Dumbest ending ever. So much potential but ended up a complete fail. Going with three stars because the book was pretty decent -- until it wasn't. ( )

I am glad I was able to read this book that has been on my TBR forever!

I remember when it was released I saw a mix of reviews and I didn’t want to have it affect my decisions on how I read this.

This was a MeToo movement book with a slight spin. The MC was a first year associate lawyer for a prestigious law firm who never swayed from a challenge. She was smart, fierce and beautiful. Of course, the partners took advantage of her beauty and her willingness to get ahead by basically creating a rivalry between her and her best friends to become one of the few female members of the laws M&A placement.

The story was as realistic as it comes and it’s a disgrace how woman and other minorities are displayed in the corporate field as shining stars to make the quota.

I was able to read and listen together and Julia Whelen was a spectacular narrator like always making this one shine. ( )

Super entertaining. Gave me some flashbacks to being a Big Firm finance associate but mostly the overnighters and awkward client dinners are all Alex and I had in common. Katz does a good job of accurately portraying the life of a first year associate while amping up the drama to make it way more entertaining and salacious. ( )

Alex Vogel, first-year associate at a very large law firm, decides she wants to work in the prestigious Mergers & Acquisitions department and does a lot of foolish things in order to make that happen. It's a cutthroat world in BigLaw, and Alex finds that out the hard way. The resolution to all of the sordid things that take place seems a little unrealistic to me. I did enjoy this book, though, and anybody who is familiar with the legal world probably would, too. ( )

Fiction is not my main genre, I read. When I picked this book up, it took me a while to get through. I thought it was slow paced. Now, it could be because I wanted a break and shift in what I was reading prior to this, which was mainly young adult and adult scifi and fantasy, and I was coming off the adrenaline high.

Alex Vogel, the main character, was likeable. I enjoyed her and felt she was a solid character. I can see the change in her throughout the book, much like her family and boyfriend. She was slowly falling into the trap of the blue collar world. These changes were slow, and I liked how well written these were. As a reader, the changes in Alex started when she was getting praised from her M&A male colleagues. Then grew wild during her Miami trip. As a first-year associate, she was trying to prove herself and while doing that; she was blind about what was happening to her.

The other characters in this book are likeable or solid. They feel human and not an exaggerated superhuman. Each of these characters has a or many flaws. This falls mostly with the characters in Alex’s lawyer world. The world behind the lawyer feels real. I sadly can see a lot of this happening. Doing anything to make a client happy, a high paying client to boot, taking some advantage on new associates and their naivete of the company. Some of these characters do not feel what they are doing is wrong, they are blind, or choose not to see anything.

I feel this world to be real and can be still be happening. I can feel the genuine idea and message this book is trying to say. It is sad something terrible had to happen to Alex to get her blinders off and see what was happening within the company, people around her, and herself. I almost think maybe something about the “integration”, which they were not really, questions could have been mentioned in the beginning. I was confused over what they were for and after realizing myself what was going on in the book, I understood what the questions and answers were about.

I would recommend this book. It was a pleasant story. It gave me a Devil Wears Prada vibe.
*I received an ARC, and this is my honest opinion. ( )