I found Underbelly a really thought-provoking read, especially around the dark and toxic side of the internet. 📱 Whenever I read about motherhood and social media, it always strikes a cord and I think @annawhitehouse taps into this subject with confidence being influencers themselves. Social media can easily create these feelings of jealously and constant need for validation which takes a lot of strength to realise and step back from. It can be grim! The title for the book is just perfect 👌🏻

UNDERBELLY
[n.] singular
The soft underside or abdomen of a mammal.
An area vulnerable to attack.
A dark, hidden part of society.

I was immersed in the characters stories and found it eye opening and challenging. The book explores themes of female friendship, mental health, miscarriage, self harm and abuse so be aware of those trigger warnings. ⚠️

Gosh my emotions were all over the place with this one but I did find myself laughing out loud too. 🤪 The writing is painfully honest and I definitely found the second half hard to put down as I was desperate to find out how it was going to end!!😬 Underbelly serves as a reminder to be kind, as you never know what someone is going through. A fierce debut and a great summer read💥

This wonderfully striking cover is definitely what drew me in to this book and I’ve seen it doing the rounds of social media very recently, so it’s probably already on your radar. I was very excited about it after reading the synopsis but I couldn’t help wanting a little bit more.

Lo is a successful influencer who regularly gets lucrative paid advertising deals with brands that cater to her audience of almost 40,000 women. Dylan is a struggling single mother barely scraping by on her telesales job. On their first day of school, Lo’s daughter Scout and Dylan’s son Noah form a firm friendship, forcing their mothers to meet and enter each other’s worlds.

Lois’ Instagram is very open and honest about everything that she goes through. Her audience are privy to almost every little detail of her life and although we see how much her posts help women going through similar things, Lois’ story is somewhat of a cautionary tale about the dangers of being so frank online. It leaves her wide open to trolls and when she does inevitably put a foot wrong, they descend immediately.

Dylan is running from her abusive ex and trying to give Noah a life away from the chaos he was born into. She has a horrific past and she releases her pain into her blog. Dylan’s traumas have made her wise to many things and she has an instant distrust of men, which is understandable. To be honest, she is reluctant to open up to anyone and I was surprised when she only seemed to need a few glasses of wine to open up to Lois, who she had previously been wary of. Their friendship appeared to progress a little too quickly for adult women, particularly when one of them is quite clearly keen to be left alone.

Lois is a woman that I’m sure we all know. She is a typical extrovert who thrives around other people and having a ‘project’ to work towards. As the narrative progresses and Lo discovers that Dylan is a talented writer, Dylan almost becomes Lo’s ‘influencer protegee’. Although Dylan is fully on board with it, I was a little confused as to why these two grown women seemed to be unaware of the pitfalls of being internet-famous. Despite knowing that Dylan is a private person, Lo doesn’t warn her friend of the life-changing power that having thousands of followers brings. In turn, although Dylan does briefly worry about her violent ex finding them online, it’s apparently not enough of a deterrent to keep her from going along with it. Perhaps Lo is so deeply entrenched in the magic of social media that she genuinely doesn’t consider the dark side of it and perhaps Dylan really is naive enough to believe that she is unlikely to be found. I find it a little hard to believe in 2021, but perhaps this is the case!

Of course, the book does deal with the dark ‘underbelly’ of the internet who are always waiting for the biggest influencers to make a misstep. I was constantly waiting for a twist to reveal itself and the identity of these women, who are clearly close to Lois, to come to light. But it never did. I was getting towards the end of the book and I was scouring the pages looking for even a subtle clue that gave me answers but I didn’t find anything! Usually I don’t mind things not being completely spelled out for me because there are normally enough clues for me to come to my own conclusions but there was virtually nothing here, unfortunately.

