Followers Audiobook By Megan Angelo cover art

Followers

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Followers

By: Megan Angelo
Narrated by: Jayme Mattler
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.69

Buy for $29.69

This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as addictive as social media itself.” —People

A TIME AND NPR BEST BOOK OF 2020

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY PEOPLE MAGAZINE · THESKIMM · KATIE COURIC’S “WAKE UP CALL” · ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY · VOGUE.COM · MARIE CLAIRE · PARADE.COM · BITCH MEDIA · HELLO GIGGLES · BUSTLE · BOOKLIST

An electrifying story of two ambitious friends and the dark choices they make to become internet famous.

Orla Cadden is a budding novelist stuck in a dead-end job, writing clickbait about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Then Orla meets Floss—a striving, wannabe A-lister—who comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they dream about. So what if Orla and Floss’s methods are a little shady—and sometimes people get hurt? Their legions of followers can’t be wrong.

Thirty-five years later, in a closed California village where government-appointed celebrities live every moment of the day on camera, a woman named Marlow discovers a shattering secret about her past. Despite her massive popularity—twelve million loyal followers—Marlow dreams of fleeing the corporate sponsors who would do anything to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is based on a lie, Marlow finally summons the courage to run in search of the truth, no matter the risks.

Followers traces the paths of Orla, Floss and Marlow as they wind through time toward each other, and toward a cataclysmic event that sends America into lasting upheaval. At turns wry and tender, bleak and hopeful, this darkly funny story reminds us that even if we obsess over famous people we’ll never meet, what we really crave is genuine human connection. Literary Fiction Dystopian Genre Fiction Fiction Science Fiction Urban Women's Fiction Friendship City Life
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c

Editor's Pick

The price of fame
"I imagine that Orla Cadden would balk at recent news that Instagram is testing removing likes. When we meet the blogger in 2015, at the height of "celebrity culture", her entire life is focused on making her New York City roommate, Floss, famous. After a fateful incident on the stairs at an Urban Outfitters store catapults them both to fame, these overnight celebrities end up getting more than they bargained for. Unlike Orla and Floss, Marlow doesn’t want to be famous. It’s 2051, she lives every moment of her life on a reality show set in Constellation, CA (think Calabasas on speed), and she can’t get out. Until one day she does, and jets off to NYC to find the truth about her past, hurtling her toward a reckoning with events that happened 35 years ago. Megan Angelo’s debut novel is not only an engrossing story of these three women and their desire to be liked, but an important lesson for us all in this influencer-fueled world where we’ll do anything for the ‘gram’, but at what cost?"
—Margaret H., Audible Editor

Fascinating Premise • Compelling Storylines • Excellent Narration • Richly Drawn Protagonists • Clever Writing

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant
Ok, I just purchased a load of blue light blocking reading glasses after reading “The Followers” a highly rated speculative fiction novel…. just in case. If you think you might have a problem with checking your computer for updates every five minutes, then this is a great novel for you.

“The Followers” hilariously shows the dark side of those “influencers”, the ones who tweet, Instagram, u-tube, etc. for the sole purpose of getting “hits” “likes” or what have you. I listened to the audible production, narrated by Jayme Mattler, and she was voice-perfect in her dramatizations for the vapid characters. Mattler made the characters real.

The story is told in two timeframes, 2015 and 2051. In 2015 we learn of how high-profile influencers are made. It’s a cut-throat world, and author Megan Angelo has a fun time writing over-the-top silly characters. Well, some of the reality TV shows on currently (any of the “Housewives of” series comes to mind) which encourage competitive and selfish behavior are on par with this story.

Two unseeingly compatible girls end up roommates in NYC. One girl, Orla, wants to be a successful author or blogger. She’s more intellectual in her employment pursuits. She is a blogger for a website called Lady-ish. Her roommate is Floss, who, similar to most of the Kardashians, has no talent or reason to be noticed, is a wannabe celebrity. Floss is one of the most self-involved characters ever written, and she makes reading this story fun. The girls scheme plans to get noticed, well Floss wants to be noticed and Orla writes about it. And it becomes a campy storyline.

In 2051, Marlow lives in a California town inhabited by only reality TV stars. Every moment of her life is on camera. There are cameras in every room of her home and school. The cameras follow her everywhere in her town. In fact, she’s only known a life on camera. When the network determines that Marlow should have a baby with her husband, she learns some disturbing information surrounding her parents.

The two story lines to converge, and it becomes a cautionary tale of fame and those who follow the famous. There is an event known as “the spill” that changed the internet, but the reader only gets a few clues about what “the spill” was. Angelo does a fantastic job making the reader take a closer look at privacy on the internet, along with health issues resulting from all the time we spend in front of those blue light devices.

I really enjoyed the audio of this one.

a cautionary tale!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is what I expected and so much more. Shifting timelines helps this story evolve. And as there are only two it is not hard to keep track. It is really a love story between unlikely friends and mothers and daughters. Beautiful

Unexpected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The beginning was a slow start for me but a couple of hours in & I couldn't stop listening. A fantastic book.

Worth the listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved it. Chapter 24 was hard. I loved the characters and the story. Yhe narration was excellent. Loved the Trump reference chapter 25.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book came as suggested reading from Audible and I'm SO glad I looked into it. The storyline and characters were fantastic. I didn't see the ending coming and was hooked from chapter ONE. Highly recommended reading for teenagers or young adults as it has so much truth in today's social media/oversharing culture. I'm hoping they make this into a movie or limited series. Would 100% watch! Plot and storyline is much better than your average beach read, I'm surprised this book isn't getting more buzz!

A must read...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews