If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You

by Leigh Stein

Fates collide after a tarot influencer disappears from a decaying Hollywood mansion in this unnerving gothic mystery and audacious social comedy from the acclaimed author of Self Care.

After her boyfriend dumps her in a Reddit post, unemployed thirty-nine-year-old Dayna accepts an unusual opportunity from a man she stopped speaking to twenty years ago: If Dayna can help Craig transform his crumbling mansion into a successful hype house of influencers, he can restore his birthright to its former glory, and she can bring her career back from the dead.

But missing from the mansion is Becca, an enigmatic tarot card reader who built a rabid fandom with her cryptic, soul-touching videos . . .  and then vanished. With nineteen-year-old Olivia, the newest member of the hype house (and one of Becca’s biggest fans), Dayna begins to build a social media campaign around Becca’s disappearance that will catapult the creators to new heights of success. Too bad Craig forbids Dayna from pursuing the mystery at its heart.

As Olivia searches for traces of Becca in a labyrinthine house that seems intent on hiding its secrets, and Dayna becomes entangled with both Craig and Jake, the resident heartthrob and the last person to see Becca, the two women make a shocking discovery that will upend everything.

The You may think you’re inhabiting it, but is it really inhabiting you?

Genres: Fiction, Gothic, Mystery, Horror, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Thriller

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2025

About the author

Leigh Stein makes fun of what the internet is doing to us. She is the author of six books, including the critically acclaimed satirical novel SELF CARE and the bestselling gothic mystery IF YOU'RE SEEING THIS, IT'S MEANT FOR YOU. She has written culture pieces and personal essays for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker online, Airmail, Allure, ELLE, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i guess reading this is my destiny then.

i was not a hot topic girl in middle school, but i viewed their exploits with a grudging respect. also i was scared to go in the store.

i think that kind of explains my whole vibe with this book.

i respect how weird and eerie and unhinged it was, but also, much like the kid who shouts "you forgot to give us homework!," i felt a teacher's pet need to get back to some sort of storyline, or to focus in on fewer characters, or to (god forbid) fill in some plot holes and tie up some loose ends.

but the tarot aspect was fun.

bottom line: mostly vibes.

(thanks to the publisher for the arc)
find me on substack and instagram

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever opened a book and lost yourself within the pages so thoroughly that time moves differently while you’re reading it?

For me, that was how it felt to read “If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant For You.” I started it before moving, and was shirking my packing responsibilities to read a few more pages. I went on bike rides, and read outside with my phone turned off. I lost huge chunks of time, every time I picked it up.

Two women, for different reasons, enter a crumbling mansion, which is being flipped into a TikTok hype house. At its core, it is a gothic mystery novel. Someone is missing; someone is losing their mind. Is the house alive? So much to trip and fall into.

It’s also a satire, a reflection on aging in front of millions on the internet, and something else all its own.

It’s smart, funny, sexy and utterly divine. As an avid reader, I am of course always searching for books like this. But when I find one, I am grateful they are rare gems—they’re all the more special, that way.

[Greekchoir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because it was described as a “contemporary TikTok gothic.” I am nothing but a stereotype of myself. Overall I enjoyed this book, but Stein’s discussions of her inspirations are more interesting than the story itself. I could only compare this (unfavorably!) to Eliza Clark’s Penance, where the writing is rich, dark, and extremely specific to its subject. And while I appreciated the discussions of art vs content (the lack of distance between an artist and their audience) and of how different people may have varied relationships to the same platform, I don’t believe Leigh Stein has a particularly strong connection to TikTok and its effects on people. The reluctance to even name TikTok comes across as hokey more than anything, in a “I didn’t say its name, but it came to mind, didn’t it?” sort of way. I’m also not sure why Stein juxtaposes the blogging era against TikTok; am I supposed to believe that TikTok is worse, or just different? Is there any reason to think TikTok is exceptional as a social media app? In a sea of books parading around as satires of social media, why should I pay attention to this one?

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published August 26, 2025.

3 stars

Dayna gets dumped by her boyfriend in a Reddit post (that sounds even worse than break up by Post-it.) Then Craig, a man she knew twenty years ago offers her the chance to revive her career by helping to turn his decrepit mansion into a to a hype house for influencers.

