People Pleaser
Catriona Stewart

Someone is hiding a secret, and they’ll do anything to keep it buried.

‘Two full dates, and they had yet to kiss; that was LoveShack malpractice and the fastest way to get sent home.’

When Maggie Lathrop wins reality TV show LoveShack, her life becomes a fairy tale overnight. She’s beautiful, she’s rich and she’s now married to one of America’s most eligible men. And suddenly she’s murdered and the question asked is who would want to kill America’s sweetheart?

“Obviously, I'm trusting you not to tell anyone about this Please consider this offer. I think it's a good one.”

People Pleaser was told in dual narrations and I preferred Maggie’s flashback chapters from her time on the tv show LoveShack.
Our other narrator was Maggie’s sister Emma, who is obsessed with cracking this mystery.

‘Great. The only hot guys that wanted to sleep with her were gay men who wanted to make sure they were fully gay.’

I didn’t enjoy this one much. I struggled to connect with the characters and their shallow interactions didn’t land to me. It all felt very disingenuous and like cheap thrills unfortunately.

(Posted to my Goodreads page 15th June 2025)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a eARC of this book. I was not paid to read it and leave a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.

When Kansas sweetheart Maggie Lathrop wins America’s most popular dating show, her life changes overnight. With a handsome husband, a pristine L.A. mansion, and a glamorous new circle of friends, Maggie seems to be living the dream. But the façade quickly unravels when she’s found murdered in a remote warehouse. As her sister Emma digs into Maggie’s seemingly perfect life, a darker, more dangerous side of Hollywood begins to surface.

The moment I saw this pitched as Love Island meets The White Lotus, I knew I had to read it—and it didn’t disappoint!

This is a tightly written thriller that keeps a consistent pace, told through the alternating perspectives of four central characters, including flashbacks to Maggie’s life leading up to her death. The story cleverly explores the pressures of reality TV and the performative nature of social media, peeling back the illusion of perfection and shining a light on the cost of being a “people pleaser.”

I particularly liked Emma’s determination to get justice for her sister. Her refusal to accept the easy answers made her a compelling character, and her hunt for the truth was filled with twists that kept me guessing. The ending truly blindsided me—it was an unexpected twist that gave the story a sharp, memorable finish.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for whatever Catriona Stewart writes next!

This was a very enjoyable murder mystery set in the world of reality television in Hollywood. A young woman named Maggie was a contestant on a reality dating show where she met her now husband. A few years later, she is found brutally murdered. After a few months, the police decide it's a cold case, and so Maggie 's sister Emma, along with two friends, decides to solve the murder mystery herself. She delves into her sister's world during and after her appearance on the dating show and discovers some startling things about her sister's life, which reveal that she didn't know her sister as well as she thought.

The murder mystery aspect of the story is very intriguing and interesting. There are small pieces being discovered, and now Emma has to put them all together with the help of her friends.

The gripe I have with the book is that I really didn't like many of the characters. Other than Emma and Jill, the characters are all very self involved and only care about the way the public and industry views them. That ties into the world they have chosen to work and live in, but it makes them very difficult to like and care about.

3 / 5

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review.

The first half of the book was much stronger for me - I loved the setup, the detail of the reality show "Love Shack", I enjoyed following Maggie through the ups and downs of the show and I was really invested in her story. She was a layered character which I loved - she had good qualities as well as faults. Her sister Emma gets suitably obsessed into finding out who killed Maggie and it's believable, you can feel their bond.

It was a bit predictable for me though, I knew who the culprit was quite early on. I couldn't connect to Amanda's character, I thought she was unnecessary and didn't add too much to the story other than just being another person to help investigate. She had a lot of background story as well which didn't really link to the main plot too much. Equally, I felt nothing for Jill either. I felt Jill, Amanda and Emma's voices (though it's not first person POV) were all quite similar.

A fun read however!

Emma is struggling to come to terms with her sister, Maggie's, brutal death. The situation made all the more complicated by the fact that Maggie was a reality TV darling with a massive social media following, some of whom are now turning sleuth to solve her murder. Add to this her sister's widow strange behaviour, a strange interest from another celebrity, a life that has gone to pieces and several side players from here sister's time on tv and you get a heady mix.

People pleaser gives an interesting take on what it means to be famous not just for yourself but for the people in your life. It highlights the huge pressure that people face to stay "relevant" and just exactly what they are willing to do for it. I appreciated the multi-narrator approach and each voice was distinct and uniquely their own. The characters are all very human, each with their own flaws to contend with.

