What do you think?
Rate this book
Promising Young Women
For readers of THE COWS, SWEETBITTER or CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS - as well as for fans of FLEABAG or SEARCH PARTY - Caroline O'Donoghue's debut is a gothic, darkly witty novel about sex, power, work and being a young woman in a man's world.
"I don't know why it never occurs to me to ask for more: to be taken to dinner, or to be given a promise, or at the very least, an explanation of why things aren't working out with his wife. I know exactly what Jolly would say: I know because I've written words to mistresses before. Hundreds of them."
On the day of her 26th birthday, Jane is recently single, adrift at her job, and intrigued by why Clem - her much older, married boss - is singing to her.
Meanwhile her alter-ego, the online agony aunt Jolly Politely, has all the answers. She's provided thousands of strangers with insightful and occasionally cutting insights to contemporary life's most vexing questions.
When she and Clem kiss at a party, Jane does not follow the advice she would give to her readers as Jolly: instead she plunges head-first into an affair. One that could jeopardise her friendships, her career and even her life.
"I don't know why it never occurs to me to ask for more: to be taken to dinner, or to be given a promise, or at the very least, an explanation of why things aren't working out with his wife. I know exactly what Jolly would say: I know because I've written words to mistresses before. Hundreds of them."
On the day of her 26th birthday, Jane is recently single, adrift at her job, and intrigued by why Clem - her much older, married boss - is singing to her.
Meanwhile her alter-ego, the online agony aunt Jolly Politely, has all the answers. She's provided thousands of strangers with insightful and occasionally cutting insights to contemporary life's most vexing questions.
When she and Clem kiss at a party, Jane does not follow the advice she would give to her readers as Jolly: instead she plunges head-first into an affair. One that could jeopardise her friendships, her career and even her life.
352 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2018
473 people are currently reading
24321 people want to read
About the author
Caroline O'Donoghue
9 books7,077 followersCaroline O'Donoghue is a New York Times bestselling author and host of the Sentimental Garbage podcast. She writes fiction for adults and teenagers.
I only leave five star reviews on Goodreads, and i keep two star reviews inside my horrid brain where they can’t start beef with other authors
I only leave five star reviews on Goodreads, and i keep two star reviews inside my horrid brain where they can’t start beef with other authors
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,034 reviews
September 15, 2020
I wrote this in 2016 and while, on reflection, there are things I would probably change, I still think it's a banger.
April 9, 2018
Our company is teeming with women under thirty, and men approaching or over fifty. That is how the food chain works. Dozens of attractive young women do the grunt work for a handful of men, and the women get filtered out by motherhood. It’s the corporate version of natural selection.
This starts off like a conventional young-woman-starts-affair-with-older-married-boss storyline but O’Donoghue is too canny a writer to merely re-tell an old, old story. Instead she allows things to become increasingly nasty and sinister – not in a twisty psycho-thriller-y way, but in a modern Gothic manner where some of the familiar tropes become almost allegories for gender, age, and sexual asymmetries. What begins as a kind of Bridget Jones for the C21st, ends up as something far cleverer with a politicised sense of the inequalities which underlie everyday life.
The writing isn’t particularly stylish but the tone veers effortlessly from comic to self-deprecating, from angsty to redemptive. Some of the developments are a little slow to emerge but by about 70% in this became compulsively gripping.
So a coming of age story, a Gothic-style parable, a book about young women, work and friendship – it’s the edginess that makes this stand out from the crowd. A writer to watch.
Review from an ARC from Amazon Vine.
December 2, 2018
How is this a debut??? H o w ?
I think this book raised my blood pressure, in the very best way.
I think this book raised my blood pressure, in the very best way.
February 14, 2021
4.5/5. Kind of feel like shouting at everyone to read this book now??
June 10, 2022
So I distrusted this book because I heard it was 'very topical'. And usually that means rushed out to catch the zeitgeist with lots of contrived sermons on The Topic. Also, I haven't read a book about young women having affairs in offices since I was a teenage girl who thought having affairs in offices was unbearably glamorous. But there's nothing like actually working in an office to make the idea of office affairs seem tedious and sordid.
