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felicitycot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content
froggybooks's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death and Vomit
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual assault
mads_jpg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Pros:
- There were a lot of genuinely funny lines.
- I liked some of the exploration of the destructive nature of current work culture.
- It was nice seeing two different perspectives on life as a working woman, one that's new to the industry and one that's already established.
Cons:
- Tabitha, Mackenzie, the finance girls, and Louise's friends are SO unlikable that they are entirely unbelievable as characters. I've never worked in publishing but I doubt anyone is that unabashedly awful.
- If I read one more lengthy description of someone's outfit I was going to throw the book across the room I SWEAR.
- The chapter titles are formatted in a clunky way; each chapter has a number and a title and the name of the character POV, which seems unnecessary since Imogen is always in first person and Harri in second person, the reader isn't stupid, we can figure it out. The chapters are also usually too short to warrant a title as well, just have the chapter number and leave it at that.
- Imogen is woefully pesimistic about her life. Everything is a competition of who's suffering more (always her apparently) and she's incapable of feeling empathy for anyone else, including her best friend who wasn't willing to sacrifice everything for her career like Imogen.
On that note, I would NEVER call my best friend a bitch, and I find it incredibly unbelievable that Jen would call her best friend a slut. If they're best friends then it's very unlikely that they'd have such different views on sex without it coming up sooner, we're given no reason to believe they would ever be friends in the first place. Jen was an entirely pointless character in the end and I wish that their friendship could have been used in a more positive and interesting way. Imogen even gets angry at Harri for daring to give her clear career options going forward. How awful of her to be considerate of what Imogen wants! - The focus on sex felt weird to me when I thought the whole point of the book was to focus on toxic careers. The sex scenes just felt out of place despite Imogen's job and
the epilogue about Harri touching herself felt like such a random note to end on. Louise's friend who ends up being a last minute love interest for Imogen was barely a footnote and I find it AGAIN unbelievable that he would kiss her after one convo. No one in this book acts like a real god damn human being.
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Toxic friendship
franceselsie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
caitdonlew's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death
jens3's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Sexual content
thenovelbookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It takes a while to get into what the book is about, there are times there are entirely too many words, and I wish the Mackenzie situation was bigger and didn't just happen at the end.
In this two person POV narrative, we follow Imogen & Harri in a phase of their careers where change and adversity exhausts and rewards them.
For those that like contemporary fiction, or love & resent their job.
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
becca_thegrimreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
On the other hand we have Harriet, Imogen’s boss. From the outside anyone would think that Harriet has a perfect life with a wonderful glamourous career. However, she’s under another set of pressures trying to achieve insurmountable goals. With her life devoted to work, we soon learn that work has become a coping mechanism for her grief. As her bosses begin to add on more and more demands, Harriet starts to morph into a woman she doesn’t recognise. I felt that I connected more with Imogen’s story, possibly due to my age and having been in situations where I’ve had to struggle to get my dream job.
Thankfully the humour and sharp wit cuts through the heavier sections, and honestly there are some incredibly funny bits that left me laughing in hysterics. This book really questions how hard do people work for the dream job, especially when the dream doesn’t turn out to be as good as they thought. As well we look at how much people are willing to sacrifice for that job. Imogen sacrifices her wellbeing and her sense of self. This was a book that hit too close to home at times, but one that is very apt for many people working towards their dream jobs.
Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Group for the copy of this book. My review is honest and unbiased.
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Death