If you think you aren’t that interested in mommy influencers, I think you should give this one a chance. It’s a dark comedy feminist thriller that definitely has Heathers vibes, with a little Stepford Wives thrown in.

Chiara is a mom of twins who’s just barely holding it together. She doesn’t really have any mom friends, but tries to make some by posting a real life pic on Insta, which accidentally goes viral because of her hashtag choice (something about microdosing mushrooms lol). She then finds a group of mommy influencers and wins a ticket to a big-deal retreat. And she never returns home from it. A year later she’s still missing and her twin sister Adrienne goes “undercover” to try to find out what happened to her. And things get wild.

What I really enjoyed about this book was the female rage. And also, only ONE MAN gets to speak in this book, and it’s Chiara’s husband. He doesn’t even get a name though, they only call him Dear Husband. Which I also found hilarious. I will definitely be looking out for more books from Elizabeth! I received an advance review copy for free and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

Are you a lonely, exhausted mom looking for support? Searching for a pat on the bag, a way to lighten the load? Look no further, for the mommy bloggers have it! ComMOMunity.

When mother of two Chiara disappears after attending a mom influencer’s yearly retreat, her twin Adrienne knows she has to take matters into her own hands. Chiara’s husband is useless. The police have given up. She knows her sister would never run off, so what happened? Determined to find answers, she infiltrates the next event.

What she finds is creepier than she could ever imagine. Herds of women straight out of the Stepford Wives, mindlessly competing for Thea and the other big influencer’s attention. Backstabbing and betrayal left and right. No one seems willing to help her, and as she gets closer and closer to her answers, someone else is closing in on Adrienne.

This was cheesy, left my heart racing, and is a fantastic love letter to the Final Girl subgenre! Adrienne’s development is extremely well done, her selfishness giving way to selflessness.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-arc! I apologize for writing this review so late, i got the publishing date wrong! Follow Me is available wherever books are sold! Review will be up on socials shortly!

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this one was not for me. I found it to be too slow burn and it just didn’t grab my attention. I didn’t find the characters to be very well developed either.

I hope others love this one!

This book immediately caught my eye - both by the synopsis and the striking cover. The book starts from the point of view of Chiara - a mom of twins trying to regain some semblance of her life before kids. After getting a ticket to a mom influencer summit, she finds herself making connections and starting to feel more like herself. That is, until things go terribly wrong. We then pick up a year later, Chiara is still missing, and her twin sister, Adrienne, is the only one that’s still fighting to find her. Her best plan? To attend the mom influencer summit and see if she can find any clues.

Even though this book took me a bit to get into, I ended up enjoying the story. It definitely was full of current pop culture and social media references, which I felt sometimes broke up the flow. That said, I loved the fresh take and light-hearted aspects of this mommy, cult-like, influencer whodunnit. I thought Quinn did a great job keeping things light and showcasing humor while digging in to the over-the-top mystery and in some places, gore. Overall, I enjoyed the read, but it was a like and not a love. That said, I’ll be interested to see what Quinn does next.

Although I am a fan of influencer gone wrong genre Follow Me fell a little flat of my expectations. I found it took a while to become invested in the missing twin sister storyline and when it peaked my interest midway, by the end of the book I was disappointed in the disjointed. However I do appreciate the timely subject matter showcasing the ridiculous extents momfluencer culture will go and how Quinn tackles it in a dark satirical style.

Read this if you like:
-exploration of the toxic momfluencer world
-use of dark satire
--critique as well as thought provoking ideas about social media culture
-the weekend Northern California retreat for momfluencers setting -the remote creepy, cultist feel adds dimension to the story
-themes of cults, social media culture, family especially sisters, validation and identity ,as well as what is real vs illusion

My rating 3.25 out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this eARC that will be published April 1 2025.

This one was so tongue-in-cheek funny. It really sheds light on how CRINGE mom-influencing is. It's really its own type of pyramid scheme. The point gets made over and over that these women are just trying to find purpose and identity in their lives, in addition to being a mother. Thea makes a comment about how before they were selling Tupperware and Mary Kay, now they're making baby headbands and pristine tablescapes. They're selling the idea of relatability. This was a really fun thriller. I think there could've been more with Bautista and the husband. This was a slow burn up until the last quarter. After Adrienne meets Bernice it's 0-100! This would be a good book club pick for those into thrillers and especially those who are mothers. I would be interested to see the takes on this book from mothers and non-mothers/non-parents. 
Thanks to @Netgalley, Elizabeth Rose Quinn and @thomasmercer for this ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Let's take a minute to show our appreciation for this incredible cover!