So my initial distrust followed by a slow start meant I was prepared to hate it. And I did for a bit because I could not see anything remotely attractive about Clem. I know that everyone says that power is an aphrodisiac, but for the life of me, I could not see why Jane would pass over sweet, friendly, hot, and young David for obviously bad-news old Clem.
Indeed, it seemed to me that the book was signalling how awful Clem is a little too hard.
Clem: 'Yeah, come with me, I've totally told David where we're going.'
Oh, have you, Clem, a likely story!
Clem: 'Just wait for me in the dark alley, I'll totally bring your coat and bag and not just leave them unattended in the pub while I shag you.' Well, really.
But really, that's half the question the book is asking, isn't it? The further I went in the story, the more interesting it became. Not just asking why do creepy old men creep on young women, but why do young women allow themselves to be creeped on?
It would've been too easy to write a story where Clem was coercive, or violent, or unambiguously lying, but like most creeps Clem does an absolutely stellar job of manipulating Jane. His deceitfulness is all in misdirection and omission. He never threatens, he only flatters; he never coerces, he only tempts. The devil is a charming man. And Jane could've been an innocent victim, but I appreciate her very much for her rather noble struggle with her own complicity. Yeah, Clem stacks the deck so that she always makes the choice he wants her to make – but she does make that choice.
And if I've made the book sound rather heavy, then it isn't at all. The writing perfectly captures the voice of an underachieving, intelligent woman. Cool irony and raw emotion. Sharp perception followed by blind obliviousness. And highly relatable, not just for emotionally-troubled women. A lot of the humour is really very close to the bone, like laughing so you don't cry, when it touches on the utter sociopathy of HR, the brutality of office status games, or the pain of growing out of old friendships. The main story line of Jane and Clem began to feel like trading notes with a friend on your worst relationship. I was breaking up with my Manipulative Older Man at the same age that Jane was getting together with hers.
And then it all changes. For two thirds of the novel it's essentially literary fiction levels of examining the minutiae of bad relationships, but with more plot and humour. And then it takes a sharp turn to the thriller. I won't deny that it's gripping and I ripped through the book in a day, but I slightly regretted it.
So my initial distrust followed by a slow start meant I was prepared to hate it. And I did for a bit because I could not see anything remotely attractive about Clem. I know that everyone says that power is an aphrodisiac, but for the life of me, I could not see why Jane would pass over sweet, friendly, hot, and young David for obviously bad-news old Clem.
Indeed, it seemed to me that the book was signalling how awful Clem is a little too hard.
Clem: 'Yeah, come with me, I've totally told David where we're going.'
Oh, have you, Clem, a likely story!
Clem: 'Just wait for me in the dark alley, I'll totally bring your coat and bag and not just leave them unattended in the pub while I shag you.' Well, really.
But really, that's half the question the book is asking, isn't it? The further I went in the story, the more interesting it became. Not just asking why do creepy old men creep on young women, but why do young women allow themselves to be creeped on?
It would've been too easy to write a story where Clem was coercive, or violent, or unambiguously lying, but like most creeps Clem does an absolutely stellar job of manipulating Jane. His deceitfulness is all in misdirection and omission. He never threatens, he only flatters; he never coerces, he only tempts. The devil is a charming man. And Jane could've been an innocent victim, but I appreciate her very much for her rather noble struggle with her own complicity. Yeah, Clem stacks the deck so that she always makes the choice he wants her to make – but she does make that choice.
And if I've made the book sound rather heavy, then it isn't at all. The writing perfectly captures the voice of an underachieving, intelligent woman. Cool irony and raw emotion. Sharp perception followed by blind obliviousness. And highly relatable, not just for emotionally-troubled women. A lot of the humour is really very close to the bone, like laughing so you don't cry, when it touches on the utter sociopathy of HR, the brutality of office status games, or the pain of growing out of old friendships. The main story line of Jane and Clem began to feel like trading notes with a friend on your worst relationship. I was breaking up with my Manipulative Older Man at the same age that Jane was getting together with hers.
And then it all changes. For two thirds of the novel it's essentially literary fiction levels of examining the minutiae of bad relationships, but with more plot and humour. And then it takes a sharp turn to the thriller. I won't deny that it's gripping and I ripped through the book in a day, but I slightly regretted it.
