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Anna Bright Is Hiding Something
The Dropout meets Inventing Anna in this cinematic and page-turning summer read! A ripped-from-the-headlines story set in the glossy offices of Silicon Valley startups and NYC new media, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something explores our fascination with female founders breaking barriers—and sometimes behaving badly in the process.
Anna Bright is committing fraud. But nobody knows it yet. Not the board of her multibillion-dollar company, not her investors, not the public breathlessly anticipating the launch of BrightSpot, and not the media—including Jamie Roman, a hardworking journalist for BusinessBerry. But when Jamie does learn about Anna’s misconduct, she embarks on a bicoastal journey to expose the crimes and make a name for herself as a journalist. It’s not long before Anna learns what the reporter is up to, however—and she’ll do anything to stop Jamie.
Especially now that BrightLife’s IPO is days away.
Anna Bright is committing fraud. But nobody knows it yet. Not the board of her multibillion-dollar company, not her investors, not the public breathlessly anticipating the launch of BrightSpot, and not the media—including Jamie Roman, a hardworking journalist for BusinessBerry. But when Jamie does learn about Anna’s misconduct, she embarks on a bicoastal journey to expose the crimes and make a name for herself as a journalist. It’s not long before Anna learns what the reporter is up to, however—and she’ll do anything to stop Jamie.
Especially now that BrightLife’s IPO is days away.
331 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2024
143 people are currently reading
14856 people want to read
About the author
Susie Orman Schnall
6 books552 followersHi! Thanks for visiting me on Goodreads! Here's a little bit about me...
I am the author of five novels about ambitious women: ANNA BRIGHT IS HIDING SOMETHING, WE CAME HERE TO SHINE, THE SUBWAY GIRLS, THE BALANCE PROJECT, and ON GRACE. My writing has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, HuffPost, PopSugar, Writer’s Digest, Harper's Bazaar, and Glamour. I'm also a screenwriter currently shopping my first pilot and feature-length screenplay. A mother of three grown sons, I was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and now live with my husband in Charlotte, NC. When I'm not reading or writing you can find me pretending to be a graphic designer on Canva, doing a crossword puzzle, or hiking to the top of a mountain.
Instagram: @SusieOrmanSchnall
Website: www.susieschnall.com
I am the author of five novels about ambitious women: ANNA BRIGHT IS HIDING SOMETHING, WE CAME HERE TO SHINE, THE SUBWAY GIRLS, THE BALANCE PROJECT, and ON GRACE. My writing has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, HuffPost, PopSugar, Writer’s Digest, Harper's Bazaar, and Glamour. I'm also a screenwriter currently shopping my first pilot and feature-length screenplay. A mother of three grown sons, I was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and now live with my husband in Charlotte, NC. When I'm not reading or writing you can find me pretending to be a graphic designer on Canva, doing a crossword puzzle, or hiking to the top of a mountain.
Instagram: @SusieOrmanSchnall
Website: www.susieschnall.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 305 reviews
June 28, 2024
One of the few female entrepreneurs making a huge impression upon the corporate world and the public alike, Anna Bright is just days away from filing with the SEC to take her company, BrightLife, public. After creating the life changing product, BrightSpot, which will provide a variety of services via an intraocular implant that ranges from correcting vision to augmenting reality, she is primed to light the field of biotechnology on fire. That’s assuming, of course, that she doesn’t get found out first. After all, what she’s promising hasn’t exactly been achieved. At least, not quite yet.
That’s not the only problem that Anna is facing, though. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—she’s willing to do anything, including lie, cheat or steal, to reach the end zone to ring that Wall Street bell. Being a woman in a male dominated industry doesn’t help. After all, no one ever cuts her any slack, instead it always seems to cut in the opposite direction. That doesn’t excuse her willingness to do anything to get ahead. Thankfully for her, though, she’s got the gift of the gab and no one has caught on to what she’s been up to.
Or so she thinks.
Jamie Roman is a young, hungry journalist looking to make a splash. When she is made aware of some of the things taking place at BrightLife, her reporter juices start flowing and her fingers start digging. The more she learns, the more Jamie wants to take Anna down. Is she prepared to go up against a juggernaut, though? It will take all of Jamie’s wit and plenty of bravery to see her investigation into BrightLife through to the end. It does promise, though, to be one heck of a story.
Initially I was very torn regarding how I felt about Anna Bright Is Hiding Something. Part slow burn suspense, it was mixed judiciously with a powerful general fiction novel. Starting off with the delicious satire-filled plot and a deliberately inchmeal exposure of a CEO behaving badly, the social commentary of the corporate world was startling and true. At the same time however, it did drag quite a bit considering that I was anticipating a suspense novel. Once I threw that supposition out the window (and I got to the last 100 pages), I was utterly and wholeheartedly transfixed.
Initially I was incredibly torn regarding how I felt about Anna Bright Is Hiding Something. Part longwinded suspense mixed judiciously with a powerful general fiction novel, there were so many successful aspects to this book. At the same time, however, the first two-thirds dragged quite a bit. If you love a good corporate story with an underlying theme of CEO’s behaving badly, however, then you might like the slow burn start more than I. For me, though, it was tough to sink my teeth into—until the last one hundred pages rolled around.
As for the characters, they were the shining star in this character-driven novel. With a handful of deeply unlikeable personas (including a narrator you’re simply going to love to hate) and her epically cheer-worthy foil, they pulled me into the story like I was watching a movie. No joke. Especially since it had all the makings of David versus Goliath. Reminding me strongly of She Said and just a little bit of All the President’s Men, I quite literally did a fist pump at one point in the story. Needless to say, I was wholeheartedly wrapped up in this book.
When it comes to my knack for honest, both-side reviews, though, there was one other piece to this dynamite book that let me down just a bit. Besides the initial leisurely pace, there was one other issue that I had with the plot. Namely, the conclusion. After all, it just felt so anticlimactic. At the same time, however, it still left a smile on my face as it wrapped up in a manner right out of a film. All I know is that I’m definitely going do my part with some internal wishes to the Hollywood gods to make that come to fruition.
All said and done, the more I think about the book, the more in love with it that I am. Delivering a strong message about the inequities that women face in business alongside a suspense-riddled tale, it was a definite home run. It also just so happened to provide quite the palate cleanser between my harder hitting thrillers. With stunning character arcs, sharp writing and precise plotting, it is sure to be one of the best fiction books of the year. And this is coming from someone who reads almost exclusively mystery/thrillers. So all I can say is to put your pre-orders and library holds in now. It was one masterful good time. Rating of 4.5 stars.
Thank you to Susie Orman Schnall and SparkPress for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: June 4, 2024
Trigger warning: blackmail, corporate fraud
That’s not the only problem that Anna is facing, though. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—she’s willing to do anything, including lie, cheat or steal, to reach the end zone to ring that Wall Street bell. Being a woman in a male dominated industry doesn’t help. After all, no one ever cuts her any slack, instead it always seems to cut in the opposite direction. That doesn’t excuse her willingness to do anything to get ahead. Thankfully for her, though, she’s got the gift of the gab and no one has caught on to what she’s been up to.
Or so she thinks.
Jamie Roman is a young, hungry journalist looking to make a splash. When she is made aware of some of the things taking place at BrightLife, her reporter juices start flowing and her fingers start digging. The more she learns, the more Jamie wants to take Anna down. Is she prepared to go up against a juggernaut, though? It will take all of Jamie’s wit and plenty of bravery to see her investigation into BrightLife through to the end. It does promise, though, to be one heck of a story.
