Giving Lee Tilghman’s book a star rating seems like perpetuating more of the parasocial internet-fueled idol worship/burning this book was born from. I liked @LeeFromAmerica and I like Lee Tilghman (what I know of her). And maybe for those reasons, reading this book gave me a lot of anxiety. It is confessional and doesn’t necessarily unpack experiences so much as it peels back the curtain for you to see what was happening behind the scenes and leading up to the performance. I would have liked more introspection, but we don’t always perfectly process our own lives. So I did my own reflecting on what it meant for me, as a reader and follower, to be confronted with a new story.

Lee From America was so influential in those early days of Instagram wellness culture that readers who weren’t followers may be surprised by how their own habits, aesthetics and ideas were shaped by this one woman show (to keep the theater metaphor going). Both on stage and off, Lee’s life was calibrated to extremes, whether that be in New York City’s drug-fueled party scenes or among Los Angeles’s Instagram-ready health influencers. Lee reports on this party girl to health obsessive pipeline and the early chapters reminded me of Down the Drain by Julia Fox.

Reading this book through a critical lens, I would demand more meditation on white supremacy in the wellness industry. The insecurities Lee feels when comparing herself to women who meet the ideals of whiteness (blonde, thin, Scandinavian, etc.) are worth unpacking. In the book, Lee admits to some of her failures in the area of social justice awareness, which is important, but sometimes this reads like placing herself outside the conversation, which none of us are. I hope Lee will continue to write honestly and critically as she processes her experiences. Up and coming influencers need more perspectives on the industry. I look forward to reading and/or following Lee Tilghman but hopefully in a constructive way.

I received a digital advance reader copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In this memoir Lee Tilghman gives a transparent portrayal of what it’s like to be a social media influencer. And let me tell you it’s not all glitz and glamour.
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As a social media OG, Lee started her journey as an influencer when Instagram was in its infancy. She had a loyal following from FB and her blog which allowed her to hit the ground running. As a lifestyle/wellness influencer she shared her knowledge and experiences with the world. When it was all said and done Lee’s entire home was fully furnished with all gifted items. She was one of the first people to turn her ability to influence into a career.
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The author’s recount of how emotionally taxing it was to keep up with the constant posting, made this a compelling exploration. The more successful she became, the more Lee feared losing followers and disappointing the companies she partnered with. As a result she found herself taking 100 photos just to get one good pic to post 😳. She lost friendships and romantic relationships in her quest to stay on top. But when she decided to curate events at a high price, everything she feared came to pass.
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Now I must admit, there were moments during reading that I did not like Lee. Especially during her teen years. I thought she was a brat and her parents needed to tap dat a$$! Yet, it was these stories that made for good reading.
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Overall I give this 5/5 stars. It’s an easy, entertaining read. I recommend it anyone who has dreams of receiving a large abundance free products, going on paid trips, and amassing millions of followers.
‌Being an influencer may look appealing to you. But, like the old saying goes, everything that glitters ain’t gold😉.

This was a quick read, and I'm not sure if that's because of how compelling it was or because something was missing. It seemed that it kind of just...ended. I was really hoping for an "after" - what was her life like AFTER being released from the treatment center and trying to get back into "real life"? How was she able to find her identity after giving away everything she'd gotten for free throughout the years? What kind of role does social media play in her life now? Perhaps there is a second book in the works, but I would have liked more about how she's recovered/continues to recover from the fallout.

I do appreciate how honest she was about her privilege, mental struggles, and disassociation from the real world, but I would have liked it more if she had addressed how the real world is treating her now.

If You Dont Like This, I Will Die by Lee Tilghman, is a must for anyone who is into the influencer world. I didn't know who @leefromamerica was when I first saw this book, but I follow quite a few influencer on Instagram. I found it interesting how she got into the influencer health world but posting her smoothie bowls and how it snowballed from there. After being popular for a few years, she was canceled for overcharging for her services. I really felt like I was there with her while she was going through her struggles with eating and anxiety.

Im glad she was able to take control of her life and move on from the Instagram world.

“If You Don’t Like This, I Will Die” by Lee Tilghman turned out to be my most recent five-star read. In her memoir, Tilghman tells us about her ups and downs as an Instagram wellness influencer with over 200,000 followers.

On the one hand, it was really interesting to see how the author created a highly successful career from her posts. Hours of styling, editing, and more went into each photo of her curated smoothies and other health products, and the efforts were not fruitless, because they led Tilghman to sponsorship deals and travel for big name brands, resulting in a comfortable income.