August 28, 2021
| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |
3.75 stars (rounded up to 4 since this is a debut)
Promising Young Women is an intelligent and subversive novel that examines the darker and more twisted aspects of a relationship between a female employee and her boss.
There was something about the story and its characters that reminded of Joyce Carol Oates (Zombie, Solstice, A Fair Maiden, and Nemesis) in that Promising Young Women is brimming with an almost palatable darkness so much so that readers will find themselves overwhelmed by it.
From its very opening page the novel juxtaposes the sweet with the grotesque:
This sets the tone for the rest of the novel as we follow the protagonist, a young promising woman, in a feverish journey towards self-destruction. When Jane Peters turns 26 she is newly single (her long-term boyfriend has fallen in love with someone else) and painfully aware of what she perceives as being her own unfulfilled existence. She works at Mitchell Advertisement where she is one of the many "young women" who work alongside—and often for—older men. When Clem, her much older boss, begins to show interest in her, she finds herself rapidly falling under his spell.
The story that follows is very much a subversive take on the trope of the young woman/married older man cliché and from the get go we are made aware of how imbalanced their relationship is. An unmoored Jane feels pressured by the skewed power dynamics between her and Clem into continuing their affair. We witness how slowly yet surely Jane's sense of self is eroded by Clem and by her own growing dissociation with her past self.
The deceptively simple prose (as opposed to Oates' more eloquent prose) is compelling and offers readers with a direct look into the mind of an alienated woman. Backdrop to Jane's disintegration is the dangers of workplace competitiveness, the lack of privacy that comes with being an online presence, and the persistency of the more unseen aspects of sexism (a scene where Jane visits a doctor will have you simmering with rage). It is also a satire of certain trends ('actualisation', yoga retreats) in a way that doesn't minimise from Jane's—frankly horrific—experiences.
The story blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and as Jane's body and mind become affected by a series of mysterious ailments, so does the prose attain a feverish quality that perfectly captures the Jane's fears and anxieties.
Unlike other contemporary novels exploring similar themes, O'Donoghue's debut never romanticises the way Clem degrades Jane, nor does it suggest that Jane's weight loss makes her more 'ethereal' or 'aesthetically cool' (there is none of the usual 'sharp-cheekbones' crap) but rather it shows us in horrifying, and almost grotesque detail, Jane's estrangement from her own body. Clem's presence in Jane's life has almost the same effect as an infection...
It was also interesting to read about the way Jane's ambitions regarding her career affects some of her friendships, or causes those around her to reassess their perception of her. In some ways it is Jane's 'promising future' that makes her dissolution all the more affecting.
Make no mistake, this isn't a pleasant read. Yes, it was gripping, but more than once I felt sickened by what I was reading. O'Donoghue has created a captivating and terrifying modern Gothic tale which depicts the more poisonous aspects of love affairs, sexism (especially at the workplace), and friendships. Although I was surprised by how weird it ended up being, I completely bought into it.
This was a bizarre, compelling, and thought-provoking debut.
3.75 stars (rounded up to 4 since this is a debut)
“I was afraid, really, of being the main character in my own life.”
Promising Young Women is an intelligent and subversive novel that examines the darker and more twisted aspects of a relationship between a female employee and her boss.
There was something about the story and its characters that reminded of Joyce Carol Oates (Zombie, Solstice, A Fair Maiden, and Nemesis) in that Promising Young Women is brimming with an almost palatable darkness so much so that readers will find themselves overwhelmed by it.
From its very opening page the novel juxtaposes the sweet with the grotesque:
“[T]he excess of uneaten cake was attracting rats, and when bodies started appearing — bloated and sugar-filled and, more than once, belly-up in the stairwell — they insisted we downsize.”
This sets the tone for the rest of the novel as we follow the protagonist, a young promising woman, in a feverish journey towards self-destruction. When Jane Peters turns 26 she is newly single (her long-term boyfriend has fallen in love with someone else) and painfully aware of what she perceives as being her own unfulfilled existence. She works at Mitchell Advertisement where she is one of the many "young women" who work alongside—and often for—older men. When Clem, her much older boss, begins to show interest in her, she finds herself rapidly falling under his spell.