She accepts, but she doesn’t realize that Becca, a tarot card influencer living at the house has gone missing. Dayna enlists the help of Olivia, another influencer in the house, to help create a social media campaign to help find Becca, but Craig doesn’t want the bad publicity.

Olivia searches the mansion for clues and gets to know the other three people living in the house while Dayna becomes involved with both Craig and Jake, another house resident and the last person to see Becca. Where has Becca gone and what secrets are hidden in the house?

This was OK. I’m aware of hype houses, but don’t follow any influencers, so a lot of this wasn’t super familiar to me. The ending was very rushed, I had to read it a second time to make sure I caught what happened. Definitely geared toward younger people.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off super strong — creepy house, weird vibes, a group of influencers living together... I was so into the premise. It felt like it was gonna be a fun mix of gothic mystery and social media satire, and in a way it was. The writing is good and it kept me reading, but by the end I was kinda let down.

It wasn't as scary or creepy as I expected, and the mystery didn't really go anywhere. There were some interesting ideas about mental health, internet culture and influencer life, but it didn't dig as deep as I'd hoped. The story also dragged a bit in the middle, and the ending felt….underwhelming. Like, all that buildup for that?

Overall, cool concept and great beginning, but the rest didn't totally land for me.

[Jillian B · Rating 5 out of 5]

After her wealthy boyfriend dumps her on the day she was supposed to move into his place, 39-year-old struggling freelancer Dayna is left both homeless and aimless. So as a last resort, she accepts an offer from Craig, a former acquaintance, that has the potential to solve all her problems—if she can pull it off.

Fifty-something Craig lives in a crumbling old mansion in Los Angeles that has been the backdrop for several films. And he’s determined to turn it into the next big hype house. He’s got a crew of Gen Z influencers living there, and he expects Dayna to help them go viral. The most famous of the residents, fortune teller Becca, recently abruptly left the home and has been mysteriously off the grid ever since. A former journalist with an insatiable curiosity, Dayna is determined to prove her worth—and find Becca. And she might have figured out a way to kill two birds with one stone…but she’ll have to keep the new strategy a secret from Craig.

I absolutely loved this book. It managed to be incredibly funny while also having a serious plot that completely drew me in. My fellow millennials who are reckoning with the fact that we now live in Gen Z’s world will definitely find this book relatable. The creepy gothic vibes were SO there, and I liked the way the mystery wrapped up. I 100% recommend this book without any reservations!

[Tell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review to come.

[Lee Collier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leigh has written a book that only the elder millennial voice could so accurately portray. What starts off as a reddit thread posted by our main character's boyfriend announcing their breakup quickly builds into a satirical look at the opportunities we have been "afforded" by the likes of TikTok and Instagram: the ability to exploit yourself and others for financial reprieve.

If you were not on TikTok in the years leading to and after the 2020 US presidential election you may not be familiar with the term "hype house". During these years the platform was filled with mostly people dancing, pranks sometimes causing great endangerment, and voiceovers galore with that weird finger motions and lip techniques (iykyk). This was the era of Charli D'Amelio, Bella Poarch, and Khaby Lame. It is not to say that this barrage of videos have subsided but they have become somewhat more muted as the application has become one of the world's largest search engines and not only a method for escaping reality.

This book centers us around the engine that fueled a trend of young creators all piling into a luxurious house to create content. Showcasing a world that many could only dream of, but gives us the view behind the camera. I remember two creators pouring into my feed many years ago by the name of Brent Rivera and Pierson. They were young beautiful people making videos with perfect lighting, dancing or arguing, portraying a bit of teen angst and doing things that are not natural in real life but delivered with the most magnificent backgrounds. They would also have random other recurring cast mates who lived under the same roof, actively promoting one another through their various feeds. In some ways this was genius, albeit weird, but these young creators were gifted something magical, success beyond imagination for simply being in the right place at the right time...and potentially having the ability to dance a bit.

