Not Safe For Work

by Isabel Kaplan

From the outside, this ambitious narrator appears a vision of empowerment. Newly graduated with an assistant job at a Hollywood studio, she's an outsider to the industry, more well-versed in gender dynamics than box office hits.

At first, she thrives: ploughing through administrative drudgeries and rising early for cult-like fitness classes. But with each step forward, darker truths grow clear - male colleagues command attention, while female leaders face gossip and rejection. And as whispers circle of abusive bosses and even sexual misconduct, her personal and professional worlds collide, revealing secrets that will permanently alter both the studio and her future.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Feminism, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Adult, Novels

Paperback

First published July 5, 2022

Reviews

[Roxane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I love books set in LA so I was predisposed to enjoy this. It is well written and the protagonist is well drawn. I was invested in her life. But the rest of the characters were so secondary and the story moved so quickly that it was hard to feel settled in the story. The ending was frustrating but in a good way. The ambiguity is clever and given what we know of the world, the narrator could go either way. There is interesting commentary in the story about women and ambition and sexual predation. The impossible situations women have to deal with are well conveyed. I just wanted to narrative container to be stronger. Still, it’s a good novel. I do recommend it.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put this book on my TBR simply for the title alone. If you are new here, one of little joys I get out of life is carrying around my own selection of “NSFW” book titles and covers so this one automatically hit the sweet spot simply for the outside. Then the Center for Fiction debut novel nominees were announced and – yay me – I already had this on hold at the library. Unfortunately for this novel, I think it has zero chance at winning thanks to said nominations also including the brilliant Nightwalking, but I thought this was great too.

NSFW is the story of a young Harvard grad who, thanks to a fairly healthy dose of nepotism adjacent connections, lands a temp job at the television network XBC. Her own skillset is what gets our unnamed protagonist promoted to an assistant position for one of the major movers and shakers of the network and eventually even allows her to sit in on pitches for new program development. The timeframe is prior to #metoo where office engagement is taken as . . . .

“Little comments, tiny things, nothing really.”

It is a time where compliments should be received with a smile, women expect the worst from other women and apologize for the behaviors of certain men, things sometimes just “go too far” – and we are active participants in our own oppression. So basically, about a decade ago.

I have been an “assistant” since Jesus was in diapers so there might have been a deeper level of appreciation for me that others who have not held this illustrious job title won’t feel. Luckily I have never been sexually harassed or assaulted at work, but boy did the words here still resonate. The dark humored delivery and conversational tone rather than a preachy approach (which would surely get the authored labeled as some sort of shrieking harpy even with the strides that have been made) make the readability factor of this one go straight through the roof. Don’t let the low Goodreads rating fool you, NSFW is whip smart and worth your time.

4.5 Stars

Look Ma – no gifs!

[casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

did not work for me at all

[abigail ❥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
Thank you Henry Holt & Company for this arc. This will be published July 5th, 2022.

Talk about grit! This was such an authentic and compelling read. The story follows an unnamed female protagonist and recent Harvard graduate. Recently moved back to LA, dreading the interactions with her overbearing narcissistic attorney mother, all while trying to land a job. Once settling in with an old friend as a roommate, her mother gets her an interview with her long-time friend and head of XBC, a broadcasting company, Robert Braun. As a favor, he creates a temporary job for her as a foot in the door.

Overall this story is about tackling the male-dominated industry, as well as jumping in on topics such as body dysmorphia, eating disorders, OCD behaviors/habits, anxiety, and sexual assault.

This book was left completely open-ended. It is entirely up to the reader to decide what happens and if there is a chance at attempting to change a system and dynamic that is soo hard to escape and made to benefit men and fail women or whether to ignore it and use it as an advantage. It's definitely a conversational piece that brought up many emotions in me but also was incredibly relatable and refreshing at times.

[Sunny Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

2010s Hollywood misogyny and complicated mother-daughter relationships can be something so compelling

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about pre-MeToo Hollywood that starts out following our narrator, a just-out-of-college woman, as she takes an entry-level job in television development. But eventually you see that this isn't just a book about the real Hollywood, it's about the patriarchal structures of a country where sexual misconduct and abuse of power runs rampant. Sexual assault is a major theme and the book includes more than one incident on the page.

Our narrator just graduated from Harvard and is the daughter of a prominent attorney known best for her work representing women in sexual assault and harassment cases. It is because of this pedigree that she is able to go to one of her mother's good friends, the head of development in fictional network XBC, to get a job. While it's a low level assistant position, she has also skipped a few years of even worse work to get there. She is ambitious and we get to see her work in detail, so if you do enjoy that kind of behind the scenes look this has a lot of that.

