Unfollow Me: Essays on Complicity

"Outstanding . . . Busby gracefully unpacks how her identity as a queer Black woman has impacted her life and career . . . She considers and reconsiders the emotional toll of fame, however fleeting, and the ongoing challenge of separating herself from her online persona. Busby's compelling writing elevates conversations on gender, race, and sexuality, drawing in readers from the very first page and setting this memoir-in-essays apart." - Library Journal, starred review

"A stirring take on a young woman's search for identity and the fight for racial equity." - Publishers Weekly

"Dynamic . . . An intriguing glimpse of the author's state of mind, both before and after becoming recognized and growing her platform . . . Absorbing examinations of timely topics by an engaging, original voice." - Booklist

"In Unfollow Me, Busby takes the opportunity to retrace her steps, call out her own hypocrisy, and challenge the belief systems she's become accustomed to, both online, and much closer to home, with her family." - It's Lit! podcast

"Busby traces the trajectory of her fame in a series of wide-ranging essays that call out white people and Black people alike, with some of her most unflinching--even caustic--criticism aimed at herself and her own complicity in benefiting from the systems of oppression and racism that were the original targets of her videos . . . The push to capitalize on her internet fame, to keep trending, to write the book that will further galvanize her Jillisblack persona, that will speak in the voice of the curated self is powerful indeed. But Busby refuses, laying claim to an identity that is deeper, more complex, ambiguous, and mysterious." - Washington Independent Review of Books

"In this essay collection, Busby takes a hard, critical, honest look at what she learned about progressive communities, modern racism, and herself as an internet sensation. The result is thought-provoking and unique. Although it doesn't provide any clear answers or easy lessons, it's a crucial part of the conversation on online activism." - Book Riot

"Jill lets us know out the gate that she ain't come to play. This book is real, raw, and unrelenting. Dark, satirical, full of brilliance and bad ass'ness. Now is definitely not the time to be unfollowing Jill." - Killer Mike

"For anyone who has ever heard they were too much, not enough, and right on time all in the same day, this book will assure you that you're not crazy. A pleasure, even in all its painful, powerful truths." - Meshell Ndegeocello

"Jill Louise Busby's Unfollow Me reminds me of just how much courage I lack. It forced me to challenge who I've presented myself as, and to confront the invisible but thick tether between irreverence and conformity, especially as it pertains to conversations and stances around identity and technology. Busby's voice is sharp, but what's sharper is the feeling that Busby is asking us to complicate our arguments and muster up the moxie to sort and see our many selves in a more honest light. And for that, I am grateful." - Jason Reynolds, # 1 New York Times bestselling author of MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN, the TRACK series, LONG WAY DOWN, and STAMPED, a collaboration with Ibram X. Kendi

"Busby has gifted us words that sing on the page with the insightful, poetic, and witty euphony that many of us have come to appreciate from her creative content online. Unfollow Me demands a follow, a like, a heart emoji, and a reader who is not afraid to be floored by Busby's incisive take on so many old inequities that ghost us still." - Darnell L. Moore, author of NO ASHES IN THE FIRE: COMING OF AGE BLACK & FREE IN AMERICA

"Frank, incisive, brutally funny, and moving, Busby has a gift for vivifying the keenest cultural observations with cutting, unflinching prose. I devoured this book." - Amanda Montell, author of WORDSLUT and CULTISH

"Unfollow Me is an emotionally risky, trope-turning manifesto of a book. Whether she's writing a letter to white hippiecrites, describing the disassociation that comes with online personas, or exploring the hell that can be micro-fame, her excavation is distinctive and nuanced. Jill Louise Busby for President." - Chloé Caldwell, author of I'LL TELL YOU IN PERSON and WOMEN

"Unfollow Me challenges how we think about each other and ourselves in a way that is nuanced, funny, and vulnerable. Reading this book is like listening to your smartest friend." - Mia Mercado, author of WEIRD BUT NORMAL