Initially I was very torn regarding how I felt about Anna Bright Is Hiding Something. Part slow burn suspense, it was mixed judiciously with a powerful general fiction novel. Starting off with the delicious satire-filled plot and a deliberately inchmeal exposure of a CEO behaving badly, the social commentary of the corporate world was startling and true. At the same time however, it did drag quite a bit considering that I was anticipating a suspense novel. Once I threw that supposition out the window (and I got to the last 100 pages), I was utterly and wholeheartedly transfixed.
Initially I was incredibly torn regarding how I felt about Anna Bright Is Hiding Something. Part longwinded suspense mixed judiciously with a powerful general fiction novel, there were so many successful aspects to this book. At the same time, however, the first two-thirds dragged quite a bit. If you love a good corporate story with an underlying theme of CEO’s behaving badly, however, then you might like the slow burn start more than I. For me, though, it was tough to sink my teeth into—until the last one hundred pages rolled around.
As for the characters, they were the shining star in this character-driven novel. With a handful of deeply unlikeable personas (including a narrator you’re simply going to love to hate) and her epically cheer-worthy foil, they pulled me into the story like I was watching a movie. No joke. Especially since it had all the makings of David versus Goliath. Reminding me strongly of She Said and just a little bit of All the President’s Men, I quite literally did a fist pump at one point in the story. Needless to say, I was wholeheartedly wrapped up in this book.
When it comes to my knack for honest, both-side reviews, though, there was one other piece to this dynamite book that let me down just a bit. Besides the initial leisurely pace, there was one other issue that I had with the plot. Namely, the conclusion. After all, it just felt so anticlimactic. At the same time, however, it still left a smile on my face as it wrapped up in a manner right out of a film. All I know is that I’m definitely going do my part with some internal wishes to the Hollywood gods to make that come to fruition.
All said and done, the more I think about the book, the more in love with it that I am. Delivering a strong message about the inequities that women face in business alongside a suspense-riddled tale, it was a definite home run. It also just so happened to provide quite the palate cleanser between my harder hitting thrillers. With stunning character arcs, sharp writing and precise plotting, it is sure to be one of the best fiction books of the year. And this is coming from someone who reads almost exclusively mystery/thrillers. So all I can say is to put your pre-orders and library holds in now. It was one masterful good time. Rating of 4.5 stars.
Thank you to Susie Orman Schnall and SparkPress for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: June 4, 2024
Trigger warning: blackmail, corporate fraud
June 7, 2024
Anna Bright is the founder of Bright Spot, an innovative company on the rise in Silicon Valley. She rejects the qualifier of “female” founder and is known for being demanding and difficult to work for, and with. Anna refuses to let this business fail after past attempts that left her defeated and humiliated. She is determined to succeed, no matter the cost, especially now that Bright Spot announced its IPO.
When journalist Jamie Roman meets Anna at an event, her curiosity is piqued and she decides to investigate Anna and Bright Spot, to learn what’s really going on, especially once she hears informal comments from other employees in casual conversations. While Jamie works to reveal the truths of Bright Spot and its founder, Anna knows no bounds when it comes to keeping secrets and putting on a facade.
Reminiscent of Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos scandal, with references to the founder and company included in this story, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something is a timely exploration of startup culture. It also explores white collar crime and fraudulent business behavior. I enjoyed the story though it became slow at parts, and I was expecting a more dramatic ending — 3.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and SparkPress for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
When journalist Jamie Roman meets Anna at an event, her curiosity is piqued and she decides to investigate Anna and Bright Spot, to learn what’s really going on, especially once she hears informal comments from other employees in casual conversations. While Jamie works to reveal the truths of Bright Spot and its founder, Anna knows no bounds when it comes to keeping secrets and putting on a facade.
Reminiscent of Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos scandal, with references to the founder and company included in this story, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something is a timely exploration of startup culture. It also explores white collar crime and fraudulent business behavior. I enjoyed the story though it became slow at parts, and I was expecting a more dramatic ending — 3.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and SparkPress for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 18, 2024
That title just scream read me!! Who is Anna Bright and what is she hiding? I need to know more. I have to thank my friend Amanda for putting this one on my radar, I ran straight to NetGalley and requested it after reading her review. I was thrilled to get approved!l
I couldn’t put this down. Told in alternate chapters between Anna and Jamie, it was so much fun to read. Journalist Jamie meets Anna Bright, a very successful female entrepreneur through work and just feels there is something not quite right. Anna is very confident an d her company is about to go public. Jamie keeps digging, despite her boss telling her no, and starts to uncover some secrets that could destroy Anna.
I loved that this one mentioned the Elizabeth Holmes story a few times.it was a similar sort of story but so much more. It is about women, supporting women and the struggles that women face in business and the world in general. I did not like Anna at all, what a nasty piece of work she was.
Thank you to SparkPress for my advanced copy of this book to read. Loved it 🥰 publishes June 4th.
I couldn’t put this down. Told in alternate chapters between Anna and Jamie, it was so much fun to read. Journalist Jamie meets Anna Bright, a very successful female entrepreneur through work and just feels there is something not quite right. Anna is very confident an d her company is about to go public. Jamie keeps digging, despite her boss telling her no, and starts to uncover some secrets that could destroy Anna.
I loved that this one mentioned the Elizabeth Holmes story a few times.it was a similar sort of story but so much more. It is about women, supporting women and the struggles that women face in business and the world in general. I did not like Anna at all, what a nasty piece of work she was.
Thank you to SparkPress for my advanced copy of this book to read. Loved it 🥰 publishes June 4th.
July 24, 2024
This is a slow-burn thriller about fraud and deception. I enjoyed the theme of women and the unfair limitations they face in the corporate world. The narrators did an excellent job bringing the characters to life. My only wish it would have been faster-paced, but overall it was still entertaining and held my attention. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my audiobook.
April 3, 2024
4.5 stars. So so good!
May 6, 2024
Loosely based on the Elizabeth Holmes case, this "fast-paced and ripped-from-the-headlines story" was definitely ripped from the headlines but NOT fast-paced.
The book's premise was strong:
* An ambitious and talented female CEO intentionally commits fraud.
* An ambitious and talented female journalist vows to expose the fraud and make a name for herself as a journalist.
The book was replete with cliches about females in the workplace.
Overall, the book's pacing was uneven and lacked the level of intrigue I was seeking.
Quite frankly, the Elizabeth Holmes case was much more interesting.
I listened to the audiobook read by Tiffany Bache and Hillary Huber.
Both narrators did a superb job with the narration.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars rounded up.
June 27, 2024
This is an interesting book about the business world and how women are able or aren’t able to be successful. It was an interesting book, but it wasn’t quite as fast paced as I was hoping for. I listened to the audiobook and both narrators did a fabulous job bringing their characters to life. This book is told from two perspectives Anna Bright who is a successful founder of a company about to go public and Jamie Roman who is an up and coming journalist. Anna is determined to be successful and is willing to lie about her company’s product to get there. Jamie is determined to be recognized as a journalist and knows that Anna Bright is hiding something and the story of her lifetime is there. It was an interesting story, but I didn’t love the ending. I mean I liked that it updated you about several key characters and what happened, but I wanted a different ending. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars rounded up for the excellent job the narrators did reading it.