In the novel we meet a cast of characters all living in a hype house in LA but unlike the pristine walls and infinity pools seen in the videos I described above we have a building in disarray, in need of major repairs and in violation of county codes. There is also a bit of mystery around this house due to a missing creator who previously became successful through broadcasting live tarot readings. We are lead through first person narrative of two characters, Dayna and Olivia. Dayna is a woman in her late 30s down on her luck accepting the position as collaborator with Craig, the owner of said LA property sponsoring young creators. She takes hold of this unique opportunity to restore the mansion to it's former glory and reap the financial gains through managing a cast of young creators. Olivia is the newest participant in the creator coalition drawn to the house because of the intrigue with Becca, it's former tarot superstar.

There are so many things to like about this novel specifically coming from someone who is online and has made a decent in road with a specifically niche segment of TikTok. If you have doom scrolled and come across a video that starts, "If you are seeing this it is meant for you", and not had the inert desire to at least stay for a second and see if maybe there is some force out there uniting your glowing mobile device with the gods above, you are stronger than I. Leigh has taken so many elements from the social media-verse and wrapped them up in a tight tale that is not meant to condemn but rather expose the life behind our creators the lens is sure to never disclose.

[chthonicbambi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️
A very strange and disjointed fever dream of a book.

[Jamie Josephson · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Publishing for providing and ARC of If You’re Seeing This, It Was Meant For You by Leigh Stein in exchange for honest feedback.

So I have slightly mixed reviews on this one, but overall I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fast-paced and the writing style was fun which kept me engaged throughout. This was essentially a modern take on connection and intimacy against the backdrop of our hyper-online world.

That said, the story felt a bit uneven at times for me and perhaps I’m crazy, but I felt like there was a whole chapter toward the end that was missing. I was convinced I somehow blacked out while reading it, but definitely was not able to figure out where that story hole went. Also not the biggest fan of ambiguous endings so that left me feeling a bit distant.

Still a fun read and would recommend giving it a chance!

[Natalie HH · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this book with an infinite and endless amount of emphasis. Do not be swayed by the intriguing synopsis, as I was. Its all lies and deceipt. RUN FOR THE HILLS

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enjoying this so much but the ending was so bad I had to lower my rating.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

File this under Gothic for the digital age: an unnerving, atmospheric mystery wrapped in social satire, where the haunted house is a collaborative mansion and the ghosts are followers with insatiable appetites. The tone is sharp and darkly funny, but it’s the human ache beneath the wit that makes it linger.

Setting the novel apart is the threading of Gothic tropes through modern anxieties. The mansion isn’t a mere backdrop— it’s a stage, a reliquary, an archive collapsing under its own illusions. Think Rebecca: a vanished presence shadowing every room. Think Grey Gardens: the eerie doubling of women across generations, collapsing into one another’s ruins. Stein pushes beyond parody of influencer culture to expose the raw fear beneath it: that visibility is fragile, youth evaporates quickly, and obscurity waits like a locked room at the end of a windowless hall.

Others may praise the satire alone, but the deeper brilliance is in its thoughtful tapestry. These characters are not simply labeled— they ache to be seen, to be chosen, to matter. The novel asks what it means to inherit not wealth, but myth, and what it costs to fashion a self under the gaze of strangers. Even its imagery: the recurring tarot, the nods to classic literature, the comparison of one generation to the next— suggests that what’s at stake isn’t just solving a mystery, but carrying the burden of faith, possibility, and reinvention.

This book unsettles not with corpses but with a quieter, more nuanced question: what does it take for a woman to avoid disappearing? And what does she stand to lose if she does— or doesn’t?

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the cover and blurb, and like others, I kind of expected a campy thriller, and that’s NOT what this book is at all. This is a book about a group of largely unlikable twenty-somethings existing in a dilapidated mansion while wondering (vaguely, because they’re mostly just self-absorbed content creators, who are generally annoying to begin with) what happened to a previous roommate, Becca. The “adults” include Dayna, a 39-year old unemployed tabloid reporter whose boyfriend recently broke up with her via Reddit, and Craig, the weird 50-something owner of said mansion who had groomed Dayna when she was a teenager (while he was engaged, no less), then years later invites her to manage his household of vapid nobodies. I went into this thinking most content creators are vapid nobodies, and therefore was excited for this validation, to be clear. And we do get glimpses of character depth for some of them (Jake, Piper) but they’re mostly one-dimensional side characters that we don’t get a ton of context for.

