Followers

By: Megan Angelo

Narrated by: Jayme Mattler

Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

"This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as addictive as social media itself.” (People)

A Time and NPR Best Book of 2020

Highly recommend by:

• People Magazine
• The Skimm
• Katie Couric’s "Wake-Up Call"
• Entertainment Weekly
• Vogue.com
• Marie Claire
• Parade.com
• Bitch Media
• Hello Giggles
• Bustle
• Booklist

An electrifying story of two ambitious friends and the dark choices they make to become internet famous.

Orla Cadden is a budding novelist stuck in a dead-end job, writing clickbait about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Then Orla meets Floss - a striving, wannabe A-lister - who comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they dream about. So what if Orla and Floss’ methods are a little shady - and sometimes people get hurt? Their legions of followers can’t be wrong.

Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity - 12 million loyal followers - Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is based on a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.

Followers traces the paths of Orla, Floss, and Marlow as they wind through time toward each other and toward a cataclysmic event that sends America into lasting upheaval. At turns wry and tender, bleak and hopeful, this darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection.

©2020 Megan Angelo (P)2020 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

I'm conflicted

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. At it's core it's a fascinating take on a near future where the growth of social media and an "attention economy" could take us. Good worldbuilding, an excellent maguffin that shows how we get there from here, and fully believable speculation of how people will react to the technological changes.

Unfortunately, that core is tightly wrapped in a bunch of boring, unlikeable characters behaving badly towards each other. If that part of the book was supposed to be satire or a modern-day comedy of manners, it was entirely too believable and not nearly funny enough to work. I didn't care what happened to any of these people which drained the ending of any emotional punch.

Wow- great story with great characters

Really enjoyed the premise and was sorry when the book was over. A really great listen!

a cautionary tale!

Ok, I just purchased a load of blue light blocking reading glasses after reading “The Followers” a highly rated speculative fiction novel…. just in case. If you think you might have a problem with checking your computer for updates every five minutes, then this is a great novel for you.

“The Followers” hilariously shows the dark side of those “influencers”, the ones who tweet, Instagram, u-tube, etc. for the sole purpose of getting “hits” “likes” or what have you. I listened to the audible production, narrated by Jayme Mattler, and she was voice-perfect in her dramatizations for the vapid characters. Mattler made the characters real.

The story is told in two timeframes, 2015 and 2051. In 2015 we learn of how high-profile influencers are made. It’s a cut-throat world, and author Megan Angelo has a fun time writing over-the-top silly characters. Well, some of the reality TV shows on currently (any of the “Housewives of” series comes to mind) which encourage competitive and selfish behavior are on par with this story.

Two unseeingly compatible girls end up roommates in NYC. One girl, Orla, wants to be a successful author or blogger. She’s more intellectual in her employment pursuits. She is a blogger for a website called Lady-ish. Her roommate is Floss, who, similar to most of the Kardashians, has no talent or reason to be noticed, is a wannabe celebrity. Floss is one of the most self-involved characters ever written, and she makes reading this story fun. The girls scheme plans to get noticed, well Floss wants to be noticed and Orla writes about it. And it becomes a campy storyline.

In 2051, Marlow lives in a California town inhabited by only reality TV stars. Every moment of her life is on camera. There are cameras in every room of her home and school. The cameras follow her everywhere in her town. In fact, she’s only known a life on camera. When the network determines that Marlow should have a baby with her husband, she learns some disturbing information surrounding her parents.

The two story lines to converge, and it becomes a cautionary tale of fame and those who follow the famous. There is an event known as “the spill” that changed the internet, but the reader only gets a few clues about what “the spill” was. Angelo does a fantastic job making the reader take a closer look at privacy on the internet, along with health issues resulting from all the time we spend in front of those blue light devices.

I really enjoyed the audio of this one.

Unexpected

This book is what I expected and so much more. Shifting timelines helps this story evolve. And as there are only two it is not hard to keep track. It is really a love story between unlikely friends and mothers and daughters. Beautiful

Worth the listen

The beginning was a slow start for me but a couple of hours in & I couldn't stop listening. A fantastic book.

Excellent

I loved it. Chapter 24 was hard. I loved the characters and the story. Yhe narration was excellent. Loved the Trump reference chapter 25.

A must read...

This book came as suggested reading from Audible and I'm SO glad I looked into it. The storyline and characters were fantastic. I didn't see the ending coming and was hooked from chapter ONE. Highly recommended reading for teenagers or young adults as it has so much truth in today's social media/oversharing culture. I'm hoping they make this into a movie or limited series. Would 100% watch! Plot and storyline is much better than your average beach read, I'm surprised this book isn't getting more buzz!

Couldn’t stop listening

Such an intriguing story, full of mysteries and questions. I think it should be classified as a sci-fi as the topic is futuristic, beginning with where we are now, catapulting 30 years into the future. How do these people connect? Little by little this delicious story unfolded. I both loved and hated the main characters...they were all flawed people. The connections were sewn together so neatly at the end. This is one of those books that will get under your skin. And keep you thinking, what if...? I really couldn’t put it down until it was over. And still it remains with me.

Enjoyed this very much!

I loved this story! It was fresh, original, and believable. I highly recommend this book!

Interwoven tale of three smalls lives

Although the author’s commentary on social media is sharp, she successfully manages to poke fun at the lives of her characters without turning the characters themselves into jokes. I found the story lines compelling and the protagonists richly drawn. It was a fun listen that serves as a cautionary tale for our times.