A gripping domestic thriller examining the terrifying depths of our social media obsessions.You can’t stop watching her.Violet Young is a hugely popular journalist-turned-mummy-influencer, with three children, a successful husband and a million subscribers on YouTube who tune in daily to watch her everyday life unfold.Until the day she’s no longer there.But one day she disappears from the online … there.
But one day she disappears from the online world – her entire social media presence deleted overnight, with no explanation. Has she simply decided that baring her life to all online is no longer a good idea, or has something more sinister happened to Violet?
But do you really know who Violet is?
Her fans are obsessed with finding out the truth, but their search quickly reveals a web of lies, betrayal, and shocking consequences…
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This book intrigued me with the title. Unfollow Me. I have an odd relationship with social media. Most of us probably do.
I love how you can stay in contact with family and friends who are far away. That’s what sucked me in. I had moved across the country, leaving behind everyone I knew and loved. It was lonely. Seeing everyone on social media made me feel closer to them. Like I hadn’t lost everything. I saw it as an amazing tool. Then games became big and I accepted friend request from people I didn’t know. From there, I found a book community. An introverts heaven! I still have a lot of those people on my social media. I can tell you quite a bit about them. I’m positive they can do the same. They became real friends, some very close.
A few years ago social media expanded. More options became available. I started playing on a game site, meeting people there. Writing a blog, I started reading blogs. Some were awesome. I was still innocent, though. Believing everything people said about their lives. It didn’t occur to me to lie or that others would. How can you have friendships if your lying? I did notice that some people started living glamorous lives. Some people changed. A number, the bloggers, worried about numbers of followers. Then my world was shaken. Someone I had met on the game site lied about who they were. Actually two people did and it resulted in the death of a young man. I played games with them. I didn’t question who they said they were. After that, I changed. I became more wary of the Internet. I knew people lied and it could go horribly wrong.
So when I saw this title on NetGalley, I was prepared for it to be a story about people who lie and it goes horribly wrong. I wasn’t prepared for all the twists and turns. I wasn’t prepared for how close to reality the writer was going to take us. I wasn’t exactly prepared for a thriller to give us a reality check message in the form of entertainment. Because it is a cautionary tale. We leave clues all over social media of who we are, where we live, what we have and what we want others to think we have. It is what Violet did. As an influencer, she opened the door. I’m not certain yet how I feel about her and Henry. I like Yvonne’s sense of humor. She has some of the best lines. There are also Simon, Lily and Luke. I’m not going into the story more than this. You know who the players are. You know someone lies and you know it goes wrong. There is so much, though, that you don’t know. Put this book on your TBR. It’s what you know combined with all the twisty turns that will have you turning pages.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for offering the book for review consideration. All thoughts on it are mine. I’m delighted I read this book. If I hadn’t been so busy analyzing the characters and the situations I would have probably finished it in one sitting. I’ll most likely read this again. Flawed characters and social media are a huge draw for me.
Charlotte Duckworth has written up quite the tale, exploring the dark depths into the world of influencers… and their followers. “ᴜɴᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴍᴇ” was a thrilling ride, mainly told from the viewpoint of two of her mommy vlogger followers and her husband. This story held me at the edge of my seat right up until the riveting finale. The writing was captivating, fast-paced, and easy to follow. The whole time you’re left wondering if the characters know more than they are letting on. I would have loved to have heard more from the vlogger herself, Violet; however, I found this storytelling method insightful and entertaining! This is one of those books that make you wonder if you share TOO much online!
Book source ~ NetGalley
Violet Young has a million social media followers and is considered an “infuencer”. She puts out videos of herself, her kids, her husband, her life. But one day she’s suddenly gone. All her accounts except her rarely updated website are deleted and her fans are shocked. What happened to her? Is she okay? Her fans want to know the truth. Or do they?
Told from a couple different POVs, this is a mystery that, the more it unfolds, the more questions there are than answers. At first it’s all about what happened to Violet. Why did she drop out of sight so abruptly? Then, the further along the story moves, the more sinister it becomes. And then there are the bombshells. Holy shitballs. I really did not see some of that coming. By the time I was well into the book I started to get the idea I was not seeing the whole truth. Yep. There are some doozies waiting for you if you decide to tackle this. None of these characters are very likeable and some are downright loatheable. However, the story is compelling and it’s one you’ll want to read.
Violet is an “influencer” with a massive following on YouTube. She hawks clothing, accessories, jewelry while telling people all about her life, her husband, her children, all accompanied by pictures. She has die hard fans … and then there are those who mostly criticize her every move, her every word.
One day she disappears .. all her accounts have been wiped out. No goodbye .. no reason.. just gone leaving many women lost without their daily contact with her.
What has happened to Violet? Has she just tired of the whole thing? Do you even know who Violet really is?
Crazy theories make the circuit .. everything from.. she died … her husband killed her …
(Book Blurb) Her fans are obsessed with finding out the truth, but their search quickly reveals a web of lies, betrayal, and shocking consequences…
This domestic thriller is told from multiple points of view … Yvonne, who has a history with Henry. Henry, who is Violet’s husband and has secrets of his own. Lily. a young single mom who envies Violet’s life. This is well written with a diversity of characters who run a gauntlet of lies and secrets and twists and turns.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this excellent psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
“The sound of my husband slapping his hands against his thighs in time to “We Built This City” makes me want to crash the car and kill us both.”
Yvonne’s hilarity in this book is EVERYTHING. At one point she calls some women is a mommy’s chat group The Breastapo, and I lost it again.
The story itself absorbed me utterly. I just HAD to figure out what was going on but the one-liner “gifts” along the way added so much levity to this thriller that it was the perfect read for me.
Unfollow Me is a clever book about social media and those who follow Violet but wait she shuts down all her accounts
Her followers are obssessed with finding out why.
The story is told from so many different viewpoints. Yvonne being my favourite.
You will find yourself laughing out loud as the pages turn quickly.
All the characters had their own story that comes out with each page, I had to know how Unfollow Me was going to end.
I dont want to give anything away but you wont be disappointed to read Unfollow Me.
I am off to read Rival by Charlotte Duckworth.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for entertaining me with Unfollow Me !!
Thank you to Netgallery for providing a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
A fast passed thriller that follows missing Vlogger Violet, and fans Yvonne and Lily. Shows how social media plays a large part in so many people’s lives and what can happen. Plenty of little twists that connect each person. Chapters alternate between characters and so it is easy to follow.
Overall a fun quick read.
Definitely a different type of suspense!
I was actually so caught up in the disappearance of Violet that I went on Instagram to look for her.
Where the heck did she go? Was she killed, hurt? She just shuts off all her social media platforms and leaves the world hanging?
Can she do that? But… she can and did.
I found myself holding my breath hoping that one of her fans would bring news that she was ok.
This was a crazy story that I found intriguing! I think many will enjoy the creativeness of this novel! I know I found it entertaining!