Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Brilliantly written and engaging. The story and characters are relatable enough for you to think to a boss or friend who is similar, but they each have an edge that makes them likeable. I enjoyed the development of the story and the way in which Daisy writes is absorbing.

i am not a fan of the switching povs, especially when they shift from a 1st to 3rd perspective. the tone is the realms of authors like kinsella so if you are into chick-lit this may be for you.

Not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps, stop/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it really relatable and honest. I have definitely felt like these characters! It really shows the toxic world of work these days. This gave me all the feels. I loved Daisys first book and can’t wait to see what she writes next!

I got about a third of the way in to Careering and there hadn’t really been an inciting incident yet, just a lot of work woes and slightly sexy passages, and I started to wonder what the point was. But I didn’t give up and in the end it was fine? Enjoyable? It passed the time? I liked the lack of a romance plot for Imogen, the main character, focusing more on her career with just a hint at a happy romantic ending being possible. I’m sure Stephen King said that people always want to read about workplaces but after this I’m not so sure that holds up.

A page-turner about a young woman (Imogen) finding her way in a competitive office.
While in parallel we learn about her boss (who in Imogen's eyes is immensely successful) going through similar struggles.
Imogen is an excellent writer and she is clearly being unappreciated. She has years of temping experience and struggling to keep ends meet. I think it was quite an honest take on what does it really look to make yourself be heard. Incredibly relatable.
Clever and funny and sexy. I really enjoyed this.

Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the e-ARC.

On the surface, this is a light read but the more I think about it, Careering is quite a hard hitting book about how much people are expected to give up for their ideal creative job, and how much they are used as replaceable labour without a second thought. Its similar to 'Insatiable' in that regard, but in other ways is a very different book.
In Careering, Imogen is utterly desperate to break into female magazine journalism, with a job working at Panache as her ultimate end goal. She works every internship and free placement that she can find to try and get a foot in the door, all the while also working in pubs and other low paid work. She also finds time to write her own blog about sexual experiences and desires, and it is the blog that actually helps her get a paid role on a new publication, aimed at 'The Girl'.
Full time magazine work isn't the dream that Imogen expected it to be, she is still negotiating constant demands for fresh ideas from her boss Harri. other wannabe journalists are snipping at her heels, she is handling toxic friendships in the office, the impact that the continual stress has on her self-worth, her personal relationships, her friendships and much more. You can tell that the book has come from some hard won experience for the author, and I am glad that she has made it out of the other side.
Thanks for writing it

Daisy Buchanan presents the world of publishing as a poor choice in ‘Careering’. We follow the valiant attempts of Imogen, working as an unpaid intern in order to gain experience with the hope of a job in the industry. The world of women’s magazines was portrayed in a very cynical light, as a toxic manipulative culture, with the seemingly successful Harri being as much a victim as a perpetrator.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. A funny, clever, observant read with great writing and characters.

Careering is the story of two women at different stages of their lives and careers in journalism. Imogen is the struggling intern, barely earning a living wage, who writes a sex blog in her spare time but dreams of writing for the Guardian or a glossy women’s magazine. Harri is the former editor of such a women’s magazine, Panache, who seems to have it all and is put in charge of a new online offering called The Know. Imogen is given a job on The Know and thinks all of her dreams have come true and problems solved but finds out her worth is actually not dependent on having her ‘dream job’ and that lots more problems arise. It is incredibly refreshing to read about the realities of being a 20-something working class person in London trying to make their way in their career without family support or a good wage and for it to be a massive struggle - this is something rarely seen in fiction or on TV. The story feels very real and authentic. The story focuses very much on what is going on internally with Imogen and Harri so any other characters are very much ancillary figures and the feelings of loneliness are quite intense. This is therefore not an easy read and there were times I didn’t want to pick it up to read if I wasn’t in the right frame of mind - it is very accomplished piece of work but will not be for everyone.

I had fairly high hopes for this novel, but very few of them were met. This is another in a growing line of novels mainly written by young women who have an online following, who emerged through lifestyle journalism and felt it was a good idea to write a novel (Emma Gannon and Dolly Alderton immediately spring to mind). Frankly, the world isn’t crying out for the literary output.

Generally, these novels aren’t terrible, stylistically they’re sometimes fairly well written, but they are half-baked and run out of steam half-way through; sadly Careering isn’t an exception and this is also an accusation that can be laid at the door of Buchanan’s first novel Insatiable.

I was disappointed by this novel as I feel that the points it is trying to make about young women in the world of work are very important but like so many novels these days it is hampered by too much lumpen tell and nowhere near enough show. This is worsened by some of the most unrealistic and constipated dialogue I have read in many a long year. Characters start proselytising about issues and feels as if they are spewing out some kind of millennial blog post. No one speaks like this and it put the brakes on any momentum the novel may have generated.

Heavy jokes also suddenly come crashing in which seem to be symptomatic of this kind of novelist; someone who is used to writing funny tweets which are suddenly crowbarred in, generating a tumbleweed rather than a round of applause.