Many youngsters dream of such online fame these days, but Tilghman’s story unveils the darker side to her seemingly glamorous life. Sooner rather than later, the author finds herself captive to the creation of the perfect photo at any given time, taking the enjoyment out of social gathering. There are truly only so many hours in a day to spend on the many posts that need to hit her following just so. She begins to feel isolated, losing friends and perhaps even family in the process. 

Tilghman makes an astute observation in the book: that her addiction to social media is perhaps mirrored in an eating disorder as an adolescent, and perhaps even the drug habit as a young adult.

That’s where the book really began to shine for me, as I found myself in her story via my own history with anorexia. It makes me so happy that Tilghman includes the recently coined orthorexia diagnosis in her writings–because it is all too easy to fall into an obsession with healthy eating after needing to step away from not eating.

All in all, this is a page-turning five-star read for me, and I’m sure for many of us out there who are only beginning to understand the dangers social media has bestowed upon us without our knowledge.

Thank you for this wonderful book to the author and to Simon and Schuster, who graciously offered an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for a review. I am ashamed to say I’m late with my review; life threw a bunch of lemons my way, though they’re already in the juicer, rest assured! On-time reviews to follow.

Out August 12th, 2025.

This was a very interesting read. I think when you’re someone who is chronically online, it’s hard to change the narrative to anything besides what the public has witnessed. It was definitely a very readable book that I got through quickly, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a good look for the author/influencer because she didn’t quite take accountability. I think she could have done more especially because this is her book.

Listen, I was riveted from start to end, like watching a car crash, sadly. I couldn't put it down but yet at the end there was something lacking. I appreciate Lee sharing her story on how she became a influencer, her need to be liked and her battle with orthorexia. I think this book is great for the younger generation (<30), there are some cautionary tales in here. I am too jaded and probably not her target (>30) but it's still a fascinating story. Also, so much transparency in this but not on paid deals and actual money made, maybe there is confidentiality in this.

Thanks netgalley for the gifted e-copy.

Such a great deep dive into the life of one of the first influencers. Her story is intriguing and this book is well written. I loved it

If You Don't Like This, I Will Die by Lee Tilghman is a raw and interesting memoir.
A sharp, self-aware look at life inside the influencer economy and a relatable story for anyone who has struggled with the unreasonableness of online expectations.
I throughly enjoyed reading this book.
The writing is great and the information is downright helpful.

Thank You NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This book was aggressively fine. It was fast paced and easy to read. On its face, it was going to tackle some topics I think need to be talked about more, specifically wellness influencers and the impact that wellness culture has on everyone. Ultimately this felt very surface level and some recent interviews Lee has done make it clear she has walked back some her positions that the book claims to explore.

This book wants to be big and important. It’s not. The author doesn’t seem to want to admit that she’s ever made mistakes, or that she was wrong.

This one is not for me at all.

Thanks and apologies to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I for one am grateful for this book because I am not sure what an influencer is besides someone who sells their life online. Reading Lee's memoir really peeled back the complex layers of being a female influencer in this day and age of continued toxic societal expectations and culture.

IT'S ME, HI, I'M THE PROBLEM, IT'S ME!!!!!!! Let me just state one thing, I don't like rating people's life story, and I have the utmost respect for them for coming out and telling their stories, but this book didn't sit right with me for many reasons. I have no hate towards this author, but some of the things she did, I didn't agree with and as a reader it didn't appease me. I was so excited to get my hands on my second memoir of 2025, but this one left me super disappointed. My one and only pro for this book was that I applaud the author for telling her story, but for me the cons outweighed the pros, which unfortunately made me lower my rating tremendously, in the beginning, If You Don't Like This, I Will Die written by Lee Tilghman was a strong four star, but the author did some things that didn't sit right with me. Let's get into the cons, shall we? This author had two abortions because her career was way more important than having a baby apparently, she new she wasn't on birth control, she knew her partner didn't use condoms, she knew her partner didn't pull out, well it takes two to tango, so many women struggle to get pregnant, and for this author to be so careless while she's having sex and gets pregnant and then proceeds to have two abortions just didn't sit right with me at all, another reason I had was that this author didn't do anything to help her eating disorder and social media obsession- she didn't give away and tips to her readers that also suffer from eating disorders, and lastly, the ending was so rushed for me, Lee told us she walked away out of the blue, but she never told us how she coped and how she had the courage to walk away from social media. First and foremost, these are just my thoughts and opinions, this memoir might work for other people, but unfortunately it didn't work out for and that's okay, I wish Lee Tilghman nothing but the best. If this memoir sounds up your alley, then mark your calendars for August 12th, 2025.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND SIMON & SCHUSTER FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!!

