You’ve been trying to limit your screen time. You’ve deleted apps, set boundaries, maybe even gone grayscale. Yet somehow, you still find yourself scrolling through comment sections when another influencer implodes online. There’s something compulsive about watching curated perfection crack apart in real time—except it leaves you feeling more drained than satisfied. Here’s the paradox: the very culture you’re trying to escape has become your guilty pleasure.
What if you could engage with those same themes of authenticity, public downfall, and digital reckoning without the algorithmic pull? The emerging wave of 2026 YA novels about influencer scandals offers exactly that—a way to explore our complex relationship with online fame through fiction that actually supports your social media detox rather than sabotaging it. These aren’t just cautionary tales; they’re sophisticated narratives that validate your decision to step back while building the critical media literacy skills you need to stay unplugged.
Top 10 YA Novels for Social Media Detox
 | Papersalt Being Social - How to Take Control of Living Online Social Media Help Book | Check Price |
 | Rescue (Second Chance Novels) | Check Price |
 | Unplugged Echoes (Echo Ridge High Series Book 5) | Check Price |
Detailed Product Reviews
1. Papersalt Being Social - How to Take Control of Living Online Social Media Help Book
Overview: This compact guide from Papersalt tackles the modern paradox of smartphone dependency. At 48 pages, it offers a concise exploration of why we struggle to disconnect despite recognizing the negative impact of constant connectivity. The book promises practical, incremental strategies rather than radical digital detoxes, making it accessible for readers overwhelmed by their screen time.
What Makes It Stand Out: The book’s strength lies in its actionable approach—focusing on “little daily changes” instead of overwhelming lifestyle overhauls. Its physical construction is notably premium: the 8.5 x 5.5" size makes it highly portable, while the durable silver double-loop wire-o binding and heavy 130# cover stock ensure it withstands daily use. Being printed and manufactured in the U.S.A. appeals to consumers prioritizing domestic products.
Value for Money: At $17.95 for 48 pages, this sits at the higher end of the self-help book spectrum. However, the quality materials and domestic manufacturing justify the premium. Compared to lengthier but less practical guides, its concentrated wisdom may offer better ROI for readers seeking immediate, implementable advice rather than theoretical discourse.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Strengths include its practical focus, superior build quality, and portable design. The wire-o binding allows it to lay flat for easy reference. Weaknesses are its brevity—some readers may find 48 pages insufficient for deep exploration—and the lack of author credentials provided. The price point may deter budget-conscious buyers.
Bottom Line: Ideal for busy professionals and parents seeking quick, realistic strategies to reclaim their time from social media. The premium construction makes it gift-worthy, though those wanting comprehensive analysis should look elsewhere.
2. Rescue (Second Chance Novels)
Overview: “Rescue” appears to be the latest installment in the Second Chance Novels series, a collection likely centered on themes of redemption, renewed love, and personal transformation. While specific plot details are absent from the product listing, the title suggests a narrative where characters face past mistakes and find salvation through connection. This genre consistently delivers emotionally satisfying arcs for romance enthusiasts.
What Makes It Stand Out: The “second chance” trope remains perennially popular because it offers hope and emotional depth. Readers invested in the series will appreciate continuity with beloved characters, while newcomers can enjoy the self-contained romance. The title “Rescue” implies high-stakes emotional drama and potentially protective, caring protagonists that resonate strongly with contemporary romance fans.
Value for Money: At $9.99, this positions itself competitively within the romance ebook market. Most traditionally-published romance novels range from $7.99 to $14.99, making this a mid-tier option. For series devotees, the price represents solid value for guaranteed entertainment. However, without paperback availability mentioned, digital-only readers must consider their format preference.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Strengths include the proven appeal of the second-chance romance formula and series loyalty benefits. The price is accessible for most readers. Weaknesses stem from the lack of product details—no page count, author information, or synopsis makes purchasing a gamble. Standalone readers might struggle with series context if prior books are required reading.
Bottom Line: Recommended for established fans of the Second Chance Novels series. New readers should seek additional information before committing, though romance lovers who enjoy redemption stories will likely find this a worthwhile, affordable escape.
3. Unplugged Echoes (Echo Ridge High Series Book 5)
Overview: This fifth entry in the Echo Ridge High series targets young adult readers navigating the complexities of high school life. While details are sparse, the title “Unplugged Echoes” suggests themes of disconnection, authenticity, and perhaps a storyline involving stepping away from social media or digital personas—a timely topic for today’s teens. The series numbering indicates an established world with recurring characters.
