mandymariaf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
clairebartholomew549's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A third of the way through this book I was prepared to give it three stars, but by the end of it I felt it was four stars for me. The beginning is slow and feels at times unbearably cliche; the narrator is fresh out of college and having all the expected identity crises and trying to break into a hostile industry, and she is relatively unremarkable and not that interesting (although that may be the point). But slowly the author peels back the layers and shows the insidious ways sexism bleeds into the workplace, and how even those of us who believe things are unjust end up going along with things in the naive hope that when we have power, we can change things. The narrator's slow disillusionment is masterfully done, and her relationship with her mother is absolutely fascinating in its codependency and emotional abuse. This book is not a new story - it reminded me a lot of Whisper Network, actually - but it still tells an important tale.
Spoiler
I thought the ending was really smart and really could go either way. My best guess is that she ended up taking the job at Julian's production company because I think she is too disillusioned at the end to believe that she and Allyn speaking up could make a difference. I think particularly seeing her mother, who she viewed as a feminist paradigm, silence women and believe Robert wholeheartedly was devastating for her.ferris_mx's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of meh story, nothing gets resolved but there's enough to see what the important events shaping the protagonist's identity are. I like the setup for the final moral quandary but it seems a bit idealistic that this quandary even requires consideration.
gloomyboygirl's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 rounded up. This would be a 5 star even if it had kept going another 50 pages, I get why it ended the way it did but I want more. I could read a whole sequel honestly. I loved how real and lived it felt and the authenticity of all the relationships, it didn't rest on cliches around writing about sexism and mother-daughter relationships that I find tiring and actually leaned into a lot of messy and dark concepts more accurately than I feel I usually see. Privilege, codependency, misogyny, working in the system vs abandoning it, systemic corruption, etc is all covered so well.
missbrendareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
shaeloef's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
emmamaereading's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
emily_bovan's review against another edition
4.0
A very important read about the #MeToo movement and the tv industry. While this book is pretty short the author wastes no time diving into this intense plot line that walks the line of women telling their story or furthering the environment of sexism. I was stressed pretty much this entire book and the open ended ending leaves a lot to the imagination. There are a ton of triggers such as: sexual assault, sexism, etc. but I recommend giving it a read.
sanmeow's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
0.5
eh? it was just tiring to read and i didn't like nor could i relate to the protagonist. that is a big issue since there's barely any plot to the book. hated the writing style and could barely keep on reading. just didn't like the voice, i guess. i was hoping the political commentary would be good, and i appreciate that the author attempted it, but i wasn't a fan of the execution because it felt sort of shallow. not my thing.