She has an idea of what she wants her life to be but she is just starting to learn that maybe none of that will make her happy. In addition to her work life we see her romantic life and in particular her regular interactions with her mother, who is paying for a lot of the things our narrator can't afford on her small salary, and who constantly demands her time and attention. Her mother in particular is a fascinating character, and a type we have seen often in the last decade, a woman who knows and understands the structures that men use to assault women, who knows how difficult it is to bring charges up at work or to the police, and a woman who will say "Oh Robert didn't do that," when the man involved is a friend.

This book captures that feeling of your early 20's so well, when you start to feel like you are in over your head, when you realize that all the things you thought you knew about yourself and your family and the world may not be true.

It's very readable but it's got some heavy stuff in it.

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and thought-provoking read.

[Lauren Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the protagonist here to be unbearable, the story difficult to care about, and the #metoo theme forced, as if the author wrote this book because she wanted to capitalize on the movement and threw together a copycat and clichéd way to make it happen.

I would say 80% of the book is just background noise, shared with us in a vapid millennial voice, but it's okay, she's vapid because the world made her that way!, which we know because she has one fight with her mother about how it's unfair that women HAVE to do these things while men don't! And it's her mother's fault because her mother pushed this culture onto her! We have to suffer through a lot of this inner turmoil of what a woman is "supposed" to be and how a woman is "supposed" to behave and why women aren't taken seriously at work, which...the book takes place in the early 2010s so I guess it makes sense that she's living in a Tumblr echo chamber, but reading it 10 years later felt so cringe. Not denying that these problems do exist in many ways, but to blame everything in your life on being a woman in a world that forces women to be one specific thing in order to find success and happiness (which isn't even true, I can confidently attest to) does not make for an entertaining novel, and I found myself tuning out at times, or getting annoyed at her inability to come up with a single thought or choice of her own that wasn't influenced by OuR CuLtUrE. She felt very one-note and not at all like any actual human I've ever met.

The central conflict is when the protagonist is manipulated by a colleague who sexually assaults her, and I will say the saving grace in the story is the protagonist's inner voice after this happens. I found it very realistic, especially as so many similar stories either give us a perfect victim or the opposite of that, while our protagonist here is a woman who is neither perfect or not-perfect but who is simply caught up in a traumatic event that has changed how she thinks about herself and the world, and who tries to navigate her life post-assault without really knowing how to approach it or who she can turn to.

This experience sits in the background for a bit as the protagonist tries to push ahead with her work and life, which also felt very realistic even if it did take us out of that conflict for a bit and bring us back into a secondary plot that felt lacking, and then the end also felt unsatisfying. Our protagonist finally hits her breaking point with men – relatable! – and though the book ends just as it's about to happen, we can assume that she decides to take action, finally making a choice that goes against everything ingrained in her personality from birth. This moment has existed for so many women who have exposed bad men over the years, and for most I'd imagine it's supposed to be empowering and help start the healing journey, but instead, in the context of this book and this character, it felt really cheesy, like the third act of an episode of "7th Heaven." The author had an opportunity to start the climax here and really let her writing ability carry us to a brilliant ending, yet stopping it where she did was as wishy-washy as her character and was not at all gratifying for either the character's journey or for the reader's.

So I guess my overall feeling here is that the building blocks were there and I get what the author was hoping to accomplish, but the execution was rough, largely because the protagonist was a caricature, but also because the supporting plot was nonexistent. A soft 2.5 stars for me, cut down to 2 stars for the sake of Goodreads.

[Cindy (leavemetomybooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unnamed (why?) main character is relatable (at least as much as I can relate to someone young enough to be my kid, had things gone poorly in my 20s) and deeply, deeply frustrating as she muddles her way through a low-level job in Hollywood while confronting the patriarchal structures of the industry.

There were some funny parts and I appreciated the social commentary, but I really disliked how much of the book was about her relationship with her mother (holy toxic) and thought the pace was kind of slow. I didn’t love this, but I’m glad I read it and look forward to reading Kaplan’s next book.

* thanks to Henry Holt for the NetGalley review copy. NSFW publishes July 5th.