What Makes It Stand Out: As a mid-series installment, it delivers continuity for invested readers following character arcs across multiple books. The high school setting provides relatable scenarios for its target demographic. The “unplugged” concept addresses modern adolescent challenges directly, potentially offering both entertainment and subtle social commentary on digital life balance.
Value for Money: At $4.99, this represents exceptional value in the YA ebook space. Most YA novels retail between $8.99 and $17.99, making this an impulse-buy price point. For series fans, it’s a low-risk purchase. The affordability also makes it accessible to teen readers purchasing with allowance money.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Strengths include the highly affordable price, series continuity for fans, and relevant themes. The low cost removes financial barrier to entry. Weaknesses are the complete absence of feature details—no synopsis, page count, or author info creates uncertainty. New readers may find starting at Book 5 confusing, and the quality is unknown without reviews or samples.
Bottom Line: A must-buy for fans of the Echo Ridge High series. For new readers, consider starting with Book 1, but the price makes experimentation low-risk. YA readers seeking affordable, relatable fiction should investigate further before purchasing.
Why Influencer Scandal Novels Speak to the Digital Detox Generation
The psychological pull of influencer drama runs deeper than simple entertainment. For those actively trying to reduce their digital consumption, these stories provide a unique bridge between the online world you’re leaving and the offline life you’re building.
The Psychology of Schadenfreude in a Hyperconnected World
That guilty satisfaction you feel watching a scandal unfold isn’t just pettiness—it’s a deeply human response to the cognitive dissonance social media creates. We’re bombarded with impossible standards and manufactured happiness daily. When an influencer’s facade crumbles, it validates our quiet suspicion that none of it was real to begin with. YA novels exploring this territory let you experience that validation without the toxic comment sections or the dopamine hits that keep you tethered to your device. The schadenfreude becomes a tool for deconstruction rather than destruction, helping you understand why you feel relief when perfection proves false.
Validation Through Fiction: Seeing Your Concerns Reflected
Young adult fiction has always excelled at capturing the anxieties of emerging adulthood, and today’s teens and twenty-somethings have a very specific fear: that their digital footprint will define them forever. When you’re detoxing, you need narratives that say, “Your concerns are legitimate, and you’re not alone in questioning this system.” The best influencer scandal novels don’t just depict downfalls—they explore the ambient stress of being constantly visible, the pressure to perform happiness, and the relief of anonymity. For the detoxer, this mirroring effect is therapeutic, transforming isolation into shared experience through the safe distance of fiction.
Key Themes to Look for in 2026’s YA Influencer Scandal Novels
Not all influencer scandal stories are created equal. The titles that will genuinely support your digital wellness journey share certain thematic DNA that separates thoughtful critique from sensationalized drama.
Authenticity vs. Performance: The Core Conflict
The most compelling narratives center on characters wrestling with the gap between their curated persona and their actual self. Look for protagonists who aren’t just “fake” but are actively suffocating under the weight of their own brand. These stories should make you question: At what point does managing your image become erasing your identity? The best books will show both the seductive power of performing perfection and the profound exhaustion it creates. For detoxers, this theme reinforces why you stepped away—the realization that even “authentic” influencers are performing, and that performance has a psychological cost.
Cancel Culture and Redemption Arcs
2026’s narratives are moving beyond simplistic “canceled forever” plotlines into more nuanced territory. The novels worth your time explore the difference between accountability and annihilation, between genuine harm and performative outrage. They ask difficult questions: Who gets to be redeemed? Who decides? For someone detoxing, these stories help process the black-and-white thinking that social media encourages. They model how to think about mistakes and consequences without the mob mentality, teaching you to hold complexity—something algorithms hate but human brains need.
Mental Health Representation Behind the Filter
Gone are the days when anxiety got a single chapter before the character bounced back. The 2026 crop of novels treats mental health as the throughline of influencer culture—chronic anxiety, eating disorders, burnout, and the specific trauma of having your breakdown go viral. Seek out books where therapy isn’t a plot device but a ongoing process, where medication isn’t stigmatized, and where recovery is non-linear. These representations validate the mental health reasons many people start detoxing in the first place, showing that the psychological impact of constant visibility is real and deserves serious treatment.