The pace of the read is quick enough and I found that once I got into it I didn't want to put it down as I was intrigues as to where it was going to lead. Overall a very solid debut and I look forward to reading more of their work.

This is a good take on the perils of reality tv, I enjoyed it! We all know I love a story told from multiple points of view, so I of course liked the multiple narratives, and the sections from Maggie's PoV while on the reality show. This is a little darker than you expect it to be at times, but it definitely adds to the story. Would recommend!

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin for sharing this digital ARC with me.

Seems like people really loved this and I'm thrilled it's found an audience. I was a little more split. I loved the dating show dynamics and suspense, along with find information on present day that helped to contextualise it. I didn't love much of the present day stuff with the other points of view. I found myself often having to reread because I was skipping ahead. A solid take on this kind of story though and I'd pick up another by this author,

Have never seen Love Island but do watch and love most reality Tv shows so knew would enjoy this,well hoped would and i did,there are a lot of characters and lots going on but thats better than too little of both ( for me anyway ) the writing and stories kept me hooked and was as good all round as wanted it to be

People Pleaser is a great concept for anyone who is *too* online or overly invested in reality drama (it’s me, hi!). The idea that there’s a “curse” following the cast of a reality dating show that’s a cross between Love Island and The Bachelor is what drew me in; I love a murder mystery that’s not too cozy.

Unfortunately, I found that there were too many plot points here - and confusing storylines. The ending felt a bit weak (to keep it spoiler free, I felt the ending was a bit random at best). However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wasn’t able to put it down while sitting on the beach! A perfect page turner for when you’ve got a drink in your hand.

As a self-confessed Love Island fan (here and there, I’ve missed a few seasons recently!), I was very excited to see People Pleaser on my monthly NetGalley browse. Touted a page-turning mystery thriller with a reality TV setting, I knew it’d be perfect fodder for my flight this summer. And I was right! While People Pleaser will not be reinventing the wheel, it was a perfectly serviceable read that was pacey, full of characters to detest, and a reality TV backdrop that makes it relatable and comedic.

Maggie Lathrop is found murdered in an LA warehouse, a few years after winning LoveShack and becoming an overnight Internet sensation and wealthy influencer. Her death sparks a parasocial outpouring of grief and triggers endless armchair detectives – who would want to kill America’s sweetheart?

The story is told in alternating timelines: one reality and the other during reality TV episodes. This gives it a great pace and keeps you turning the pages, despite being a touch long. I couldn’t say this is elite literature, but it’ll make a fun poolside read this summer.

3.5 stars. A fun page turner.

I was hooked from the beginning and the pace kept me interested in this thriller. Definitely worth checking out.

If you mix a thriller with Love Island vibes, you’ll get People Pleaser - and what a brilliant result you get.

This was a fun and engaging book with elements of mystery and some tense moments. As an avid thriller reader, there wasn’t personally the big twists and turns that shocked me, but it was really refreshing to read something a little different within the genre.

I enjoyed the multiple POV as you got to know the stories and struggles behind each character. Some were directly linked to Maggie and her murder, whilst others had their own sub-plots which added to the character development. I particularly enjoyed the flashback chapters from Maggie’s POV which told us as the reader about what happened when she was on the reality show LoveShack and how this was the catalyst to so many things happening in her life.

This book does a great job at showcasing the dark side of fame, reality TV and influencer culture. It highlights the pressure to be perceived in a particular way in the public eye, the need for approval and how things are not always as they appear on social media. This is such a brilliant, modern and relevant topic to cover and I think the author did it so well.

This is a superb debut by Catriona Stewart and I look forward to hopefully reading more from her in the future!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This a hugely entertaining, easy read that is perfect for holidays. Maggie, a reality star who won a series of Love Shack, has been murdered in LA. Her sister Emma is distraught and desperately wants to find out what happened. Told from multiple POVs, it becomes clear that Emma did not know everything that was going on in Maggie’s life and that she needs to dig deeper into her Love Shack experience to find out more. I really enjoyed this and struggled to put it down.

I have to confess I love a bit of reality tv, so combine that with an element of mystery and this was always going to be a book I had to read - and it definitely didn’t disappoint!

A former winner of “Love Shack”, Maggie is leading a seemingly perfect life, having married Theo who she met on the show, and together they have built a successful and lucrative career. But when she is found dead, and the police close the case a few months later due to lack of leads, her sister Emma takes it upon herself to investigate, aided by the creator of Love Shack Amanda - and Emma soon discovers that she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought she did.

