“If anyone is going to explore a future version of our high-tech, internet-obsessed culture, please let it be Megan Angelo. FOLLOWERS is pure gold.”
— ABBI JACOBSON, AUTHOR AND CO-CREATOR OF BROAD CITY
Orla Cadden dreams of literary success, but she’s stuck writing about movie-star hookups and influencer yoga moves. Orla has no idea how to change her life until her new roommate, Floss—a striving wannabe A-lister—comes up with a plan for launching them both into the high-profile lives they so desperately crave. But it’s only when Orla and Floss abandon all pretense of ethics that social media responds with the most terrifying feedback of all: overwhelming success.
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, even horrible things, to keep her on-screen. When she learns that her whole family history is 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 for 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.
praise for followers
“This dark, pitch-perfect novel about our dependence on technology for validation and human connection is as addictive as social media itself.”
“Megan Angelo’s ‘Followers,’ with its terrific writing about terrifying ideas, is destined to be such a talker that you must read it immediately or risk being out of the loop when your friends start saying things like ‘She’s such a Marlow!’ or ‘What Would Floss Do?’”
“Spectacular… the tale skillfully builds to a terrifyingly believable climax…Angelo delivers a strong, consistently fascinating debut.”
““Funny and engrossing... It may leave you wanting to crawl into a hole and delete every record that you’ve ever existed.””
“Perfectly attuned to the age of insta-fame and insta-infamy.”
“An engaging confection wrapped around a thoughtful critique of how we live our lives online, and how we value others based on their curated personas.”
“Endless clever details and suspenseful plotting make this speculative-fiction debut an addictive treat.”
“An intricate and brave story of friendship, ambition, and love and the lengths people will go to protect it all.”
“One of the best novels of 2020.”
“A frolicking dystopia: smart, terrifying and addictively fun. Orla and Floss have stolen my heart emoji, and I will read anything Megan Angelo writes.”
“How can I explain how much I love this book? FOLLOWERS is an inventive, addictive, and perfectly constructed novel. It made me laugh out loud, care deeply about these characters and reexamine my Instagram habit. Megan Angelo’s debut is a sharp look at social media, friendship and the lengths we’ll go to in order to feel seen…it’s also the best book I’ve read in years.”
“Megan Angelo has crafted an eerie masterpiece about the world we live in and the world we don’t want to live in. FOLLOWERS will make you reconsider whether you really want your fifteen minutes of fame.”