July 4, 2024
ANNA BRIGHT IS HIDING SOMETHING
BY: SUSIE ORMAN SCHNALL
I have absolutely loved Susie Orman Schnall's two former historical fiction novels, called "The Subway Girls," and "We Came Here to Shine." I would highly recommend these two to historical novels to fans of historical fiction. They're both five star reading experiences for me. "The Subway Girls," took place in 1949, and 70 years later. "We Came Here to Shine," is about the 1939 New York City's World Fair In that vein I've been anxiously anticipating for years when Susie Orman Schnall would write her next novel as she had become one of my favorite authors. So I jumped at the chance to read her newest novel thinking that I would get the same reading high as I got after reading her historical novels.
In Susie Orman Schnall's latest novel called, "Anna Bright Is Hiding Something," I wasn't as impressed which the blame probably lies with me because I did have an instinctual aha moment when I read the synopsis and it's category was "Humor and Satire." I do think that this reminded me of the Elizabeth Holmes story who was the CEO of Theranos which was all too real and kind of scary if you value your healthcare. Elizabeth Holmes is now in prison after a journalist from the reputable Wall Street Journal exposed her company to have been fraudulent.
Elizabeth Holmes only took two classes of Chemical Engineering and dropped out of Stanford University and used her tuition money to start her company called Theranos. Many who have already heard about this scheme which basically promised that it could run from 100 to 240 diagnostic tests using a pinprick of blood versus the one vial of blood that it takes to run a medical diagnostic test that is the standard practice of screening. It also, brought to mind Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi Scheme who owed 68 billion dollars to those 4,800 victims and charities who gave him their money to invest. He got away with it for years paying the highest returns on investments out of the money he was given by new investors.
This latest novel is about Anna Bright who is the Female Founder and CEO to her Silicon Valley company called, BrightLife that is on the cusp of planning to launch its IPO (initial public offering). Anna is in NYC for Vanity Fair's annual Female Founder Conference where she meets Jamie Roman who works for an online publication called BusinessBerry. Jamie wouldn't normally have been given the task but her boss Veronica who is the founder of the publication they work at had gotten sick from eating a bad clam. Anna was there as one of the guests who talked about her company's latest round of funding over the breakfast brunch. Her company is believed to be getting ready to offer this eye implant called, BrightSpot complete with a biosensor and computer chip that can do all kinds of amazing things only it's also fraudulent. Only nobody knows that yet. Not her Board members, Investors or the media. While at the conference both women are impressed by each other. Anna happened to be ranting and raving unaware that her microphone was still on. It was Jamie who like Superwoman flew to Anna's side and removed her microphone which impressed not only Anna but the guests in the crowd who filmed the scene with a video that went viral. This led Anna to invite Jamie aboard Anna Bright's private jet with over the top amenities that are laughable for an exclusive interview. This private jet owned by Anna practically offers the best of everything you could imagine--if you can think of anything that you would like while flying you only have to ask and your wish is granted. Jamie Roman who is as hardworking and ambitious as Anna didn't end up getting her interview as they flew from New York City to San Francisco. Jamie who was promised by Anna to give her an interview didn't end up getting it. Anna claimed that she has a headache and sleeps during most of the flight So Jamie didn't get her assignment done and feels frustrated that she made the trip for nothing.
When Jamie is about to book her return flight home she gets a phone call from Ian who works for Anna saying that she'll do the interview on Monday. Jamie agrees to stay and tours Stanford among other things. She was entertained by Ian during the flight from her home in New York City to San Francisco. While Jamie is waiting to interview Anna on Monday over the weekend she learns from a few other women in the know of Anna's misconduct and fraud and wants to use this information by exposing Anna's misconduct so that she can make a name for herself. When Anna learns of what Jamie is up to she will do anything in her power to stop her.
I thought that this overall might appeal to readers who enjoy satire infused plots, but I found it to mirror Elizabeth Holmes's scandal with Theranos too closely. I found the formatting of this to be poorly done therefore making it distracting to read. I hope that this is fixed with a good editor before the publication date. While I have loved this author's above two prior novels much more, I did like this latest achievement by her. In summary this was a quick read that I would still recommend as women's fiction that entertains and even though at times I found the storytelling over the top it did garner some laughable moments throughout.
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley, Susie Orman Schnall and SparkPress for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#AnnaBrightIsHidingSomething #SusieOrmanSchnall #SparkPress #NetGalley
BY: SUSIE ORMAN SCHNALL
I have absolutely loved Susie Orman Schnall's two former historical fiction novels, called "The Subway Girls," and "We Came Here to Shine." I would highly recommend these two to historical novels to fans of historical fiction. They're both five star reading experiences for me. "The Subway Girls," took place in 1949, and 70 years later. "We Came Here to Shine," is about the 1939 New York City's World Fair In that vein I've been anxiously anticipating for years when Susie Orman Schnall would write her next novel as she had become one of my favorite authors. So I jumped at the chance to read her newest novel thinking that I would get the same reading high as I got after reading her historical novels.
In Susie Orman Schnall's latest novel called, "Anna Bright Is Hiding Something," I wasn't as impressed which the blame probably lies with me because I did have an instinctual aha moment when I read the synopsis and it's category was "Humor and Satire." I do think that this reminded me of the Elizabeth Holmes story who was the CEO of Theranos which was all too real and kind of scary if you value your healthcare. Elizabeth Holmes is now in prison after a journalist from the reputable Wall Street Journal exposed her company to have been fraudulent.
Elizabeth Holmes only took two classes of Chemical Engineering and dropped out of Stanford University and used her tuition money to start her company called Theranos. Many who have already heard about this scheme which basically promised that it could run from 100 to 240 diagnostic tests using a pinprick of blood versus the one vial of blood that it takes to run a medical diagnostic test that is the standard practice of screening. It also, brought to mind Bernie Madoff's infamous Ponzi Scheme who owed 68 billion dollars to those 4,800 victims and charities who gave him their money to invest. He got away with it for years paying the highest returns on investments out of the money he was given by new investors.
This latest novel is about Anna Bright who is the Female Founder and CEO to her Silicon Valley company called, BrightLife that is on the cusp of planning to launch its IPO (initial public offering). Anna is in NYC for Vanity Fair's annual Female Founder Conference where she meets Jamie Roman who works for an online publication called BusinessBerry. Jamie wouldn't normally have been given the task but her boss Veronica who is the founder of the publication they work at had gotten sick from eating a bad clam. Anna was there as one of the guests who talked about her company's latest round of funding over the breakfast brunch. Her company is believed to be getting ready to offer this eye implant called, BrightSpot complete with a biosensor and computer chip that can do all kinds of amazing things only it's also fraudulent. Only nobody knows that yet. Not her Board members, Investors or the media. While at the conference both women are impressed by each other. Anna happened to be ranting and raving unaware that her microphone was still on. It was Jamie who like Superwoman flew to Anna's side and removed her microphone which impressed not only Anna but the guests in the crowd who filmed the scene with a video that went viral. This led Anna to invite Jamie aboard Anna Bright's private jet with over the top amenities that are laughable for an exclusive interview. This private jet owned by Anna practically offers the best of everything you could imagine--if you can think of anything that you would like while flying you only have to ask and your wish is granted. Jamie Roman who is as hardworking and ambitious as Anna didn't end up getting her interview as they flew from New York City to San Francisco. Jamie who was promised by Anna to give her an interview didn't end up getting it. Anna claimed that she has a headache and sleeps during most of the flight So Jamie didn't get her assignment done and feels frustrated that she made the trip for nothing.
