“Beyond being a brilliant skewering of social media and influencer culture, People Like Her is, quite simply, a damn good thriller . . . With three unreliable narrators, the novel reads like Gone Girl on steroids in all the best ways.”— Bookreporter
“Breathlessly fast, brilliantly original. Bravo, Ellery Lloyd!”—Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of After the End
A razor-sharp, … New York Times bestselling author of After the End
A razor-sharp, wickedly smart suspense debut about an ambitious influencer mom whose soaring success threatens her marriage, her morals, and her family’s safety.
Followed by Millions, Watched by One
To her adoring fans, Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, is the honest “Instamum” who always tells it like it is.
To her skeptical husband, a washed-up novelist who knows just how creative Emmy can be with the truth, she is a breadwinning powerhouse chillingly brilliant at monetizing the intimate details of their family life.
To one of Emmy’s dangerously obsessive followers, she’s the woman that has everything—but deserves none of it.
As Emmy’s marriage begins to crack under the strain of her growing success and her moral compass veers wildly off course, the more vulnerable she becomes to a very real danger circling ever closer to her family.
In this deeply addictive tale of psychological suspense, Ellery Lloyd raises important questions about technology, social media celebrity, and the way we live today. Probing the dark side of influencer culture and the perils of parenting online, People Like Her explores our desperate need to be seen and the lengths we’ll go to be liked by strangers. It asks what—and who—we sacrifice when make our private lives public, and ultimately lose control of who we let in. . . .
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“Why I Loved It” for Book of the Month:
Recently, I fell into a mom influencer hole. (For book research! But also because I became obsessed!) These beautiful women with their well-behaved children were obviously presenting their lives as more perfect than they actually were, I decided. Then People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd came along to thrillingly upend my assumptions, through the twisty story of a mother who makes herself more of a mess to rake in the followers and the chilling consequences that follow. Imagine Gone Girl with a Momstagram account.
The husband and wife team behind the author’s pseudonym has fittingly written from the dueling perspectives of a married couple, Emmy and Dan Jackson. As Emmy’s mom account @the_mamabare grows more popular and less truthful, the cracks in their marriage deepen. Both protagonists are fascinating, but they’re not alone. We also get a third, unnamed narrator, who follows Emmy’s blog not for the #parentingtips, but because she wants revenge. The why and the how will shock you.
Smart, propulsive, and biting, People Like Her is a cautionary tale about the dangers of letting millions of strangers into your life. But it’s also about family, love, and how deeply we long for others to see us. Perhaps the greatest compliment I can give to this novel about social media addiction is that, while reading it, I wasn’t once tempted to reach for my phone.
Just inhaled People Like Her in a single sitting. A cautionary tale for instafluencers everywhere. Breathlessly fast, brilliantly original. Bravo, Ellery Lloyd!
A gripping and timely exploration of the darker side of internet fame, People Like Her is a tense page-turner sure to keep you up past your bedtime!
I loved it! I was actually holding my breath towards the end. Such a chillingly dark examination of what can happen if you filter the reality… through Instagram & pretend to be someone you’re not.
I received this book from the Book of the Month subscription service. For the month of December 2020, I picked this book as this was a story that hit close to home and why it gave me another reason to limit my time on social media. Read review here: https://redlotusdesignz.com/blog/2020/12/6/book-review-people-like-her-by-ellery-lloyd
“{I have a feeling something terrible is about to happen}”
“{I have an awful feeling it is all my fault.}”
I don’t think I have actually ever read a book about Instastar {instagram star or any other social media sites} or even about an influencer. So, this book was a little different for me. It says that it is a thrill. I don’t think I really agree with that. I thought it was more a suspenseful mystery. Some of the things that happen are scary to think about actually happening. But really, it’s a good reminder. There are so many people putting their lives out there for everyone to see. We all say at some point “That won’t happen to me.” But all in all, it was an ok book. I was able to finish the book just not as fast as I usually would. For some reason I just couldn’t get into it for long periods of time. So, I had to read a little and come back later. Happy reading everyone!
{“This is not about revenge. This has never been about revenge; it is about justice. And when it is over, all I want to do is close my eyes, and know that I have done what needed to be done, and rest.}”
“{Goodbye, Emmy.}
If you are looking for a psychological thriller that focuses on an influencer and all that entails, look no further than People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd. This is actually a husband and wife writing team, and I thought the book felt perfectly cohesive and plotted. It immediately hooks you with the prologue before going back to start at the beginning, which in this case is 6 weeks earlier. Emmy (AKA mamabare) is a pretty despicable character and I don’t think anyone is going to like her even a little, but man did she make for interesting reading. I was really happy that there are 3 different viewpoints, one being Emmy, her husband Dan, and an unnamed narrator whose parts are noted by italicized writing. I don’t think I could have survived on Emmy alone, and the combination of the 3 really helped drive the book forward.
