I really love thrillers that include technology in some form so I was excited to see Ellery Lloyd's debut is focused around social media and Instagram influencers! The main character Emmy is a famous British Instagrammer who puts her whole life and family online. She is definitely creative with the truth at times - for example she has a cleaner but purposely messes up her house for photos so she seems relatable!

We hear from three points of view - Emmy, her husband Dan, and a mysterious stalker/fan who is determined to track Emmy down and punish her for some unknown grievance. None of the characters are particularly likeable but that is to be expected really.

Alongside the main story, there's really interesting insights into areas such as gossip forums and the expectations audiences have of "Instamums". It definitely makes you think about the risks of putting yourself and your family 'out there' and how easily it is to find information about people online without them realising.

People Like Her exposes the truth behind the fake lives people shamelessly promote on social media. Emmy and Dan have two young children, Coco and Bear and Emmy is a successful influencer, going by the moniker mamabare. Seemingly spontaneous moments captured on camera are really meticulously planned weeks in advance. She appears relatable, hanging onto her sanity amongst sleepless nights and leaking nipples. But what you see online does not reflect reality and Dan is starting to grow tired of their every moment being shared.

And unbeknownst to Emmy there is someone out there who has reason to want to destroy her world. Wracked by grief and blaming Emmy, a grieving mother is set on gaining 'justice'.

As events build to a nail-biting climax it's touch and go whether Emmy will live to post another day.

Emmy herself is a deeply annoying character, but as we learn more about her own childhood, we do develop a degree of sympathy.

And the delicious twist at the end goes to show that nobody is impervious to the allure of likes and shares that social media beckons.

An enjoyable thriller for the modern age, that is fiction but reflects the oh so strange times we are living in.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! Thanks as always to Netgalley for sending this to me.

People Like Her is a book that I can best describe as ‘infuriating.’

The story gets off to a strong start. Our main characters, picture-perfect married couple Emmy and Dan, are compellingly written, if not particularly sympathetic. I liked that these two actually have a steady marriage and that it stays that way; a common trope in books about influencers is the perfectly happy couple whose relationship off-camera is teetering on the rocks, so I appreciated that this book turned that stereotype on its head. In fact, there are a lot of ways that this book subverts the expected archetype of the fictional influencer. The story is usually ‘genuine but naïve young woman accidentally falls into the world of social media marketing, experiences an unexpected boom in popularity and begins to crumble under the pressure as her less-than-perfect world begins to finally show through the cracks in her online veneer. Emmy’s story is very different. We learn of a calculated ascent to social media stardom, orchestrated by a shrewd agent who buys followers to give her a boost. Unlike most fictional influencers who seem determined to play out the fantasy of the perfect life, Emmy takes a different tack; a quirky mother with sick stains on her cardi who deliberately messes up her usually pristine home before the photographers show up, curating this relatable, barely-keeping-it-together image to keep followers hooked. It’s a fascinating idea, and one of the things I enjoyed most about the story.

Another thing I can say for this book is that it’s a rapid read. Rarely do I come across a book I can honestly describe as ‘unputdownable,’ but this one lived up to the moniker – I sped through it, flipping pages at ninety miles per hour. I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly what it was that had me so hooked; I disliked the characters, I wasn’t hugely invested in their fates, but I had to keep going. It was like the proverbial car crash you can’t stop staring at, and I had my eyes wide open.

Unfortunately, while it retained its compulsive readability throughout, the book soured for me as time went on. The characters went from unlikeable to downright pleasant – Emmy in particular goes from being a bit sly to downright horrible, and her husband Dan (initially the more pleasant character) gleefully follows her down the rabbit-hole at the end. This was a disappointing development, since he had been the voice of reason up until that point. The book has a laser focus on the two of them, which I think was to its detriment; there were a few characters who really needed more page time, such as Polly, the best friend Emmy abandons after her rise to fame, who haunts the very edge of the story but has very little development, despite the huge role she plays in one of the book’s most pivotal twists. In addition to this, the plot – which followed your standard ‘obsessed social media stalker’ that tends to show up in these kinds of thrillers – had a strong start that descended into an unrealistic mess. The worst part, I think, was that it could probably have still worked if not for a few ridiculous details that tipped things past the point of plausibility. We were dancing on the very fine line of suspended belief, then went that little bit too far and the whole thing capsized. With a little more restraint from the author, I think that they could have pulled it off.