Told from multiple points of view, interspersed with flashbacks of Maggie’s time on the show and beyond, the author does a great job of bringing the characters to life. The dark side of reality tv and influencer life - and the way in which it impacts personal identity - is at the heart of the story. Add to that the suspense that builds in the hunt for Maggie’s killer and it all adds up to a real page turner and a thoroughly entertaining read. Definitely one to add to the summer reading list!

I loved how this book explored the dark side of reality TV and influencer culture. I was completely invested as Emma uncovered shocking secrets about Maggie’s 'perfect' life, where fame, deception, and danger all collided.

People Pleaser is a slick, contemporary mystery with a strong hook—an influencer found dead in an LA warehouse, her sister left to untangle the truth behind the glossy Instagram facade. I was drawn in early by the premise and the dual timelines, especially Maggie’s behind-the-scenes view of a reality dating show that quickly turns toxic.

There’s something unsettling but compelling about how fame, self-worth, and manipulation are explored here, and Stewart handles that side of the story with bite. That said, not everything lands.

Some of the supporting characters feel more like plot devices than people, and while the book moves quickly, I occasionally felt like I was being told rather than shown, especially in emotional beats. Still, it’s a solid debut—ambitious, timely, and not afraid to dig into uncomfortable territory, even if it doesn’t always go as deep as it could have.

People Pleaser is a dark, twisty mystery with a sharp edge of humor. The story follows the aftermath of reality star Maggie’s shocking murder, told through the perspectives of three women, her sister Emma, TV exec Amanda, and fellow contestant Jill.
I loved the way the book mixed POVs, reality show scripts, and media articles to slowly reveal the truth behind Maggie’s life and death.
The writing is witty and smart, especially with Amanda’s hilarious deadpan comments. Even though I didn’t exactly liked most of the characters, I was fully invested in their messy lives and secrets. The story pulls back the curtain on influencer culture and the darker side of reality TV, and it felt both entertaining and unsettling.
This book was a fun and thought provoking read with lots of twists, some creepy moments, and a surprising amount of depth.
A great pick if you enjoy dark humor and murder mysteries.
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy through NetGalley, opinions are my own

We start with the fallout of the death of Maggie Lathrop, reality star and influencer who, along with husband Theo previously won TV reality show LoveShack. I say death, I actually mean murder, which, months later, has yet to be solved. Leaving her sister Emma still in limbo grieving, unable to move on with her life.
When she hears that the investigation is being scaled back, and by that I actually mean consigned to being a cold case, Emma is incandescent and, along with best friend Jill and her boss Amanda, take it upon themselves to carry out their own investigations...
Well... wasn't this an absolutely cracking read. So many secrets and lies to uncover/expose. And quite a healthy dollop of dysfunctional behaviour to boot. The story is told by multiple viewpoints, as well as recaps from the LoveShack series that Maggie and Theo starred in, and won. Along the way, we also find out a lot about the characters' pasts and how that influences who and what they are today. That in itself would have been totally griping but when you also throw in an unsolved murder, well, grab the popcorn, sit back, you're in for a wild old ride!
Characters are, shall I just say, interesting and really did keep me on my toes throughout. I took to Emma right from the off which really helped cement my connection to the story. Jill and Amanda are both also strong characters who develop nicely throughout the story. Theo is a bit more complex so I will leave you to meet him as the author intended. Likewise Finn who muddies the water of LoveShack somewhat. And then there's Maggie who, like a lot of people who live their private life in the public eye, is not who people thought she was, but I'm saying nothing more there.
The story is compelling and obsessive, keeping me guessing all the way through, even as the author chipped away at all the secrets and lies, eventually exposing the whole sorry truth. There are many shocks and surprises delivered along the way which really did make it hard to put down, and made me REALLY need to know what happens in the end. An ending which, when it eventually came, wholly satisfied.
And then I find out it's a debut book. Wow. Consider me even more impressed. So much that I am definitely excited to see what she serves up for next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This sensational debut thriller had me on the edge of my seat from the very first page. Told through the perspectives of three complex women, the story revolves around solving the mysterious murder of Maggie, a reality TV star whose chilling fate is revealed immediately — no spoilers here, it’s right at the start.

What makes this book stand out is its unique structure, weaving together multiple POVs with episodes from Maggie’s reality show Loveshack and news articles. This approach builds an eerie connection to Maggie, showing her vulnerable and manipulated side before her murder, which adds a haunting atmosphere to the story.

Stewart skillfully explores the dark side of fame and influencer culture, exposing the toxic environment behind reality TV with raw detail. The characters—Emma, Jill, and Amanda—are richly drawn, flawed, and utterly human, driving the suspense with their determination to uncover the truth despite personal risks.

