The Followers is a sharp debut that explores themes of peer pressure, girlhood, identity, social capital, and how schoolyard dynamics translate to social media.

Friendship with Lacey felt like a warm hand pressing very tightly against my throat. The difficulty breathing felt better than the chill of abandonment that overcame me every time she would, just for a second, relax the pressure.

Beautiful, manipulative Lacey is a lifestyle influencer turned bestselling author who preaches self-love and body confidence to her million followers.

But one of those followers is Teresa. She remembers Lacey as a prepubescent mean girl who kept the loyal members of her gang—Teresa included—on a short leash. Twenty years later, she watches Lacey from afar with the ghost of her younger self and a copy of Lacey's new self-help book for company—both determined to keep the past alive.

The Followers is a keenly observed and darkly funny exploration of coming of age in the social media era and how the children we were shape the adults we become.