TRIGGER WARNING'S
Child Abuse
Physical Abuse
Verbal Abuse
Mental Abuse
Drug Use
Depression
Eating Disorders
Abortions
Mentions of Suicide

"Women who are hurt and jealous react with anger when they see other women succeeding or making money. Because they believe they cannot achieve that for themselves. Taking the woman down is easier than taking a positive action for themselves to get where you are".

"Today, if a college kid is big on social media, they would likely be adored and envied for it. But back then, being well known online just meant you were a loser who didn't have any real friends".

"Partying less meant I had more energy and an actual desire to take care of myself".

"How could some people be so good at social media and have almost zero social skills in real life?"

Lee Tilghman began blogging when she was was seventeen years old, where she created her blog- For the Love of Peanut Butter and soon later Lee From America. Lee's life online officially started the day when she was just twelve years old and her father brought home their family's first ever computer from Best Buy, well her mom had a thirty minutes per day rule where Lee and her sister only had thirty minutes a day to spend time on the computer. Eating carrots was one of the hundred conscious and subconscious behaviors Lee did throughout the day to avoid sugar, well in her sophomore year of high school, Lee developed a severe eating disorder, it all began with a contest among her field hockey friends to see who could lose five pounds the fastest, well soon the other girls would quit saying they loved too much, but Lee kept going, she altered her body through calorie restriction where all she ate was red bell peppers, one hundred calorie Special K snack bars, mini Dixie cups of Fiber One, and salad with no dressing. During her senior year of high school, Lee spent two months at a live-in residential treatment facility in Florida because her mother knew Lee was struggling with an eating disorder. Lee was one of the very first wellness influencers, to her nearly forty thousand followers, Lee posted skin care routines, sleep hacks, smoothie bowls, travel tips, and other rituals of self care.

During college, Lee started a blog about her recovery where she shared healthy foods to eat so no one else would suffer from eating disorders. Lee loved her online life but she didn't want it to blend into her real life- well unfortunately that happened and everything just sky rocketed. Lee's blog was like her secret personal diary, but later shut her blog down because she wanted to a feel a sense of normalcy. In 2011, right before her senior year of college, Lee uploaded her very first photo to Instagram @LeeFromAmerica which is a social media page about a twenty-two year old woman starting a life in New York, it's where she also posts smoothie bowls and new flavors that she invents such as peanut butter and chocolate, red velvet with beets, carrot cake, caramel swirl, and blueberry maple coconut cream- okay I won't lie, these actually sound really delicious. This is where Lee starts a healthy Instagram community where she made new friends with like minded women. Lee posts a picture of a smoothie bowl every single morning, well smoothie bowls remained her top preforming posts, but soon later brands started to reach out to Lee for collaborations where she had to post pictures and videos to social media of every single item that a brand would send to her- soon everything in Lee's apartment would be from brand deals- not anything she paid for with her own money. Lee would need to post to social media in order to benefit the company that would send her products. After brands would reach out, soon later Lee's life would be consumed by social media.

As a wellness influencer, Lee needed to look the picture of perfect health, she couldn't have hairs on her chin, she couldn't spend days in bed, and she also couldn't sport a ring of fat around her belly that she couldn't lose. Lee then started posting morning workouts, shortly after she started uploading a daily story of her morning caffeinated beverage, where she later became "The Matcha Girl" on Instagram where she posted "Matcha Morning's". Lee concerned me quite a lot, she was obsessed with posting on social media even when she had the flu, Lee was more worried about validation and money in her bank account than spending time with her friends. One day, Lee felt super guilty and anxious when her follower count had stopped growing at lightning speed because she didn't post for one damn day. Lee told her followers the importance of loving yourself as you are, but it annoyed me because she never took her own advice, she was constantly changing her body, she would post pictures of herself crying, she smoked and did drugs because she wasn't happy that her follower count was going down. It just bugged me with how she portrayed herself. Before I forget, Lee suffers from Orthorexia- which is an eating disorder where a person overly fixates on eating healthy food. Again, I wish Lee nothing but the best, but some of things she did just didn't sit right with me at all. I can't stand when a person who is highly followed on social media tells their followers to stay healthy and take care of themselves, but that person can't even take their own advice, it's like they are living two different lives. Like I stated in the beginning of my review, it's me that's the problem, because I wasn't okay with what this author did as a human being. Some might agree with her and that's okay, but for me it wasn't okay, and I felt like it ruined my reading experience.

