Book Review | Influence by Sara Shepard & Lilia Buckingham

Happy Wednesday my lovely readers. What is this another review from me?! Why yes, yes it is! This is another cracking read, and I feel quite an important one at that. So rather I’m going to head straight in and here is a little more about the book.

Influence by Sara Shepard, Lilia Buckingham
on January 5, 2021
Genres: Contemporary
Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones
Goodreads

Get ready to see the world of teen influencers they'd never want you to share . . . From the bestselling author of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS Sara Shepard and actress and social media star Lilia Buckingham 'Literally could not put this book down. Absolutely loved it!' Annie LeBlancDelilah is Internet-famous, in LA and at the start of something incredible. Everything is going to change . . . but not necessarily in the way she imagines. Jasmine is a child star turned media darling. Her selfies practically break Instagram. But if the world knew who Jasmine really was? Cancelled.Fiona is everyone's best friend, always smiling. But on the inside? The girl's a hot mess. If they discovered her secret, it wouldn't just embarrass her: it would ruin her.Scarlet isn't just styled to perfection: she is perfection with a famous boyfriend and an online fanbase devouring her every move. But every perfect thing has a fatal flaw.To everyone clicking, DMing, following and faving, these girls are living the dream; but are they really? The sun is hot in California . . . and someone's going to get burned.

CAWPILE - 8.14

My Review

Influence follows 4 main characters, four social media influencers. Jasmine, Fiona, Scarlet and Delilah. They are the centre of their Instagram, they are famous, they have brand deals, collaborations, campaigns. Jasmine, Fiona and Scarlet are the face of Instagram, it isn’t until Delilah, upcoming influencer, and new to LA, gets invited to a party that everything changes. She meets her inspirations, falls for a famous boy and isn’t until an after party that things turns sinister.

These girls are known for this or famous for that. They see the filter and the perfect caption but really these influencers, are girls, women wanting to grow outside of their Instagram profile. Jasmine famous since childhood and her fans can’t get enough of her and her reputation. But she is struggling with being just this person. She wants to move on but she feels that others aren’t letting her make that decision. Fiona is haunted by her past when she receives suspicious texts. It stops her in her career when she feels it could leaked in the public eye so the rest of her life.  Scarlet is basically you’re annoying, perfect specimen that everyone wants to be, records her life on her vlogs all like ‘look at me’ *I’m doing the in a voice* It isn’t until her bf is seen with a Mystery Girl and her videos are doing funky things that reveals much more than she wants, that leaves everyone stunned. Delilah after recording herself saving a puppy from a fire, her followers grew. Her profile became influential and when she moved to LA she gets invited to those parties full of influencers and she is in for .

I really enjoyed the multiple POV, you think one influencer is the same as the next, but they aren’t. It’s been a long time since I’ve read Sara’s writing and with the knowledge and plot from Lilia. It created depth and texture to them I never thought I would understand. I hope that’s what this is the moral of Influence. To be honest as a blogger and bookstagrammer myself, my followers and those that I follow only see what’s on the grid or the stories, we’ve got to remember there’s a human being that has feeling and a life that we don’t see. I share my love of books and little parts of myself, but I like to keep my life private. This book has made me realise that we have to be comfortable what we post, but also respect others too. We have to be real but only to how you want to be.

Sara Shepard is known for her mysteries and thrillers like Pretty Little Liars and my favourite The Lying Game. So when I read the acknowledgements and found out the premise behind this book, working with Lilia Buckingham and bringing the reality to her life in the shape of this gritty and sinister book, it made it more compelling and well real. It got me thinking and turning the pages. It become unputtadownable and one not to be missed.

Thank you to Atom Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.