Underbelly is a very well-written book with two fairly interesting protagonists but I think it may have tried to be two different things -an adult contemporary commentating on social media and a thriller- and didn’t quite execute the thriller part. It really could have done with a few more chapters because Lo and Dylan’s friendship was very under-developed. They only really spent time together two or three times, so I’m not even really sure they had a proper friendship. The storyline with Dylan’s ex seemed to wrap itself up a little too nicely and was slightly insulting to Dylan actually. There was some tension towards the end but it immediately all fell away when I realised that I wasn’t going to get a proper resolution. So, I had lots of issues with it but it does shed light on different faces of motherhood and exposes the vulnerability of seemingly untouchable influencers.

Underbelly by Anna Whitehouse (the pseudonym of Anna and her husband Matt Farquharson) has a cover which immediately grabbed my attention due to both the bright colours and the imagery of someone looking down at their phone. I found it to be a really interesting read which dives deep into the 'underbelly' of the internet, and what life can really be like as an influencer in current times. As a result this is a very modern novel, and at times a deeply personal one - I know from following Anna and Matt on social media that there are elements of this story that are much closer to reality than readers would perhaps want to expect. It does touch on some very difficult themes (self-harm, miscarriage and domestic abuse, to name a few), and while these may be hard topics for people who have experienced them to read about, they are handled incredibly sensitively, yet thoroughly. I generally read quite fast-paced thrillers, so this was a bit of a slower, easier read for me, but one which I enjoyed and found quite informative.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Underbelly follows the lives of 2 mums on opposite walks of life who are brought together in the playground thanks to their children's friendship.

The book delves into some deep emotions and difficult situations but with humour added too. I couldn't put it down it was a great page turner! I felt I could relate with some of the situations having children of a similar age and all the emotions that go with trying to be the perfect modern parent.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others. I've followed the Authors via Social media for some time and would love to see more of their fiction writing together.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book before release for this review.

This dark, sharp novel also exposes a deeply gentle side.
You’ll frantically turn page after page in a race to reach the climax of the story.
Cleverly written and brought together Underbelly is one of a kind look at the toxic underside of social media and how it could affect us all.

As someone of an older generation for whom the world of influencers is still a slightly strange concept, I am always intrigued by books that explore the impact of the carefully curated world of social media and Underbelly by does just that, reminding us all of the dark side of the internet, as well as tackling the complicated issue of women learning to combine career and motherhood and the challenges that brings.

Lois and Dylan are two mothers whose lives couldn’t be more different. Lois lives a middle-class life with husband Johno and daughter Scout, and is a successful influencer with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram - but beneath the polished life portrayed on social media lies considerable heartache as she is struggling to conceive. By contrast Dylan is a single mother living hand to mouth, working a zero hours job but with aspirations to be a writer and trying to stay off social media as she is hiding from an abusive ex. When their children start school and become best friends, the unlikely pair find themselves developing a friendship but as they both develop their online presence, so they fall victim to the inevitable criticism and speculation from not only those on Instagram but on a breakout site known in the book as Influenza and risks exposing the side of themselves they are both trying to hide, with potentially devastating consequences.

Underbelly is a fairly gritty book in parts, going beyond the dangers of social media to touch on issues such as parenthood, miscarriage, domestic abuse, mental health and self harm. The book throws a light on the stark difference between followers and friendship, as well as on the complicated nature of female friendship and whether we are always as good at supporting our fellow women as we should be. It is a reminder that motherhood is challenging, and that navigating motherhood and a career with the inevitable mum guilt that comes with it is not easy for anyone - and how we are perceived by others can have a huge impact. Lo and Dylan are both very real characters, flawed and complicated but each likeable nevertheless and seeing their friendship evolve as the book progresses is fascinating. It is a book that manages to combine brutal honesty with real emotion and some genuine humour and I raced through it.

I have followed Anna Whitehouse (@mother_pukka) on social media for a while, and then recently she’s been a maternity cover for the afternoon show on our local West Midlands Heart radio station – which I have long listened to and blogged about and so I feel like I’ve got to know her better (I’m not a weird stalker, honest!) I knew that Anna had written non fiction books with her husband Matt Farquharson, and then heard her talking about their first foray into fiction on the Scummy Mummies podcast. Yes – I did write ‘their’, and no it does just say Anna Whitehouse on the cover. This is apparently because fiction books can only have one named author – who knew!?! This also makes sense when other writing duos have chosen a pen name – such as Ellery Lloyd with ‘People Like Her’ – I hadn’t realised the significance of having a single name. (There endeth the random lesson in fiction publishing.)

