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A review by lillimoore
People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd
4.0
From husband-and-wife duo Ellery Lloyd, People Like Her follows star parenting influencer Emmy Jackson, her author husband Dan Jackson, and a third narrator as Emmy's career on Instagram continues to reach new and impressive heights that catch the attention of over a million fans and counting, including one fan whose obsession is more sinister than the rest. While the conclusion of this social media thriller was a bit far-fetched, it was still a wildly entertaining journey to get there, and from a fresh perspective that I anticipate we will be seeing more of in contemporary literature—especially thrillers—as the world and internet continue to evolve and the people in whom we invest our attention and adoration navigate new territory online.
I thought this book was a really interesting portrait of millennial marriages. So many people out there have an online presence now, and this presence has become increasingly more demanding as brand deals, ad space, and everything from SEO tactics to how you word your posts has become a means of survival for people. The way our social media personas impact our real-world relationships is such an interesting topic to explore and I thought this book did a really great job. I have heard reviewers complain that they didn't care for the two main characters in this book and marriage, but honestly, I thought they were a really realistic depiction of that type of relationship under that type of pressure. I also think the ways that social media exploits and distorts childhood for kids today are innumerable and especially harmful to those children whose lives are the ones being documented and profited from, and I really enjoyed the discussions of it brought up in this novel.
All in all, this was a surprise for me. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I enjoyed the look at the insidious underbelly of the influencer industry and am craving more books on this topic as it's something I think and talk about often. I do think the motivations of the main antagonist in this novel were far-fetched and overblown but I still enjoyed the twist (although I felt it was revealed a bit too soon) and thought this was a really fun thriller! I definitely recommend it to those of my friends who were on the fence and particularly if you have an interest in the topics of influencer culture.
I thought this book was a really interesting portrait of millennial marriages. So many people out there have an online presence now, and this presence has become increasingly more demanding as brand deals, ad space, and everything from SEO tactics to how you word your posts has become a means of survival for people. The way our social media personas impact our real-world relationships is such an interesting topic to explore and I thought this book did a really great job. I have heard reviewers complain that they didn't care for the two main characters in this book and marriage, but honestly, I thought they were a really realistic depiction of that type of relationship under that type of pressure. I also think the ways that social media exploits and distorts childhood for kids today are innumerable and especially harmful to those children whose lives are the ones being documented and profited from, and I really enjoyed the discussions of it brought up in this novel.
All in all, this was a surprise for me. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I enjoyed the look at the insidious underbelly of the influencer industry and am craving more books on this topic as it's something I think and talk about often. I do think the motivations of the main antagonist in this novel were far-fetched and overblown but I still enjoyed the twist (although I felt it was revealed a bit too soon) and thought this was a really fun thriller! I definitely recommend it to those of my friends who were on the fence and particularly if you have an interest in the topics of influencer culture.