Hate Follow

DEBUT Whitney is a social media “momfluencer” raising four children on her own after the death of her husband several years ago. Her happy family and shiny new home look idyllic to her one million followers, but behind the camera, Whitney’s family is in disarray. Teenage Mia is tired of being in her mother’s spotlight and envies her best friend’s close-knit family. When Mia discovers that her mother has posted pictures of her dad’s funeral on the internet, and her mother’s pictures of her younger sisters in the bath are hung up around school, she decides to get her privacy back from Whitney’s audience by hiring an attorney. The family’s story is told through Whitney’s and Mia’s perspectives, interspersed with message board posts from HateFollow.com. Readers are encouraged to sympathize with both perspectives, but Whitney is myopic and unlikable for most of the novel, and her alcohol addiction is left unresolved. Quinn-Kong’s storytelling in engaging, though those expecting a legal drama will be disappointed that the lawsuit stays in the background for most of the book.