The Dark Side of Brand Partnerships
The most illuminating stories pull back the curtain on the business of influence. They explore how financial desperation, family pressure, or student debt can push creators into ethically gray partnerships. Look for narratives that detail the legal contracts, the non-disclosure agreements, and the way brand relationships can compromise personal values. Understanding the economic machinery behind viral content helps detoxers dismantle the illusion that influencers are just “sharing their lives.” It reveals the labor and exploitation, making it easier to step away from consumer culture.
Privacy Invasion and Digital Footprint Anxiety
2026 novels are increasingly incorporating plots about data breaches, doxxing, and the long-tail consequences of posts from years ago. The best ones treat privacy not as an outdated concept but as a fundamental human need. They explore how the digital panopticon affects decision-making, relationships, and sense of safety. For those detoxing, these stories externalize the vague dread you’ve felt about your own digital trail, giving it narrative shape and showing both the risks of visibility and the power of reclaiming privacy.
Character Archetypes That Define the Genre
The characters populating these novels serve as avatars for different relationships to digital culture. Recognizing these archetypes helps you choose stories that will resonate with your specific detox motivations.
The Fallen Influencer Protagonist
This character type dominates the genre for good reason—they’re the ones living the scandal from the inside. The most effective versions aren’t villains or victims but complex individuals who made incremental compromises until they lost themselves. Their journey inward (finding who they are without an audience) mirrors your detox journey. Pay attention to how they fill their offline hours, rebuild non-transactional relationships, and learn to value experiences they can’t monetize. Their recovery roadmap can inspire your own.
The Investigative Outsider
Often a former follower or a journalist-in-training, this character approaches the scandal with a mix of fascination and moral superiority—only to discover their own complicity. Their arc typically involves recognizing that consuming scandal is still participating in the attention economy. For detoxers, this is a crucial mirror: you might be unplugging, but are you still gossiping about online drama? The best novels use this character to explore how to care about digital culture without being consumed by it.
The Complicit Best Friend
The ride-or-die friend who helped maintain the facade, managed the comment sections, or edited the photos represents the enablers in all of us. Their storyline often reveals the codependent nature of online fame—how it requires a whole ecosystem of people willing to look away. These characters help detoxers understand the social dynamics that keep us tethered to platforms: FOMO, loyalty, the fear of being the “downer” who questions the system. Their eventual breaking point can give you language for your own boundary-setting.
The Digital Activist
This newer archetype uses their platform for social good but faces the unique scandal of being “problematic” despite good intentions. Their stories explore the impossibility of pure allyship under capitalism and the way call-out culture can undermine actual progress. For those detoxing from performative activism and the pressure to post the “right” thing, these narratives offer permission to do the quiet, unglamorous work of change without documenting it.
Narrative Structures That Maximize Impact
How a story is told determines how deeply its message lands. The most effective influencer scandal novels use innovative structures that mirror the fragmented, non-linear nature of online narratives while providing the coherence social media lacks.
Dual Timeline Storytelling: Before and After the Scandal
The “before and after” structure is practically mandatory in this genre, but its execution varies widely. Look for novels where the “before” chapters don’t just show a slow build but actively deconstruct the illusion. The best ones will have you noticing red flags in the protagonist’s behavior that they can’t see themselves—training you to spot those same patterns in your own scrolling habits. The “after” timeline should feel messier, slower, and ultimately more satisfying than the curated “before.” For detoxers, this structure provides a clear visual of what you’re gaining versus what you’re losing.
Multi-POV Perspectives on a Viral Crisis
When a scandal breaks, everyone experiences it differently: the influencer, their family, their followers, their victims. Novels that weave these perspectives together show how the same event becomes completely different stories depending on your position. This technique dismantles the single narrative social media promotes and teaches the kind of perspective-taking that detox requires. It helps you understand that your experience of online life is just one of billions, making it easier to log off without FOMO.
Epistolary Formats: Screenshots and DMs as Plot Devices
The most immersive 2026 novels incorporate actual digital ephemera—Instagram captions with edited comments, deleted tweets referenced in footnotes, group chat screenshots that contradict public statements. This isn’t just gimmicky formatting; it’s a way to show the gap between public performance and private reality in real time. For someone detoxing, this format is particularly powerful because it replicates the visual language of social media while giving you the critical distance of fiction. You learn to “read” posts with the same skepticism you’d apply to a novel’s unreliable narrator.