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the pre-#MeToo era of the 2010s in Hollywood, NSFW follows an unnamed twenty-something narrator who is fresh out of college and starting a new job as an assistant at a television network. While she mainly secures the job thanks to nepotistic connections with her own mother, a somewhat ‘famous feminist’ attorney who’s known for representing sexual assault victims, she is keen to rise the ranks of the network on her own merit, even though this means having to tackle a patriarchal industry rife with unequal power dynamics and whispers of sexual misconduct. This is one of those books that can’t be separated from the time it’s set in, as its context of the ‘pre-#MeToo and Harvey Weinstein scandal’ era is tantamount for its commentary on the ambivalent workplace politics of the time.  

It’s a time when the women in the workplace are expected to just laugh off so-called ‘jokes’ and comments about their appearance, when it should be accepted that ‘sometimes things just go too far’ but should all be forgotten about by Monday morning, when there are countless rumours, and even allegations, about the behaviour of the powerful men in charge, but they remain in their ivory towers regardless. As Kaplan writes, in the midst of this, the women in the workplace seem to only have 2 options: “Come forward and your career is probably tanked. Stay silent and he won’t have to answer for any of it.” In lieu of this, the ending of NSFW is left very open and ambiguous, but this works to further cement the author’s point – women are left stuck in a limbo where neither choice will satisfy.  

In a simple sense, NSFW comments on how insidious rape culture is and how it’s particularly perpetuated in the workplace, both consciously and unconsciously, by both men and women. The novel places a focus on the complicity of both men and women – but more interestingly, the complicity of women. It’s kind of expected that men will never say anything because they’re ‘protecting their own’ or don’t see it as a problem that affects them – so then is the women’s responsibility to do something because ‘women support women?’ What role do women play in this corrupt system when they turn a blind eye to accusations against their male family members or friends, when they shrug it off because ‘he’s never done anything to me’. But then again, how can women be tasked with fixing a broken, patriarchal system that they didn’t create in the first place? Shouldn’t men be the ones who step forward and use their position to create change? 

The novel leaves the reader with a lot of complex questions, none of which can ever truly be answered (at least not simply or without layers of nuance), but it’s definitely a lot to reckon with. 

I don’t necessarily think NSFW says anything groundbreakingly new about our current sexual politics/the #MeToo movement, but it still makes for a compelling read that touches on a lot for such a short book. It’s just a shame that when scrolling through reviews on Goodreads, the majority of them are by women, when really it’s men who should be reading books like this.

[Dun's · Rating 3 out of 5]

NSFW is an interesting read, told as a first-person narrative of a young female protagonist about her workplace, a leading TV network in Hollywood.

Although the story is written in a light style, it focuses on several heavy issues such as TV network job hierarchy, rape/sexual assault at workplace, a toxic mother-daughter relationship, and a character who doesn't know how to feel (about anything, apparently). The ending, while to me is not satisfying, is quite fitting with how the story unfolds.

Many thanks for a copy of the book I received in a Goodreads giveaway. Publication date: July 2022.

[talia ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really love books that take place in my hometown because everytime the character is driving and mentions the street/freeway they are on, i get to internally shrivel up, zone the fuck out and have my That's So Raven moment, and think about the absolute HELL that is driving in southern california.

[Caroline Bartlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.howdidthatbookend.com/isa...

Thank you to Henry Holt for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

NSFW was an interesting look behind the scenes of the Hollywood TV scene. At times funny and other times deeply disturbing, this quick read drew me right in. The protagonist is struggling with imposter syndrome, workplace harassment, work-life balance, and a narcissistic parent. There’s a lot to unpack in this story, and it may not be suitable for all readers.

Since the protagonist was unnamed, it was easy to put myself in her shoes despite not having anything in common with her. The ending also more or less leaves things up to the reader’s interpretation. I thought this was an interesting way of showing that these things can happen to any woman.

I appreciated that NSFW was quick and to the point. It was the perfect length to get its point across without fatiguing the reader with heavy subject matter.

Overall, an interesting read about an important topic, but certainly not escapist by any means.

Audio Review: I appreciated being able to listen to the audiobook of NSFW. When I’m reading a book outside my preferred genres, I definitely find it easier to listen than to read a physical copy. Narrated by Stephanie Nemeth Parker, NSFW was a very quick listen at just 8 hours sped up above 2x speed. I believe Parker was a good fit for this unnamed protagonist, and enjoyed listening to her work.

[its.mandolin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unnamed female main character works in television and is surrounded by high powered men, many of which prey on unsuspecting women.

This book has good commentary on privilege, sexism, assault and harassment, and the unspoken expectations of women. This was an interesting read, especially the morally gray mother of the main character who is a lawyer and rape survivor.

This book really hones in on the patriarchal structures of our society as a whole and the ramifications women face even when doing the right thing.

