Followers by Megan Angelo (#5 in 2020)
Thank you to Graydon House for my gifted copy of this newbie as well as Bookish First for the secondary one I used for a giveaway!
Orla lands herself a random roommate named Florence to fill the other room in her New York City apartment. As complete opposites, Orla seeks to become a famous writer and Florence, or Floss, desperately wants to become a family celebrity by any means necessary. When their paths finally cross as more than just roommates, the duo makes a plan to become famous. Followers charts the girls' progress on their way toward fame through the mistakes they make, the dark choices they make, and the way they relinquish the concept of privacy for the fame they so desperately want.
Followers takes place between two different time periods: the "present," 2015, and the future, 2051. The story is also told from two points of view: Orla and Marlow. Orla, as we already know is Floss's friend in the year 2015. Orla's personal qualities are familiar-- ambitious, creative, and intelligent. Orla and her roommate, Floss, make questionable choices to catapult Floss toward the fame she is so desperate to attain. In the midst of Orla's journalistic approach to helping Floss achieve fame, Orla somehow also winds up in the reality TV spotlight, a place she never dreamed she'd be. I felt like I understood Orla's feelings as she was caught between the excitement of fame and a simultaneous hatred for the person she had become. As tensions rise and as drama ensues, Orla realizes that the path she chose might not be the one that would have made her happy.
Marlow, on the other hand, is a character from 2051. She lives in a celebrity-centered town in California where her every move is watched and criticized by her followers who watch her on live broadcasting every day. Marlow's claim to fame is a reality-style stream where her followers focus on her everyday life and criticize her appearance, actions, and words. Her network is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company who controls her emotions through the use of their drugs. While readers are learning about Orla and her "fame project," Marlow, in the future, is trying to detach herself from the famous life she's known and seeks to delve deeply into who she truly is.
I picked up on an incredibly sarcastic and humorous tone amidst the drama of the story; I love a good mixture of comedy and drama. The unnamed president described in Followers is... oddly familiar... and the topics of pharmaceuticals, security, privacy, and immigration are all addressed in various ways. I love any opportunity for an author to make comments on society, especially when those comments connect to controversial topics... and ESPECIALLY when the literary technique takes on a satirical tone.
BRAVO to Megan Angelo for questioning our vices, for evaluating our questionable choices, for criticizing our current societal values, and for focusing the motivation behind our goals. 4.5 stars!
Thank you to Graydon House for my gifted copy of this newbie as well as Bookish First for the secondary one I used for a giveaway!
Orla lands herself a random roommate named Florence to fill the other room in her New York City apartment. As complete opposites, Orla seeks to become a famous writer and Florence, or Floss, desperately wants to become a family celebrity by any means necessary. When their paths finally cross as more than just roommates, the duo makes a plan to become famous. Followers charts the girls' progress on their way toward fame through the mistakes they make, the dark choices they make, and the way they relinquish the concept of privacy for the fame they so desperately want.
Followers takes place between two different time periods: the "present," 2015, and the future, 2051. The story is also told from two points of view: Orla and Marlow. Orla, as we already know is Floss's friend in the year 2015. Orla's personal qualities are familiar-- ambitious, creative, and intelligent. Orla and her roommate, Floss, make questionable choices to catapult Floss toward the fame she is so desperate to attain. In the midst of Orla's journalistic approach to helping Floss achieve fame, Orla somehow also winds up in the reality TV spotlight, a place she never dreamed she'd be. I felt like I understood Orla's feelings as she was caught between the excitement of fame and a simultaneous hatred for the person she had become. As tensions rise and as drama ensues, Orla realizes that the path she chose might not be the one that would have made her happy.
Marlow, on the other hand, is a character from 2051. She lives in a celebrity-centered town in California where her every move is watched and criticized by her followers who watch her on live broadcasting every day. Marlow's claim to fame is a reality-style stream where her followers focus on her everyday life and criticize her appearance, actions, and words. Her network is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company who controls her emotions through the use of their drugs. While readers are learning about Orla and her "fame project," Marlow, in the future, is trying to detach herself from the famous life she's known and seeks to delve deeply into who she truly is.
I picked up on an incredibly sarcastic and humorous tone amidst the drama of the story; I love a good mixture of comedy and drama. The unnamed president described in Followers is... oddly familiar... and the topics of pharmaceuticals, security, privacy, and immigration are all addressed in various ways. I love any opportunity for an author to make comments on society, especially when those comments connect to controversial topics... and ESPECIALLY when the literary technique takes on a satirical tone.
BRAVO to Megan Angelo for questioning our vices, for evaluating our questionable choices, for criticizing our current societal values, and for focusing the motivation behind our goals. 4.5 stars!