Anyway – Anna’s description of ‘Underbelly’ really appealed, so I immediately requested – and was kindly granted – a copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review – so here we go. For anyone who hasn’t heard Anna’s synopsis (but the Scummy Mummies podcast is always good for LOLs, so maybe use Anna’s episode as a taster?) here’s the blurb:

“UNDERBELLY
[n.] singular
The soft underside or abdomen of a mammal.
An area vulnerable to attack.
A dark, hidden part of society.

Lo and Dylan are living parallel lives, worlds apart.
Lo is the ultimate middle-class mother, all perfectly polished Instagram posts and armchair activism.
Dylan is just about surviving on a zero-hours telemarketing job from her flat, trying to keep food on the table.
But when they meet at the school gates, they are catapulted into each other’s homes and lives – with devastating consequences . . .
Explosive, sharply humorous and unflinchingly honest, Underbelly slices through the filtered surface of modern women’s lives to expose the dark truth beneath.“

The book is told from the point of view of two Mums – Lois and Dylan, as described above – living incredibly different lives. Their paths cross – well actually paths physically bump into each other – before their kids start at the same primary school in reception, but when the kids become friends, Lo and Dylan become better acquainted.

Now – very early on in the book there is an incredibly graphic miscarriage scene. I’m very fortunate that I’ve had 4 straightforward pregnancies, and never lost a baby, but I can imagine this could be quite difficult for some people to read. In fact that book doesn’t shy away from heavy topics at all – with self harm, loneliness, suicide and emotional and physical abuse all woven through the storyline – but not in an off putting way, it’s just not a light and fluffy read – despite the pink cover.

Lo was incredibly self absorbed and self obsessed – desperate to get likes / hit the algorithms / keep her management and sponsors happy / respond to all of her followers comments and messages. This definitely made me think that there is more to this Instamum lark than just posting photos of your neutral kids in your neutral home with your neutral husband. Lo is also worried about a site called Influenza – where people can anonymously slag off Instamums or other celebrities without fear of reprisal. I saw in other reviews that this was based on a site called Tattle – which I’d never heard of. I made the mistake of going on there and it is VICIOUS. It’s also pretty sad that some people have so little going on it their lives that they spend their time forensically dissecting posts on Instagram to then go and slag posters off on Tattle to like minded individuals. Just plain horrible.

Meanwhile Dylan was having a really tough time of it as single Mum, on the run from an abusive ex (and her son Noah’s father) and trying to earn a living cold calling selling water coolers (again, it made me decide to be slightly less rude to cold callers to my office in the future).

The friendship between Lois’s daughter Scout and Dylan’s son Noah starts on the first day of Reception – and it really showed that kids don’t care who is who in the playground – they like who they like.

In the middle of the book I did feel like the storyline didn’t really go anywhere for a while – but I guess that cleverly reflects the relentlessness and monotony of both motherhood and Instamums??

Lo tries to help Dylan – by giving Noah free clothes, paying her to use Noah’s image in some posts, sharing Dylan’s blog to all of her followers – and this helps Dylan in her aspirations as a writer – but it does all very much feel like Lady Bountiful Lo helping poor little Dylan.

Then various turns of events cause everything to go tits up for both women – and this is written brilliantly with the momentum of everything spiralling out of control totally consuming. It really makes you think how one error of judgment can cause someone to be completely cancelled. Frightening really.

And I was left wanting to know what happened to the women and their children next – which is always the sign of a good book.

Overall it was a really interesting and thought provoking read. It’s definitely made me stop and think. I wasn’t going to subscribe to Tattle or anything – but when I recently described an Instamum’s feed as ‘vacuous shite’ to a friend, it made me realise I can just click the ‘unfollow’ button, it doesn’t affect me one iota, and she can post whatever she wants – meanwhile I’ll go and find someone with content I find more inspiring. Knowing that the book has been written from a place of personal experience by Anna Whitehouse also makes it all the more relevant and meaningful.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Orion Books for my advance review copy – and it’s out later this week if you are interested in delving behind the social media curtain yourself!