The description of OCD is very stereotypical and not necessarily an accurate portrayal of what OCD is actually like and mentions the character just grew out of it in adulthood and that’s extremely unlikely and just about always persists into adulthood. There needed to be more research done into this particular topic.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank You to NetGalley, Henry Holt, and MacMillan audio for the Audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha Pace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book. It read like a teenager's diary, only getting bits and pieces of information with no real purpose or conflict that was resolved. The book would just skip days/weeks/months right in the middle of a chapter so I really had no clue what the timeline was.

[Sheila · Rating 1 out of 5]

You often hear things referred to as “before its time.” This book came out way after its time.

Read the synopsis? You basically read the book. With the exception of one reveal the book adds literally nothing to that synopsis. Even that last line is how the book ends. You never find out her decision. Such a waste of time. Do yourself a favor and read The Change and I’m Glad My Mom Died instead. They make a lot of the same points / prompt the same discussions and they’re actually well done.

This is a book inexplicably set in 2012. You can tell by all the references to political things happening at the time and a few song descriptions. I kept waiting for that to be relevant but it never was. It added literally nothing.

This book had no plot. It was a bunch of points made about toxic workplaces loosely tied together by a recent college grad starting her career. I didn’t disagree with what was brought up, but there was nothing new. Literally, I’ve heard all those points made before. This book added nothing new to the dialogue. (Maybe if you read this book in 2012 and lived under a rock you would find the workplace dynamic shocking. Who knows.)

The first 200 hundred pages of this book is too long and often boring. It felt like set up with a few sound bites sprinkled in. Then the last 50 pages is when things start to happen. Then it ends. I assume I know the decision the author wants us to think the main character made. But then why not write that book?? You go on about how there’s no point in women speaking up because of the consequences and how messed up that is. In one conversation someone asks, well what if more women are keeping silent. What a difference women could make if they band together to speak out. Then you want us to use our imaginations for the scenario when she decides to speak up?? Is that even the decision we can assume this character made when she already didn’t say anything despite judging other women for the same decision?

Also, this is just an aside, but the main character never showed any desire to actually be in the TV industry. I was confused why she was putting up with any of this when she didn’t really even seem to care.

I think the point of having an unnamed main character was so that anyone could picture themselves in her shoes and to show how many women this happens to. But it didn’t work and I thought it was pretentious.

[Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

the unnamed protagonist of this debut novel and i share a few things in common. we both grew up in LA, took self defense classes at our competitive all girls schools, and went on to ivy league universities. we both feel inexplicably drawn to LA. our obvious but relatively niche similarities and shared experiences may have ended there, but i developed a genuine attachment to this character throughout the story, easily empathizing with her thoughts and choices.

nsfw tells the story of a young woman, recently graduated from college, as she moves back to LA and navigates her way through the entertainment industry as a low-level assistant at a TV network. set in an era before the MeToo movement, this novel forces the reader to step into the unnamed protagonist’s shoes as she grapples with the patriarchal structures of the industry.

while a lot of the novel focuses on the protagonist’s experience in the workplace, nsfw delves into this character’s family and love lives as well. of particular interest to me was her relationship with her mother, a prominent (and somewhat narcissistic) attorney known for representing women in sexual assault cases, which wears on her throughout the book, as her mother makes choices that the protagonist cannot rationalize. once i got into it, i honestly could not put this book down. be warned, the ending is left open—but i loved that about it.

[Emma Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There seems to be a churn of these books coming out at the moment, and whilst its topical, very important, and should be discussed, I just didn't find that this offered anything new or different.
Was forever hoping and looking for that spark for this to stand out but it felt like a few other books ive read on this matter.
A good read, but not a great one.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You always expect the best from women and assume the worst from men"

[alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

me and this protagonist got three things in common: both women, both tired of the patriarchy, and both have terrible nail habits

4/5 stars

thanks to netgalley and henry holt and co. for the arc!
trigger warnings for sexual assault, harassment, etc.
a wonderful exploration of sexism in an industry a lot of us only see from the outside
this has a wonderfully complex main character that we can simultaneously get furious at and root for
narrative is also pretty engaging and i felt myself turning the pages quickly
the way kaplan is able to write about such multifaceted scenarios and allow multiple angles on the ways women are treated by an industry that sees them as disposable is truly masterful
also the different women within the industry all affected by sexism and the ways they deal with it - so realistic and nuanced
there were some issues i had with the plot here and there but nothing major
a short but definitely worthwhile read!