When Jamie is about to book her return flight home she gets a phone call from Ian who works for Anna saying that she'll do the interview on Monday. Jamie agrees to stay and tours Stanford among other things. She was entertained by Ian during the flight from her home in New York City to San Francisco. While Jamie is waiting to interview Anna on Monday over the weekend she learns from a few other women in the know of Anna's misconduct and fraud and wants to use this information by exposing Anna's misconduct so that she can make a name for herself. When Anna learns of what Jamie is up to she will do anything in her power to stop her.
I thought that this overall might appeal to readers who enjoy satire infused plots, but I found it to mirror Elizabeth Holmes's scandal with Theranos too closely. I found the formatting of this to be poorly done therefore making it distracting to read. I hope that this is fixed with a good editor before the publication date. While I have loved this author's above two prior novels much more, I did like this latest achievement by her. In summary this was a quick read that I would still recommend as women's fiction that entertains and even though at times I found the storytelling over the top it did garner some laughable moments throughout.
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Thank you to Net Galley, Susie Orman Schnall and SparkPress for generously providing me with my eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
#AnnaBrightIsHidingSomething #SusieOrmanSchnall #SparkPress #NetGalley
May 29, 2024
Wow, exhilarating read! Pubs June 4th, 2024.
Are some women executives tougher on their female employees? If so, it’s to help mentor them or to up themselves.
Anna Bright is driven to succeed and be ‘wildly successful’ regardless of who or what gets in her way. Her company, BrightLife, is poised to go public on Wall Street but conflicting reports say they’re not even close.
Is Anna Bright hiding something? You’re darn right she is; from her employees, her board of directors, and the public.
A real page turner you won’t want to put down.
Thank you Edelweiss, Spark Press, and Susie Orman Schnall.
Are some women executives tougher on their female employees? If so, it’s to help mentor them or to up themselves.
Anna Bright is driven to succeed and be ‘wildly successful’ regardless of who or what gets in her way. Her company, BrightLife, is poised to go public on Wall Street but conflicting reports say they’re not even close.
Is Anna Bright hiding something? You’re darn right she is; from her employees, her board of directors, and the public.
A real page turner you won’t want to put down.
Thank you Edelweiss, Spark Press, and Susie Orman Schnall.
June 20, 2024
It had been a few years since the last time I read a novel by Susie Orman Schnall, so I was excited to get a copy of her latest, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something.
The focus of this novel is about women in the career force and the different standards placed on them. It's about the founder of an innovative company and what stakes she is up against in order to be successful, as well as the measures she will go through to make that success happen.
I appreciated that this novel was geared toward women but it wasn't a romance. It also had an unreliable narrator, as Anna wasn't very likable or trustable throughout. While I get what she was striving for, I still didn't want her to win. Jamie was also a strong character and she had a lot at stake with chasing the story she was after. Especially given her complicated family history.
I only had a couple of really minor concerns, as I felt the story was great overall. It seemed like some aspects of the story got dropped where I would have liked to see them get acknowledged more. Also, I didn't understand the business terminology, but it felt realistic for the characters to use it.
This was a really interesting and well-told story and I encourage everyone to check it out. I think men will find it interesting too, especially as an eye-opener (excuse the pun...you'll see...there I go again!) to what women go through to achieve success.
Movie casting suggestions:
The focus of this novel is about women in the career force and the different standards placed on them. It's about the founder of an innovative company and what stakes she is up against in order to be successful, as well as the measures she will go through to make that success happen.
I appreciated that this novel was geared toward women but it wasn't a romance. It also had an unreliable narrator, as Anna wasn't very likable or trustable throughout. While I get what she was striving for, I still didn't want her to win. Jamie was also a strong character and she had a lot at stake with chasing the story she was after. Especially given her complicated family history.
I only had a couple of really minor concerns, as I felt the story was great overall. It seemed like some aspects of the story got dropped where I would have liked to see them get acknowledged more. Also, I didn't understand the business terminology, but it felt realistic for the characters to use it.
This was a really interesting and well-told story and I encourage everyone to check it out. I think men will find it interesting too, especially as an eye-opener (excuse the pun...you'll see...there I go again!) to what women go through to achieve success.
Movie casting suggestions:
Anna: Rebecca Rittenhouse
Jamie: Odeya Rush
July 6, 2024
I first thought this book would be a little confusing since I'm not interested in anything related to business. However, I surprisingly had no problem with it and invested in the plot. Although Anna was very annoying, I've got to say that I agree with some of her opinions, which made her a fascinating character to me. I'd give this book one more star if only the ending was less infuriating. It was a realistic outcome indeed, but it still pissed me off.
July 9, 2024
3.5 stars.
July 2, 2024
3.75/5
I will admit the book was a bit hard to get into at the beginning but I’m not sure if i just wasn’t in the mood for it or if it was a slow start.
I put the book back down for a bit and came back to it a week later. I could not put it down. I really enjoyed all of the different POVs so I could see different sides of the events that were playing out. I was rooting for Anna to be taken down. 🤷🏼♀️
I will admit the book was a bit hard to get into at the beginning but I’m not sure if i just wasn’t in the mood for it or if it was a slow start.
I put the book back down for a bit and came back to it a week later. I could not put it down. I really enjoyed all of the different POVs so I could see different sides of the events that were playing out. I was rooting for Anna to be taken down. 🤷🏼♀️
May 3, 2025
Book Title: Anna Bright Is Hiding Something
Author: Susie Orman Schnall
Publisher(s): SparkPress/Dreamscape Media
🤔 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕀 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕥: I can’t actually remember why I wanted to grab Anna Bright Is Hiding Something, but my guess is I saw it on NetGalley, and the cover grabbed my attention. Because how could it not?
🍿 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: I’m not sure if I was expecting this to have Bad Blood/Elizabeth Holmes vibes, but I think that made me love it even more. Just like Holmes, Anna Bright has some secrets, and she will stop at nothing to get her company’s IPO, even if it means omitting information and pushing her employees to the brink.
👏🏼 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈: Oh, so many things. The viewpoints of Anna and Jamie were both clever and engrossing and switching between the two definitely kept tension high until the last page. They each have their own internal and external struggles, though they each handle these very differently. I loved the deviousness of Anna, and despite how unlikeable she was, she was still kind of an inspiration. Jamie was the perfect person to balance her out and she was incredibly likeable as well as being very driven. I love anything about Silicon Valley apparently, and while this is fiction, it is also rooted in very real struggles women face in the startup world.
🫤 🇹🇭🇪 🇳🇪🇬🇦🇹🇮🇻🇪🇸: Nope, I got nothing for you!
🎧 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒩𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃: UNBELIEVABLY good. The choice to have a narrator for each viewpoint was key here, and with Tiffany Bache narrating Jamie & Hillary Huber narrating Anna, it was a match made in heaven. If you’re going to read this, you must listen to the audiobook, and I won’t take no for an answer. 😉
💭 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: Anna Bright Is Hiding Something is more than another case of Elizabeth Holmes, and while I loved that it had that same feel, the author leveled the story up to make it extra juicy. If you are expecting suspense, you won’t really find it here, and this was more a mix of general fiction, a dash of sci-fi, and a story of ambition and greed. I loved the way it was wrapped up at the end with ‘and then what happened’ which was a nice way to give us the deets about the characters without turning it into a full-blown epilogue. This is a film worthy book if I ever saw one.
