An electrifying story of two ambitious friends, the dark choices they make and the profound moment that changes the meaning of privacy forever.
Orla Cadden dreams of literary success, but she’s stuck writing about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Orla has no idea how to change her life until her new roommate, Floss―a striving, wannabe A-lister―comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they so desperately crave. But it's only when Orla and Floss abandon all pretense of ethics that social media responds with the most terrifying feedback of all: overwhelming success.
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―twelve million loyal followers―Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything, even horrible things, to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is 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.
The Sexy Nerd ‘Revue’
This book couldn’t have been written at a better time! I’m sure my followers get tired of my rants about over-sharing and airing their grievances on social media, but I do not care. I will continue to advise people to stop doing this because Megan Angelo’s Followers proved my damn point!
Orla Cadden is like so many of us hopeful writers out here—she wants a literary agent and wants best seller fame, but for now, she had to settle for writing for a very popular blog, Lady-Ish, where she spilled the deets on celebrities and the happenings in 2016. However, truth be told, Orla wasn’t satisfied with her status in life. Having to watch celebrities make boss moves and seemingly having it all together, her life was more or less at a standstill. So, what was Orla to do?
Well lo and behold the answer was right under her nose, literally. Her roommate, Floss, who, like Orla, had big dreams and the drive to execute them, but her problem was, nothing seemed to be happening. That was ok because Floss was a boss lady and she had a plan. Her plan worked out tremendously because Floss became one of the hottest reality TV stars America had seen in a long, long time. Real Housewives, who? Love and Hip Hop, what? And what was even more strange, Orla wasn’t supposed to be a part of this plan, but by total accident got thrown in the mix right along with Floss.
Unfortunately, for Orla, she ended up losing her job with Lady-Ish and became an overnight reality TV star right alongside Floss. Fast forward to the year 2051, thirty-five years later, and Marlow is living in a real-life Jetson-ish America. Celebrities and entertainers lived forever in front of the camera thanks to the reality TV that started years prior. Cell phones were replaced by chips embedded in humans’ brains. There were new designer drugs created to keep you in a haze so that you weren’t aware of your surroundings. (Sound familiar?) The Internet was no longer since the Spill occurred, and due to the fact that we shared too much of our lives on social media, the government had access to every American’s deepest intricate parts of their lives, and Marlow was here for it! In fact, it was all she knew.
Marlow grew up in front of the camera and lived for social media. She influenced her followers, as well as they influenced the network to make major decisions for Marlow’s life. If she did anything that pissed off her followers, there were consequences she had to face. She was totally empowered by her followers and they controlled her well-being. She did everything in her power to please them because they were her survival, literally. Hell, the followers were her family’s boss. Her mother, Floss, was the reality TV queen, and her famous father, Aston, was the king of the television. The followers penned them Flosston. Marlow was the princess and had to do what the followers wanted her to do, in which she did, until…
Marlow stopped taking Hysteryl, a designer drug that kept her happy. (More like kept her under control). When it began to wear off, Marlow had a new clear vision as to the world she was actually living in. She took matters into her own hands and learns of a secret in her past that changes everything she thought she knew about her parents and her followers. And that, readers, is where this story skyrockets!
Holy Sh*t, Batman and Robin! When I tell you I could not get enough of this story, that is truly an understatement! Angelo wrote the hell out of this book! Do! You! Hear! Me! Yasss! She touched on so many things that we do wrong in our society, and then have the nerve to question when others get involved. I, too, bought into the “followers” charade and feeling powerful with my own blog, and at the end of the day, for what? Like why do we care about these so-called “followers” and what they bring to your table? What do they really bring? Well, you’ll have to read this novel to find out exactly what followers can do for you!
This book is terrifying on so many levels because we are here already. I started my review by stating that many of my own followers get tired of my rants about over-sharing, but perhaps when you read this book, you’ll understand why I take this over-sharing so seriously. The times we live in aren’t good ones, that’s for sure. It seems to be getting worse as we advance.
The Sexy Nerd gives Followers five new followers. I absolutely loved this story. It scares me half to death because I know we are headed in this direction and it doesn’t feel good to say the very least. However, having said that, there’s not much we can do to stop the flow of life, but you can minimize some of it by not over-sharing your life with those that you do not know. These followers that you think are your friends and they are not. Be careful how you move on social media! The Followers goes on sale Tuesday, January 14, 2020. Please make sure you get a copy of this book. You! Must! Read! This! Until next time, Sexy Nerds, open a book and get mind blown! I know I did with this good read! What a hell of a way to start the 2020 reading year! Yassss!
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