By the end of the book, I was almightily cheesed off with Emmy in particular. She goes from simply being a little too driven and calculating to downright awful. Then we finally get to the ‘thrilling’ part of the thriller, which honestly reads kind of like a Saw movie, with a character set up to get their just deserts in the most gruelling way possible, and honestly, maybe I just don’t have the constitution for a story like this, but I was disgusted by the way the big twist went. I was getting ready to throw my phone across the room in rage and give the book 2 stars out of sheer spite, but fortunately the author clawed it back from the brink just in time to salvage a decent amount of my goodwill. A ‘decent amount,’ mind you, amounts to giving it three stars instead of my original four. I can stomach so much doom and gloom, but some things are just too much.

What I will say is that if you can’t stomach reading about bad things happening to children, I’d give this one a miss. Certain parts struck me as gratuitous, lingering on horrible details just for the sake of it. I consider myself to have a fairly strong stomach for unpleasant things in literature, but this one was too much for me.
Overall, I would give this book 3 stars. For the most part, it was well-written; it entertained me, and it was absolutely a page turner, but it also stirred up some visceral disgust in me that went beyond the realms of what I would consider enjoyable in a book. Would I recommend this one? It’s hard to say. It’s a little bit Gone Girl-esque, in that if you don’t mind reading about two horrible people who learn absolutely nothing, have no character development and will leave you with a simmering feeling of dislike that will stick with you for hours to come, maybe you’ll enjoy it. Personally it wasn't my cup of tea.

This is the story of a social media influencer who lives a pretend life online purely with the aim of gaining more followers etc.
The story is told by three narrators, Emmy, Dan (her husband) and a mystery person.
To me this had the beginning of being a good read but I felt the whole storyline a bit extreme and not entirely plausible but maybe to others who spend more time online it could be perfect. In my opinion the third narrator who is a mystery follower was unnecessary.
Thanks to the publishers & netgalley for this read.

Dan and Emmy are influencers and lead an idyllic life with their children Coco and Bear. That is until things start to go wrong. You never know how near you are to danger or who you are talking to or who is watching you.

People Like Her is meant to be a timely reminder to consider the role played in our lives by social media. How far does it impact on us? To what extent does it influence our behaviour? Pertinent questions, but this book - sadly - didn’t really hit the mark for me.
Our main character, Emmy, is a popular internet phenomenon. The face behind ‘mamabare’, Emmy lays her life out for public scrutiny. She courts fame, purely to achieve more likes, and this is a lifestyle that more than pays the bills. Making a life out of selling your family might not make sense to many, but everyone will have experience of social media. We all have opinions on online presence, and how far is too far. For this reason I can see the book tapping into a fairly large audience.
Though the book begins slowly as we’re introduced to our couple, it shifts by the end into a much more dramatic affair. From early on we are aware that someone is unhappy with Emmy and wants her to pay for a perceived slight. They are a threat, but how do you ward off threats when they are safe behind a veil of anonymity?
Unfortunately, the character of Emmy was problematic for me. Initially she seems somewhat dizzy, a little naive and determined to milk her cash cow while she could. There was little to really encourage me to empathise with her as everything she did was about her public profile. When she is under serious threat I felt for her, and yet she had acted with such callousness towards those she claimed to care for that I struggled to not blame her a little for what happened. Victim blaming is never going to be a good thing, but it’s so hard not to do that with Emmy that I fear this will ensure some of the comments raised by this book will miss their mark.
Another problem character for me was husband, Dan. A writer in name, who seems to actually do very little, he infuriated me. He seemed to have reservations about this venture, but never took steps to challenge it. What little action he took to offset the influence held by his wife’s job was ineffective, and his final action was - perhaps - even more cynical than those we’d been encouraged to criticise in his wife. Yes, he helps resolve things...but what he does at the end suggests that the influence of the media is more insidious than we might think.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me access to this prior to publication in exchange for an honest review. I’m convinced this will be lapped up by many, but the cynicism shown by our characters left me without the requisite sympathy I feel was needed to make this wholly successful.