Careering also has a subplot about the main character’s family and an old school friend which seems to be completely forgotten about and then briefly returns at the end of the novel in the most perfunctory way as if an editor had reminded Buchanan that it hadn’t been mentioned for a substantial chunk of the book.

All in all, this is a meh of a novel. It could have done a lot but tries to do too much and ends up by not doing any of it very well.

Utterly hilarious and incredibly clever. Careering provides a raw and honest look into the toxic relationships that women have with the workplace, and their careers.

Anyone who has ever dreamt of working for a magazine (been there, done that) will appreciate Daisy’s new novel. Imogen has been an editorial intern for years, working in a host of magazine, some less salubrious than others. Perpetually broke, at this stage she is willing to take any job, supplementing her work experience with blog posts and pub shifts. Until her magazine boss is moved sideways to a digital publication that is really going to get to the hearts of its readership. She thinks Imogen’s outrageously sexy ideas have something, and works her to get on board. To Imogen, this is the opportunity of a lifetime but it comes at a risk… putting everything about her past out there. Meanwhile her boss, Harri, feels she’s coming to the end of her career and is deeply disillusioned about how it’s working out. Sexy, funny, insightful, this is a must for anyone who’s ever worked in a creative environment.

I absolutely loved Insatiable, so when I saw Careering on Netgalley I tripped over myself to request it, and I’m so glad I did. Imogen is an unpaid intern at Panache, the magazine of her dreams. She’s also broke, exhausted, and working minimum wage factory jobs 24/7 for the privilege of being the office tea girl. Careering tells the story of her and her boss, Harri, as they navigate the negatives of investing your whole life into your career and watching it all crumble.

If you like stories about twenty-something women having sex, figuring out their lives and struggling, you will absolutely love this one. It’s funny, truthful and a little bit spicy - not quite as much as Insatiable, but Imogen’s sex blogging scenes definitely pack a punch! The journalism sections are realistic, sharp and witty, and the jokes throughout never made me cringe (which is honestly difficult to say!).

Perfect for fans of Ghosts and Milk Fed, this engaging, realistic depiction of what it's like to date your career in a classist, misogynistic world is NOT to be missed.

it takes talent for a writer to fully inhabit the head of a character, but its a rare skill to be able to create two distinct, fully believable and sympathetic women and this is what Daisy Buchanan has achieved with Careering. The plot is gripping, but what really appeals is the way she subverts the readers preconceptions about the women, who are neither snowflakes nor irredeemably hardened by a tough career. I was cheering for both by the end.

This was such an immersive read, somewhere between Sally Rooney and Sarra Manning. It had a lot of complex things to say, but with such a light and witty touch.

On a personal level, this was a 3 for me but in recognition of the fact that I'm not really a commercial fiction reader, I've given it a 4. On the basis of the cover and of the noise around Insatiable (which I have not read) I was expecting this to be a bit more literary, hence my disappointment that it was very commercial. However, there was a lot to like. The writing is witty and irreverent, the theme of loving the idea of a career and finding that the reality falls short, the abuse of millenials willing to work for free, the impossibility of making it in London without family money, the unreciprocated loyalty to an organisation are all very timely and relevant. I would say it's like a British Devil Wears Prada - grittier, dirtier and more realistic. I felt that the character of Imogen was very well realised, slightly to the detriment of the other characters who seemed a bit one-dimensional. Harri in particular could have been a fascinating examination of an older woman who has given her all to her career but I didn't feel that the author really got under her skin. Similarly, innocent Louise and her posh bitchy mates felt like window-dressing. A lot of fun and the sort of book that would make a good beach read for someone a bit younger than me!

This book is a gem of realism and a mirror for many millennials and older gen z, who find themselves being told 24/7 about the attractiveness of 'the grind'. Working yourself towards your dream is often portrayed as glossy and dreamy but Buchanan lays it all bare, with the real life consequences of working til' you drop being shown on an array of people in careering. I found so much of myself and my own internal expectations being portrayed by Imogen, and her drive to succeed at the cost of her sanity and joy is both eye opening and hard to read, almost like a diary of a generation explaining the struggles of keeping up with what the world is telling you you have to do. Buchanan continues her exquisite writing style of blending a world of fiction with factors from society that are causing a whole generation to feel under the spotlight, and bringing to the focus the impact that this ideal socially expected 21st century life is not always the goal it is made out to be.

This book felt so real and relatable. I really felt like I knew these characters and their feelings.

An enjoyable romp through the hopes and dreams of a twenty-something in the publishing world. I did feel for the younger character as she jumped through hoops and does some questionable activities to raise the profile of her magazine. I found the older character more troubling - she realised that she was asking the younger woman to go and out have sex to get higher internet traffic, this worried her but she did not seem to do much about it. I do feel that there should be more awareness of how the younger generation have got a pretty rubbish deal in work, financially and socially, particularly over the last two pandemic years so perhaps a variation of this should be compulsory reading for the over 50s!

It is a perfectly fine book but I did enjoy 'Insatiable' more.