Influence Quotes

“Everyone thinks I'm one thing, but I'm other things, too; I'm behind a curtain; I'm living a lie.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Unless these people saw her cracks. Unless they got too close and realized that she was ruined inside.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“What if that girl I kissed—and believe me, I knew she was a girl—was a relationship that was supposed to happen? A relationship that was destined?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“And suddenly, she realized: someday - not soon, but someday - things might be okay again.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“also want to say one more thing about the content of this book. Influence includes a lot of bullying and nastiness, and I want to make it clear that it’s something I don’t condone. I truly hope that the internet becomes a kinder, more accepting place, not a more hateful one. So please, think before you post a comment. Consider that on the other end of an account, there’s a living, breathing person with feelings. Be good to one another. And sometimes?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Look. Whatever Gina Leigh told you about Delilah, it’s not true. Gina is a vindictive psychopath. She’s been blackmailing people, impersonating her daughter, for years.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“That other girl who was going to play Kate? God rest her soul, but she was god-awful.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“She thought about how Chase had looked at her at Scarlet’s funeral reception—like she was the worst person on earth. And the fact that he hadn’t reached out to her at all this week. Just as she was worried that Scarlet had somehow contacted Camille before she died, she feared that Scarlet had told Chase, too. It could explain why he’d stayed away from her.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Scarlet’s whole life . . . Some things aren’t exactly what you think.” A chill shot through Delilah. “What do you mean?” Was Scarlet still alive?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Scarlet and I hadn’t . . . done things . . . in a long, long time.” A blotch of red crept up Jack’s neck. “So when she said that—it was for the camera. For her audience. There’s no way it was true. Or, well, there’s no way it was mine.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“It’s awful she’s dead, obviously. But . . . Scarlet was scary. And her fans are even scarier. Every time I saw a creepy comment from one of them about how they were going to kill Jack’s Mystery Girl . . . I mean, didn’t that freak you out?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Happy?” Delilah spluttered. “About someone being dead? Are you serious?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Except . . . that would put her in Scarlet’s bedroom. She’d instantly become a suspect. But saying nothing made her feel even worse—it was probably a huge crime to lie to a police officer, right?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“When we lived in Minneapolis, you weren’t begging to do photo shoots with strange people. Just because we live in LA now doesn’t mean you need to be different. It also doesn’t mean you’re suddenly famous.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Ruby didn’t get it. Maybe she’d never gotten it. It was always about her needs: the handsome salary Jasmine paid her, a salary so big that Ruby could afford the payments on a BMW 5 Series and a nice condo in Hollywood. Or their parents’ needs: the bills Jasmine paid, the peace she created, the status quo. No one wanted to step back and consider what Jasmine wanted.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“How could you be grumpy at Disney? And she really did love her fans. It wasn’t their fault she felt pigeonholed as Lulu C.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“But Fiona had known even before she’d gone to a therapist or taken medications that no medical plan would work. Her behaviors had arisen purely and completely from the guilt and shame in what she’d done to Lana. After all, they hadn’t existed before Lana—not even when Lana’s teasing was at its worst.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“First, there were the are-we-going-to-have-enough-money-to-pay-the-rent arguments. Then came the health problems that sidelined her father from work. Then Anita had to move in because they couldn’t afford a nursing home anymore. Miranda juggled three jobs to make ends meet, barely seeing Jasmine and Ruby.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“And I’m also really, really into the algorithms. Hashtags, shout-outs, geotagging, getting tagged on bigger accounts and on the Instagram Explore page—it’s all about climbing a ladder and getting yourself noticed.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“People didn’t like thinking outside the box, apparently. Though to be fair, it was a box that had changed her family’s life for the better.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“You’re lucky she’s like that. Most influencer parents are the ones steering the plane. Total Momagers.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“her mother grounded her for it, actually, because what idiot besides a firefighter runs into a burning building?”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Brock, would be leaving their phones at home. Which sounded like a particularly torturous circle of hell.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“But that perfect little world you thought you were witnessing? It was mostly lies. My smiles and sweetness, my big hugs and happy hashtags: it was all a juicy, duplicitous trick for you to share and discuss and gobble up. And those lies were what destroyed me, plain and simple.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Don’t hate me for filling up your feeds. Don’t hate me for the brands I convinced you to buy, the movies I goaded you to see. Don’t resent me for the gossip I dropped, breadcrumb-like, for you to devour, obsess over, believe. I was what you needed. I was your guiding light, people. That was why they called me an influencer”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Great things were coming, and her life was going to be anything she wanted it to be, because now it was really and truly up to her.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“Anybody's who's that obsessed with solving someone's murder obviously has something to hide.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence

“It was the kind of herd mentality that was so prevalent in this world - when one person was doing something that looked amazing in photos, the community followed suit, even if it meant completely uprooting one's life.”
― Sara Shepard, Influence