People Like Her

"You're not a person anymore, Emmy.  You're just a phony caption and a posed photo.  A fucking invention.  I hope this is a wake-up call."

Book: People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

Emmy Jackson is the relatable Instagram mom who shares everything and leaves nothing to chance when it comes to her image and content creation.  But with millions of followers comes a pressure to keep up an image that might not always be accurate, and for Emmy it becomes increasingly hard to separate fact from Clarendon-filtered fiction.  One wrong move can mean a mass exodus of followers.  In Emmy’s case, one wrong move may cost her more than followers.  It may cost her her life.  Told in the alternating voices of Emmy, her husband Dan, and a mystery follower with a vengeance, People Like Her is a cautionary tale of how far people will go 1) to keep up an image, and 2) to expose and bring down the “perfect” mother.

I was not expecting any wow factor from this book, which is a good thing because it didn’t really have one.  I’d say it was more like “hmm…” and “okaaayyy…” instead of wow.  But that’s okay.  Not every book has to be a knockout, and I feel like this one was entertaining enough to chalk up in the didn’t-love-it-didn’t hate-it column.  Was it entirely plausible?? Not really, especially the mystery follower.  But, if anything, this book affirmed the difference between Instagram and reality which is always a helpful level-set.  This is definitely one for the beach or pool bag this summer because you can mindlessly follow the story while sipping a cocktail or people-watching/swimsuit-style-scouting. 

Look: Sweatshirt - Old Navy; Jeans - Madewell; Shoes - Target (linked similar)

We are stuck in the transition period in Chicago where it is either winter or summer and no in-between, so it’s hard to get dressed in the morning without checking the weather app.  I’ve been living in sweatshirts at home lately and for some reason more just keep showing up on the porch.  It’s weird.  This one is super cute, but I never know how to wash this fleecy material so I’ve been avoiding throwing it in the laundry pile.  I always end up ruining items like this with pillyness or stuck-on lint or just general not-as-soft-ness.  So if anyone out there has any tips for washing fleece, I’m all ears.  I picked this one up a while ago at Old Navy and it was on that messy rack of chaos so you know I can’t find that shit online to link it.  BUT, Old Navy’s spring sweatshirt game is hot, so I linked the whole collection for ya.  You know what to do.  Add to cart and act surprised when it comes in the mail.  Oh this??  Must be a gift!  Also, yes, I am still rocking my skinny jeans and I am not sorry!  I got my mules from Target, but I linked a similar pair from Amazon.  Totally striking out on the links today.

The Trendy Reader...come for the book reviews, stay for the old outfits with no links.  :)  Here’s to keeping it more real and less fake both online and IRL.  We can do it!  Also shout out to all the mommy bloggers who take perfect photos with all seven of their children smiling in matching-but-not-too-matchy outfits.  I just did family pictures with one baby and between the amount of online shopping I did and the anxiety of finding the perfect window of time and getting ready and the weather and the chance of spitting up on Outfit A which warrants having an Outfit B...let’s just say I’m glad we only do that a few times a year.  Holy cow.  

Thank you for reading!  Leave me a comment or send me a message on IG @thetrendyreader if you’d like to chat about this book, look, or anything else!  

Happy Reading!

-Amy-