Thanks to NetGalley, Orion Publishing and Anna Whitehouse for the ARC of Underbelly.

I am a huge fan of Anna and her Mother Pukka account - we share similar beliefs surrounding Mum mental load, flexible working and women in the workplace, so I was super excited to read her first ever fiction novel written with her husband Matt.

This book covers some hard hitting topics - so as a bit of a potential trigger alert, be aware of baby loss, grief, motherhood challenges, self harm and abusive relationships. It also follows topics that fans of Anna will already relate to - the challenges of managing the balance of motherhood and a career.

The story is told through duel perspectives - first up is Lo Knox, a mum influencer who runs The lowdown on instagram and Dyl Raine - a single Mum living on the breadline after escaping an abusive ex. The pair meet by chance at the start of the school year, and despite their lives being polar opposites, they get to know each other when their children become besties.

Underbelly really highlights some of the dark sides of social media as well as just how often we form opinions of someone just by the little snippets of their life they choose to share. What's on the surface isn't always the reality, and when it comes to instagram, one badly worded caption or poorly chosen ad can make of break someone's career and their livlihoods.

I found the book super authentic and relatable, becoming very engrossed with the characters. I am normally a thriller reader and as such the pace of this book was more of a slowburn than a rapid page turner, but a really enjoyable debut none the less!

Underbelly explores many important issues from grief to motherhood with thought, care and respect.

I liked how it was candid about pregnancy and miscarriage. It didn't shy away from the grizzly details of such trauma as most books would. The dual perspective added some interest, and I found them both equally well written.

I also enjoyed the exploration into the darker side of social media, in particular gossip sites which can often start off innocently but lead to something much more menacing as time goes on.

My only real negative is that I found it dragged in places, and wasn't always able to hold my interest. But overall, this was definitely an eye opening read.

@currentlyreading__
Book 42 of 2021

Thank you to @NetGalley, @orionbooks and @mother_pukka for sending the e-ARC of 'Underbelly' to be published a week today on 5th August. I absolutely whizzed through this and being unaware of the author's real-life social media presence I was able to read this objectively and not consider what she might have been subjected to - the dark and totally toxic side of social media. Words are supremely powerful and it only takes a hastily written tweet or ill thought out post to make or break someone. I really enjoyed the concept of 'Underbelly' and found it thought-provoking, funny and moving. Being a child of the 70s and only really discovering social media in my 30s, I find the concept of influencer culture both bizarre and fascinating. This is why @mother_pukka's characters Lo and Dyl were so readable if not (at times) relatable.

Lo Knox is an instafamous 'mumfluencer' and her carefully curated squares of @the_low_down_ keep her family in ethically sourced organic gender neutral clothing and her content relevant for the modern mother as well as earning her a fortune.

Dyl Rayne is single after having escaped an abusive relationship with JD and despite her talent for writing from the heart, she has no sycophantic following like Lo Knox until they meet at the school gate after their four year olds Scout and Noah form a fast friendship.

Lo and Dyl couldn't be more different : Lo with the trappings of middle-class privilege with her Cath Kidston and Le Creuset and Dyl surrounded by chipped MDF and 'scabby little surfaces' in her rented flat. When Lo, an advocate of women supporting women decides to give her new friend a voice and a platform to showcase her writing, both of their worlds are thrust into the spotlight. Through tone-deaf campaigns, plagiarism and a social media witch-hunt, this was a really good read. It was harsh and at times difficult with subject matter such as miscarriage, self-harm and abuse. However, this is a book which will stay with me for some time.

I really enjoy books that look at this crazy social media soaked world we live in and Underbelly brilliantly combines the scary, dangerous realities (of the hidden side) of a life lived online with an engrossing story and complex characters you feel invested in.