The novel’s dark humor is brilliantly woven throughout, providing sharp, funny moments amid serious themes. I particularly loved Amanda’s deadpan reactions and the almost absurd juxtapositions that lighten the mood without undercutting the tension.

The plot twists were expertly handled, keeping me guessing until the very end. The only small mystery left unexplained was how Jill gained access to Finn’s house, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

Overall, People Pleaser is a gripping, clever, and darkly comic whodunnit that I couldn’t put down. Highly recommended for fans of layered characters and innovative storytelling.

This book was absolutely sensational. From beginning to end, I was on the edge of my seat and I had no clue what was coming next. It's told through the perspective of three incredibly interesting women and they are all collectively trying to figure out who killed Maggie and why.

I genuinely found this book so gripping and my jaw was on the floor for at least half the time I read it. The plot starts with Maggie essentially being killed (this isn't a spoiler, it happens on the first page) and is such an incredible start. It really kicked off the momentum and cold plunges the reader into a rollercoaster ride that is maintained for the entirety of this book. Despite Maggie's POV not being covered in the book, we see Maggie so much through her experience on the reality TV show 'Loveshack'. The episodes are interspersed between the POVs and it was such a clever way of building emotional connection and familiarity with Maggie without her being apart of the central plot. It almost made the whole plot feel a bit creepy, because we knew Maggie's tragic ending but you get to see her in a pretty vulnerable position as a puppet in this reality TV show before she's mysteriously murdered.

I loved how Stewart chose to explore the themes of fame in the modern context of influencers and reality TV stars. It did really pull the curtain on how toxic of a working environment reality TV sets can be and the almost zoo-like quality of observing/scrutinising humans living in confined quarters. There were so many excellent details about Maggie's experience with being essentially starved on the show, prodded and teased by producers and squeezed dry for gossip. I really liked that the not so glamorous aftermath of being an influencer post-reality show and not only how poorly sponsorships can pay but how empty pushing random products to pay your rent can feel.

The dark humour in this book is unmatched. It's phenomenal. There are so many funny moments where serious things are occurring in the plot but there's just something that a character say/does or an observation that is truly hilarious. When Emma and Jill visit Amanda in her office for a serious chat about if she can help solve the mystery of Maggie's murder, both Emma and Jill are almost distracted by a screen print of Amanda's vagina that is hung above her desk. It's such an unserious visual in the context of something that is meant to be very serious.

Another dark humour moment that really tickled me was when it is revealed the horrible things Trevor has done to women with a rose quart dildo (I'll try not to spoil it) but Amanda's reaction is 'why the fuck did Trevor have a rose quart dildo? Why did rose quart dildos exist and what kind of wellness bullshit was that?' Amanda's candidness and bluntness is the source of much humour throughout the book because she is so deadpan but equally such a caricature of an LA tv writer/exec, in the best way possible.

Not to make this whole review about Amanda but it was also hilarious when she meets her ex-dealer after being sober and admits she only wanted to meet him to find out info about Trevor's whereabouts and her dealer is proud of her sobriety ('her ex-dealer was proud of her and she was crying? For fucks sake'). It's these almost inappropriate and odd juxtapositions that are so funny to read.

To quickly talk about the other characters, both Jill and Emma were amazingly formed characters. It was great to watch Emma be so hardheaded and determined to essentially quit her job and become a private investigator eventhough her relationship with her sister Maggie was imperfect at best. That woman has guts. She isn't afraid to walk straight into the face of fear and unknown which was really fun to read and really drove the plot forward. But one thing I truly loved about Jill, Emma and Amanda was how human and flawed their characters are. They all make very bad choices at points in the plot and sometimes walk straight into danger without realising it until it's too late. But their joint dedication for solving Maggie's case makes them such badass characters.

The plot was expertly crafted and I was genuinely so impressed. I'm usually hesitant with three POVs because I can find it hard to keep up but the plot was woven so well that it didn't feel clunky in the slightest. There were so many plot twists that I didn't see coming and I loved all the cliffhangers that were left at points in the plot when the POV was shifted, it really added to the overall suspense and intrigue. I was also a huge fan of the mixed formats of storytelling. We got to put together the pieces via the Loveshack episodes, three POVs and news articles which was such a refreshing way to read a plot. The only small hiccup I have is that I have no idea how Jill got into Finn's house - that's one thing that makes no sense and isn't explained at all.

Such a shocking and glorious whodunnit! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and the ending was so satisfying but even then, I didn't want it to end.