disagreements have been brewing behind the scenes between the two. April and January have thrown themselves into their work, trying to make names for themselves in their own fields, and March has been MIA for years. The police investigation puts the family in the spotlight and forces them to face the conflicts from their pasts.

I think my main issue with this book is that it was marketed as a mystery when it really did not feel like a mystery. The death of August was more a catalyst for everything else that goes on, but there isn't much investigation that is being done. The book focuses more on the relationships between all of the family members, which I would have enjoyed if there was more depth to them. Instead, it felt like each family member was defined by one trait and that was their whole personality. It makes sense for influencers to have a brand, but these characters felt especially superficial. The dialogue at times also felt incredibly unrealistic. The story was told in alternating perspectives from the family members as well as from the perspective of the general public. I did like the way that the followers on social media were incorporated into the story and this did a good job of showing how the story that is told on social media can be drastically different from what is going on behind the scenes. The pacing felt a bit off, with really short chapters where not much happened. The sections were also divided by days since the murder, but it didn't really feel like it was building to anything. I enjoyed the discussions about the dangers of social media and what growing up with that influence can do to people, but I just wish that the book had gone a bit deeper. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy discussions about social media or books about dysfunctional families.

3.5 ⭐️
This was fun, but kind of hard to keep track of the siblings given that they’re all named after months of the years (that part is creative) a murder mystery about a family of sisters that were influencers.
Also, the message about parents taking advantage of their children and knowing what they’re doing is gross and I’m glad there’s books out there to shine light on that, that parents know what they’re doing by exploiting their children.
I understand that it’s hard to produce an audiobook with more than one narrator, but I think it would’ve been better to understand with more than just one narrator. *the narrator was still good though

The Influencers is a fascinating book. Popping back and forth between perspectives of the Iverson family - May Iverson, the mother; and her daughters, April, June, July, January, and March, who got famous through May's mommy blogging under "Mother May I" - and their fans, who helps us learn more about the family through the family's posting history and their own "relationship" with each Iverson. The structure created this back and forth between the reality and the facade. How much do we really know about the influencers we follow? Who gets to say what's real at the end of the day?

I loved discovering who the Iversons were through the lens of their fans - the idea that "we who know XYZ" was explaining each member of the family to the reader as if we had the same opportunity to judge them as the police, or the law, resulted in a sort of intimacy between us and the fans, almost more so than what I felt when living in each Iverson's POV. Like, of course the fans have a good gauge on who they've been following for years. Of course, they'd be able to make judgements on this family based on photos and 30 second videos of their lives.

I did guess some of the twists, but even with that, I loved how things unfolded as we got to see the cracks in the veneer of the Iversons' perceived perfection. I also loved how some things fed into the social commentary of the toxicity of child influencers and the downfalls of being chronically online.

As we delve into the aftermath of the death of May Iverson's new husband, everyone who's ever stepped foot in the Iverson mansion is called to be questioned, but only one person did it. Now it's up to the police (and us, as readers) to figure out who. An incisive look at influencer culture, the impact of social media and mommy blogging, along with discussions around race, culture, and tradition, The Influencers had me absolutely glued to the pages!

TW: PTSD, toxic relationship, sexism, sexual harassment, racism, fire/fire injury; mentions death, murder, pregnancy, stalking

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 4/5

Finished copy gifted by Dial Press via Colored Pages Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

I love anything about influencers and influencing but the characters’ names (January, April, May, June, July) had my head spinning. It’s also 448 pages which I feel is a bit of a stretch for what is supposed to be a fun and campy read.

Published by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, on April 15, 2025

Someone murdered August Ingraham and set fire to a wing of his mansion, although not the wing in which his body was found. The prime suspects are five sisters: April, June, July, January, and possibly March, although March (the youngest) hasn’t been seen for a while. Another suspect is their mother, May Iverson, August’s wife and the creator of Mother May I.

August was only married to May for a couple of years and wasn’t in the picture when May’s five daughters were born. Their biological father, Ernesto Iniesta, had an argument with August a couple of weeks before his death and is also a suspect, at least in the eyes of true crime podcasters. A neighbor who had a reasonable grudge against August also had a motive, but he became an unlikely suspect after his dead body was discovered outside the burning house.