Elizabeth Rose Quinn, has knocked this one out of the park and made an instant fan out of me!

Get ready for a pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride with "Follow Me"!

This isn't just a suspense novel; it's a masterfully crafted game of cat and mouse that will have you second-guessing everything and everyone until the final, shocking revelation. From the very first page, Quinn throws you into a whirlwind of intrigue and danger, a world where trust is a luxury and secrets lurk in every corner.

The narrative is a relentless, heart-stopping journey, filled with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are complex and compelling, each with their own hidden agendas and dark pasts. You'll find yourself constantly shifting your allegiances, never quite sure who is friend and who is foe. Quinn's writing is sharp and addictive, propelling you forward at breakneck speed, eager to uncover the next piece of the puzzle. The tension builds with each chapter, ratcheting up the suspense until you're practically holding your breath, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

"Follow Me" is a gripping, adrenaline-fueled thriller that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page. It's a story that will make you question the nature of truth, the fragility of trust, and the lengths we'll go to protect those we love. If you're looking for a read that will keep you up all night, your heart racing and your mind reeling, look no further. Elizabeth Rose Quinn has delivered a truly unforgettable and exhilarating experience!

Check out this teaser :

After her twin sister, Chiara, goes missing at a mom-fluencer weekend, Adrienne Shaw will find her no matter what it takes. They may have been on the outs, but no one comes for her sister and gets away with it.

It’s been a year, the authorities have no answers, and her brother-in-law is useless in the matter. It’s time for Adrienne to take the case into her own hands. Following in Chiara’s last footsteps, Adrienne goes undercover, infiltrating the same influencer retreat as the last thing she wants to be: an Instamommy.

The remote ranch in Northern California is certainly welcoming—in a cult-adjacent kind of way. A charismatic leader, communal crafts, fixed smiles—and a lot of dead eyes.

Going on gut instinct and chasing a wild theory—that Chiara came here and never left—Adrienne is determined to uncover the truth before the too-perfect-to-believe women figure out who Adrienne really is: a threat to be eliminated.

Such a well paced and suspenseful book! The twists were believable and not predictable.
It had excellent writing and a fascinating plot.
Follow Me by Elizabeth Rose Quinn is a book which kept me thoroughly engaged from beginning to end.

Aptly described as Heathers meets Stepford Wives, Follow Me is a suspenseful thriller that plays on the clichés surrounding moms and momfluencers. There were some really poignant observations in this book that added to the creep factor.

2.5 ⭐️

First, I’m so grateful to the publisher, NetGalley and author for sending me this e-arc!

For what I think was more so intended to be funny and witty, it started to feel a bit repetitive and overkill when referencing social media influencer culture. I wanted more on the mystery and thriller aspect of this book and that’s what I was drawn to in the book description. I pushed through to find out what happened with Chiara, but the plot did drag at times and felt drawn out. I did not relate much to Adrienne nor super love her character, so it was hard to not be annoyed most of the book. This book did not end up meeting expectations for me unfortunately!

Absolutely LOvED this book!! It was full of various plot twists. I loved the multiple point of views presented! I definitely didn’t see the ending coming.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a fun, funny thriller. One of the main characters being from Utah made me think that this was inspired by a group of people of a certain tv show that are featured in my home state. I didn’t see the plot twist.
This was a quick, easy read. I listened on audio and I did like listening to the narrator

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I know this is a debut author and I tend to give debut authors more grace because they're still attempting to hone their craft and writing style, but I’ve never read a book where I genuinely can’t tell if this was supposed to be satire or dead serious because of how big of a joke the entire plot felt. The worst part of it all? It didn't feel like a thriller to me. More on that later.

Chiara, a thirty-something-year-old mom to two young twin boys, needs a break. After a video of her sons in the bathtub goes massively viral, she's thrust into the world of Momstagram, mommy bloggers, and family influencers. She gets sponsorships, brand deals, and everything else in between, but declines them all. One day, she spontaneously enters a contest to win tickets to a mom-fluencer weekend that's run and hosted by 5 of the top mommy bloggers on Instagram on an expansive ranch in the country. She wins the tickets and goes to the retreat only to never return home. Her twin sister, Adrienne, decides to take matters into her own hands after Chiara's still missing a year later and infiltrates the mom-fluencer weekend to get answers on what happened to her sister.

