I enjoyed reading Whisper Network by Chandler Read and thought it was a very accomplished novel, very relevant for today’s working woman.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Recommended

I enjoyed this novel for its theme and its message, along with the format: interspersed with interviews gradually unveiling more of the “present time” plot, while the chapters themselves started some 2 months before and showed what led to this point. I guessed some things, I didn’t guess some others, and all in all, piecing things together was fun.

The topic at hand, of course, wasn’t fun. It balanced between office politics and double-standards—how female employees are (often) viewed vs. the “old boys club” feeling—, between deciding whether to complain about potential harassment or shut up for fear of retaliation, between wondering what does constitute harassment and whether or not one is “overreacting”, and let’s not forget also the usual “these women are lying and destroying lives” (funny enough, the people complaining about this don’t seem to react as often about how rapists are ruining lives as well). All well-made points, including the latter, because it -is- true they come forward right as the guy is poised to become the new CEO, in reaction to feeling suddenly even more threatened, but also one of opportunism… but not everyone would think about it this way, since there’d be lots of money involved as well. All uncomfortable topics, too, yet that need to be pointed at and discussed.

This said, I really had trouble empathising with the characters. I don’t have much in common with them for starters—apart, that is, from encounters with sexist douchebags and other run-ins involving the usual patriarchy-fed bull, although I’m aware I haven’t had it the worst either (fingers crossed). But I’m not a new mother, nor a single one, nor someone who cheated on a partner, etc., so I usually need a bit of extra connection with such characters, a little dose of something else, something more, to relate to their problems, especially their rich people problems, and… that didn’t really happen here. The impression I got out of the main female characters was more that they weren’t very pleasant people, who yet kept trying to justify their behaviours to themselves, a little like “but at least I do this better” and “but -I- am not like that, right?” Kind of weak in my opinion.

The story also dragged in parts, and even though I read it in 3 days, at times I wished it would get to the point faster. And I’m still unsure of who the narrator exactly was. The author? Not one of the characters, or at least, it doesn’t sound like it. (Their voices were quite similar, so I needed to see them named in each chapter anyway in order to quickly get who it was about.)

Conclusion: 3 stars. I did like the story, but never really connected with the characters.

I enjoyed this book, but not the crime side of it. I found the crime a little predictable and slow going. The reason I liked this book is because of the topic it mainly focused on. The rights of women in the workplace is a serious topic, and this one was written well. I feel like some parts were over exaggerated and a few things went a bit too far, but the rest was written well. I liked that the book was in the different points of view of the main characters and I loved the strong female characters. This book wasn’t really what I was expecting, and I think that that made me a bit disappointed. However, overall I did enjoy the book and found it quite emotional.

This is possibly one of the best books I have read this year. The insights into what it is to be a working women tallied with my own of many years ago. The tension set up with the fall from the building, builds throughout the book.. So many elements of wry humour had me smiling throughout. A who dunnit, female friendships, expectations of motherhood and male predator,s all combine to make this a really good read. I will definitely look out for this author in the future

The whisper network is definitely a highly topical read following in the wake of the #metoo campaign. What it means to be a women in the 21st century, juggling the work life balance and entrenched male behaviours towards the female population, sexual harassment and worse are the dominant themes in this book. Set in the Dallas area, and featuring four lawyers working for an upmarket sports company Truviv, this novel explores what happens when these women decide to challenge the status quo and the subsequent fallout and reactions of those around them. when they do so. A so called list is circulating the area outing men who are believed to be guilty of sexual harassment and worse and Ames Garrett finds his way onto that list. Sloane, Grace and Ardie work for this man alongside newcomer Katherine and all of them have reason to want to make Ames accountable for his actions. When a lawsuit is filed against him and the shocking event of Ames falling 18 floors to his death follows shortly after, controversy abounds. Is this suicide caused by a witch hunt or could foul play have ended the career of a very influential and soon to be CEO of this company?? These are strong, intelligent feisty women who have finally had enough of having to work harder than their counterparts to gain their respect and to earn their promotions, sacrificing their home lives in order to stay on the career ladder, yet they have quietly endured years of unacceptable behaviour from the men around them. This is a thought provoking novel and one that highlights how from childhood girls soon learn to make allowances for the opposite sex, learn to keep quiet and how certain behaviours get excused and swept under the carpet (read scene with Sloane’s daughter Abigail as a case in point). There is a twist in the tale which I won’t reveal but which was easy to spot. It’s important to highlight that these problems are encountered by women from all walks of life, not just high flying career women and the author does weave this into the narrative of the four lawyers. This would make a great read for any book group and serves as a starter for a general discussion around the subject which should be ongoing if changes are ever to be made in the way men interact with women on a daily basis.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. The themes are particularly relevant and it was these themes that drew me to the book. I enjoyed the plot of the book as well as the characters. I thought the book had a good ending that kept me guessing. The only disappointing areas for me was the character depth and the writing style which I struggled with in some areas as it changed perspective and person a lot.

