Followers by Megan Angelo

The followers follows 2 timelines, current day and 2051.  In the current day, we find Orla, an aspiring author with a roommate named Floss that is working on “making it”.  To make ends meet, Orla finds herself writing for a gossip web-zine called Lady-ish.  When the celebrity that Orla writes all of her articles about dies, she finds that she needs a new celebrity to follow or she will be out of a job.  Orla and Floss combine their talents and turn Floss into the next big thing, influencer du jour and twitter famous in the blink of an eye.

In the 2051 timeline, we find ourselves in Constellation, California, a picture perfect community designed by The Network to be not just a reality show, but several reality shows in one community.  The stars all where a device that allows them to see their followers, read commentary and allows The Network to influence their choices and behaviors.  

The story focuses on Marlow, who has lived in the community since she was 5.  She has grown up in front of the camera for the past 30 years and has had every moment of her life filmed and directed.   After a violent episode in her teen years, she even finds herself as the face of Hysteryl, a mood stabilizing drug that keeps her “happy”.  When the Network decides that she needs to have a baby to spice up her life for her followers, Marlow has to stop taking Hysteryl.  As she emerges from the drugs haze, she realizes that she is not happy with her picture perfect life and when a lab tech tells her about an anomaly with her DNA, Marlow decides she wants answers. 

While Marlow is looking for answers, she discover the story of her parents, Floss and Aston and their short lived reality show that featured Orla as the nerdy disgruntled roommate.  She also finds herself face to face with her nemesis who helps her discover the truth as it centers around The Spill.  

The book is an interesting commentary about social media and sharing, the desire for celebrity and it’s consequences.  It pokes fun at influencers and people who find themselves famous just because they are famous. 

This was a light and sometimes dark read, humorous and thought provoking.  It would be a good beach read, a book club read and even a required reading for later high school and early college to discuss the media and other agencies role in our lives and our actions. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.