The story that follows is very much a subversive take on the trope of the young woman/married older man cliché and from the get go we are made aware of how imbalanced their relationship is. An unmoored Jane feels pressured by the skewed power dynamics between her and Clem into continuing their affair. We witness how slowly yet surely Jane's sense of self is eroded by Clem and by her own growing dissociation with her past self.
The deceptively simple prose (as opposed to Oates' more eloquent prose) is compelling and offers readers with a direct look into the mind of an alienated woman. Backdrop to Jane's disintegration is the dangers of workplace competitiveness, the lack of privacy that comes with being an online presence, and the persistency of the more unseen aspects of sexism (a scene where Jane visits a doctor will have you simmering with rage). It is also a satire of certain trends ('actualisation', yoga retreats) in a way that doesn't minimise from Jane's—frankly horrific—experiences.
The story blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and as Jane's body and mind become affected by a series of mysterious ailments, so does the prose attain a feverish quality that perfectly captures the Jane's fears and anxieties.
Unlike other contemporary novels exploring similar themes, O'Donoghue's debut never romanticises the way Clem degrades Jane, nor does it suggest that Jane's weight loss makes her more 'ethereal' or 'aesthetically cool' (there is none of the usual 'sharp-cheekbones' crap) but rather it shows us in horrifying, and almost grotesque detail, Jane's estrangement from her own body. Clem's presence in Jane's life has almost the same effect as an infection...
It was also interesting to read about the way Jane's ambitions regarding her career affects some of her friendships, or causes those around her to reassess their perception of her. In some ways it is Jane's 'promising future' that makes her dissolution all the more affecting.
Make no mistake, this isn't a pleasant read. Yes, it was gripping, but more than once I felt sickened by what I was reading. O'Donoghue has created a captivating and terrifying modern Gothic tale which depicts the more poisonous aspects of love affairs, sexism (especially at the workplace), and friendships. Although I was surprised by how weird it ended up being, I completely bought into it.
This was a bizarre, compelling, and thought-provoking debut.
“I choose to be someone that things happen to, because it was easier than being someone who made things happen.”
August 4, 2018
This was fun until it became ridiculous. Read Break in Case of Emergency instead.
Read
November 24, 2020I read this on the same plane journey that I read The Pisces and the two have sort of blurred in my head. Much like The Pisces, it’s not really a book I feel it’s my place to have major opinions on since it’s very #metoo adjacent and focused on womens’ experiences of toxic men.
But it’s a polished, engaging read. Though I suspect your tolerance for the book will hinge on your resilience-level for the themes. Not in the sense that such things should not, or do not need, to be written about. Being read about something you just sort of fucking live with every day has the potential to be wearing. Again, though, that’s a wholly subjective thing. And I mention it from the perspective of someone who has a low tolerance for reading about homophobia because it’s just like, yeah, okay that’s Tuesday. And I feel the same might apply to women living in, y’know, the world as it currently exists.
Anyway, basically concept is: the heroine Jane, who moonlights as a straight talking agony aunt called Jolly Politely (kind of my favourite part of the book?) has an affair with her older boss dude. This goes about as well as you’d expect. Because patriarchy. Toxic masculinity.
Also maybe he’s some kind of actual supernatural psychic vampire who drains the life from, coughs, promising young woman? I dunno. Was that element really needed?
Plus I need to seriously stop looking at non-romances with a romance-reader eye because apart from like abstract things like social conditioning and the allure of the taboo I wasn’t sure WHY the heroine was so attracted Clem. Which, of course, is probably the point? I mean, it’s not a romance. No point sitting there going “well, I really can’t see the emotional connection in this blatantly exploitative relationship.” Don’t talk nonsense, Hall.
But it’s a polished, engaging read. Though I suspect your tolerance for the book will hinge on your resilience-level for the themes. Not in the sense that such things should not, or do not need, to be written about. Being read about something you just sort of fucking live with every day has the potential to be wearing. Again, though, that’s a wholly subjective thing. And I mention it from the perspective of someone who has a low tolerance for reading about homophobia because it’s just like, yeah, okay that’s Tuesday. And I feel the same might apply to women living in, y’know, the world as it currently exists.