Very strong female characters and they hold their own. With the metoo movement that has been in the press recently it was nice to see them take back control in this book, rather than be victims.
I found a little hard going but that was me rather than the book. I enjoyed this even though I wasn't sure of the setting.

There is no doubt that Chandler Baker know what she’s writing about but for me this novel just didn’t hit the spot. I understood where she was trying to lead us, what she was trying to achieve but it took far too long to get there. It wasn’t until the last quarter of the book that it gathered pace and I think if I wasn’t doing a read and review I would have given up. Three of the four central women are rather similar so difficult to distinguish, and I didn’t relate to any of them. The story could be a fabulous pioneer for the #metoo campaign but it sort of just fizzled out in a predictable demise.
Thank you to Netflix for the opportunity to read and review.

This is a hard review for me to leave. I really really wanted to like this book as its very topical with the me too movement and women finding their voices in the workplace. I just personally found it hard going to keep reading.

You have five main ladies and the author writes from their POV's, however this is not clear at the beginning of the chapter (no name on first page of chapter) so I was reading the chapter's trying to figure out whose POV this was. Not sure whether this was intentional to add to the mystery of the story? This was throughout the whole book.

I kept going because I wanted to find out the outcome of the story. The arc of the story was good it was the delivery of the story I didn't engage with.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for a honest review

As important and relevant as the issues addressed in the book are, it was all too long and drawn out. I appreciate having to set a scene and making sure the reader has all the details/facts etc. but in doing this, for me the hard hitting issues were lost. The characters were unassuming, but not in a good way! The author writes really well but simply put the story line did not engage me as much as I would have expected. It is my opinion that this book is subjective to peoples tastes, personally it was not my cup of tea.

I didn't finish this book. I really tried. I'd considered giving up from early on but pushed through until almost 75% when I decided I had better things to read.

This book was slow, lacking in depth and the characters felt shallow and I couldn’t connect with them at all. It also felt preachy about women’s issues and while I think I saw what the author was trying to achieve, it just wasn’t executed in the right way that achieved it. I didn’t feel at all interested in who was dead, if anyone had killed them or what happened in any way for most of the book. The shifting between timelines initially did build some tension but as it went on this too fell flat.

The thing that lead to me finally not finishing the book was this line: "We lived with guilt the way other people lived with chronic medical conditions, only arguably ours was the less treatable." I have multiple chronic medical conditions that are largely untreatable and are all lifelong. I object to a feeling that every single person on the planet suffers from, being compared to medical conditions of any kind.

That being said, this wasn’t all bad. I did relate to and recognise the “everyday sexism” that women are often subjected to and how we can be treated if we report it. Also, as I said earlier, the book did have some tension at times and I was initially drawn into wanting to know who had died and what had happened.

I had high hopes for this book and was excited to read it so I’m disappointed to have found that it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group, NetGalley and Chandler Baker for the chance to read and review this book.

I was sent this book by Netgalley for review. Having got to the end of this book unexpectedly quickly, I'm still not entirely sure what it was about? I think the author had a 'Big Little Lies' scenario in mind, where a group of women are involved in a crime and you are left guessing until the end who actually pushed the victim. In this case, I think I may have to read it again to be sure! I felt that most of the characters weren't ones I really warmed to, and that made it hard to care about what happened to them. Perhaps it's because it was written in a world so very far away from my own, but I'm not sure I could honestly recommend this book as much as, say, something by Lianne Moriarty or Lisa Jewell, which are of a similar genre. I think there is promise here but for me it needs a bit more depth......

I've been waiting for a fiction book that would focus on the mistreatment of women in a male dominated workplace for a long time. I found this book very timely in the current decade of sexual abuse scandals and the #metoo movement.

The main female protagonists are successful lawyers who all experienced some form of sexual harassment by their male colleagues. What I liked about the book was the strong bond and friendship between the women who stuck together no matter what, risking their careers.

While I did have some problems with believability of some of the plot developments, I would still recommend this book especially to women working in corporate environment.

Many thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really struggled with this book and it took me two starts until I got past the first third.

