Review: Followers

Followers by Megan Angelo
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

3.75 Stars

Followers offers a satirical look at social media, fame, and society. It follows three different women in two timelines. In the late 2010s, we follow Orla Cadden, a literary wannabe who is stuck blogging about famous people like sad Sage Sterling for Lady-ish an online tabloid, and Floss Natuzzi, an A-List wannabe who is looking for her ticket to fame or infamy, whichever works out first. In the 2050s, we follow Marlow, daughter of Floss, and the singer Aston Clipp. Marlow is caught in a demimonde of reality TV in which her entire life is curated based on media follows and commentary. Right down to her future pregnancy with Ellis, a man she doesn't love and hopes the producers will have her divorce. Marlow's entire life has been given over to the decisions of others. She is a living, walking advertisement for a psychotropic drug, Hysteryl. At thirty-five, she isn't sure who she is exactly. That becomes even truer after some genetic testing for her pregnancy reveals questions about her parentage. But the only way Marlow is going to find answers is by breaking away from the show and everything she's ever known. By listening to the real voice in her head instead of a live stream courtesy of an implant that doubles as a GPS tracker.

Angelo has written an interesting piece of satire that is sometimes quite biting in its exploration of human nature's seeming love of outrage, cruelty, cyberbullying, and other bad behavior. While the novel is designed to be a takedown of our internet-obsessed culture, I felt that it seemed to waver in its goals of satire by getting bogged down in Marlow's origin story. The softening of a perspective on Floss left me dissatisfied, though I suppose one could argue that forgiveness is a thing. But to me, this character gave the reader a lot, a whole lot, to forgive. Still, it's an engaging read even though you kind of hate yourself for wanting to know what happens next with these mostly vile humans. In that respect, Angelo has made her point about fame and popular culture. We just keep watching bad behavior.

I also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jayme Mattler, whose narration captures the three women, and that of Aston, who has a speech impediment. (I should note Aston's disability is not central to the story though it has informed part of how he became famous initially.)

I received a Digital Review Copy and paper review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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