Social media is tricky.
You don’t know if the information you read or the person sharing it is real.
Because appearances matter more than substance on social media platforms, we are not sure about the content's truthfulness. Is it authentic or manufactured?
Not only that. Aside from the content we consume, we also meet influencers who are sometimes over the top. Their lives can be exaggerated to grab people’s attention or promote a brand. The line between who they really are and who they want us to believe they are is difficult to tell.
Elizabeth Rose Quinn takes a closer look at these newfangled ways of getting information, connecting with people, and building communities through common social media conventions from the perspective of the influencers, their audience, and the outsiders in her book, Follow Me. Quinn added depth to the story by highlighting modern mothers’ challenges that make them hungry for comfort, support, and freedom.
Follow Me is a thriller with hints of dark humor, packed with dizzying truths about social media, the idiosyncrasies of the cultic-vibed mom-fluencer tribe, and flash-bang murder.
Elizabeth Rose Quinn is a novelist and screenwriter who lived in Los Angeles for fifteen years working behind the scenes and writing for television. Follow Me is her debut novel and Amazon MGM Studios acquired the exclusive rights to produce it as a feature film. Quinn earned her BA in English from UC Berkeley and has a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. One of the things she loves to do is travel and enjoy nature with her family.
Book Description
After her twin sister, Chiara, goes missing at a mom-fluencer weekend, Adrienne Shaw will find her no matter what it takes. They may have been on the outs, but no one comes for her sister and gets away with it.
It’s been a year, the authorities have no answers, and her brother-in-law is useless in the matter. It’s time for Adrienne to take the case into her own hands. Following in Chiara’s last footsteps, Adrienne goes undercover, infiltrating the same influencer retreat as the last thing she wants to an Instamommy.
The remote ranch in Northern California is certainly welcoming—in a cult-adjacent kind of way. A charismatic leader, communal crafts, fixed smiles—and a lot of dead eyes.
Going on gut instinct and chasing a wild theory—that Chiara came here and never left—Adrienne is determined to uncover the truth before the too-perfect-to-believe women figure out who Adrienne really a threat to be eliminated."
Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216997496-follow-me
Discussion Questions
- How did Chiara become a celebrity?
- What were Adrienne’s reasons why she got mad at Chiara?
- How did Chiara find the mom-fluencers?
- Why did she decide to meet them at a summit?
- Who are the Matcha Mean Girls?
- Describe the Mini-Mom Squad.
- How did Chiara die?
- How did Adrienne respond to her twin’s demise?
- What did Chiara’s husband find in her car that led to a shocking epiphany?
- The book also explores motherhood, what are the pervasive challenges that mothers face in general?
- What do you think about mom influencers?
- What are the implications of personal branding on social media?
- How does social media affect motherhood in this day and age?
- Is it possible to be authentic on social media? How?
- Despite its flaws, what is the saving grace of social media?
Quotes
What I Loved The Most
- The book is so timely. Nowadays, we are hooked on social media, consuming massive content from influencers or even from those who are just sharing whatever they want to share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok from what they ate for lunch to their breakup. There is so much to see – dances, reviews, mukbangs, hauls, and a whole lot more. Follow Me presents not just the funny side but also the dark side of social media, affecting our mental health, relationships, and reality. It’s a wake-up call to be aware of the double-edged sword effects of social media.
- Quinn made the characters feel real and relatable. Adrienne and Chiara's tough lives, which were the result of their mother's depression, drew strong emotions that maintained my interest in knowing more about them and the consequences of their choices. Amid difficulties growing up, including alcoholism and drugs, they became each other’s fortress. But when Chiara moved on to a better life, Adrienne crumbled with anger, which complicated the story even more.
- The contrast was interesting between the gloomy picture of motherhood when Adrienne and Chiara were still young under the care of their mother who had depression and the “jolly” picture of factitious, Stepford-wives-like community of mom influencers whose motivation was to look happy and perfect on the surface in order get more sponsors for their social media brands. The vibes are different but the underlying problem is the same: motherhood is not easy. For some women, it brings them to a place where they are not heard and seen. Their lives are consumed by responsibilities that society expects them to do even though deep inside they are screaming for understanding and support. Social media is found to be an avenue where they can share their stories and get parasocial connections that give them a sense of validation. Perhaps being a mom influencer is an escape from the struggles of motherhood in modern society. If this is so, it just shows deeper societal issues.
What I Loved The Least
- The pacing of the story is slow for me. After the exciting part initially, my eagerness to read went down the hill. There were a lot of flashbacks and memories, which I understand were meant to build the characters’ backgrounds and give context to their decisions and actions, and I think this winded down the plot and the thrill. The part about the creepy, quirky, loud mom-fluencers was fun to read and added an extra layer of flavor to the story, however, I was looking for more twists and unexpected turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. The ending was memorable, though.
Summing-Up
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Instagram plus tired moms equals deadly chaos.
This equation just oversimplifies the book, Follow Me, written by Elizabeth Rose Quinn, a novelist and screenwriter from Los Angeles, California. There is more to the story that provokes the readers to reflect on the effects of social media on mothers who are struggling to survive motherhood and the dark side of content creation and consumption. Quinn brings the readers on a no-filter, unsettling journey with dark humor through the complicated lives of the twin sisters, Adrienne and Chiara, and a factitious cultish-vibe mom-fluencer community stained by a flash-bang murder of somebody who was hated by the mother squad of the tribe for being favored more by the IG algo god. Beneath it all lies the unfortunate truth of the other side of motherhood that is hidden behind the curated, pretty posts.
Follow Me is a timely novel as, in our modern world, social media has hooked people on their devices, imbibing an endless stream of content for validation, connection, and entertainment. I think social media is not at all bad because you can really get helpful information and meaningful connections with people who are true to their intentions to add value to the audience, but there’s also another side of the coin. And this side is what Quinn showed in the book, focusing on mom-fluencers who clamor for more likes and views, higher engagement, and more lucrative sponsorship. In this story, motherhood has become a commodity.
About the main character, Adrienne’s difficult life which stems from her tough childhood, and drug and alcohol addiction, amplifies the story’s theme of unseen struggles of motherhood. Her way of coping with life is the consequence of being raised by a depressed mother. Adrienne draws strong emotions that invite the reader to reflect on deeper issues that moms encounter. Considering this, while sprinkled with funny scenes, Follow Me is a thought-provoking story.
The story idea and the characters are interesting, however, the pacing and rhythm of the story fall short for me. Initially, I was intrigued by what happened but after one intense scene, the excitement started to fade. I think the memories and flashbacks are important to set up the characters and events but, for me, they changed the rhythm of the story, moderating the tension and slowing down the overall momentum. It was compensated, though, with funny moments at the mom-fluencers’ gathering, which brought some lightness and energy back into the story. The ending was intense and memorable, too.
If you are looking for a moderate thriller with dark humor about Instagram and mom influencers, this book is worth reading. Thank you Elizabeth Rose Quinn, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before its publication and to share my honest thoughts.
Further Information
Book Information:
Follow Me by Elizabeth Rose Quinn
Published on April 1, 2025, by Thomas & Mercer
285 pages (eBook)