T͏h͏i͏s͏ B͏o͏o͏k͏ i͏n͏ 5͏ E͏m͏o͏j͏i͏’s͏ o͏r͏ L͏e͏s͏s͏: 🤫💰👁️📰📱
𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received a complimentary listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Author: Susie Orman Schnall
Publisher(s): SparkPress/Dreamscape Media
🤔 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝔻𝕚𝕕 𝕀 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕥: I can’t actually remember why I wanted to grab Anna Bright Is Hiding Something, but my guess is I saw it on NetGalley, and the cover grabbed my attention. Because how could it not?
🍿 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴: I’m not sure if I was expecting this to have Bad Blood/Elizabeth Holmes vibes, but I think that made me love it even more. Just like Holmes, Anna Bright has some secrets, and she will stop at nothing to get her company’s IPO, even if it means omitting information and pushing her employees to the brink.
👏🏼 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒫𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈: Oh, so many things. The viewpoints of Anna and Jamie were both clever and engrossing and switching between the two definitely kept tension high until the last page. They each have their own internal and external struggles, though they each handle these very differently. I loved the deviousness of Anna, and despite how unlikeable she was, she was still kind of an inspiration. Jamie was the perfect person to balance her out and she was incredibly likeable as well as being very driven. I love anything about Silicon Valley apparently, and while this is fiction, it is also rooted in very real struggles women face in the startup world.
🫤 🇹🇭🇪 🇳🇪🇬🇦🇹🇮🇻🇪🇸: Nope, I got nothing for you!
🎧 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒩𝒶𝓇𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃: UNBELIEVABLY good. The choice to have a narrator for each viewpoint was key here, and with Tiffany Bache narrating Jamie & Hillary Huber narrating Anna, it was a match made in heaven. If you’re going to read this, you must listen to the audiobook, and I won’t take no for an answer. 😉
💭 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: Anna Bright Is Hiding Something is more than another case of Elizabeth Holmes, and while I loved that it had that same feel, the author leveled the story up to make it extra juicy. If you are expecting suspense, you won’t really find it here, and this was more a mix of general fiction, a dash of sci-fi, and a story of ambition and greed. I loved the way it was wrapped up at the end with ‘and then what happened’ which was a nice way to give us the deets about the characters without turning it into a full-blown epilogue. This is a film worthy book if I ever saw one.
T͏h͏i͏s͏ B͏o͏o͏k͏ i͏n͏ 5͏ E͏m͏o͏j͏i͏’s͏ o͏r͏ L͏e͏s͏s͏: 🤫💰👁️📰📱
𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received a complimentary listening copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
May 23, 2024
https://wendyreadit.wordpress.com/202...
Right from the beginning, I'm thinking that Anna Bright has a lot in common with Elizabeth Holmes. She's a dynamic head of a company with an awesome product and they are certainly headed towards an upcoming IPO. An up and coming young journalist gets a coveted spot on a panel that includes Anna Bright when her boss can't attend. When Jamie helps Anna after a blunder with a microphone, Jamie is invited on Anna's private jet back to Silicon Valley with the promise of an exclusive interview with her. As you can imagine, things do not go as planned. This is a quick and enjoyable read and the audio version is well narrated.
Right from the beginning, I'm thinking that Anna Bright has a lot in common with Elizabeth Holmes. She's a dynamic head of a company with an awesome product and they are certainly headed towards an upcoming IPO. An up and coming young journalist gets a coveted spot on a panel that includes Anna Bright when her boss can't attend. When Jamie helps Anna after a blunder with a microphone, Jamie is invited on Anna's private jet back to Silicon Valley with the promise of an exclusive interview with her. As you can imagine, things do not go as planned. This is a quick and enjoyable read and the audio version is well narrated.
April 12, 2024
Anna Bright is Hiding Something by Susie Orman Schnall. Thanks to @booksparks for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
An upcoming journalist, Jamie Roman, becomes interested in exposing Anna Bright, founder of a multibillion dollar company about to launch public.
I love stories about women in the workforce. The workforce was heavy on this one and I had to ask my husband a lot about how companies and stocks work. Anyone interested in journalism and investigating the man (in this case the woman) will like this one.
“Maybe the person she needed to live up to, the person she needed to prove herself to- the only person- was herself.”
Anna Bright is Hiding Something comes out 6/4.
#annabrightreviewtour
An upcoming journalist, Jamie Roman, becomes interested in exposing Anna Bright, founder of a multibillion dollar company about to launch public.
I love stories about women in the workforce. The workforce was heavy on this one and I had to ask my husband a lot about how companies and stocks work. Anyone interested in journalism and investigating the man (in this case the woman) will like this one.
“Maybe the person she needed to live up to, the person she needed to prove herself to- the only person- was herself.”
Anna Bright is Hiding Something comes out 6/4.
#annabrightreviewtour
April 18, 2024
BOOK TOUR • REVIEW
Thank you #partners @booksparks & @gosparkpoint for my #gifted ARC and spot on this tour! #annabrightreviewtour
Anna Bright is Hiding Something
Susie Orman Schnall
6/4
📖 Anna Bright's multi-billion dollar biotech company, BrightLife, is about to go public. Up-and-coming journalist Jamie Roman is determined to not let that happen. Because despite how things look from the outside, Anna Bright is definitely hiding something...
💭 Upcoming novel from Susie Orman Schnall blends drama, suspense, and humor for a tantalizing romp into Silicon Valley and the media industry. I love reading about women in traditionally male-dominated industries .... even if one of them is up to no good. 😉 I really appreciate the satire and dark humor, as well as the social commentary on corporate America. With well-crafted characters and sharp, clever writing, this was a highly entertaining read. Folks who followed the Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos story should definitely pick this one up!
📌 Available June 4th! Preorder now!
Thank you #partners @booksparks & @gosparkpoint for my #gifted ARC and spot on this tour! #annabrightreviewtour
Anna Bright is Hiding Something
Susie Orman Schnall
6/4
📖 Anna Bright's multi-billion dollar biotech company, BrightLife, is about to go public. Up-and-coming journalist Jamie Roman is determined to not let that happen. Because despite how things look from the outside, Anna Bright is definitely hiding something...
💭 Upcoming novel from Susie Orman Schnall blends drama, suspense, and humor for a tantalizing romp into Silicon Valley and the media industry. I love reading about women in traditionally male-dominated industries .... even if one of them is up to no good. 😉 I really appreciate the satire and dark humor, as well as the social commentary on corporate America. With well-crafted characters and sharp, clever writing, this was a highly entertaining read. Folks who followed the Elizabeth Holmes / Theranos story should definitely pick this one up!
📌 Available June 4th! Preorder now!
June 11, 2024
Anna Bright is on a mission to make her company BrightSpot a leading developer in the business world and craving success in doing so. But Anna Bright is playing with fire and soon the stakes will be high, very high.
Anna is actually creating a fraudulent company that will be unable to deliver on its promises and meet her investors high expectations. She runs her company with an iron hand and expects all her employees to be faithful to her and to be as dedicated as she is to creating the success of her product, she will do anything to succeed, lie and mislead people just so that she can obtain glory and fame . But all is not what it seems and many of her employees are incredibly unhappy, they do not have the respect for her that she believes she deserves and this leads to a very unhappy work environment which will come back to bite her in a huge way.
Young journalist Jamie Roman is also out to make a name for herself and when she becomes aware of what is happening at BrightSpot she makes it her mission to try to bring the ever confident Anna down. Jamie is also extremely ambitious and is a huge supporter of women in business, she recognises how hard it is for them to break through the glass ceiling.