I can kind of see where they were going with the description of Heathers meets The Stepford Wives, but I think there's also a bit of Midsommar in there as well. The way the attendees of the retreat all seem very robotic and cult-like lines up with the cult we see in Midsommar. (There's also a scene where everyone is ferally screaming in unison, but that's all I'll say about that.)

To get the good things out of the way at first, I felt the writing was strong and pulled you into the story very easily. I found myself 75% of the way through the book before I stopped and realized how close I was to finishing. It also helps that the book is less than 300 pages so it makes for a quick and easy read! I think the topic of family bloggers and mommy influencers has gotten a lot more scrutiny and attention lately, especially with the Hulu documentary of Ruby Franke and 8Passengers that came out recently and the whole "trad wife" trend that's been going on with Nara Smith and the like, so I thought a book about that topic would be interesting to read. I never understood the appeal of showcasing your family to everyone on the internet and documenting it for everyone to see and thus, stripping you and your family of privacy and peace.

The five hosts of the retreat--Thea, the ringleader, followed by McKenna, Ashleigh, Opal, and Tamarind--all emulate a different stereotype of mom-fluencer that people tend to make fun of a lot. McKenna is an arts and crafts mom who likes to DIY everything and anything under the sun, Ashleigh is a trad wife who lives off the land, Opal is a former businesswoman turned stay-at-home-mom, and Tamarind is a fitness mom who's into green smoothies and intense workouts to stay fit. Thea is sort of a combination of all of them. I'm not sure if the book was written primarily to satirize different types of mommy influencers and how out of touch with reality they can be at times with the lengths they go to make money and become popular on social media, but I don't think the book necessarily did that well. The "Mom Squad," as they call themselves, I feel were there for comedic effect. They were shallow, vapid, superficial, and so out of touch with reality that it was laughable. There was no depth to them beyond how much they wanted a curated image of them and their family to portray the "perfect" family.

I don't even know where to start. There's so many things I physically cringed at. Like, this HAS to be satire, right? (Prepare for the try not to cringe challenge ahead. You've been warned.)

ᨒ There are 70 uses of a hashtag throughout the 271 pages of this book. No, I'm not joking. SEVENTY. Think #InstaWorthy, #HealthyGirlies, #CuteAF. The one they were missing? #no❤️, because that's how I felt reading this disastrous, cringy book.

ᨒ The characters' names. Holy crap, every single one of these names belongs in r/Tragedeigh. Here are some of the names:
Tod (yes. Todd, but with one "d." No, this wasn't a typo. That's actually his name.)
Azure
Cyan
Navy
Tamarind
Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if there was a character in the book named Tragedeigh.

ᨒ The dialogue. There's one particular scene in the book where this happens, and it's uh...a choice, to say the least, given the current climate of the US with what's going on regarding immigration. Obviously, I'm not sure if this is in the final copy of the book so take this as you will.
"Opal moved onto her next target. “Ashleigh has like eight nannies she never shows."
Mckenna added, “And four homeschool teachers.”
Then Tamarind added, “And migrant workers who tend to her orchard.”"
Like...if I had a nickel for every time I came across a book that mentioned something about that particular subject so far this March--this book and Sparrow and Vine (that Sophie Lark rightfully got canceled for)--I'd have two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird (and insane) that it's happened twice.

ᨒ The activities: There's this one personality quiz activity all the attendees do on the first day where they get to find out their "Mom Sign." Think zodiac signs but instead of any normal zodiac, it's based on Opal, Tamarind, Thea, Ashleigh, and McKenna. It's based on their "mommy blogger aesthetics" and what they can do to improve their accounts. When Adrienne takes the quiz, her results are a "Tamarind sign with a McKenna rising." Yes, you read that right. Someone really sat here and thought of this and said, "Yup, this is absolutely fantastic and imma put that in a book." I'm laughing out of disbelief as I'm typing this review.

ᨒ Adrienne: Adrienne was a massive hater the entire time. I get it, she's out of her element considering she's not a mom herself and doesn't want a family. However, she was rude, abrasive, mean, and judgemental towards everything and anyone the entire book. I don't get her attitude considering SHE was the one who VOLUNTARILY went out of her way to spend THOUSANDS of dollars on a ticket to this mom-fluencer retreat and that doesn't even count the money spent on gas, new clothes to fit in, a new hairstyle, makeup, etc. On top of all of that, she studied and stalked multiple mommy influencer accounts for MONTHS to prepare for this event to fit in. She, again, VOLUNTARILY did all of this to find out what happened to Chiara and then becomes the embodiment of the shocked Pikachu face meme when she doesn't have a good time and she doesn't even try that hard to fit in to make her less suspicious.

