If you’ve watched the cult-like following of “just-like-you” influencers and felt a bit worried, here’s a book for you! Followers explores a near future world with a not-unrealistic jump from our present day - celebrity “towns” where the inhabitants are always on camera, collecting followers from childhood, and having the major plot points of their lives decided by scriptwriters. Wildly popular Marlow is having a great life - the corporate sponsors have just decided it’s time for her and her husband to liven things up and have a baby, but a new secret about her past sends her trying to flee, or at least have a moment off camera to understand. In the present day, floundering writer Orla decides to help her roommate become an influencer, skyrocketing to fame faster than either of them know how to deal with the consequences. If you want some really terrifying reading to go with it, also check out American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales for a look at the impacts constant social media during their coming of age is having on modern teenage girls.
