A seductive psychological thriller about obsession, illusion, and female identity in the digital age.
Though beautiful, cunning, and privileged, nineteen-year-old Mickey finds herself with a stalled modeling career, an escalating drinking problem, few friends, and next to nothing in the bank. To numb her growing despair, she spends her days frantically refreshing her Instagram feed, obsessively tracking the movements of Insta-famous model Gemma Anton.
Mickey sees Gemma as a perfected version of herself. Gemma is living a seemingly perfect life: a skyrocketing career, a famous boyfriend, and adoring followers. It’s the life Mickey wants more than anything. Mickey studies every detail Gemma offers through the window of her phone, trying to absorb, mimic, become the object of her growing fascination.
When a chance encounter thrusts Mickey into a world of opportunity, she is met with surprising—and immediate—success. But as her online persona begins to take over, the line between reality and illusion disappears. Then suddenly, so does Gemma.
Engrossing, sharp, and astute, Like Me is a shimmering portrait of infatuation, disconnection, and identity—and a dazzling introduction to a brilliant new voice in contemporary literature.
Genre: Mystery
Though beautiful, cunning, and privileged, nineteen-year-old Mickey finds herself with a stalled modeling career, an escalating drinking problem, few friends, and next to nothing in the bank. To numb her growing despair, she spends her days frantically refreshing her Instagram feed, obsessively tracking the movements of Insta-famous model Gemma Anton.
Mickey sees Gemma as a perfected version of herself. Gemma is living a seemingly perfect life: a skyrocketing career, a famous boyfriend, and adoring followers. It’s the life Mickey wants more than anything. Mickey studies every detail Gemma offers through the window of her phone, trying to absorb, mimic, become the object of her growing fascination.
When a chance encounter thrusts Mickey into a world of opportunity, she is met with surprising—and immediate—success. But as her online persona begins to take over, the line between reality and illusion disappears. Then suddenly, so does Gemma.
Engrossing, sharp, and astute, Like Me is a shimmering portrait of infatuation, disconnection, and identity—and a dazzling introduction to a brilliant new voice in contemporary literature.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"Like Me by Hayley Phelan reads like both a harrowing portrayal of addiction and a smart, razor-sharp portrait of the Instagram age. Completely absorbing, deeply uncomfortable and impressively original, Phalen's poignant novel of obsession, desperation, sexuality and identity will change how you think of the time we're living in." - Ashley Audrain
"Hayley Phelan's Like Me is whip-smart and savage. Equal parts thriller and critique, this is an adrenaline shot of a novel." - Katie Kitamura
"A dark and thrilling story of obsession, addiction and identity. In Hayley Phelan's sharp debut we see the New York fashion world through the eyes of Mickey Jones, an aspiring nineteen-year-old model, and her story is both totally contemporary and utterly timeless." - Harriet Alida Lye
"Hayley Phelan's captivating debut Like Me, with its glittery influencers and Instagram stars, captures the way some now live their lives online. But her unforgettable heroine, Mickey Jones, suffers from the age-old abuses of women whose only weapons are youth and beauty - and a steadfast resolve not to die." - Helen Schulman
"Hayley Phelan's Like Me is a raw and electrifying study of the mind, the body and what can happen when one loses control over the other. It is a fever dream - a horror story - that sits far too comfortably in our reality." - An Yu
"Hayley Phelan's Like Me is whip-smart and savage. Equal parts thriller and critique, this is an adrenaline shot of a novel." - Katie Kitamura
"A dark and thrilling story of obsession, addiction and identity. In Hayley Phelan's sharp debut we see the New York fashion world through the eyes of Mickey Jones, an aspiring nineteen-year-old model, and her story is both totally contemporary and utterly timeless." - Harriet Alida Lye
"Hayley Phelan's captivating debut Like Me, with its glittery influencers and Instagram stars, captures the way some now live their lives online. But her unforgettable heroine, Mickey Jones, suffers from the age-old abuses of women whose only weapons are youth and beauty - and a steadfast resolve not to die." - Helen Schulman
"Hayley Phelan's Like Me is a raw and electrifying study of the mind, the body and what can happen when one loses control over the other. It is a fever dream - a horror story - that sits far too comfortably in our reality." - An Yu
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