From the publisher:
A social media influencer’s empire is burned to the ground—literally. The top suspects? The five daughters who made her famous.
https://amzn.to/4feobEH
What do you really know about the people you’ve made famous?
“Mother May I” Iverson has spent the past twenty-five years building a massively successful influencer empire with endearing videos featuring her five mixed-race daughters. But the girls are all grown up now, and the ramifications of having their entire childhoods commodified start to spill over into public view, especially in light of the pivotal question: Who killed May’s newlywed husband and then torched her mansion to cover it up?
April is a businesswoman feuding with her mother over intellectual property; twins June and July are influencers themselves, threatening to overtake May’s spotlight; January is a theater tech who steers clear of her mother and the limelight; and the youngest . . . well, March has somehow completely disappeared. As the days pass post-murder, everyone has an opinion—the sisters, May, a mysterious “friend of the family,” and the collective voice of the online audience watching the family’s every move—with suspicion flying every direction.
A campy and escapist exploration of race, gender, sexuality, and class, The Influencers is an evisceration of influencer culture and how alienating traditional expectations can be, ripe for the current moment when the first generation of children made famous by their parents are, now, all grown up—and looking for retribution.
Anna-Marie McLemore, an award-winning young adult author (Flawless Girls,) pens The Influencers, their stellar debut novel for adults. May Iverson has been a social media influencer since her five children were babies, and they all grew up on camera. This dysfunctional family lives a life of extreme wealth and privilege, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for May. Her children are of mixed race and decidedly mixed feelings about living their lives in public. All are grown, the youngest has disappeared, and May has remarried. Told through various points of view, including each of the family members and their followers, the story opens with May’s husband found dead and a fire raging through the enormous house. This is a gimlet-eyed look at how social media has infiltrated our culture and society, with the murder mystery as the fulcrum. Everyone is a suspect, everyone has a theory, and May’s life will never be the same again.
Verdict: A compelling read, rather like watching a train wreck. Recommend to fans of the Kardashians and books like Kevin Wilson’s The Family Fang.
©Library Journal, 2025
4/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
THE INFLUENCERS by Anna-Marie McLemore. The Dial Press (April 15, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593729175. 448p.
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