Told in alternating POV's of Anna and Jamie this book grabbed my attention early and did not let go. A very interesting subject matter and the author has done an excellent job of conveying this particular world of business and presenting it to us. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy, all opinions expressed are my own. Highly recommended.
Anna is actually creating a fraudulent company that will be unable to deliver on its promises and meet her investors high expectations. She runs her company with an iron hand and expects all her employees to be faithful to her and to be as dedicated as she is to creating the success of her product, she will do anything to succeed, lie and mislead people just so that she can obtain glory and fame . But all is not what it seems and many of her employees are incredibly unhappy, they do not have the respect for her that she believes she deserves and this leads to a very unhappy work environment which will come back to bite her in a huge way.
Young journalist Jamie Roman is also out to make a name for herself and when she becomes aware of what is happening at BrightSpot she makes it her mission to try to bring the ever confident Anna down. Jamie is also extremely ambitious and is a huge supporter of women in business, she recognises how hard it is for them to break through the glass ceiling.
Told in alternating POV's of Anna and Jamie this book grabbed my attention early and did not let go. A very interesting subject matter and the author has done an excellent job of conveying this particular world of business and presenting it to us. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy, all opinions expressed are my own. Highly recommended.
September 4, 2024
4.25 star rating
I loved reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou so when I saw a review that Anna Bright was loosely based on Elizabeth Holmes’ story I knew I had to read this book. I was hooked immediately! I thought the author did an outstanding job of coming up with her own idea of a product for a startup company.
Likes:
Page turner
Timely story
Women in the workplace
Dislikes: I felt like the ending was a little rushed.
I received an advanced electronic copy from publisher Spark Press books and Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book.
I loved reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou so when I saw a review that Anna Bright was loosely based on Elizabeth Holmes’ story I knew I had to read this book. I was hooked immediately! I thought the author did an outstanding job of coming up with her own idea of a product for a startup company.
Likes:
Page turner
Timely story
Women in the workplace
Dislikes: I felt like the ending was a little rushed.
I received an advanced electronic copy from publisher Spark Press books and Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book.
May 28, 2024
I didn’t finish. It was an Elizabeth Holmes retelling, and maybe because I’m super familiar with that real life situation, this story completely bored me. Nothing even happens in the first 40% of the book, and while it may have an incredible ending that I am missing out on, 40% is way too long to try and keep a reader going with no bait. Typically my DNFs get 1 star, but I added an extra star for the incredible cover and title. Both were intriguing but the story itself didn’t hold my focus.
June 9, 2024
One of my most anticipated of the year and it did not disappoint! This is basically a fictional version of Theranos/Elizabeth Holmes. We follow Anna Bright aka Elizabeth Holmes but different and Jamie a reporter who interviews Anna and starts to look into what’s actually happening at her company. I was obsessed with the show The Dropout and this filled that hole. Given the inspo you know how things will go down but this was still a really fun ride with twists I didn’t expect!
June 5, 2024
Listened to the audiobook.
I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.
What the heck???? This story was touted as a thriller with crime and fraud and all that and it was none of that by the end!! The first 90% was definitely good. But then the climax happens and everything just falls apart. So disappointing.
I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.
What the heck???? This story was touted as a thriller with crime and fraud and all that and it was none of that by the end!! The first 90% was definitely good. But then the climax happens and everything just falls apart. So disappointing.
May 7, 2024
An interesting idea that was very poorly executed. Too many characters, way too long, blandly written with a silly and unsatisfying ending.
May 31, 2024
A fast paced story that I really enjoyed. Fans of Bad Blood or the Theranos drama will devour this one. I alternated audio & kindle and very much enjoyed both.
June 22, 2024
2.5
I was drawn in by the book cover! I thought it had a good balance of story setting and dialogue! This made it a quick, easy, light read. I finished the book in two days. It has a lot of business lingo but the writing held my attention. It was refreshing to immerse myself into a fictional world setting based on innovation, and journalism.
I found the ending was rushed. The resolution for Jamie’s storyline and ending of Anna was an incredibly short wrap up. I found it unnecessary to have the slight story between Jamie and Ian, it didn’t give anything to the story. As a reader, I found the “And Then What Happened…” section (giving a few sentences of summary for each character as an epilogue) was underwhelming and could have been left out. I would’ve liked more depth to the characters, especially Anna.
I felt that the story was providing a mixed message after finishing the book - I don’t know what the intended focus was for the story. There was heavy emphasis in the book on women in business, and the difficulties they face in the industry throughout the book and there were several scenarios given to many of the female characters that had their struggles in the industry. It just does not correlate with the book ending at all. Therefore upon finishing the book, it made me realize I wouldn’t know what the intended goal was for the story if I didn’t read the back book description. It was a questionable choice to end the story the way it did and I was left unsatisfied.
I would put this book under Crime, not Mystery/Thriller/Suspense.
Thank you SparkPress and Netgalley for an eARC!
I was drawn in by the book cover! I thought it had a good balance of story setting and dialogue! This made it a quick, easy, light read. I finished the book in two days. It has a lot of business lingo but the writing held my attention. It was refreshing to immerse myself into a fictional world setting based on innovation, and journalism.
I found the ending was rushed. The resolution for Jamie’s storyline and ending of Anna was an incredibly short wrap up. I found it unnecessary to have the slight story between Jamie and Ian, it didn’t give anything to the story. As a reader, I found the “And Then What Happened…” section (giving a few sentences of summary for each character as an epilogue) was underwhelming and could have been left out. I would’ve liked more depth to the characters, especially Anna.
I felt that the story was providing a mixed message after finishing the book - I don’t know what the intended focus was for the story. There was heavy emphasis in the book on women in business, and the difficulties they face in the industry throughout the book and there were several scenarios given to many of the female characters that had their struggles in the industry. It just does not correlate with the book ending at all. Therefore upon finishing the book, it made me realize I wouldn’t know what the intended goal was for the story if I didn’t read the back book description. It was a questionable choice to end the story the way it did and I was left unsatisfied.
I would put this book under Crime, not Mystery/Thriller/Suspense.
Thank you SparkPress and Netgalley for an eARC!
June 19, 2024
The noncommittal, vague title of this book hints at the content of the book itself - while not a bad read, it's not nearly as thrilling or salacious as I was hoping. It reminded me a lot of The Herd and other similar books that take on (or take down?) female founded startups. Whereas The Herd seemed to be a callout of Glossier's Emily Weiss, this book is more in the vein of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes.
Anna Bright is the CEO of BrightLife, a healthtech startup selling an ocular lens that will enable recording, augmented reality, health and wellness, and much more - a product that will change peoples' lives. Enter Jamie Roman, a journalist for the tech news website BusinessBerry, who discovers some salacious things about BrightLife that make her want to dig deeper on BrightLife and Anna herself.
The book was perfectly fine - but that's not exactly what you want from a thriller. It didn't have any shocking twists and turns, and in fact, I found that I could guess the plot how the plot was going to unfold about 25% of the way in. I didn't love Jamie's character or really even see the point of having her be the other MC - I actually think the book might have been more interesting if it went deeper on Anna instead.
Thank you to the publisher for the audio ARC via Netgalley!