She was supposed to be the self-proclaimed detective during the story trying to put the pieces together to find out what happened to Chiara, yet it felt like she did nothing but hate on everything the entire time. The only person more useless than Adrienne was Chiara's husband who did nothing but cry and be a wimp the entire time. Buddy didn't even go out to look for her or notice his own wife was missing until he didn't hear back from her for TWO DAYS. You would also think that being at the same mommy influencer retreat as Chiara would be a chance for Adrienne to spend a couple days in Chiara's shoes and realize how important her role was as a mother to her family. It's a big point of contention between Chiara and Adrienne and their tension, yet Adrienne just continued on hating. It was so annoying.

ᨒ The ending: The "plot twist" that usually comes in a thriller was NOT present in this book. It was barely even a plot TURN. I'm not going to go into this further to avoid spoilers, but it was so anticlimatic I rolled my eyes. It's a combination of me being able to see what happened from a mile away and the reasoning behind the plot twist was so stupid that I feel like the book shouldn't even be considered a thriller. It's probably one of the top 3 dumbest things I've read...ever. The final pages of the book were also so random and didn't fit the overall vibe of the story. It just didn't make sense for it to be the way it was in the context of everything else although I will admit it was mildly satisfying to read.

Overall, I feel like calling this a thriller is a disservice, because this book felt like social commentary about mommy bloggers and influencers disguised as a poorly set-up thriller. I don't disagree with the takes they have on mommy bloggers, but I probably would've enjoyed the book more if it was supposed to be a satirical take on that side of social media. The fact that it has "a thriller" on the front cover of the book didn't do it any favors considering everything I already said. I cringed more than I ever have reading a book, and while the writing was good enough to pull you into the story, this wasn't the book for me.

I loved this!

For starters it’s a fast paced, dramatic pop corn thriller that’s quick, easy and entertaining to read.

Secondly the main character is extremely likeable and relatable, a recent mother of twins who is floundering to survive motherhood and accidentally goes viral on social media thrusting her into the world of “influencers” and ends up on a retreat for an army of “mommies” who you just know are going to be cliquey and unhinged 😂

I won’t give any more away but I’d recommend reading!

Thank you for the gifted copy 🙏🏻🙏🏻

The ridiculousness of these influencer mommies is phenomenal. Being stupid rich is something I will never be, so I love immersing myself into the world of petty dramatics. This was such a fun read. The ending was satisfying, unpredictable, and had me cheering so hard for Adrienne.

This went off the rails and I was not expecting it at all. I’m pretty sure this was suppose to be satire (because if not then I have a very different opinion lol.) This is truly an unhinged version of mommy bloggers who will stop at nothing to keep shilling. I enjoyed Adrienne’s quest to find her sister but the whole mystery was pretty thin. Film rights to this were purchased by Amazon which makes sense because it does have Ready or Not vibes.

When I saw this promoted with Heathers in the description, I had to have it. I am so glad I read this because it was so good!! While this definitely has camp in it, it also covered more serious and layered topics. I was completely engaged the whole time reading this.

DNF.
lost interest in this book, and felt disconnected- i don’t think i will continue in the story due to feeling displaced

Quick moving and filled with characters who will feel familiar to anyone who's spent anytime on the mom internet, this is slightly over the top but quite entertaining. I didn't expect the ending!

After new mom Chiara goes missing after a mommy influencer retreat, her twin sister Adrienne will do whatever it takes to find out what really happened to her. Adrienne thinks everyone else is useless – the police, Chiara’s DH – so she’s just going to have to handle things herself. Convinced Chiara was the victim of foul play, Adrienne finds herself infiltrating a momfluencer “Style Summit” retreat at the same ranch her twin went missing from.

This satirical social media thriller is so snarky and fun! The pointed social commentary is scathing but hilarious, with the author nailing the archetypes of momfluencers (the fitness guru, the multiples mommy, the crunchy tradwife, etc), the blind devotion to the top mom, and the cringe-inducing dynamics of mean-mom cliques and parasocial relationships. The images of over-the-top insta-worthy perfection are deliciously hyperbolic, from copious hashtags and “tragedeigh” sibling names in various shades of blue (Navy, Cyan, and Azure) to handcrafting elaborate families of pumpkin-headed scarecrows. The last 25% of the book is non-stop action and it’s a crazy, campy, bloody ride that’s unhinged in the very best way!

Many thanks to MBC Books, NetGalley, and Thomas & Mercer for the advance reader copy!