Emmy is Mamabare, a mother of two and social influencer who is willing to go to any lengths to commodify her family’s life, and keep her millions of devoted followers happy.
But - in this well-written and gripping thriller about the cynical treadmill of being in the public eye - someone she has wronged wants their revenge.
This is enormously absorbing. It’s not the sort of book I normally read, but it had me hooked.
The narrators are Emmy and her husband Dan, and their voices are unreliable as well as comic.
It’s like a car crash as their carefully constructed world starts to unravel.
Lloyd also does a great job of pastiching this world and the group of influencers Emmy calls her ‘tribe.’
Thoroughly recommended.

“Have we, by putting our lives and our children’s lives out there on the internet for all to see, done something monumentally foolish?”

Overview
Written in triple narrative, People Like Her uncovers the dark side of being Insta famous. Emmy Jackson aka Mamabare is an online sensation, sharing her life and advice with the world. Hailed as the perfect mother online, her advice is sacred to her impressive following! Many are fooled by her ‘realness’ but not everyone shares that sentiment. One follower in particular is out for revenge.

My Thoughts
Let me start by saying this book was an emotional rollercoaster and should come with a trigger warning for: abortion, miscarriage and infant death.

People Like Her is a dark thriller that centres around the life of influencer Emmy Jackson and exposes the dark side of putting your life online for the masses as Mamabare. Alongside her narrative, we also have the perspective of her husband Dan and stalker who’s name we learn towards the end of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and from the prologue I was constantly in suspense as to what would happen next. The authors Ellery Lloyd are able to create storylines that allow you to fully submerge, continually wondering who the stalker could be and if the subplots were connected to them.

As a character I found Emmy truly awful. At several points her husband describes her as a liar and this is apparent throughout. Caught up in the world of Instagram her every thought and action relies on its relatability online. From posts written weeks in advance, to taking photos of her daughter Coco in hospital her behaviour at times is gobsmacking but also entirely realistic.

Dan is an interesting character, as much as he resents being wrapped up in the world of Instagram he also realises the life it affords him. Quick to judge Emmy’s actions and advocating for their children to have ‘normal’ childhoods we see a man who appears to be having an internal war with himself. Interestinly the epilogue exposes Dan for what he really is. After the kidnapping he is able to spin a narrative to the world that he is a hero, a title he is more than happy to accept. This allowed to see that Dan was all along jealous of his wife and wanted the accolades himself as Papabare.

The stalker surprised me. I was expecting them to be young, maybe a little caught up in their obsession of being an influencer. I couldn’t have been more wrong and the storyline was very believable. After a tragedy many people look for someone to blame and this is the case with Jill. Losing both her granddaughter and daughter she believes what happened to be a consequence of Emmys advice and blames her wholeheartedly for the tragedy. What I found interesting with this narrative was the way her actions to hurt Emmy developed. Knowing she was becoming full of hatred but unable to see past it and feeling the only way to get revenge was to make her feel her pain.

My only criticism is at times there was a little bit too much going on. I don’t really think the RP storyline worked, it just seemed to give Dan something to do and uncover another side of social media.

Overall 4/5

If you were ever interested in how Social Media can take over your life or if there are dark sides to it, read this book.

I did feel like deleting my Instagram account after reading this.

