In actor, author, and Instagram favorite Jenny Mollen’s first novel City of Likes, she takes a very pointed and funny look at the world of social media and social mores, friendship and frenemies, and influencers and the influenced.
Meet Megan Chernoff. Megan is a talented copywriter who is trying to get her writing career back on track. She and her family have just moved to New York City from Los Angeles. They are currently living in their actor friend’s loft while he’s on location filming. Sounds glamorous, right? Well, hardly. The Chernoffs are currently dealing with cockroaches and a less than reliable oven.
Megan and her husband, Illiya, have two small boys, Roman and Felix. Illiya works at a very exclusive and expensive high-end private social club. And it’s here where Megan meets Daphne Cole.
Who is Daphne Cole, you ask. Well, Daphne Cole is only one of the hottest mommy influencers ever! Daphne is famous for her picture perfect family and her glamorous, exciting life. Daphne has countless followers frothing at the mouth at her posts on Instagram. And companies all over seek her out to promote their products.
Megan feels like a total dork compared to Daphne, so she is shocked and delighted when Daphne befriends her. Daphne Cole wants to hang out with her! Wow!
Being in Daphne’s orbit is intoxicating for Megan. Soon she is meeting other influencer moms and gaining followers on her own Instagram account. Megan is also getting free stuff from various companies. Soon Megan is slipping further and further into influencer madness. She thinks knowing the right people and making the right connections will improve her life and her family’s life. One goal of Megan’s is to get her son, Roman, into the right school and she thinks knowing the right people like Daphne will help. And she isn’t above embellishing her son’s application letter mentioning she’s friends with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
Megan at first is thrilled at the change in her life. It’s like she’s the most popular girl at school. And when Daphne invites her to Paris, Megan jumps at the chance. However, things aren’t so rosy on the home front. Illiya isn’t happy with Megan’s new life and he questions her on how her new found fame is affecting her, him, and the kids.
But things get crazier and crazier in Megan’s life, she starts to realize that Daphne and the life she claims may not be so true. Megan questions what is real and what is not. Sure, Megan may have hit pay dirt, gotten more followers, free stuff, and connections to the glamorous people, but at what cost? Is she being her authentic self? Is she make a good impact in the world? Is her family happy? In the end Megan wants to face reality and real people who love her for who she truly is.
Though I find the influencer culture quite maddening whether it comes to parenting, fashion, or fitness, I am at the same time fascinated by it. What makes someone so appealing and powerful they can command free stuff and millions of followers? I can’t quite figure it out, but City of Likes truly captures the crazy world of influencer culture with its obsession with followers, likes, free stuff, and looking perfect. It also grasps how easily people can get caught up in influencer culture. Mollen writes with a sharp wit and a keen eye. City of Likes is a great novel for anyone who has been caught up in influencer culture or finds influencer culture quite interesting.
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