Anna Bright is the CEO of BrightLife, a healthtech startup selling an ocular lens that will enable recording, augmented reality, health and wellness, and much more - a product that will change peoples' lives. Enter Jamie Roman, a journalist for the tech news website BusinessBerry, who discovers some salacious things about BrightLife that make her want to dig deeper on BrightLife and Anna herself.
The book was perfectly fine - but that's not exactly what you want from a thriller. It didn't have any shocking twists and turns, and in fact, I found that I could guess the plot how the plot was going to unfold about 25% of the way in. I didn't love Jamie's character or really even see the point of having her be the other MC - I actually think the book might have been more interesting if it went deeper on Anna instead.
Thank you to the publisher for the audio ARC via Netgalley!
June 2, 2024
4.5
Oh, I was so invested in this one!!
Anna Bright - breakthrough female founder in the world of start-ups, already widely acclaimed. Her biotech company BrightLife, valued at millions and fronted by big-name investors, is on the cusp of going public with it's revolutionary product.
Jamie Ronan - ambitious investigative journalist who seizes the opportunity to interview the elusive Anna Bright. Once Jamie hears rumours of unethical conduct at BrightLife, she follows her instincts to dig deeper and is on a mission to uncover any fraudulent behaviour.
The story is told through alternating perspectives as the two women go head-to-head in their pursuit of success, one about to make millions and one eager to make a big break in her journalistic career. I was hooked from early on with the anticipation of finding out both the truth and the outcome! I loved the formatting. The two narratives contrasted each other brilliantly; the inner monologues and moral compasses of the two characters were vastly different.
Not only was this a fascinating insight into Silicon Valley, but it was also a thought-provoking analysis of the challenges faced by women in work. Misogyny and systemic prejudice is rife in the featured workplaces; women being passed over for promotion, discredited, having to jump over more obstacles than a male counterpart.
I was particularly fascinated by the exploration of womanhood and each character’s response to the institutional sexism they face. We see Anna reject her femininity in a way, actively replicating the actions of men she has seen being taken seriously and taking offence to being labelled a 'female' entrepreneur. This is such an interesting discussion point; whilst I can understand the frustration of being categorised as a 'female professional', as opposed to just a 'professional', I also cherish the label of female and think it is an identifier to be celebrated, especially when it is a barrier to success. (FOR A GIRL added on the end of compliments is of course a big no though!)
We observe various examples of internalised misogyny where the oppressed becomes the oppressor - a women in power discriminating against her female employees and idolising stereotypical male traits. Conversely, many female characters band together, supporting and uplifting each other in a male-dominated world, sharing stories and opportunities in a way I love to see. The juxtaposition is powerful and the insight into the causal thought processes of each action is of great interest to me.
In fact, throughout, the introspection of the main characters was a joy to read; relationships, forgiveness and self-confidence were all discussed compellingly.
"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯? 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?"
"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 - 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."
The details of the ground-breaking technology are brushed over slightly, which could be disappointing if you pick this up anticipating a comprehensive sci-fi read, I personally was more interested in the social commentary about corporate culture and the character-driven narrative. This was a unique story, I hadn't previously considered the role of journalists in the policing of fraud and misconduct but I will definitely be looking out for more books featuring (ethical) investigative journalism in future. I quickly read up on the Elizabeth Holmes case that this seems to be a retelling of and know I will 100% be going down a research rabbit hole about it soon - I am SO intrigued.
My frustration at times when reading this is a testament to the book's realistic portrayal of abuse of power and the consequent injustice. Once I finished reading, I sat and stared at the wall for a minute in shock and slight disbelief. On reflection, I think the ending was a perfect conclusion to a novel about manipulation, deception and the sway of money, status and men. I loved the writing and will definitely be checking out other works by Susie Orman Schnall!!
Publication date: 4th June 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Spark Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Oh, I was so invested in this one!!
Anna Bright - breakthrough female founder in the world of start-ups, already widely acclaimed. Her biotech company BrightLife, valued at millions and fronted by big-name investors, is on the cusp of going public with it's revolutionary product.
Jamie Ronan - ambitious investigative journalist who seizes the opportunity to interview the elusive Anna Bright. Once Jamie hears rumours of unethical conduct at BrightLife, she follows her instincts to dig deeper and is on a mission to uncover any fraudulent behaviour.
The story is told through alternating perspectives as the two women go head-to-head in their pursuit of success, one about to make millions and one eager to make a big break in her journalistic career. I was hooked from early on with the anticipation of finding out both the truth and the outcome! I loved the formatting. The two narratives contrasted each other brilliantly; the inner monologues and moral compasses of the two characters were vastly different.
Not only was this a fascinating insight into Silicon Valley, but it was also a thought-provoking analysis of the challenges faced by women in work. Misogyny and systemic prejudice is rife in the featured workplaces; women being passed over for promotion, discredited, having to jump over more obstacles than a male counterpart.
I was particularly fascinated by the exploration of womanhood and each character’s response to the institutional sexism they face. We see Anna reject her femininity in a way, actively replicating the actions of men she has seen being taken seriously and taking offence to being labelled a 'female' entrepreneur. This is such an interesting discussion point; whilst I can understand the frustration of being categorised as a 'female professional', as opposed to just a 'professional', I also cherish the label of female and think it is an identifier to be celebrated, especially when it is a barrier to success. (FOR A GIRL added on the end of compliments is of course a big no though!)
We observe various examples of internalised misogyny where the oppressed becomes the oppressor - a women in power discriminating against her female employees and idolising stereotypical male traits. Conversely, many female characters band together, supporting and uplifting each other in a male-dominated world, sharing stories and opportunities in a way I love to see. The juxtaposition is powerful and the insight into the causal thought processes of each action is of great interest to me.
In fact, throughout, the introspection of the main characters was a joy to read; relationships, forgiveness and self-confidence were all discussed compellingly.
"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥? 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯? 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?"
"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 - 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."
The details of the ground-breaking technology are brushed over slightly, which could be disappointing if you pick this up anticipating a comprehensive sci-fi read, I personally was more interested in the social commentary about corporate culture and the character-driven narrative. This was a unique story, I hadn't previously considered the role of journalists in the policing of fraud and misconduct but I will definitely be looking out for more books featuring (ethical) investigative journalism in future. I quickly read up on the Elizabeth Holmes case that this seems to be a retelling of and know I will 100% be going down a research rabbit hole about it soon - I am SO intrigued.
My frustration at times when reading this is a testament to the book's realistic portrayal of abuse of power and the consequent injustice. Once I finished reading, I sat and stared at the wall for a minute in shock and slight disbelief. On reflection, I think the ending was a perfect conclusion to a novel about manipulation, deception and the sway of money, status and men. I loved the writing and will definitely be checking out other works by Susie Orman Schnall!!
Publication date: 4th June 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Spark Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 3, 2024
Thank you @netgalley & SparkPress for sending me this book for review. Opinions are mine.
This was my first book by Susie Orman Schnall and it definitely won’t be my last. I couldn’t put it down!
Anna Bright is the founder of a startup called BrightLife, working to manufacture a lens called BrightSpot which is designed to implant below the eye to enable functionality in several categories like information, recording, entertainment, health, and identification.
Jamie Roman is a journalist working writing about tech start-ups, and more specifically, female founders, when she lands a high-profile interview with Anna Bright. Jamie senses something isn’t quite right with BrightSpot and sets out to investigate both the company and Anna herself.
The novel goes back and forth between Anna and Jamie’s perspectives and really focuses on the expectations placed on female founders that differ from males. Anna Bright’s philosophy about female founders, as she states many times is, “you can’t think of yourself as a female entrepreneur. Think of yourself as an entrepreneur.”
