People Like Her

I was anticipating a lot more from this "thriller." I liked the story-building, the descriptions of the influencing business, and the portrait of the family on the brink but the thriller aspect was buried and partially nonsensical. People Like Her shows the ugly side of what really goes on behind the camera in influencer's life and shows the strains in a couple's relationship as they try to manage two young children,  Mamabare's perfect online persona, and her millions of followers. One of their followers seems to be trying to follow a little too closely although her occasional narration doesn't add much to the story other than confusion. The story is told through alternating viewpoints - the wife, husbands, and the creepy stalker lady. It had a lot of potential and it wasn't awful - it just wasn't my favorite either. I wanted a little more drama and excitement at the end I suppose. 

Big Summer

This would have gotten a 5 star from me but I was completely thrown by the *SPOILER ALERT* murder mystery portion in the second half of the novel. I really like Daphne and she seemed like a real well fleshed out (ha ha) character that I enjoyed. As a plus size lady myself she came across as authentic which doesn't always come across in books. Daphne is a plus size influencer who finally came to terms with her body about  6 or 7 years prior when her frenemy paid a man to flirt with her and then got mad when Daphne was upset. Once she cut out the frenemy (Drue) and came to terms with her body - doors opened up for her and she just landed a sweet new sponsorship for her instagram. Then out of the blue Drue comes crashing back into her life asking if Daphne will be her maid of honor because she doesn't really have any friends. Daphne gets sucked right back in because she is a sucker for a sob story and even though Drue has a mean streak - she just has that fun aura about her. First half of the book was great - second half was a little out there.