Emmy is an influencer, she lives with her husband, daughter Coco and new baby Bear. Her best friend Polly is hardly given any of her time. In fact Emmy does something unthinkable to her.

Their family life is always being put on Instagram. She had free gifts arriving most days. Juggling everything herself is impossible. Her husband is a writer so a lot of the time he takes over house duties. Emmy has a manager Irene and assistant Willow. Without these people she definitely couldn’t cope.

It is frightening how a throw away comment to a fan can spiral someone’s life out of control. This is about revenge not jealousy.

Enjoy the book. It will definitely make you think twice about online security and social media.

It was interesting

What a fab and easy read. There aren't any major twists in the plot, but that doesn't take away from the readability of this book. The characters -- some lovable, most despicable -- are so well drawn it sucks you in from the beginning. I also loved getting a sneak peak behind the lives of perfect and staged not-so-perfect Instamums, that was a real hook for me.

Maybe it's me, but I felt like the relationship between Emmy and Dan was rather Gone-Girl-esque by the end. And I loved that. I would definitely read more by Ellery Lloyd, or just Ellery, or just Lloyd ;)

This is a book about an Instagrammer: Emmy aka 'mamabare' and her family. The book interleaves with another voice telling a story which clearly will intersect with Emmy's perfect life, though for quite a while it is unclear how they are connected. Emmy has consciously crafted her 'mamabare' brand and works hard to maintain it and the considerable income that she earns as a result of her efforts. Her husband, Dan, appears as a passenger to this whole venture. He is a self-absorbed, one-time published author who seems resentful at his wife's success while he slips into oblivion. Emmy has a large band of faithful followers, which she carefully cultivates and nurtures. It is soon apparent that not everyone is a huge fan of Emmy's, and when her passwords are stolen all aspects of her life become fair game.

I was fascinated by this book and the amount of work that goes into being an Instagrammer and the ever-increasing demands of your brand. I do not use Instagram but felt that the behind the scenes machinations of any popular account are probably quite real.

This was a good read with lots of twists and turns. You are never sure who is on Emmy's side and who is out to benefit at her expense. It is clear that her morals become seriously challenged as the story begins to unfold. Some readers might find aspects of the book upsetting: miscarriage, infant death and suicide all feature.

An interesting title as it could mean that people like her as a person or it could refer to similar people to her! The her in question is Emmy an instamum blogger/vlogger. She makes her living posting photos on Instagram of her life as a mum to two children. It makes you realise how much effort goes into making pictures and statements on Instagram appear natural whilst subtly influencing others!
Her husband Dan, is an author who has been struggling with his second book for years.
It has a good opening which makes you want to read more and a good twist that develops throughout the book. You are kept engaged by the characters and how they are interlinked.
I wasn’t sure about the epilogue at the end as it felt a bit rushed. It could have been another chapter rather than an epilogue but it didn’t spoil the ending.

Although it's hard not to be aware of Instagram and influencers, I've never had an account or followed anyone and, judging by this book I think it will stay that way!
Having said that, I really enjoyed this book balancing the positives and negatives of living a curated life in the spotlight and the use of fake news and emotions to help the influencer sell products and make money. Plus, wrapped around this is the satisfylingly twisty story of a stalker and their search for justice.
I was interested to read that Ellery Lloyd is actually a husband and wife writing together, which perhaps accounts for both Emmy and Dan's stories being believable.
it's difficult to believe it's a debut novel and I'm already looking forward to their next book

Thank you to netgalley and Mantle for an advance copy of this book.