Anna Whitehouse is actually the fiction-writing pseudonym of husband and wife Matt Farquharson and Anna Whitehouse. To add another name to the mix, Anna Whitehouse is also known as Mother Pukka on social media. She’s a journalist, radio presenter and writer and has become an important voice in pushing forward the flexible working cause. I’m a huge fan of what she does, so was interested to see what this novel would be like.

Narrator Lo is mum of 4-year-old Scout, married to Johno and being an Instamum is her main source of income (#ads). She lives a financially comfortable life and although has good intentions, lets herself get swept up in the idea of her social presence – to the detriment of reality.

Lo meets fellow mum (and fellow narrator) Dylan at the school gates – Dylan’s son Noah is in Scout’s class. It is circumstance rather than similarities that draw them together. Dylan is a single mum making ends meet and is an aspiring author. Her very personal book is about her abusive relationship – something that shadows her every day.

Through the story, both women develop their online presence and this is to be their downfall. Mainly due to the absolute savage nature of people, not only social media but on breakout bitching sites (scathingly called Influenza here) too. This is a very real, very dangerous situation that has real consequences beyond an anonymous, throwaway comment – something both Lo and Dylan soon discover.

I know from following Anna for a little while now on instagram that some of the experiences of Lo and Dylan are rooted in reality. This made reading Underbelly all the more interesting to me as you can feel the authenticity behind the characters. I really liked how Underbelly also looks at the complex, evolving and twisting nature of female friendship and the endless pressure of mum-guilt – relatable topics for so many.

This book was sharp, funny, warm and highly readable, while making some important points – about both people that choose to live any part of their personal life online (and accept money to do that) and the people that feel they have some sort of right to destroy the aforementioned people through gossip and lies.

There’s no doubt social media is an ingrained part of our lives now, so stories like Underbelly that explore this – in all its true murkiness – feel so relevant and necessary right now. An excellent summer read!

⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️
Rounded up to 4 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Underbelly is a well written, interesting read; one that really makes you think about the toxic side of social media.

In this character driven story we learn in detail about the lives of the two main characters, Lois and Dylan:

Lois - a highly successful ‘mumfluencer’ on Instagram; to the onlooker her life is seemingly perfect, but appearances can be deceptive; we never know what’s really going on behind closed doors.

Dylan - a single mum desperately trying to make ends meet to support her young son, with dreams of becoming a writer.

Underbelly dives into the deep, dark depths of social media, predominantly the noxious, murky, shark-infested side. It shows how gossip sites (such as Tattle) can cause emotional harm; how hurtful words and lies from online trolls can tear a person and their reputation to shreds, usually through misinformation and jealousy.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable, eye-opening read, highlighting one of the most important messages: be kind, you never know what someone is going though - kindness costs nothing but can mean absolutely everything.

I know we don’t judge a book by the cover (although we all totally do), but this one is so pretty, it just looks so good in your hand. It isn’t a book for everyone; it touches on some very difficult themes like baby loss, self-harming, and domestic violence - but I would say they are more sideshows than the main plot point.

The duo of Anna and Matt have perfectly depicted the politics of the school drop off and pick up, and the emotions that come with leaving your child to another’s care, be that a teacher, a friend, or a fellow mother at the school gate.

There is such honesty in this book it makes you wonder if the authors themselves have any firsthand experience with any of the topics touched upon.

It isn’t as gritty as I thought it would be when I read the premise. It is more a realistic tale of things getting too much, with some shit on the side, rather than an all-out gritty, thrilling rollercoaster, in my opinion.

For someone who uses Instagram, Twitter, and Wordpress to document her opinions, it might seem contradicting to ask why anyone would put their whole lives online. I have mentioned some personal things in previous blog posts, but nothing that could identify me. All my personal social media’s have the strictest privacy settings, and I don’t even go into that much personal detail with my friends and family on there. There’s a toxicity to the world of influencers on social media that is so brilliantly written about in this; they’ve hit the right note so it doesn’t go into pantomime territory.