An interesting and short read on an influencer before being an influencer was really a thing.

I sped through this book. It was short and well written. It was interesting. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book on her childhood and introduction to the internet. It was so nostalgic for me. Tilghman is just a couple months older than me. My family absolutely had a computer room too. Internet time was limited, especially since we had dial up. Having the perfect away message on AIM was paramount. I enjoyed the reminders of a simpler time with the internet.

The book seemed to be a bit self-serving though. It's a memoir about getting away from toxic social media, but the book also launches it all back into the spotlight. I was not and am not a follower of Lee Tilghman. I didn't know who she was until I received this book. I would have been more interested in hearing about allll the topics. The book seemed to glean over some important things that are relevant to the overall picture of the author as an influencer.

Overall, this book is worth the read. It's short and can be read in one sitting. The book is well written, especially compared to the writings of other influencers. Three stars.

3.5 stars

When it comes to what is going on with influencers, I am fully out of the loop. In addition to being born at a time before that was really a thing and having a number of life factors and personality traits that make me extra wary of social media in general, my access to this profession, let alone this specific influencer, was, um, NONE at all coming into this book. Needless to say, I learned a lot.

Lee Tilghman is one of the original influencers in the health and wellness space. Now as much as I am out of the social media loop, I am VERY active when it comes to actually living a healthy lifestyle, so topically, this was of great interest to me. My own lifestyle also made reading Tilghman's reality feel more like a horror film than a basic recounting of events. She was NOT healthy at all while doing the most to promote a facade to the masses.

I suspect that many prospective readers will be incoming fans of the subject of this book, and I can only imagine how deeply that impacts people's readings. Since I had no previous awareness of her, I can only speak from the perspective of a person who is skeptical that social media has any value or authenticity. In addition to confirming some of those concerns, Tilghman also made me feel a bit sympathetic toward her personal journey. I feel like I'd have been an extreme hater of most of the outrageous stuff she did (the ill-informed are the ones with the biggest platforms these days), but it's hard not to feel bad for a person who gets trolled and reacts, even when they may deserve a lot of the rage.

This is not a book I'd have gone for on my own, and that is one of my favorite aspects of widgets. I'm feeling even more creeped out by social media than I was before the read, but I also feel more informed, and that is always a win.

Thanks to NetGelly and Simon and Schuster for the eARC.

There was so much to like about this book, so much to digest about influencer culture and the way "likes" have changed everything socially. But Lee Tilghman fell short for me, especially at the end of her book.

A raw look into the life of one of the first Instagram influencers. Detailing the psychological effects of having a social media persona, this book did a great job of being candid, especially in terms of the mistakes she made throughout her social media career. I think the accountability situation towards the end of the book made me hesitant to finish, only because I feel like she did not take the full accountability for the harm she did online, despite the apology. It felt like a bandaid over the problem. I understand this was not the norm at the time, but as a person of color, it still affects the readability of a book for me. Overall, a book worth reading with a trigger warning for POC.

Those who should read this cautionary tale of a memoir won't. They're too busy on social media doing exactly what Tilghman did. She lost herself but luckily was able to claw back from the brink but not before sinking very low. This is a fairly dispassionate look at one woman who represents many others - and you know who they are. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Wishing her well.

This book just wasn’t for me. Lee Tilghman breaks down her experiences with the early days of Instagram and becoming a wellness influencer. This book does a really good job of exploring the dangers of conflating social media with your identity. It is written and organized well and does a good job of holding the attention of the reader. Unfortunately, I just didn’t really feel that this book really did anything. While reading it, the writing felt reflective, but upon finishing it, this book just didn’t say anything. Tilghman recounts her experiences without really learning anything or advancing the emotion of her book. This book was fine, and I can see why people might really enjoy it, but I just wasn’t super impressed.

I don't know if I'm ready for the influencer sympathy tour quite yet, but this was an interesting read nonetheless. It's valuable to have these stories to hopefully help alert people at a younger age about the issues with social media.