What Makes a YA Influencer Scandal Novel “Detox-Worthy”
With dozens of titles hitting shelves, you need criteria to separate books that will fuel your detox from those that might trigger a relapse into digital voyeurism.
Critical Media Literacy Embedded in Plot
The gold standard novels don’t just depict influencer culture; they teach you how to deconstruct it. Characters should explicitly discuss concepts like parasocial relationships, algorithmic bias, surveillance capitalism, and the attention economy. Look for scenes where teens analyze why certain content goes viral or question who profits from their data. These moments aren’t didactic—they’re integrated into the character’s awakening. For detoxers, this is like getting a vaccine against social media’s persuasive design: you leave the book with analytical tools that make scrolling less appealing.
Satisfying Consequences Without Preachiness
A detox-supportive novel understands that punishment isn’t the point—understanding is. The consequences characters face should feel earned and proportional, not like a moral panic PSA. The best stories show that losing followers can be a relief, that real-world consequences (strained friendships, mental health crises) matter more than digital ones, and that redemption requires actual change, not just a rebranding. Avoid books where the message is “social media is evil” in favor of those that ask “what kind of relationship do you want to have with attention?”
Hopeful Yet Realistic Endings
The ending should feel earned, not easy. If a character quits social media, the novel should show both the freedom and the loneliness. If they return, it should be with boundaries and skepticism, not a triumphant comeback. For detoxers, these nuanced endings are crucial. They acknowledge that your journey isn’t about perfection but about making conscious choices. A book that pretends deleting apps solves everything is selling the same fantasy as influencer culture itself.
Reading as Resistance: How These Books Support Your Detox Journey
Choosing to read a physical book about digital culture is already an act of resistance. But these novels do more than just occupy your offline time—they actively rewire how you think about your former online life.
Creating Emotional Distance from Social Platforms
Fiction creates psychological space. When you see influencer dynamics play out in a complete narrative arc, you start to recognize those same patterns in your feed—not as organic moments but as predictable plot points. That influencer’s “authentic” breakdown? You’ve read that chapter. The brand apology video? You know how this story ends. This recognition drains social media of its emotional power, turning addictive unpredictability into boring repetition. The algorithm wants you to feel like you’re missing out on spontaneous reality; these books reveal it’s all scripted.
Building Critical Thinking Skills
Every time you predict a character’s mistake based on their posting patterns, you’re building media literacy muscle. These novels train you to ask the questions that detox requires: Who benefits from this content? What’s being left out? How is this making me feel and why? Over time, this critical lens becomes automatic, making mindless scrolling nearly impossible. You don’t just consume less; you consume differently, with intention and analysis.
Fostering Offline Community Discussions
The best detox tool is a real-life conversation partner who gets it. These novels provide perfect fodder for book clubs, classroom discussions, or late-night talks with friends. Unlike discussing actual online drama (which pulls you back into the cycle), talking about fictional scandals lets you process your feelings about digital culture while staying firmly offline. Look for books with discussion guides or author Q&As that explicitly connect the plot to digital wellness practices.
Red Flags to Avoid in the Genre
For every insightful influencer scandal novel, there are three that will sabotage your detox by glorifying the very culture they claim to critique. Here’s what to watch out for.
Glamorizing the Scandal Cycle
Be wary of novels that treat scandals as exciting plot twists rather than traumatic events. If the pacing feels like a thriller and the scandal is the climax, the book is likely selling the same adrenaline rush as viral content. A detox-worthy novel should make the scandal feel exhausting, not exhilarating. The focus should be on the slow, unglamorous work of rebuilding a life, not the viral moment itself. If you finish a chapter feeling amped up rather than contemplative, it’s triggering the same reward loop you’re trying to break.
Shallow “Influencer Bad” Moralizing
Novels that paint all content creators as narcissistic villains miss the point entirely. They ignore the systemic pressures (economic inequality, algorithmic demands, youth unemployment) that push people toward influencing. This black-and-white thinking mirrors the call-out culture that makes social media so toxic. A thoughtful book will show how good people get trapped in bad systems, which helps you develop compassion for yourself and others while still maintaining healthy boundaries.
