"Compelling and thought-provoking look at influencer culture and growing up in the social media spotlight"
17-year-old Almond Brown has no friends, but 3.5 million followers. Ever since she was an Instagrammable bump her life has been documented and shared by her vlogging influencer mum.
Every post is perfectly curated by a team and a demanding manager, in pursuit of brand deals and Almond feels that everything people see of her has to be perfect, even when her real life is disintegrating. She really struggles with anxiety and mental health and now her mum has signed her up for group therapy. Here she finds two friends, but the dark side of the internet has her in its clutches and cyberbullying and trolling leads to some questionable decisions on her part.
Exploring themes of unrealistic life expectations, discrimination, mental health pressures and how social media can manipulate reality, in a wholly engaging and authentic story with fully rounded characters that you really care about, this is far from a mere issue led novel. It is one that older teens will really engage with and yet it has important eye-opening warning messages for those that might flirt with internet popularity as a lifestyle choice. Highly recommended.
Almond Brown has no friends in real life . . . but 3.5 million followers online. A heart-felt, whip-smart deep dive into what it would really be like to be internet famous at 17: a cautionary tale for our time from a writer who has grown up with social media. Almond is forced into the spotlight when she was just a perfectly filtered bump: her mum has been documenting their family through social media since before she was born.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
Almond Brown has no friends in real life . . . but 3.5 million followers online. A heart-felt, whip-smart deep dive into what it would really be like to be internet famous at 17: a cautionary tale for our time from a writer who has grown up with social media.
Influential features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Relationship stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Paperback, Ebook. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Influential was written by Amara Sage and published by Faber & Faber
Influential has 362 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
