"It's bad enough when children are kings, but it is even worse when jealousy creates unnatural divisions. That one starts the rain, but this one starts destruction."
-William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1 Act 4, Scene 1 (Modern English Translation)
They say that there are exactly seven deadly sins that spur other vices and drive our behavior towards others. One sin connects to the next like one long pearl necklace: pride bleeds into greed which bleeds into lust that eventually bleeds into the fourth sin. The sin that is so inherently human that it comes as natural as breathing: envy. Call it envy or jealousy, that green-eyed monster lives inside all of us due to the grass, for some reason, always being greener on the other side of the proverbial fence.
In a new book that just hit our shelves in February, envy seems to play the key character that affects the relationship of four young internet influencers in California. Influence, by Sara Shepard (author of Pretty Little Liars) and Lilia Buckingham (17 year-old influencer), takes us on a journey of the trails and tribulations of internet stardom, of leading two separate lives both on and off social media, and appreciation life on whichever side of the fence life puts us.
Allow the world of influencers to intrigue and captivate your imagination. Influence can be found at your library or as an eBook on Axis360.