Anyway, basically concept is: the heroine Jane, who moonlights as a straight talking agony aunt called Jolly Politely (kind of my favourite part of the book?) has an affair with her older boss dude. This goes about as well as you’d expect. Because patriarchy. Toxic masculinity.
Also maybe he’s some kind of actual supernatural psychic vampire who drains the life from, coughs, promising young woman? I dunno. Was that element really needed?
Plus I need to seriously stop looking at non-romances with a romance-reader eye because apart from like abstract things like social conditioning and the allure of the taboo I wasn’t sure WHY the heroine was so attracted Clem. Which, of course, is probably the point? I mean, it’s not a romance. No point sitting there going “well, I really can’t see the emotional connection in this blatantly exploitative relationship.” Don’t talk nonsense, Hall.
May 23, 2023
this was an enjoyable and impressive debut novel exploring relationships, gender inequality, and power dynamics in the workplace and office culture - but admittedly i was expecting a little more from it. the first half was strong - modern, witty, very reminiscent of dolly alderton, but then it (attempts) to become thriller-esque somewhere in the middle, which didn’t really work. it felt like it was trying to randomly veer into a new genre when it had already established itself as a contemporary fiction novel. but it was still a fun, fast read which will be relatable to any woman in her twenties who has worked in an office and has experienced/witnessed the gender disparity between how men and women are treated. i’d say pick this one up if you’re a fan of dolly alderton and isabel kaplan's novel not safe for work
August 25, 2018
This was much darker than I expected and really addictive - i devoured it in two sittings. While I haven’t gone through any of the things in this book, it felt very believable and relatable. The writing was excellent, I highly recommend.
January 20, 2022
Perhaps I missed something because it’s got some brilliant reviews but I found this book flat and predictable. Promising young junior Ad exec becomes mistress to professionally senior, older male in male-dominated London company.
Lunches, boardroom sex, a wife who knows but doesn’t care…Throw in some slightly odd vampire symbolism and it lost me.
I could appreciate what it was trying to say about male dominance and power but the overarching message of ‘don’t let yourself get sucked dry by a man’ didn’t hit right.
Lunches, boardroom sex, a wife who knows but doesn’t care…Throw in some slightly odd vampire symbolism and it lost me.
I could appreciate what it was trying to say about male dominance and power but the overarching message of ‘don’t let yourself get sucked dry by a man’ didn’t hit right.
July 30, 2020
There was a lot here that was cringe worthy because of how recognizable it was. Office flirts, power differences, exploitation and very little black or white. The book is refreshingly free of morals and quite funny in places, even if the message it delivers is dire: don’t let your feelings be exploited by a man.
I am now safely delivered out of a marriage that was like a desert (definitely not dessert) and after a hiatus of a few months, delivered into a relationship of high equality and respect. That was not what I had intended. I thought I’d play around a bit. I’m glad I didn’t make that permanent because it’s not how I tick. I’m foremost a monogamist. With this background, oh how relatable Jane’s situation is. Bad break up, into the arms of a married man. It might as well have been me, I’m just glad it isn’t!
I am now safely delivered out of a marriage that was like a desert (definitely not dessert) and after a hiatus of a few months, delivered into a relationship of high equality and respect. That was not what I had intended. I thought I’d play around a bit. I’m glad I didn’t make that permanent because it’s not how I tick. I’m foremost a monogamist. With this background, oh how relatable Jane’s situation is. Bad break up, into the arms of a married man. It might as well have been me, I’m just glad it isn’t!
August 30, 2022
i didn’t really get it….. it wasn’t enjoyable to read, i just felt anxious and annoyed and confused the whole time. i don’t really know what point caroline was trying to make. why did the protag keep saying she’d played a part in the whole thing? that she was equally to blame? why was manipulation never acknowledged? why was r*pe only lightly considered in a couple of sentences at the very end? why anything?? yeah idk about this one
April 19, 2024
Don't read this. Harsh, I know, but it was in my honest opinion - awful. I should have stopped but I was determined to see if there was anything redeemable about the story or characters. Absolutely not worth your time. That being said, read her book The Rachel Incident instead.
February 16, 2025
Started and finished in one day… Caroline you are quickly becoming one of my fave authors!!!!