The Influencers is presented as a whodunit, yet as the title implies, it is more a sendup of online personalities. The novel skewers a certain kind of “influencer,” internet celebrities or wannabes who place their enviable lives on display for the world to see, except for the parts they try to conceal.

Chapters written in the third person generally narrate the actions of family members. Other chapters offer first-person thoughts spoken collectively by followers of the family members. The followers are obsessed; their obsession contributes to the humor. They believe they are best positioned to solve August’s murder, as they know more about the family than the police will ever learn.

May is “famous for picture-worthy after-school snacks and homemade costumes and glamorous New Year’s Eve parties,” as well as lifestyle and fashion advice, product lines (such as Mother May I dish towels), and product endorsements. On her Mother May I platforms, she posted daily videos of her children growing up, sometimes to their displeasure.

The non-identical twins, pale June and dark July, made a career of their mother’s career. They “followed their mother into the world of making money off polishing and posting their daily lives. June and July each had their own personal brands,” but they post some content collectively as the Summer Girls. According to their fans, “It was June we loved for having no filter, no brakes, and July we loved for her gentle way of moving through the world.” June is even a bit motherly in her relationship with May. “If June didn’t keep an eye on her, she was going to fund a line of vitamin-infused nail polish or an independent film about reverse racism.”

Growing up, April was the problem solver, the replacement mom who stepped in to help the other girls when May was busy hawking products. Now April has a fabric store and, in the collective opinion of Mother May I fans, is too competent to have burned down a part of the house while August (presumably dead at the time) was in a different wing. “Rather than such scattershot arson, she would have set the fire close enough to the corpse to turn all evidence to cinders. She might have even been able to make both look like accidents.”

January works in theater as a lighting designer. She keeps to herself and away from cameras. Maybe she’s never gotten over her mother filming them as they shopped for her first training bra or her mother’s broadcast about her “many feelings” when her daughter had her first period. I’ve never had a period (wrong gender for the curse), but I can imagine being mortified if my mother discussed her feels about my bodily discharges with the entire world.

The followers debate the potential of each Iverson to be a killer based on what they know of their personalities (or on how they dress or wear makeup). They dissect new footage of the family that a true-crime blogger has posted to her site while the Iversons try to discover the source of the video clips. The videos appear to be candid camera recordings, some of which portray May and the girls in a negative light, the kind of recordings that May would never have posted. Who took the videos and who released them to podcasters is another mystery the followers want to unravel.

Sharp-eyed followers identify a guy lurking in the background of certain videos who might be named Luke, who always wears a sweatshirt, and who may or may not be dating June or July. Luke Sweatshirt is another murder suspect.

Like many fans of celebrities, the Mother May I followers are fickle. When they like what they see, they can’t get enough of it. When it seems the family is about to melt down, they are just as happy to be cheering against them. That seemed like a particularly telling observation about the nature of people who become absorbed in the details of Kardashian-type celebrities.

As the novel nears its end, the central mystery — who killed August? — is temporarily overshadowed by a second — what happened to March? Both reveals are surprising, although the explanation of August’s death and the fire in his mansion is underwhelming.

The novel is long and the pace sometimes drags, in part because endless descriptions of the Iverson family’s fashion choices become a bit wearing (no pun intended). Anna-Marie McLemore’s central point is the importance of children building their own identities and the damage caused by mothers who shape their children with the intent to monetize them, but the story suffers from redundant reminders about all the ways in which May failed her kids. Still, the story always maintained my interest and a steady diet of comedic moments kept me smiling.

RECOMMENDED

4 ⭐️

General vibe: cozy mystery meets quirky, semi dysfunctional family
Could I put it down: for the first bit yes, but it picked up when the pieces came together
Do I recommend? Yes 🙌

I love a cozy mystery and this definitely checked the box. I’m a weenie and can’t handle suspense or anything scary but this felt like sitting and watching a Netflix limited series (think Knives Out). Had the family drama and quirky family dynamics that we all have with a little mystery inside. Every time I thought I knew who did the deed, I was way off. I’ve never read anything by this author but will certainly read her again.

DNF. This book did not grab me or pull me in. There were a lot of characters and many just had a few generic traits. I am skipping the Goodreads review. Just because it was not my cup of tea, others may like it. I wish this author the best!