Book Review: People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

Ellery Lloyd’s new psychological thriller, People Like Her, is a thrilling exploration of the world of Instagram influencers and the secrets they keep. It follows Emmy Jackson, an Instagram sensation who is loved by her fans for her honest portrayal of modern parenthood. But while Emmy might think she has her followers fooled, someone out there knows the truth and plans to make her pay.

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Synopsis

People like Emmy Jackson. They always have. Especially online, where she is Instagram sensation Mamabare, famous for telling the unvarnished truth about modern parenthood.

But Emmy isn’t as honest as she’d like the fans to believe. She may think she has her followers fooled, but someone out there knows the truth and plans to make her pay . . .

About The Author

Ellery Lloyd is the pseudonym for London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos.

Collette is a journalist and editor, the former content director of Elle (UK) and editorial director at Soho House. She has written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and the Sunday Times.

Paul is the author of two previous novels, Welcome to the Working Week and Every Day is Like Sunday. He is the program director for English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of Surrey.

My Review

The main plotline revolves around Emmy’s attempts to keep up appearances as Mamabare. She suspects she may have a stalker after a laptop goes missing from her house in a burglary and she tries to uncover their identity. Unbeknownst to Emmy the stalker is getting closer and ready to take action. Meanwhile, Emmy makes a big mistake which leads her in the wrong direction. Her poor (though useless) husband is left to pick up the pieces leading to some incredibly tense moments in which danger lurks around every corner and nobody knows what’s going on.

I’m not overly keen on the whole Instagram influencer idea so this wasn’t the quickest choice for me. I dislike the risks people take when talking about their families mostly but also the need to share so much and portray it as a brilliant lifestyle when in fact, it’s a huge amount of work, often all-consuming day and night in order to be one of the big influencers alongside what often seems like permanently advertising the freebies they have been given. Despite all that, I saw an excellent review for this book from a friend and thought I would give it a go. I was really impressed with how they described the challenges of social media and some of the worst-case scenario ideas.

People Like Her features some strong characters that readers will undoubtedly become invested in. Emmy Jackson is an Instagram celebrity whose life revolves around maintaining her online persona as Mamabare. She is surrounded by colourful characters such as her husband, Dan; her best friend, Polly and fellow influencers; and the mysterious stalker who knows all about Emmy’s lies. Each character brings something unique to the story and adds another layer of intrigue.

Lloyd’s writing style is both accessible and captivating. From page one you are thrown into the action with a gripping introduction that instantly draws you in and keeps you hooked until the very end. Through cleverly crafted dialogue and vivid descriptions, Lloyd paints a picture of what it’s like to live life as an Instagram influencer—the dangers but also the rewards—and shows how quickly things can change when secrets are exposed online.

I did feel that the ending was slightly rushed and didn’t like what happened much, you would have thought the whole family would be put off of social media forever but apparently not!

All in all, People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd is an impressive book that offers interesting insights into life as an Instagram influencer and explores both its risks and rewards in great detail. With strong characters, exciting twists, and plenty of danger lurking around every corner, this book will keep readers hooked until its surprising conclusion (even if it does feel slightly rushed). If you’re looking for a gripping read with plenty of suspense, then look no further than People Like Her!

Rated