Susie Orman Schnall wrote that she wants this novel to be a “love letter to all the women who are deaing with the gross inequities of VC funding, and creating meaningful and important companies and products – especially in the world of women’s health, a category long neglected by male founders.”
While the novel does resemble the Theranos story, the author gets in front of it by acknowledging the similarities of Anna Bright to Elizabeth Holmes. She even mentions that male founders aren’t compared to other men who have failed startups, but women are always compared to Elizabeth Holmes and never get another chance. The parallels didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel, getting to dive deeper into the Silicon Valley start up world.
This was my first book by Susie Orman Schnall and it definitely won’t be my last. I couldn’t put it down!
Anna Bright is the founder of a startup called BrightLife, working to manufacture a lens called BrightSpot which is designed to implant below the eye to enable functionality in several categories like information, recording, entertainment, health, and identification.
Jamie Roman is a journalist working writing about tech start-ups, and more specifically, female founders, when she lands a high-profile interview with Anna Bright. Jamie senses something isn’t quite right with BrightSpot and sets out to investigate both the company and Anna herself.
The novel goes back and forth between Anna and Jamie’s perspectives and really focuses on the expectations placed on female founders that differ from males. Anna Bright’s philosophy about female founders, as she states many times is, “you can’t think of yourself as a female entrepreneur. Think of yourself as an entrepreneur.”
Susie Orman Schnall wrote that she wants this novel to be a “love letter to all the women who are deaing with the gross inequities of VC funding, and creating meaningful and important companies and products – especially in the world of women’s health, a category long neglected by male founders.”
While the novel does resemble the Theranos story, the author gets in front of it by acknowledging the similarities of Anna Bright to Elizabeth Holmes. She even mentions that male founders aren’t compared to other men who have failed startups, but women are always compared to Elizabeth Holmes and never get another chance. The parallels didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the novel, getting to dive deeper into the Silicon Valley start up world.
May 30, 2024
Anna Bright is Hiding Something
by Susie Orman Schnall
When the publisher describes this as The Dropout meets Inventing Anna I cannot look away. I have a huge interest in female entrepreneurship and felt all the highs and lows of the Teranos debacle as it unfolded.
At the early stages of the novel I worried this was going to be a retelling of this, especially as Anna exhibits all the characteristics we know about Elizabeth Holmes, but as with Bad Blood and The Dropout, the idea that a person could exist that can be so smart, so compelling, so manipulative, so single minded, is intoxicating.
Take one woman with toxic ambition who surrounds herself with yes people, pays them in stock and shares to enforce complicity and sunk cost loyalty, won't allow executives to stray from their own lane and keep everything on a need to know basis, threaten NDAs with punishing consequences for breaking them, lie and exaggerate and cloud everything under the guise of protection of proprietary information. Throw millions at her through venture capital funding. Allow her time and space to believe her own hype. Celebrate her "success" and turn her into an icon of female business.
But Jamie gets a glimpse into the real Anna when she is given the opportunity to interview Anna for BusinessBerry, an online journal, and the further she digs, the more she becomes convinced that Anna Bright is hiding something.
This is a book that reads like a chatty contemporary novel, with a glossy setting and witty banter, but it is deeper than I first expected with some excellent character building and astute social commentary. I particularly like the way the author presents the dilemmas faced by women in business and entrepreneurship, the inequities they face in securing funding and how they are disregarded and spoken over in that male heavy space.
Although the story begins with a medium pace, setting us firmly in the world of IPO countdown and the politics of journalism, it really picks up around the halfway mark. Short chapters end with reveals that demand you continue, one more chapter, one more, until like me, you might find yourself missing a night's sleep because you just can't put the damn book down. The payoff was worth it. A banger of an ending, maybe a tad too tidy for my liking, but will surely get the populist vote.
I loved this and I know I will be thinking about it for a while to come.
Publication date: 4th June 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #SparkPress for the eGalley
by Susie Orman Schnall
When the publisher describes this as The Dropout meets Inventing Anna I cannot look away. I have a huge interest in female entrepreneurship and felt all the highs and lows of the Teranos debacle as it unfolded.
At the early stages of the novel I worried this was going to be a retelling of this, especially as Anna exhibits all the characteristics we know about Elizabeth Holmes, but as with Bad Blood and The Dropout, the idea that a person could exist that can be so smart, so compelling, so manipulative, so single minded, is intoxicating.
Take one woman with toxic ambition who surrounds herself with yes people, pays them in stock and shares to enforce complicity and sunk cost loyalty, won't allow executives to stray from their own lane and keep everything on a need to know basis, threaten NDAs with punishing consequences for breaking them, lie and exaggerate and cloud everything under the guise of protection of proprietary information. Throw millions at her through venture capital funding. Allow her time and space to believe her own hype. Celebrate her "success" and turn her into an icon of female business.
But Jamie gets a glimpse into the real Anna when she is given the opportunity to interview Anna for BusinessBerry, an online journal, and the further she digs, the more she becomes convinced that Anna Bright is hiding something.
This is a book that reads like a chatty contemporary novel, with a glossy setting and witty banter, but it is deeper than I first expected with some excellent character building and astute social commentary. I particularly like the way the author presents the dilemmas faced by women in business and entrepreneurship, the inequities they face in securing funding and how they are disregarded and spoken over in that male heavy space.
Although the story begins with a medium pace, setting us firmly in the world of IPO countdown and the politics of journalism, it really picks up around the halfway mark. Short chapters end with reveals that demand you continue, one more chapter, one more, until like me, you might find yourself missing a night's sleep because you just can't put the damn book down. The payoff was worth it. A banger of an ending, maybe a tad too tidy for my liking, but will surely get the populist vote.
I loved this and I know I will be thinking about it for a while to come.
Publication date: 4th June 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #SparkPress for the eGalley
April 17, 2024
Anna Bright is Hiding Something by Susie Orman Schnall
Thank you Booksparks and Spark Press for the gifted ARC.
Blurb:
A fast-paced and ripped from the headlines story set in the glossy offices of silicon valley startups and New York City new media, this story explores our culture’s fascination with businesswomen who are breaking barriers and sometimes behaving badly in the process.
✨My thoughts:
I found this book to be enjoyable and definitely entertaining. There were some “laugh out loud” moments and there will be a specific audience that will love this one because there is a lot to love about it. For some reason it took me longer than usual to get through this story though, but that is probably just a me problem. There’s a ton of drama and secrets in this female focused workplace story and if you’re into that then you’ll enjoy this one! Anna Bright is Hiding Something is out 6/4/24!
Happy reading 📖
#annabrightreviewtour
Thank you Booksparks and Spark Press for the gifted ARC.
Blurb:
A fast-paced and ripped from the headlines story set in the glossy offices of silicon valley startups and New York City new media, this story explores our culture’s fascination with businesswomen who are breaking barriers and sometimes behaving badly in the process.
✨My thoughts:
I found this book to be enjoyable and definitely entertaining. There were some “laugh out loud” moments and there will be a specific audience that will love this one because there is a lot to love about it. For some reason it took me longer than usual to get through this story though, but that is probably just a me problem. There’s a ton of drama and secrets in this female focused workplace story and if you’re into that then you’ll enjoy this one! Anna Bright is Hiding Something is out 6/4/24!
Happy reading 📖
#annabrightreviewtour
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