Susan Rigetti

This is a suspense that makes you flip the pages.

Lora Ricci is a student at NYU with an exciting internship at ELLE magazine. She is overwhelmed with an abundance of beautiful fashions and people. She makes eye contact with the contributing editor, Cat Wolff, who looks flawless with a sexy German accent. She is eager to please and when Cat needs help, she says yes. She does a few things for her at first with her regular assignments and then after the internship ends, Lora starts working full show more time for Cat - with the big benefit of living in her residence at the Plaza Hotel. Her parents are outraged that Lora quit NYU with a full scholarship. She told them she is doing what she loves: writing.

The book is set up with continuous notes: FBI reports, a diary from Lora Ricci and e-mail messages from Cat to various people. Cat Wolff or rather Olesya Dorokhova from Russia is proficient at telling lies. Lora is unbelievably naive in NY with big eyes admiring the life of rich folks where they have an endless access to food, drivers, laundry and salon services. Her new friend, Cat, tells her that her father is funding her extravagant life where beauty is everywhere. The old saying is: you see what you want to see. Of course, Lora is a target.

The modern format made the story flow at a quick pace without a lot of clutter and I suspect it would be attractive to young professionals. It made the reader think about how many people tell lies - some unlawful - to get ahead and how many books have been written by ghostwriters. The end -- well, it was not so hard to guess. The story is similar to what has taken place in the recent news with Anna Sorokin who created a false identity with Anna Delvey to defraud banks of thousands of dollars (with the story soon to be released on Netflix).

My thanks to Susan Rigetti, HarperCollins Publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this copy with the expected release date of April 5, 2022. show less

Named Most Anticipated by Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Parade, and PopSugar, Cover Story by Susan Rigetti is much deserved so grab your sunnies, a lounger, and clear some time book friends because this propulsive story is unputdownable and drops 4/5/22! Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the gifted ARC.

After a difficult semester at NYU ambitious Lora Ricci lands an internship at Elle magazine. Coming from a modest background she finds she feels no different at Elle, show more she still doesn’t fit in with the trust fund kids. Determined to make the most of every opportunity she volunteers to help the magnetic Cat Wolff with a writing project on her days off. Slowly Lora finds herself drawn in to Cat, totally dependent and isolated from her family. Any doubts Lora has she quickly tamps down. What choice does she have if she wants to be a writer?

I throughly enjoyed this inventive book told through a series of diary entries, texts messages, and news articles. The cast of characters is wide but deep, keeping me on my toes wondering how everyone fit together. Rigetti’s writing is whip-smart, sharp, and nuanced. Characters are flawed and multifaceted. While there should be good and bad guys here she offers up many shades of gray. It comes together in one of the most twisty ‘I did NOT see that coming’ endings I’ve experienced in a long time. My strongest suggestion is to go in with as little information as possible, avoiding spoilers.

I recommend for your summer reading, buddy reads, and book clubs. There’s so much to unpack and discuss here!! show less

This was so much fun and I could not put it down. Perfect example of the modern epistolary with email and diary entries mashed together. I read this via audio and eBook, about 50/50 split. The narration was great in the audio format.

If you liked: Impostor Syndrome, Catch Me If you Can, The Appeal, The Lion's Den you can confidently pick this one up knowing you'll enjoy this.

Unputdownability if the word exists is the term to describe this novel. Despite the slightly irritating narration — is this really how a diary is supposed to sound like? Unpredictable turns in the plot keep me going. Recommended for a light read!