Unresolved Trauma as Entertainment
If a character experiences doxxing, harassment, or a mental health crisis and the novel treats it as a plot point to be moved past, put it down. The best books sit with the aftermath, showing how digital trauma lingers and requires real support. Books that rush past the consequences are teaching you to dissociate from your own experiences—the opposite of what detox requires. Look for stories where healing is messy, slow, and doesn’t require a public audience.
How to Curate Your 2026 Reading List
Since you can’t rely on “top 10” lists (they’re often algorithm-driven and promote the same viral-friendly books), you need a strategy for finding the novels that will truly serve your detox.
Following Sensitivity Readers and Authentic Voices
In 2026, the most authentic influencer scandal novels are being written by former creators who’ve stepped away from the spotlight. Follow their Substack newsletters, their indie publisher interviews, and their (ironic) social media accounts where they discuss what they left behind. These authors bring lived experience that no amount of research can replicate. Their books won’t have the biggest marketing budgets, but they’ll have the most honest insights. Check acknowledgments pages for sensitivity readers who specialize in digital wellness and online trauma—their involvement signals a book takes its subject seriously.
Checking for Digital Wellness Themes
Before committing to a novel, scan the early chapters for specific language. Does it mention “doomscrolling,” “parasocial relationships,” or “surveillance capitalism”? Does a character explicitly discuss screen time limits or digital minimalism? While subtlety has its place, a book that supports your detox shouldn’t be afraid to name the tools and concepts you’re using. Publishers are increasingly adding “digital wellness themes” to their marketing copy—take that seriously as a search term, not just a buzzword.
Looking for Publisher Imprints Focused on Digital Age Issues
Several smaller imprints launched in 2025-2026 specifically to address technology’s impact on young people. These publishers (often university-affiliated or funded by digital wellness nonprofits) have editorial boards that include psychologists, media literacy experts, and former tech workers. Their books go through rigorous fact-checking for tech accuracy and ethical reviewing for how they depict mental health. While they might not dominate bestseller lists, their catalog is a goldmine for detoxers.
The Evolution of the Genre: What’s New in 2026
Influencer scandal novels have matured rapidly, and this year’s offerings reflect emerging technologies and cultural shifts that didn’t exist even two years ago.
AI-Generated Content Scandals
The newest frontier involves protagonists discovering their entire online persona has been co-opted by AI—deepfake videos, chatbots trained on their captions, synthetic versions of their voice selling products they don’t endorse. These plots tap into the uncanny valley feeling many detoxers have: is anyone online even real anymore? They explore questions of authenticity and ownership that go beyond human error into technological determinism. For those leaving social media, these stories validate the feeling that the platforms themselves have become the enemy, not just the users.
Deepfake Technology Plotlines
2026 novels are increasingly incorporating deepfake scandals where the protagonist’s likeness is used in compromising situations they never experienced. These stories are terrifying because they’re plausible, and they shift the focus from “what did the influencer do?” to “how do you prove reality in a post-truth digital landscape?” For detoxers, this is the ultimate nightmare scenario that justifies your decision to limit your digital footprint. The books that handle this well show characters finding community and truth through offline verification—face-to-face alibis, physical evidence, real-world trust networks.
Platform-Specific Storytelling (BeReal, etc.)
The genre is fragmenting to reflect platform-specific cultures. A novel about a BeReal scandal hits differently than one about Instagram or TikTok because the platform’s promise of “authenticity” creates unique pressures. The best 2026 books understand these nuances, showing how each app’s architecture shapes the scandal’s form and fallout. For detoxers, this specificity is educational—it helps you understand which aspects of which platforms were most toxic for you personally, making your detox more targeted and sustainable.
Beyond the Book: Extending Your Social Media Detox
The right novel doesn’t end when you close the cover—it becomes a tool for ongoing digital wellness. Here’s how to leverage these stories for long-term change.
Discussion Groups and Book Clubs
Start or join a “Digital Detox Book Club” that meets exclusively in person or via phone calls (no video). The rule: discuss the book’s themes, but don’t look up the author online, don’t check reviews, and don’t share quotes on social media. This creates a contained intellectual space where the ideas matter more than the performance of reading. Many indie bookstores in 2026 are hosting these clubs specifically for influencer scandal novels, recognizing their therapeutic value.
Journaling Prompts Inspired by the Narratives
Use the protagonist’s journey as a mirror for your own. Journal prompts might include: “What would my life look like if I couldn’t document it?” or “Which of my online relationships are parasocial?” or “What am I performing without realizing it?” The best novels practically write these prompts for you through their characters’ introspective moments. Copy those questions directly into your journal and answer them as yourself, not the character. This bridges the gap between fiction and your lived experience.