There’s a lot of random craziness that’s mildly entertaining, and I think Olivia’s backstory is compelling but otherwise this seemed disjointed and incomplete. The entire “climax” of learning Becca’s fate was rushed and nonsensical, and the ending seemed like a cliffhanger but is there more to come from these characters? I don’t really think I would bother to find out.

I will say, the writing is very good and I did appreciate the author’s commentary on online fame overall.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

such a unique and original concept for a novel. i never would’ve considered such a modern phenomenon like a social media hype house to blend with the classic gothic tale, but here we are.

i feel incredibly neutral about this book. it was fine. i read it, i didn’t dislike reading it, but i won’t sing its praises. the dialogue felt unrealistic quite regularly which pulled me out of the book. the mystery was also, unfortunately, quick lackluster. i wanted something bigger i suppose.

the characters (namely olivia, dayna, and becca) felt like ideas of a person rather than a fully fleshed out character. like, here’s olivia, she’s an orphan, that’s about it. the whole book sort of felt like a bunch of random ideas jumbled together without any real cohesion.

however, i did read this quite easily and did find myself intrigued by certain elements. i love a good gothic setting.

tl;dr: gothic house, influencers lacking personalities, and a mystery reveal that was as exciting as a slowly deflating balloon

(thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!)

[ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well-written, but I feel like maybe I didn't totally 'get it'. I liked the premise a lot, and thought the beginning was super strong. Creepy house, mystery, random group of people living there. However, there was very little atmosphere in the book. I never felt like anything creepy was happening, or got that gothic mystery feel. The characters were all just okay. I didn't feel like we ever pursued the mystery of Becca - everything that happens just happens without any action from the characters and with no tension. I would have liked a lot more emphasis on the characters and Becca's disappearance, and less on influencing brand deals. That said, I found this well-written (love the writing style) and read it within 2 days, so definitely an interesting read.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Miranda Dunlap · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t even explain how much I did not give a fuck

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

a disappointing excuse of a Bluebeard adaptation - the lack of suspense, the inability to truly lean into the gothic nature of the home, and the incessant and mindless element of the influencers made this feel soulless and unmotivated and frankly just boring

[Kelsey Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just stop halfway through if you're reading this book.
I got more confused as I read.

[nichie j.c · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bizarre but very clever satire on tiktok and influencer culture. Definitely a “weird girl lit-fic” kinda book and I loved it.

[Syd Hunnicutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC for review.

Okay, Leigh Stein. I see you.
If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant For You is a deliciously gothic mystery that takes a close look at modernity, social media, replication, and the most dangerous drug of all- attention. And I’m absolutely obsessed with it. This book has had me in such a chokehold since finishing it, with no end in sight. This is one of the only books that I’ve ever read and immediately considered a reread.

If You’re Seeing This follows Dayna, a heartbroken millennial, as she moves into a dilapidated neo-Mayan mansion to take on the job of helping an old friend turn it into a hype house for young content creators. We also follow Olivia, an aspiring young actress who moves into the hype house with the secret intention of investigating the disappearance of the mansion’s former shining star, a social media tarot reader. However, nothing is as it seems- the owners of the mansion have a mysterious past, and the house seems to have a strange effect on those who visit, stirring up rumors and fears among online communities.

Leigh Stein packed so many layers into about 320 pages, I fear I won’t be able to scratch the surface. However, I found this book absolutely impossible to put down. She successfully turns the internet and the media into a haunting, and the rush we receive from online validation into a possession. While this may not be for readers who want every single question answered and fully explained in the end, it’s perfect for those of us who like to feel fully consumed by a story for days after finishing.

It’s atmospheric, it’s sexy, it’s satirical, it’s uncomfortably relatable. Oh, and the main character has a pet rabbit named Owen Wilson. Need I say more?

[Kami · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those books where someone giving it more than three stars is incomprehensible to me. Fuck, you're charitable if you give it more than two. How do you write a Gothic/haunted house novel where the house is barely a presence in the book? Where you spend little to no time creating an atmospheric setting?