[Danielle | daniellereadslikealot · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. There is a lot to unpack with this book. It was sad and frustrating at times, seeing our unnamed female protagonist deal with everything from diet culture to sexual assault, but this was such a compelling read. I found it incredibly hard to put down. You can’t help but root for our MC to succeed and change her toxic work environment and relationships with her mother and brother. This book really showcased where the system (not just one system, but all of them) is broken and even people you think should be on your side aren’t truly. It’s definitely not a feel good read, but it is absolutely an important one. I think this would be such an excellent choice for a book club. The possible discussions are endless. The ending is left open and up for interpretation as to what our MC will decide to do. As much as I wanted closure, I did really like the open ending.
TW: body shaming, eating disorder, sexism, mentions of rape, sexual assault

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for sharing this advanced digital reader’s copy with me in exchange for an honest review.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 that I’m rounding down bc it took me too long to read. it feels a little rude to give a low rating to a book abt sexual violence/harassment in the workplace but at the same time i didn’t think this was that interesting. there was also a lot more negative body discussion than I was anticipating which doesn’t always bother me but didn’t love it here. felt like this book was trying to do a lot (mommy issues, body image issues, sexual violence, toxic workplace culture, feminism more broadly) but it wouldn’t commit to a real perspective (relatable in reality but annoying in a book). mostly it felt like a worse moshfegh or broder book. sorry to pit women against each other in this case but it’s how I feel. would prob give this a miss

[Edna Foster · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to begin. For the first 200 pages of this 250 page book, there is a lot of whining about how f’d up the protagonist’s relationship is with her mother (is that bad grammar?). Maybe hip youngsters will find it amusing that the two smoke pot and abuse prescription meds together, but I found it pathetic. In the last 50 pages, there’s an attempt at social redemption with a #metoo angle, but it’s too little too late. Oh, and guess what? It’s somehow all crazy mom’s fault. Do.not.recommend.

[elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

i cannot believe that this is a debut. the writing is so strong and compelling, and the storyline equally so. it is rife with commentary on sexism and power abuse. while it would be so easy to be one of the many other books that addressed this recently, kaplan offers a fresh perspective and execution. enjoyed this so so much.

full review to come.

thank you to henry holt for the arc!

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

second book of the day and consider this the official beginning of THIRTY BOOKS IN THIRTY DAYS: AN ISAAC CHALLENGE. let's see how far we get.

anyway- books about 23 year olds with unfulfilling serious careers and complicated relationships with their mothers make me feel like i'm having a panic attack and i will choose to not investigate that any further and move on :)

[Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 (seriously I wish goodreads added half stars, as this seems to be my most common rating!)

I always struggle to articulate, or even have a clear picture of what I expect from this sort of slice-of-life, modern culture, social commentary books. I never need them to have defined plots; but should they have a more visible structure? A goal in mind? To what degree is it even possible to offer some new, revelatory perspectives on widespread issues we all know, like sexism and patriarchy, sexual abuse and corruption of the entertainment industry. Is it enough to just portray the problem through an immersive setting and a well-developed and nuanced protagonist? Maybe it is! Maybe I end up wanting too much.

This is a well-writen and very immersive book, and its highlight is definitely the portrayal of a complicated, strained mother-daughter relationship. The ambiguous ending - being left in the dark about the main characters decision - works really well. I just felt like I wanted it to go somewhere deeper with all of this; the book got to the "meat" of the topics quite late.

[hi · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️3.75

This book made me want to scream and write an 80-page essay on how women have always and will always deserve better, no matter where they are in life or how old they are or where they come from.

[alexandra-marie figueroa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si soy honesta, quería que me gustara más. No sé cómo explicarlo exactamente, o si el hecho de que la misma novela se escribe desde una perspectiva de privilegio, pero hay algo en ella que insiste demasiado. Como si estuviera proyectándose casi.

Aún así, creo que la historia y las preguntas que hace sobre lo que viene después de sobrevivir una agresión son importantes. Hay algunas conversaciones tan difíciles y complicadas de sobrevivir como mujeres: cómo vivir para nosotras, cómo luchar contra el patriarcado, cómo nos vemos obligadas a usarlo. A veces se sienten tan intensas, tan personales que el miedo a contestarlas en voz alta pareciera que podrían contra nuestro feminismo.

TW: violencia sexual

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

My honest review on this book is simple. I could not finish this book. Although I was excited I had received it in a giveaway here on Goodreads, it just did not do it for me. There was no real plot that drew me in from the beginning. The characters are so unlikeable and I found it to be a bit boring.

[Melenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF @ Page 10