Digital Wellness Action Plans
Some forward-thinking 2026 novels include actual digital wellness resources in their back matter—sample social media contracts for teens, templates for setting app boundaries, or QR codes (ironically) that lead to printable detox worksheets. Treat these as seriously as you’d treat a novel’s historical notes. The authors who include them are signaling that their fiction has a practical purpose. Create a personal action plan based on the character’s mistakes and recoveries, as if you’re learning from a case study rather than just a story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly makes a YA novel “about influencer scandals”?
These are stories where social media fame and its consequences drive the central conflict. The protagonist is typically a content creator, or someone whose life is upended by viral attention. Key elements include public downfall, questions of authenticity, and the personal cost of online visibility. Unlike general “technology” YA, these novels focus specifically on the influencer economy and its unique pressures.
How can reading about social media actually help me use it less?
It creates psychological distance. When you see influencer dynamics as predictable narrative patterns rather than spontaneous reality, they lose their emotional grip. These novels also satisfy the curiosity that might otherwise lead you to check drama channels, letting you engage with digital culture’s themes through a medium that doesn’t track your data or serve you ads. It’s like nicotine replacement therapy for your drama addiction.
Are these books appropriate for teens who aren’t influencers?
Absolutely. Most readers aren’t influencers, but nearly all teens feel the pressure to curate their online presence. These novels speak to the universal experience of performing identity online, even if you only have 200 followers. The themes—authenticity, privacy, peer pressure—are relevant to anyone with a smartphone, making them valuable preventive reading before social media use becomes problematic.
Will these novels trigger my urge to check social media?
It depends on the book’s approach. Avoid titles that include fictional social media posts as page-turning cliffhangers or treat viral moments as exciting plot twists. Instead, look for novels that depict social media use as exhausting, anxiety-inducing, and ultimately unsatisfying. Read reviews from digital wellness advocates who will flag triggering content. Many 2026 books now include content warnings specifically for social media-related anxiety.
How do I find these books without using social media?
Use library databases, subscribe to literary newsletters focused on digital wellness (many are available via email RSS), and ask independent booksellers. Several digital wellness organizations now publish quarterly reading lists in their print magazines. The key is to use slow, intentional discovery methods rather than algorithmic recommendations.
What’s the difference between influencer scandal novels and cyberbullying books?
While there’s overlap, cyberbullying novels typically focus on peer-to-peer harassment in school settings. Influencer scandal novels examine the systemic pressures of the attention economy, brand relationships, and public identity performance. The villain isn’t a mean classmate but often an entire ecosystem. For detoxers, the systemic critique is more useful than individual villain narratives.
Can these books help me talk to my teen about their social media use?
Yes, but use them as conversation starters, not instruction manuals. Read the same book and discuss the characters’ choices without immediately connecting them to your teen’s behavior. The novels provide a neutral third party to discuss—“Why do you think she kept posting?"—which can lead to organic revelations about your teen’s own pressures. It’s far more effective than direct questioning.
Are there audiobook versions that are better for detoxing?
Audiobooks can be excellent for detoxing because they occupy your hands and eyes, making simultaneous scrolling impossible. Look for productions that include “screen-free listening guides” with discussion questions. Some 2026 audiobooks even have “mindful listening” modes with built-in reflection pauses. Just be sure you’re listening on a device with social media apps disabled.
How do I know if a novel is just exploiting influencer culture for sales?
Check the author’s background and the publisher’s mission. Books written by former influencers or academics studying digital culture tend to have more substance. Also examine the marketing—if the book’s own promotional materials mimic influencer aesthetics (heavily filtered cover photos, hashtag-heavy copy), it’s likely not critiquing the system but capitalizing on it. The truly detox-worthy books often have understated, text-focused covers.
What should I read after I finish an influencer scandal novel to keep my detox momentum?
Transition to memoirs by former influencers who’ve quit, academic texts on surveillance capitalism, or fiction about offline community building. The goal is to keep the critical thinking going while gradually shifting from deconstruction to reconstruction. Many readers find that after three or four scandal novels, they’re ready for books about gardening, craftsmanship, or other offline pursuits—having thoroughly exorcised their need to think about digital culture at all.