This thought-provoking and passionate debut novel is my latest book obsession. It’s a workplace romance, but so much more! It’s an opposites-attract, This thought-provoking and passionate debut novel is my latest book obsession. It’s a workplace romance, but so much more! It’s an opposites-attract, but on a deeper level. And it’s funny! Really, really funny. Ms. Rabess has a very keen ear for authentic dialogue.
At first glance, this book is about two young people at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Jess and Josh first meet in college where Josh makes his conservative views, known and Jess decides he is just hateful. I read this in the first few days after the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action so to read the discussions in this book literally made it feel like it was written this week.
Jess ends up at Goldman Sachs after college where Josh also works. The cutthroat and competitive atmosphere there feels like it was written by an insider and it was. The author formerly worked there. Jess encounters microaggression after microaggression while Josh gets recognized for his work. She is basically treated like a lowly assistant. (When jokingly asks why he didn’t tell their colleagues “I’m amazing,� he replies, “I don’t think you are amazing.�) Ah.
After the frosty start, the two become close friends and then fall deeply in love. Will they be able to survive their wildly divergent political views? (Although Josh does call himself a “moderate�.) Jess is deeply conflicted about their relationship and hides Josh from her own father, expecting his disappointment. And yet. Josh cares deeply for Jess and she loves him.
This book has it all: wit, engaging dialogue, eccentric characters, and even romance. I want to sit down and chat with Ms. Rabess about this book. The author will challenge your perceptions about class, race and wealth. A must-read!
Very well written and twisty thriller but the ending just wasn't for me. Loved the inside look into the New York publishing world, though. I was hookeVery well written and twisty thriller but the ending just wasn't for me. Loved the inside look into the New York publishing world, though. I was hooked from the beginning!
“The first sign was the smell of cocoa butter.�
This lively and imaginative story explores what it's like to be the only black woman in the workplace. Nella is a rising star in a fictional publishing company but must deal with microaggression on a daily basis. Things start to look up when another black woman named Hazel is hired at the company. Will this new hire be helpful to Nella, or will it make her position at the company more tenuous? There are subtle hints at foreshadowing, but the book does not start out like a traditional thriller, instead reading like contemporary fiction.
There is something off about Hazel's behavior right from the beginning but everyone seems to fall in love with her so Nella chalks it up to her own imagination. I loved the author's sharp and witty observations about life in the publishing world and I honestly could not figure out if Nella was just being insecure about her own job or whether Hazel was not being totally up front about her background.
“Nella didn’t know what to make of any of it. The kind of celebrity status that Hazel had achieved in such a short span of time rubbed her in a way that bothered her, and it bothered her that she was bothered at all—especially since she and Hazel were supposed to be on the same team.�
This tension is sustained well throughout the story, but my issue with the book was the surprise twist at the end, which turned this book into more of a horror genre. Whoa. Even though I enjoyed this book, I did not think the ending was 100% necessary to the plot. I think you should definitely go into this one without reading any spoilers! I loved the cover and the overall pacing of this book so pick this one up if you want to see what all the buzz is about.
(Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.)...more
I was SO excited to read my first Alyssa Cole book and this blurb sounded fantastic! While I loved the dual narration, and the narrators were wonderfuI was SO excited to read my first Alyssa Cole book and this blurb sounded fantastic! While I loved the dual narration, and the narrators were wonderful, the plot and pacing are sorely lacking.
Sydney is concerned by the gentrification process happening in her beloved Brooklyn neighborhood. She volunteers to lead walking tours of the neighborhood and enlists her neighbor Theo. The pacing in the first half of the book was slow, and there were also elements of an enemies-to-lovers romance thrown into the mix.
Although Sydney is supposed to be a strong heroine, I was put off by her constant references to her "Mommy". This is a woman who is in her thirties and has gone through a divorce. She is constantly hiding from people, feelings and her past and she needed more backbone.
The plot develops into a story exactly like the movie "Get Out" which seems a little heavy-handed here. The story also rockets to a jaw-dropping conclusion which then made the book feel like science-fiction. That just did not work for me.
I enjoyed the aspects of the story that discussed the the history of Brooklyn, and would have loved a more organic integration of that history into the book. All in all, this one was not for me. ...more
� Ellen’s Reviews �
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