For all its tough subjects, it is quite a pleasant, easy read - that is until you get about 90% through and you’re left on the edge of your seat, heart racing, dying to finish it so you can see the conclusion to these women’s stories.

As someone who enjoys Anna/Mother Pukka's Instagram content, I was really looking forward to picking up her book co-written with her husband Matt. As two figures in the public eye who have no doubt experienced the harsh realities of social media, they are certainly in the perfect position to write Lo and Dylan's stories and this shows in the realistic portray of the likes of Instagram and Tattle (aka Influenza).

However while well written, easy to read and tackling a lot of important topics sensitively, I did feel that Underbelly was a little underdeveloped for my liking. The main characters relationship needed more work and depth, as did the plot which moved from 0 to 100 in the last 10 per cent of the book. Up until then, it had slowly ambled along, with not a huge amount happening. It might not be a thriller but I still think more was needed to really elevate the story.

That said, I would still encourage others to pick up Underbelly because I think the deep dive into the dark side of social media is a really important.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I really enjoyed 'Underbelly'. The concept felt fresh and relevant, and the characters were well-written individuals who Whitehouse created real sympathy for.

An original and highly satirical novel depicting the tales of two women on the opposing specters of motherhood and womanhood whose lives suddenly interject and lead to a satisfying climax.

3.5 stars
TW: Miscarriage, domestic abuse, suicide, and self-harm.

Underbelly takes an interesting and thought-provoking perspective on motherhood, with 2 mothers from different walks of life and classes meeting as a result of their children becoming friends in their first days of school. I think the way Anna Whitehouse writes about the influencer lifestyle, internet trolls which stemmed from a platform called “Influenza”, and paranoia of an abusive ex was done well and detailed – although I cannot confirm whether this is completely realistic given I have not experienced these.

Anna Whitehouse was able to show how fast social media following can explode but how people on the internet can just as quickly turn on someone, causing loss of anonymity and can even be fatal. I did think it was a good idea not to play into the plot of the return of an abusive ex or affairs. However, I don’t think the plot was developed enough and was quite stagnant in some places of the book. The ending moved by quickly and the plot seemed quite jumpy here. It would have been interesting to further read about how the children were affected.

Thank you to Anna Whitehouse, Orion Publishing, and Netgalley for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

I am giving Underbelly three stars. It was engaging and well written, however it didn’t feel like there was a strong plot pulling the story and characters together.

A cautionary tale about how Instagram and strangers online can make or break a person, and impact greatly on emotions and self-esteem. Could almost have been an episode of Black Mirror.

I have never read anything like this before.
It's such a unique story.

Firstly, I loved Anna Whitehouse's writing. The book flowed so well, the pacing was great, and Whitehouse creased some super relatable, yet flawed characters.

I wasn't entirely convinced by the overall plot, as I felt like it didn't really go anywhere - but this really did not hinder my enjoyment of the book.

One thing I think should be mentioned is that there should be some trigger warnings for baby loss. There is quite a graphic scene early on in the book. This really impacted me, and I'm not someone who has personally experienced a miscarriage. So goodness knows how this would make someone with personal experience feel.

Whitehouse has written such a great book here - it's one that will stay with me for a long time. I enjoyed the reading experience, and was genuinely disappointed when the book was over.
I cannot wait to see what Anna Whitehouse does next!!

Underbelly explores the dark side of Instagram and, particularly, the harsh realities of the lives behind ‘mummy influencers’ and the toxic gossip sites that moan about the women for whom Instagram is their main source of income. It is told from the perspective of a successful influencer, Lois, who is struggling to conceive and Dylan, a single mum who is hiding from an abusive partner but who wants to make a career from writing. This is very easy read that you can race through but ultimately I did not love it. I personally struggled to care about either of the two protagonists and the plot (while portraying Instagram and sites such as Tattle perfectly) was quite predictable and didn’t offer any unique or surprising insights. Anyone who is looking for an easy read and/or has enjoyed titles such as ‘So Lucky’ by Dawn O’Porter or ‘Filter This’ by Sophie White, may enjoy this for a darker look at the impact of social media.