This started with one hell of a bang! I really enjoyed the serial killer references all throughout, and Aaron came across as a very Patrick Bateman (American psycho) character.

I personally found this book too slow to get into, I don’t know if it gets better as the book goes on but I had to DNF this book at 30%

This was a chilling, American Psycho esque peek into the mind of a modern day psychopath. It was such an interesting take on the genre with the power of influencing behind it. Cesare just consistently delivers excellent YA horror that makes your spine tingle.

Thanks to netgalley for this ARC due to be published on 26/09/2024.

Wasn't sure what to expect as I thought it'd be mostly focused on social media. However, it's a lot more complicated than that and a fun read.

Really enjoyed the split between the main characters from one chapter to the next. It kept a good even pace without giving too much away even though Aaron's character was very clear that he had sinister intentions!!

While I enjoyed the premise of this book, I found it quite slow and dragged out until the end and I didn’t really feel connected with the characters - in some parts they didn’t even feel like friends.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 star rating)

For transparency, I read this view as an ARC reader through NetGalley the book is due to be released October 2024

This is a book told through two alternating view points, one an average, timid girl, the other a rich kid who is literally psycho.

Overall I really liked the plot of this book, it is an extremely interesting concept. And one I personally haven’t seen done before.

However, at times the execution and writing felt a little… obvious. For me personally it did not feel like there was any “edge of my seat” tension because I could guess what was coming chapters in advance, and the ending was a bit meh.

I also didn’t feel like I was super emotionally connected to any of the characters, they all felt very two dimensional and there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of character development (on a deeper level) for any of them until the last chapter by which time, what is the point?

Another point to consider is that the book was very “tell tell tell” what was going on and what the characters thought and did, rather than showing us their personalities through the actions they took and letting us make our own assumptions and opinions about the thought process the characters were going through. This book might have been better written in third person rather than through the first person POVs of the “baddie” and the “goodie”.

I would be interested to read more by this author at some point in the future.

A YA Psychological thriller set around a teenager using manipulation, conditioning and other techniques used by famous cult leaders, such as Charles Manson, to convince others to join him in murdrer.

This book started off great! Like jumping into a horror film. And then it trails off and focuses more on the school and befriending aspect of the story. There's a lot of this before it gets into the nitty gritty parts, but the only thing was there wasn't much of an explanation as to WHY the main character is doing all of this....should have been a little more of an elaboration on this.

After striking it big with the wildly entertaining Clown in a Cornfield (2020-24) trilogy Adam Cesare continues with YA in Influencer. Although this book has its moments rarely have I come across a book which has such gullible characters, who follow an ‘influencer’ who shows little or no charisma. Horror novels, which lean heavily on thriller elements, need to be framed around a certain level of reality, which is totally absent in Influencer. To put it into context, I found Clown in a Cornfield more reliable than this! The story has a split first person narrative Aaron (the influencer) who is new to the school where the action is principally set, and Crystal, an introvert who struggles to make her voice heard in a tight group of friends. The novel concerns how the arrival of Aaron changes the dynamics of the friendship group, which was believable enough, as was how he instigates Crystal being cut-off and shunned from the group via a horrible episode of cyber-bullying.

It was easy to route for Crystal, as Aaron was so deeply unpleasant and is obsessed with the number of followers he has via an anonymous Instagram account, he is known as ‘The Speaker’, where he reads (rubbish) poetry and spouts philosophy to his followers. However, very early in the story the very observant Crystal outs him as The Speaker which causes his to change his plan for the group. Aaron also has a very dark background which is connected to his true intentions with what he wants to do with his ‘Speaker’ platform, whilst Crystal watches from a distance. If you can forgive how stupid these characters were then this is a very readable thriller and does not dwell on a patronising ‘social media is bad’ message. Influencer was originally released as an Audible Original and for a YA novel is violent, bleak and is aimed at older teens. AGE RANGE 14+

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

This is a book told in dual POVs; Aaron the influencer, and Crystal, a teen who is very perceptive and notices basically everything.

But there’s more to Aaron that meets the eye, he’s the Speaker, and he’s not happy that Crystal unmasked him on his first day at his new school, so the only option is to get rid of her - forever.

This book is about his plans to infiltrate her friend group to try and persuade them to be his followers, and to ultimately join in with his plans. He needs to feel some kind of emotion so adding Crystals death to his already growing body count is nothing.

I really enjoyed this book, I was gripped from the start, I was glued to my kindle. I wanted to find out what would happen, it was interesting reading Aaron’s pov, reading about his justification, how he manipulates and does whatever to get it done his way and only his way. His constant talk of serial killers, and just other things about him that stood out.

I definitely recommend this if you like psychological thrillers, I will say check the trigger warnings before you read this, it’s always important to do that just incase.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is darkly twisted and impeccably researched.

Told from dual POVs, it chronicles the story of Aaron and Crystal. When Aaron starts attending Crystal's high school, he quickly shakes up the dynamic in Crystal's friendship circle. Crystal's quickly realises Aaron is The Speaker, a mysterious Instagram celebrity. But is there more to Aaron than meets the eye?

Yes. Yes, there is.

This book kept me frantically turning the pages, desperate to find out what happened next. I loved the dual POVs, even though they were antithetical, it worked beautifully. The author also put an incredible amount of research into the novel, making Aaron's inner monologue and actions feel very authentic and therefore more deadly.

I have deducted a star because I feel there could have been a twist at the end or something else just to give the story a gut-punch crescendo.

If you are planning to read this, please check the trigger warnings as it does have some very graphic content.

Also, there is a depiction of animal cruelty that I really didn't enjoy (I can't take the deaths of fictional characters but please don't hurt the pets!) and this wasn't mentioned in the trigger warning.

This book was provided to me as an ARC from NetGalley and I'm leaving the review of my own free will. All thoughts are my own honest opinions.

Wow What a Fantastic read !

What first drew me in was the cover and then the Description. It was completely up my street. Id never read anything by this author, it certainly wont be my last.
Hooked me in from page 1. A brilliant first chapter.
Following duel pov's. Crystal and Aaron.
A group of misfits joined by the NEW Classmate Aaron.
5 Stars Couldn't put it down.
Thank you to net galley for the advanced copy.

Dnf @ 18%

This is so disappointing!

I loved the start of this book. It’s was like an opening to a horror movie. We start the story with a kill before getting to meet our group.

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for the group and only cared about Adam’s chapters. I. Couldn’t continue the story only having interest on one side.

We follow Crystal, a teen, and her new classmate, Aaron.
The concept of the influencer psychopath and the opening were intriguing.
I expected more - the writing and the execution were 3/5 for me.
I hope YA readers will enjoy it more than I did. It was not my cup of tea.

This was okay, I wouldn’t say it was amazing but I did keep reading. It didn’t feel as if it was unique or did anything to us genre hasn’t done before, but it was enjoyable and I’m sure it’ll be amazing for come people

I love the Clown in a Cornfield series by Adam Cesare so I was excited to see Influencer in print form as originally it was only on audible.

Unfortunately I wasn't a fan of this one, I liked the concept but I didn't feel like it had enough "influence" so to speak.

The character of The Speaker aka Aaron isn't really padded out enough to show why he has such a huge following and why people should listen to him.

I also liked the references to different serial killers and could see where the author was trying to take Aarons character but it didn't fully materialise.

The other character that it swapped the POV with was Crystal which again she didn't feel fully developed and personally I much preferred reading Aarons chapters.

Perhaps it is better in audio form and creates more drama/tension but in written format it just feels like a slog.