I finished reading this less than an hour ago, and I could not give you a detailed description of the Decker House or what it feels like to live there. It's dilapidated and crumbling, allegedly, but also structurally sound enough to house a bunch of people without any issue. There's a human-sized hole in the foundation, but you don't have any pest problems. The "hauntings" themselves are so slight that if you blink, you'll miss them. If the narrator(s) did not tell you directly how the house was affecting them—the walls get hot when I film content, I feel like I'm drowning in bed when I have sex—you would be more inclined to think they had intermittent hot flashes than that the house was exerting its influence. The most blatant manifestations of Decker House happen at the end with, spoiler, a girl experiencing psychosis, which is kind of a cop-out, in my opinion, because you can make anything happen and then turn to the audience like, "was it real, or mental illness? you'll never knowwwwww....." Shut the fuck up.

Social commentary was unsubtle and a little trite, but maybe I'm not TikTok-pilled enough to appreciate it, or anti-TikTok enough to find it funny. I dunno. There's nothing wrong with wanting to convey a specific message, but if your medium is a novel, it also needs to be a good story. The reader should be able to extrapolate meaning, or even create their own, rather than it being spoon-fed to them by someone uninterested in engaging and playing with the mechanics of storytelling.

Um, I'm sure Leigh Stein is a perfectly nice person. Thank you for creating something I can read, even if I think it sucked.

[Zoe Lipman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a rabbit named Owen Wilson...let that sink in for a second. Just sit with that for a moment. Iconic. I think everyone needs a rabbit named Owen Wilson.

Given that this author does a lot of satire and commentary writing, this book is a conversation on a lot of aspects of our modern world. For example, our main character learns about her own relationship/break-up through a Reddit thread. And I thought that was hilarious.

This book has a touch of modern gothic spook to it. We get a spooky old mansion that is turned into a modern, influencer-type house, and lots of aspects of the world of the influencer. And through the lens of very different people.

I, personally, didn't really connect to the characters. They weren't fully developed enough for me. And I can see that being a choice since influencers are just marketing shells of people, but there's a way to make a character shallow without it seeming like you didn't spend enough time on them. This didn't feel purposeful, even if it was. I don't even think it was.

This is another book with a great premise but with an execution that didn't quite hit the mark. This could've been so deep and interesting, but it didn't land for me the way I wanted it to. I can still see a lot of people liking this though.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re seeing this, it’s meant for you! The title definitely got my attention - and maybe this book WAS meant for me?
This was such an unusual book and definitely not the type of book I normally gravitate to. It was recommended to me by Emma Thomasch at Ballantine and I am really glad I decided to read it!
This is both a modern gothic mystery and a scathing (IMO) commentary on TikTok culture and Gen Z. In a way it reminded me of “Yellowface” by RF Kuang- in that it’s a dark satire about something in our current culture. It really highlights the nonsensical-ness of our obsession with likes, clicks and going viral.
Though I don’t even have TikTok and feel, as an elder millennial, that I do not relate (or care to relate) to GenZ at all, this was so entertaining! I enjoyed the beginning half more as I felt the novel sped up in the latter half ended too quickly - and I definitely wanted more!
Thank you to Emily, Ballantine & NetGalley for the advanced copy! If You’re Seeing This It’s Meant For You is out August 26th

[Spare Time · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORING and somehow outdated already in the year its published yikes

[Kathyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this perfect? No.
But there was a bunny in it.......



Named Owen Wilson.

No way it could have been less than four stars.


Also I read it in one day, so that's something.

[Patty (IheartYA311) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choppy and odd.

[yvee · Rating 2 out of 5]

gonna be honest, the extra star is solely for the fiona apple reference cuz this tiktokification of rebecca did not stick its landing… i needed WAYYY more context on the house itself for it to be an actual gothic thriller lmao.

[Sarah’s Shelves · Rating 2 out of 5]

if you are reading this, this is your sign to not read books about influencers.

I don't really have anything constructive to say about this book so I guess I will just say that this was not "gothic" nor a mystery. The plot of this book was just incredibly nonsensical and all of the characters were just annoying. At the end of the day, this was a book that I read mostly because of the cover and title if I am being ~painfully~ honest, and I have once again been let down by a pretty package.

[soph! · Rating 1 out of 5]

negative stars actually. this author took every drug and wrote down whatever she thought of. everything she thought of. and it was awful. you owe me therapy