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A review by chloeandherbooks
The Follower by Kate Doughty
3.0
Author: Kate Doughty
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Age Range: Young Adult
Format: E-Book Advanced Reader Copy
Published: 23rd March 2021
Pages: 777 (Just to note this is what netgalley had as the page count while I was reading however every time I started reading a new page it jumped forward 3 numbers so I assume this was a formatting error and it will not be 700+ pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis
A spine-tingling YA thriller, based on a still-unfolding true story
Instagram-famous triplets Cecily, Amber, and Rudy—the children of home renovation superstars—are ready for a perfect summer. They’ve just moved into the site of their parents’ latest renovation project when they begin to receive chilling messages from someone called The Follower. It soon becomes clear that this anonymous threat is more than a simple Internet troll, and he can’t wait to shatter the Cole family’s perfect veneer and take back what’s his. The Follower examines the implications of what it is to be watched in the era of social media fame—as well as the lies we tell and the lengths we’ll go to uphold a perfect image, when our lives depend on it.
CAWPILE
Characters – 6
Atmosphere – 7
Writing Style – 5
Plot – 6
Intrigue – 7
Logic – 6
Enjoyment – 6
Overall: 6.1
Review
Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Gambling Addiction, Blood, Murder, Death, Animal Death, Loss of a friend, and Grief.
This review contains spoilers.
I love mystery/thriller so when I saw this up for request on Netgalley I decided to request it. As soon as I read the first chapter I was immediately curious about what was going on as it honestly gave me the chills. One aspect of this novel that I think was really well done was that it captured the creepy atmosphere perfectly, there were multiple moments where I was on the edge of my seat and had goose bumps. Another aspect of this novel that I really enjoyed was the look at influencer culture, it was interesting to see what was going on behind the scenes and the fact that the triplets weren’t posting the content that they wanted to but instead what their mother wanted them to. Also, I was so frustrated with how their mother was behaving and how she treated them. Now, let’s talk a bit about the characters, I will say I wasn’t overly attached to any of them but I did thoroughly enjoy Amber’s character and in my opinion, her POVs were the most interesting. Cecily was an interesting character and I felt so bad for her after her attack. I really wish Rudy had more development throughout the novel as all I really know is that he likes to make music so I would’ve liked to have seen more of his backstory and personality. While the final plot twist shocked me, I can’t say that I was a huge fan of it. Another issue I had was that I felt that at times the pacing was a little off. However, I did really like that this novel had an ambiguous ending.
Overall this was a decent mystery/thriller with a creepy atmosphere that examines influencer culture, however, I found it to be a little slow-moving in places and the characters were a little under-developed.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Age Range: Young Adult
Format: E-Book Advanced Reader Copy
Published: 23rd March 2021
Pages: 777 (Just to note this is what netgalley had as the page count while I was reading however every time I started reading a new page it jumped forward 3 numbers so I assume this was a formatting error and it will not be 700+ pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Goodreads Synopsis
A spine-tingling YA thriller, based on a still-unfolding true story
Instagram-famous triplets Cecily, Amber, and Rudy—the children of home renovation superstars—are ready for a perfect summer. They’ve just moved into the site of their parents’ latest renovation project when they begin to receive chilling messages from someone called The Follower. It soon becomes clear that this anonymous threat is more than a simple Internet troll, and he can’t wait to shatter the Cole family’s perfect veneer and take back what’s his. The Follower examines the implications of what it is to be watched in the era of social media fame—as well as the lies we tell and the lengths we’ll go to uphold a perfect image, when our lives depend on it.
CAWPILE
Characters – 6
Atmosphere – 7
Writing Style – 5
Plot – 6
Intrigue – 7
Logic – 6
Enjoyment – 6
Overall: 6.1
Review
Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Gambling Addiction, Blood, Murder, Death, Animal Death, Loss of a friend, and Grief.
This review contains spoilers.
I love mystery/thriller so when I saw this up for request on Netgalley I decided to request it. As soon as I read the first chapter I was immediately curious about what was going on as it honestly gave me the chills. One aspect of this novel that I think was really well done was that it captured the creepy atmosphere perfectly, there were multiple moments where I was on the edge of my seat and had goose bumps. Another aspect of this novel that I really enjoyed was the look at influencer culture, it was interesting to see what was going on behind the scenes and the fact that the triplets weren’t posting the content that they wanted to but instead what their mother wanted them to. Also, I was so frustrated with how their mother was behaving and how she treated them. Now, let’s talk a bit about the characters, I will say I wasn’t overly attached to any of them but I did thoroughly enjoy Amber’s character and in my opinion, her POVs were the most interesting. Cecily was an interesting character and I felt so bad for her after her attack. I really wish Rudy had more development throughout the novel as all I really know is that he likes to make music so I would’ve liked to have seen more of his backstory and personality. While the final plot twist shocked me, I can’t say that I was a huge fan of it. Another issue I had was that I felt that at times the pacing was a little off. However, I did really like that this novel had an ambiguous ending.
Overall this was a decent mystery/thriller with a creepy atmosphere that examines influencer culture, however, I found it to be a little slow-moving in places and the characters were a little under-developed.