April 22, 2019
Not sure what I think of this. Second half was better than the first, although maybe that was just the point at which I became more invested in the read. Didn't like Jane for a lot of the book but towards the end when she is clearly unwell, I felt more empathy towards her. A book about a young woman, an affair and the realisation that in spite of it all she could start again, regaining her physical and mental health, more sure of her place in the world. The strength of love between her and her mother is the purest thing in this book about a twenty six year old woman working in a male dominated world of advertising and on the rebound from ex Max. The book is centred around the cliché of being a mistress to an older man who is also your boss and has some slightly more intriguing aspects with the use of Jolly Politely, Jane's alter ego agony aunt and Luddy who helps Jane reach some important conclusions about herself and her future. It was an ok read. I liked it and I didn't like it. Quirky, well written and RAW.
August 29, 2019
Brilliantly written, a lot darker and grittier than I expected, reminding me strongly at times of Margaret Atwood's "The Edible Woman". There's a sense of eeriness and downright horror that slowly creeps up on you, like the old adage about the frog simmering in the pot until it boils. On the one hand, you're reading a dark comedy, wrapped in an office romcom gone wrong, wrapped in a pseudo-domestic thriller, and on the other hand, underneath all that there's a deeper, sharper novel about body horror, corporate culture, female hysteria and monstrosity that really pushed it to 5 stars for me. It's like Bridget Jones's Diary meets Bret Easton Ellis. It's "Edible Woman" for our generation, writ large, and I hope this author carries on to explore these themes in future novels.
May 31, 2020
This was a really easy read and I really enjoyed it. However, I feel that there were a few strands to the book which were never clarified at the end. I know it’s always good to be left to use your imagination for some bits, but the end just seemed a little rushed. I felt like it could do with another few chapters to tie up what happened some of the characters who came for a significant period of the book and then disappeared with no explanation. But all in all it’s worth a read in the sunshine.
January 9, 2021
While I’m not a fan of the term chic lit this is exactly what this book was ... it was well done and I enjoyed it considering this is not my favourite genre
September 9, 2024
this was okay, only i was expecting more discussions of power imbalances and less weird stalker subplots that read like a ya mystery novel
February 27, 2018
such a deliciously dark book - relatable, gripping, and it touches upon so many different issues such as gaslighting and male privilege.
Jane is just a regular 20-something in London - her life is in transition, from being to a safe, secure yet ultimately unsatisfying relationship to being newly single, with lots of time & untapped ambition. Jane could be any girl that moves from a smaller city to London - where people tend to spend money they don't have & compete endlessly for recognition - whether it is by a lover, a friend or a boss.
Her life changes when she strikes a sexual relationship with her line manager, Clem. Clem tries to mould Jane into the kind of girl he wants her to be, all the while exploiting her vulnerability & his position of power in the company.
Jane realises that this relationship drains her, physically & mentally - first sign of a toxic relationship. And then she finds out that Clem's past is darker than she originally thought.
Jane is just a regular 20-something in London - her life is in transition, from being to a safe, secure yet ultimately unsatisfying relationship to being newly single, with lots of time & untapped ambition. Jane could be any girl that moves from a smaller city to London - where people tend to spend money they don't have & compete endlessly for recognition - whether it is by a lover, a friend or a boss.
Her life changes when she strikes a sexual relationship with her line manager, Clem. Clem tries to mould Jane into the kind of girl he wants her to be, all the while exploiting her vulnerability & his position of power in the company.
Jane realises that this relationship drains her, physically & mentally - first sign of a toxic relationship. And then she finds out that Clem's past is darker than she originally thought.
January 17, 2022
So many things in this amazing book HIT. DIFFERENT. I couldn’t put it down. Some really important overarching themes (toxic masculinity, relationships and work environments, workplace power dynamics, consent, abuse, complicated family lives, mental health, self sabotage) enveloped in a gripping storyline with a really likeable and relatable main character, Jane.