I found it difficult to engage with the characters and to cope with the short chapters and constant time slipping.

Perhaps as a 69 year old male I am not the intended recipient. Eventually I was able to sort the timeline and get to know the characters but I kept thinking that this was a political manifesto served up as a psychological drama/thriller. I really objected to being preached to about female solidarity and MeToo.. It was all just a tad too earnest.

The grammatical errors and typos kept bringing me to a halt.

I actually enjoyed the story and characters in the end but it was a very slow burn.

It was just a tad too earnest and right on but I am sure that it has an audience. The slow reveals built up a tension throughout the narrative but the climax felt rushed and unfulfilling. We really do need to know about the finall settlement and the fallout from the characters on both sides.

Really wasn't able to get into this book. I gave up reading way before the end. I couldn't engage with it.

“If only you’d listened to us, none of this would have happened.”

Chandler Baker’s novel, Whisper Network, starts and ends with a call to be heard. For the women at the heart of the novel to be heard, for the voices that inspired their stories to be listened to.

The novel is not straight forward, stories like these rarely are, and it’s suitable that it doesn’t fit in the narrow boxes that publishing houses like it squeeze most into. In parts, social commentary, thriller, women’s fiction: dark humour edges it but with the bite of reality that stops you laughing too hard.

It’s a story of how one man’s actions affects the lives of multiple women. It is the story of how the world sees the action of few women that would change the course of one man’s life. It’s the story of how the world views one story as more important than the others. It’s the story of our mothers, sisters, daughters. Our bosses and our assistants. The invisible and the seemingly seen. The story of how all actions will have consequences but they’re not always in our control.

I don’t want to deep dive into the story, pick it apart and re-present it for you. Because that’s what happens. I want you to explore it and find your own story in it, as I did, and as the author wants you to. Her notes on why she wrote the book are as worth reading as the novel itself.

One thing I will say, is that I went into reading it with this marketing bi-line:
“Big Little Lies Meets #MeToo in THE Must Read Book of 2019”
I often avoid the books that come with the hype, the order to read it, and to be honest for the first chapter or so, it tainted my reading. I was looking for the clever cinematic reveals and the self-reflected story. Yes, that does come with it but it’s a carefully told story with excellent literary devices. And they are all more the satisfying when they happen to you rather than you looking for them. Let their stories take you in, as hard as it is hear all of them.

Whisper Network is published today. I hope women, and men, will read it, discuss it, and continue to learn with it.



This review will be published on the link below on 2nd July.

This book is very topical and apt given the current #metoo era.
The story is based in a corporate office environment and centres mostly around a group of women who work in the legal department. The storyline revolves around the everyday sexism, misogyny, gender inequality and harassment that the women experience from a senior male colleague and how the women come together to rise up against it.
The characters of the women are strong, they are very well developed and engaging and I enjoyed the how the chapters alternated through the different characters, witness statements and deposition transcripts. I'd definitely recommend.
This book reminds you of Big Little Lies which I love and I also enjoyed this book immensely!
A MUST READ!

This book is being released right on time. With the treatment of women in the workplace and sexual discrimination no longer a taboo subject this book is a contemporary theme.
The book deals with how past sexual encounters have been viewed, how a male dominated workplace has covered up and hidden employees misdemeanors. The perpetrators in this book had no idea that their past deeds were going to come back and bite them firmly on the backside.
Three women try to set the record straight about one of there colleagues, it is seen as jealously as the story breaks just as the offender in question is about to be made CEO of the company they all work for.
The story is told from the women's point of view and deals with sexual misconduct, bullying, lies, betrayal and friendship.
There is many twists and turns in this book and the ending was a real surprise. It is a good solid story which is well written.
Definitely a five star read and would recommend this book.

I found it very easy to visualise the unfolding story in this book, the characters and setting being well described. It reminded me of 'The Good Wife' or a similar American drama. Unfortunately, this was a problem for me as it is very American, to the point that I didn't understand some of the phrases and terminology. I also felt that it offered nothing new. As a result I didn't finish the book. It wasn't my cup of tea but may well suit other readers.

This was fantastic- bold, exciting, relevant and best of all: fun. It’s like Big Little Lies had a baby with The Good Wife to the entire Beyoncé back catalogue!
I’m also pretty certain it will make a great TV show itself; I kept picturing actresses to play the main characters:)
I’ve already recommended it to my friends and am dying to discuss it with them- do yourself a favour ladies and read this well-paced, witty and ballsy homage to working women everywhere.