I listened to the audio of People Like Her while I followed along in my physical copy, but I don’t think it is completely necessary to have both. The audio was really well done with its cast of 3 (Nathalie Buscombe, Finlay Robertson & Anna Bentinck), and thanks to them the parts with the unnamed narrator were easy to spot and I didn’t get confused. Be aware though, this book is DARK. It is also a trainwreck you don’t want to look away from and I could not put it down. There are tons of triggers and you won’t like any of the characters, but I felt like that was the point of this novel. It definitely makes you see social media in a different light, and it is a thought-provoking read. I really hope to see more books come out of this writing duo!
The World Wide Web, the internet, social media, it has it’s pro’s and con’s, if your not careful it can be very addictive and can be bad for your self esteem and mental health. It can be a good place to make friends and communicate with people but it’s also a place were people can be who they want to be and post what they like without fear of recriminations and without caring about the pain and hurt they are causing others. And if someone unscrupulous wants to find where you live all it takes is knowing a few sparse details, a few clicks on the keypad and that person could end up virtually standing outside your house.
Emmy is a highly successful social media influencer, queen bee of the #MamaBear brand, sharing the lives of her hubby Dan and their two children Coco and Bear in cleverly orchestrated Instagram posts.
Dan doesn’t like pictures of his children being shared all over the internet but he has been suffering from serious writer’s block for the last eight years plus there is only one person who wears the trousers in their house and it definitely isn’t Dan.
Out in the online world someone has been searching for Emmy, someone who hates her, someone with a plan and is waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to put it into action.
The chapters of this book were voiced from the perspectives of Emmy, Dan and the mystery character who’s parts were written in italics. As well as being a story about the pro’s and con’s of the internet, this is the story of how our behaviour as adults can be influenced by our upbringing and our interactions with our parents when we were children. Both good and bad examples of parenting are a running theme throughout this mesmerising thriller and makes it difficult to judge the actions of some of the characters. I liked Dan, he had a wicked sense of humour and caused me to laugh out loud a number of times. I felt a lot of sympathy for poor Polly because of how badly she was treated and I was quite surprised when I ended up actually liking Irene just a tiny bit by the end of the story. The plot contained a in-depth study into the highly competitive world of influencers, the photo shoots and interviews, the constant pressure to be perfect and how quickly people can turn against you.
This is a extremely well written, debut thriller with a plot that covers a myriad of relatable subjects, the characters were well rounded and believable, it was a intense and uncomfortable read at times, thought provoking, had some unexpected twists and turns and had a spine chilling conclusion. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down, I wanted to know what was going on and why this person was targeting Emmy and her family?. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of this author’s books in the future.
Let me start out by saying that this is a unique and somewhat sinister novel about the dangers lurking behind social media. Like many of you (myself included) we use social media DAILY. Sure, we don’t have millions of people following our every word (or at least I don’t ) and many of us have never even had to experience a sinister person wishing us harm based on our thoughts and posts however, it is a realistic part of being “famous” online. You’ve seen the trolls and the people who will twist and turn everything one person says just to hurt them. It’s a sad reality honestly. In , readers will get a glimpse at the lengths someone will go to in order to take down a famous influencer because she believes this person did them wrong…
WHAT. A. BOOK! It may have taken me forever to read, but it is a book I know I won’t be forgetting. Sometimes life simply gets in the way and as much as we want to sit down and devour a novel in one sitting, we can’t- that’s how I felt about THIS book.
People Like Her is a well-crafted, unique, and unputdownable read! I am absolutely FLOORED this this is the author(s) debut novel as it is written so well with a ton of insight into the world of Instagram and fame that CAN come with it. The characters are fairly likeable even though readers won’t necessarily agree with their motivations (Emmy for instance really pushed my patience). This is also a pretty sinister read as there is a stalker lurking and waiting for the moment to pounce and end Emmy and her family’s happiness. I’ll admit, once we got to the end and it took such a I was worried it was going to ruin the entire novel for me. Thankfully, I kept on even though I was positive I would hate how it ended (don’t worry, keep reading if you feel the same!). are my cup of tea and the authors made this one feel so raw and realistic that could hardly contain my excitement when we got to the end (will there be another? I sure HOPE SO!).
If you’re looking for a modern thriller this is one of those books that you need to add to your TBR right away! I was riveted, intrigued, and downright OBSESSED with this book when I was reading it!
: (4.5)