People To Follow by Olivia Worley, is about 10 influencers who agree to go on a reality television show set on a private island. The premise of the show is that the influencers will unplug for three weeks and show their unfiltered selves. This show is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Especially for Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Elody, an instagram model; Max, a YouTube documentarian, and Logan, a disgraced TikToker.

However, things take a dark turn when one of influencers turns up dead. With everyone turning against each other, can they figure out who did it before they are all cancelled.

This is a very good debut novel by Olivia Worley. The novel is a fast paced thriller with several twists and turns throughout. The story follows the point of view of four of the influencers: Kira, Logan, Elody, and Max. All four of the characters suck as people. As a reader, it is hard to root for any of the four to succeed. None of the four character are reliable narrators. The reader never knows who they can or cannot trust. This helps to build the uneasy tension throughout the novel that makes it a good thriller and mystery.

This novel is reminiscent of “And then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. The novel starts with all ten of the influencers arriving to the island, with no phones or any sort of electronic, to start filming the reality television show. By the end of the first night, one of the influencers has already died. Worley does update the trope by having an omniscient presence texting the influencers to do as they are told or to be “cancelled”. Worley is not the first author to do a modern retelling, but she does add some new nuance to the story. The addition of changing points of view and modern technology make the trope feel fresh.

Worley does an excellent job on playing on the readers expectations of influencers. Worley knows that her audience has heard of people having to make apology videos, stars that prey on young girls, and the general bad behavior that surrounds influencer culture. She uses that knowledge to create certain expectations of the characters. Worley does appear to use those expectations to make some commentary about the current influencer culture on a whole. The novel grapples with question of what it means to be cancelled and who gets to decide to cancel someone.

This book is a fun, action packed thriller, with enough twists to keep the reader invested. It does seem to be geared towards a young adult audience, but I think that anyone who likes a mystery could enjoy it.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.