Very surprised that the average rating for this isn’t higher? But I feel like the girls that get it, get it x
Very surprised that the average rating for this isn’t higher? But I feel like the girls that get it, get it x
October 24, 2024
Nekem határozottan tetszett, olvastatta magát. Talán mert imádtam a Mad Ment, meg dolgoztam marketingesként és később lapkiadóként közös irodában egy reklámügynökséggel – megvolt a színe és a visszája is a kreatív környezetnek. Szerintem remekül ábrázolja ezt a világot, különös tekintettel a benne kallódó és/vagy érvényesülni vágyó, különböző habitusú és korú nőkre. Szintén érzékletesen mutatja be, ahogy egy kapcsolat megbetegít, és ez nem egy egyoldalú metoo történet mégsem. Az elszomorít, hogy orvosi segítséget Londonban sem könnyű kapni a pszichoszomatikus problémákhoz. Olvastam már hasonlót, és nem is tökéletes, de felfigyeltem a szerzőre.
April 26, 2025
closer to 3.5 stars but fondly rounded up
damn this read almost like a horror novel. it took me a bit to get into, partially due to a mini reading slump. the first half took me a few weeks and the second half i finished in a day as it finally gripped me.
overall probably my least fav of caroline’s – maybe i miss the ireland setting, but also it’s her debut so fab to know i like her growth as an author. on the other hand, it had the strongest ending imo, not falling into the same trap that her later two novels had where the endings were too neat
damn this read almost like a horror novel. it took me a bit to get into, partially due to a mini reading slump. the first half took me a few weeks and the second half i finished in a day as it finally gripped me.
overall probably my least fav of caroline’s – maybe i miss the ireland setting, but also it’s her debut so fab to know i like her growth as an author. on the other hand, it had the strongest ending imo, not falling into the same trap that her later two novels had where the endings were too neat
December 29, 2018
I had high expectations, and sadly, they were not met. I can't say I was bored reading the first half but I wasn't as captivated by the book that I had expected to be. It got a bit better by part four but I must say I was disappointed by the ending. I was expecting something way more empowering and inspiring but the ending gave me nothing. Why did Jane just run away? (I mean, I kinda get it, but still.) Did Clem get away with what he did or were there actual consequences? (I doubt there were.) How did Darla cope? I feel like important issues such as sexual harrasment and sexual abuse were only discussed to be 'timely' because of #MeToo, but there wasn't really a closure to anything. And Jane's mental health and alcoholism weren't taken seriously at all, but instead she was ridiculed for being mad and lazy, which is really stigmatizing.
Even though this is a pretty negative review, I didn't hate the book. I actually enjoyed it, or at least felt neutral about it for the most part. What probably bothers me the most is that I actually bought this book based on high reviews, thinking I'd want to read it more than once. Well, that's not likely to happen, but at least the cover art is nice so the book will look pretty on my shelf even if I never open it again.
Even though this is a pretty negative review, I didn't hate the book. I actually enjoyed it, or at least felt neutral about it for the most part. What probably bothers me the most is that I actually bought this book based on high reviews, thinking I'd want to read it more than once. Well, that's not likely to happen, but at least the cover art is nice so the book will look pretty on my shelf even if I never open it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2023
2.5 stars. What an odd little book. I enjoyed reading it esp in the beginning as we explore this torrid affair between a young female employee and her charismatic boss, but the plot goes absolutely SIDEWAYS in the middle third. Like twelve blocks to the left kind of sideways. The ending is quite rushed and leaves a couple plot lines unclosed. Also as someone who works in PR/marketing agency life LOL about there being such pronounced power imbalances across an agency. This is a female dominated industry and I think the author assumed we’re still in Mad Men days, it’s not accurate to modern day.
January 25, 2020
The first part of the book was more like 4,5 half stars for me - witty, wise, modern, confident, sharp, etc, everything I like in a contemporary novel, written by young female author. But the second half, turned out to be something like physiological thriller or something of that kind, I can't be sure. The ending was OK, but somehow weak, which made the book bleak. But mostly I enjoyed listening to it.
February 10, 2025
The audiobook was perfect for my walks - easy to follow and engaging. I really enjoyed it, especially the first half, which was much more light-hearted and humorous compared to the darker, more intense "my-dark-Vanessa" part of the story. As challenging as growing older can be, I’d never want to be twenty-something again - what a mess!
April 10, 2021
10/10 like caroline o'donoghue herself said, this book is a banger
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,034 reviews