Very entertaining and such a funny and spot on portrayal of influencers and all the Instagram and social media absurdity. Really easy to get hooked (finished it in one sit) and full of love-to-hate characters. I found particularly hilarious the description of each of the mumfluencers and their missions. I think tough the story could sustain itself without the 3rd character storyline and even be a more interesting book like that ,

Warning: This book is compulsive reading.
First off I really disliked the main character, however some of my favourite thrillers have instantly selfish and flawed focal characters. ‘Emmy Jackson’ or to her million followers ‘@the_mamabare’ whose supposedly honest posts on motherhood are nothing more than clever marketing and PR genius. She constantly posts about her children, Coco and Bear and author husband to a loyal following and to the world; of course to her the persona she has created is a lucrative career but she comes across very callous and cold throughout the book.
From the very beginning we are made aware of an alternate narrator who has dark motives; someone who has been tracking and collating all of the personal information they can about Emmy and her family.
This undertone gets very dark and disturbing but I think that is ultimately the point Llyod is making in this book; we all put aspects of ourselves online and accept that level of risk of letting strangers into our daily lives. It becomes a major problem when we become numb or block out the darker side of that risk and become more than an online persona but physically impact other people’s lives without a thought to the consequences.
A brilliant modern thriller that I am sure will get everyone talking!

Fast-moving and up-to date, a punchy, witty glimpse into being an influencer and living your life on social media. the thriller part only comes into play later in the book and it really is quite dark, not how I expected things to work out. This will keep you gripped and entertained but apart from Coco, I wasn't that keen on any of the characters which I know is part of the whole thing, but still....

A modern tale of an Instagram influencer, a perfect 'mamma' sharing her life daily online. Emmy, her husband Dan and her 2 children, are all drawn into this world of online Instagram celebrity, and as the number of her fans escalates and the goodies gifts and freebies are getting out of control, so does the dark side of internet trolls. A salutary take on our times we're living in. Brilliantly portrayed with great characters, this is a romp of a read, had me gripped from the first pages, takes you through all of the emotions, confusing you with where and who your sympathy could be with. No spoilers here......must read for 2021! Loved it!

People Like Her is a thriller that dives into the world of influencers and its dangers – specifically the realm of Instamums and mummy bloggers. As a mother, blogger and thriller book lover, this book had huge appeal to me. It wasn’t quite the five star read I’d anticipated but I did still really enjoy it.

Ultimately, this is an interesting debut. It’s full of twists that I didn’t see coming. But it was possibly a little too dark for me. The climax in particular made me feel physically ill. So while I would recommend this to thriller fans, I don’t think it’s suitable for everyone and I’d advise that prospective readers check content warnings before diving in.

there are many novels based around the world of seriously oversharing on social media and this one is an excellent read of too much sharing leading to trouble.
The tale is told by 3 voices- the influencer, the husband and the enemy and all have a unique voice and style of "speaking" their many and varied truths.
A great read with plenty of action and some real page turning interactions.

I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to be able to settle to a book after Christmas as this was my 4th I had tried ( the other 3 just weren’t interesting or captivating enough tbh )
But it was worth the few frustrating days as my first full read of 2021 was this, and it’s brill
Emmy is an Instagrammer, an ‘InstaMum’ the most popular one in the UK with over a million followers and she is ‘oh so perfect’ but, of course, she isen’t, everything is choreographed and rehearsed and while her loyal fans cant get enough of her resentment is building from her hubby Dan and old friends.....however someone holds much more of a grudge, she wants her dead ( the reason why comes much later ) and has a plan and when Emmy falls from Instalove to Instadislike after a severe lack of judgement her plan can come to fruition
Told in narrative from Emmy, Dan and the ‘revenge seeker’ I honestly cant explain how good this book is, the tone is just perfect re how everyone sees and feels re Influencers and how they feel about themselves, the cutting remarks, the humour, the jealousy, the hatred, the love and the scary people Instagram attracts is all here in this totally 100% enjoyable ( even at times a tad guiltily ) book, I couldn’t read it quick enough and was sorry it ended although it ended well and with a mixture of disgust and admiration from me
Characters to love to hate and hate to love and an uncomfortable nod to how we all are on social media sometimes
Superb and a high high bar set for this years reads

10/10
5 Stars