Reviews

Good, not great. I had a hard time identifying with the main character who is my age, but can't figure out Instagram by herself, but in the end, liked her enough to overlook her technical difficulties.

kimberussell's review against another edition

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4.0

Imogen Tate is the 42 year old Editor in Chief of Glossy, a popular fashion magazine. Upon return from a medical leave, Imogen finds out that her whole magazine has been turned digital, and the woman who was once her assistant is now her boss. When long-forms are replaced by listicles (spell check wants that word to be testicles), can Imogen hang or will she be forced into early retirement?

Many reviewers are incredulous that a GenX woman sucks at email. Who has heard of a 42-year-old woman who is completely shit at tech? Me! Especially women who have spent their entire career in mainstream publishing, a field notorious for being late to the technology game. Especially women who have been distracted by kids and then illness like Imogen was.

So while Imogen may have been behind the game at the beginning of the book, like the 42-year-old women I know who have to adapt or die, she's a freaking quick learner. Kindness, politeness, and the desire to learn wins the day.

After reading Sweetbitter, this book was a balm to my soul. It's a fun, fluffy, revenge story with a lot of snort-out-loud references to how bizarre new media is.

hildamarie's review against another edition

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3.0

The Knockout was a very enjoyable summer read. A forty-something fashion magazine editor is forced to change, grow, and learn about the world of commerce, social networking, and other new tech things, when, after an illness, she returns to work to find her magazine is now an app. An homage to "All about Eve," this book does make you think about how you lived before you had an iPhone! :)

messyjessi's review against another edition

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2.0

Wow. I wanted a fun, fashion romp, and my expectations for my fluff reading are low, but the premise of this book was so insane that I could NOT enjoy the story. A 42 year old woman, a successful editor in chief of a fashion magazine but we’re supposed to believe that girlfriend doesn’t know how to check her email? Sees all tech as a foreign language? If she were maybe 25 years older, I could have gotten on board but it just makes no sense.

Maybe the authors had an axe to grind with “millennial” women? The antagonist was completely one dimensional, and it seemed generally insulting to millennial women (robotic, fickle) and Gen X (inflexible, sad).

I don’t understand how folks gave this rave reviews. I am so confused.

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