Summary:
Followers is a story of Orla and Floss in 2015 and Marlow in 2051. Orla is a struggling author in NYC who ends up living with Floss. All Floss wants is to be a famous influencer with lots of followers no matter the cost. She comes up with a plan to get them both famous but it’s also a little shady. Marlow is a star in Constellation-- a community where everyone is followed by cameras 23/7 to millions of their followers. She has sponsorships she has to help promote and her whole life is determined by the creators. She decides she wants to search for what’s really out there when she learns some unsettling news of her family history.
Review
This book was an interesting concept. There were times I was wondering what was going on and where it was going, but still held my attention.
Admittedly, all of the main characters annoyed me and I didn’t really like any of them. Orla didn’t have a lot of drive and felt super sorry for herself, Floss was just so self obsessed, and Marlow was just okay but went with the flow for way too long. I never really figured out if Orla and Floss were real friends or if they were just pretending...which maybe was the point.
At some points, the story felt like it was dragging on a bit. There is a constant reference to an event called “the Spill” early on but it’s not revealed until way later in the book. I also didn’t really understand how the implant in Marlow worked that allowed the cameras to roll 23/7 and tell her what to do. Without spoilers, the ending was weird? It didn’t really make sense to me for how the story was told.
Followers did provide an interesting dialogue on influencer culture and how far society might be willing to go for it. I’ve definitely never read anything quite like it. It was an interesting “modern” sci-fi type world that was created. If you like Black Mirror and influencer culture, you will enjoy this book.