Isabel Kaplan

This is a novel of privilege and entitlement, of what a degree from Harvard doesn't do for a directionless women with a missing father and an obsessively smothering mother. It should be yuckier than it is, and less sympathetic, but the writing is really good and the story is very suspenseful, until it isn't. The unnamed protagonist lands a peon job at the third runner-up TV network, due to her lawyer mother's friendship with the big boss. She learns how to maneuver and manipulate, how to show more cope with her self-loathing and her (well-deserved) feelings of uselessness, and how to swim faster than the other sharks. Eventually, the management gets "#METOO'd as the narrator holds back from reporting her own experience with sexual violation at work, and her mother, previously acclaimed for defending women in sexual harassment suits, inconceivably steps in to defend the guilty, rationalizing by blaming her daughter’s job security. It’s an empty calorie page-turner. show less

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and Netgalley for the ARC.

Milk Fed meets The Devil Wears Prada?

A solid debut about the inner conflicts we face as feminist women trying to succeed professionally. I was really rooting for the narrator, and both loved and hated how much I related to her sometimes. She navigates a new job, her own mental health and that of her mother, interpersonal issues with friends and men, and body image. There were moments when she was grappling with the inherent hypocrisy of show more trying to get ahead as a woman in a man’s world when I wanted to shout YES THIS IS SO TRUE AND SO FRUSTRATING!

Some issues with fleshing out the secondary characters, and the prose tended towards simplistic, but absolutely worth a read if you’re interested in the themes.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault/harassment. show less

this was an engaging way to talk about things i've always loved to talk about - sexism, being a woman, working as a woman, things like that. it wasn't always as deep as conversation as i would have liked, but it was a good start for sure. and the writing is good, too.

"Maybe the problem was that I've never had an independent life in a way. The catch, the question to which I don't have an answer and so I'm trying not to ask, is it a life of my own if I need her help to create it?"

I can't believe this stunning debut novel was written by an eighteen-year-old! Our heroine, Becky Miller, is an average girl with an above-average life. She goes to an elite L.A. high school, and appears to live the dream life. And, aside from her struggles with mental health, Becky is mostly okay with being average. She has her best friend, Amanda, to lean on. But when Amanda moves to New York and Becky's parents split up, it turns out that junior year will be tougher than predicted. To show more make matters worse, her shrink has just gotten in trouble for prescribing Becky way too much medication. On the bright side, the Trinity - the school's most elite clique - have their eye on Becky. Before she knows it, Becky is popular. But of course this comes with strings attached - Becky can't be the public brainiac she used to be, or hang out with drama-geek Taylor, who might be her only real friend now that Amanda's gone. With her self-worth dwindling, Becky has choices to make. Can she find her old self, or is the new Becky the real Becky after all? In stark contrast to the no-consequences world of Gossip Girl, Hancock Park is a strong, fulfilling addition to teen literature. I can't recommend this enough to girls who want to read about the glam life, but don't want to ditch the real life altogether. I'm looking forward to seeing more novels from Isabel Kaplan. show less