Set relatively recently but before #MeToo, Not Safe For Work follows the life of an intelligent, well-educated young woman as she tries to find work and build a career in LA, whilst dealing with misogyny and unwanted sexual behaviour.

Her mother is an activist for women's rights and a lawyer, and is able to get a foot in the door for her daughter to start from the bottom working in TV. Working hard she manages to achieve a promotion, but that is when the knives really come out. Especially when her mother is involved with representing a high profile man accused of sexual assault.

A great read and I love the ambiguous ending.

A sharp, funny debut that also really tugs on the heartstrings. The perfect balance of critique and warmth, and also laugh out loud.

I practically inhaled this book finishing it in a day and a half and I was working!
This very topical story is set in Hollywood before the #MeToo movement but still current enough (mobile phones, email, computers etc) and it highlights the darker nature of the entertainment industry.
Trigger warnings for sexual assault throughout this book and this review.
The story follows our narrator, whose first name I don’t actually know!
She’s in her early twenties and desperate to make it on her own in Hollywood despite her mother financially supporting her and butting into her career as much as she can!
Her mother is a famous lawyer who specialises in sexual assault cases having been raped as a young woman herself.
Not only is she contending with competing for recognition within this company in a very male dominated industry, but she is dealing with a loving but extremely controlling mother who has depression and drug issues.
This was quite a tough read, but there were some lighter and humorous moments too.
I found it enjoyable despite some of the harder subject matters and I’m desperate to know who she called at the end!

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my books of 2022 without a doubt. Empowerment, complicity and ambition are central themes in 'Not Safe for Work'. A sharp tongue and a wry eye makes the prose compelling.

I loved this book. It was so funny and clever, and disconcertingly honest! The writing was energetic without ever being overly peppy and I came away feeling like I truly understood someone living this life.

The blurb for this book refers to ‘you’ rather than the protagonist for good reason. The protagonist we know has just finished college, female, Jewish and a feminist but her name is is never revealed..
She wants to work in television in LA and thanks to a bit of nepotism goes in just above entry level. She’s there now but doesn’t want to disregard her values to work her way up. However, the workplace is toxic and despite her deny values, she knows that the workplace is misogynistic and shallow enough to know that the way you look, dress and weight is important.
In addition to the toxic workplace, she has a challenging relationship with her mother who is a successful attorney for women who have survived sexual assyand rape. Successful as she is, she also sees the value in helping women achieve the best outcome which may not always be going to court which in turn perpetuates the issue.
Cleverly written if not a little depressingly realistic with a clever open ending.

Struggled with this one, wasn't really what I was expecting.. Quite liked that the protagonist remained unnamed and she was very relatable. Quite a lot of important issues are addressed throughout the book which I liked, but I did find it was a struggle in places. Overall a good read though!.

A millennial woman working in a male-dominated industry filled with inappropriateness consistently torn between what's right and wrong: does she speak up? does she keep her job? does she stand by her principles and ruin her career? Will standing up to the bully, actually, ruin her chances? Does she take advantage of the bully/predator instead of standing up to them? Will she be believed? How much does she have to prove herself?
If you can't relate, I'm jealous.
All with a "dash" of family drama and having to walk on eggshells amongst them
I just wish the ending had been a little further into the future, mostly because I'm sure many of us would like to know how to deal with her predicament in real life.

It is a depressing truth universally acknowledged that a young female executive will – even in the most progressive of workplaces – at some point, be told how “pretty” she looks by a senior employee, or experience some other interaction that leaves her outwardly smiling and inwardly shuddering – or, God forbid, worse. Though Kaplan’s NSFW is set in Hollywood before the short-lived explosion caused by “Me Too”, many of the events and observations still ring grimly true today, and this book would make timely reading for any fresh-faced hopeful about to head off to seek their fortune. The unnamed 22-year-old Harvard graduate who leads us through this short novel is just starting out at a TV network, a few rungs off the bottom of the ladder thanks to the influence of her spectacularly co-dependent mother – who also happens to be a powerful entertainment lawyer and who has placed a few strategic calls to old friends in the industry to secure her daughter a position. The narrator knows the rules of the game and settles into her desk job, hoping for more – but can she ever really succeed in this patriarchal micro-society without selling out her feminist ideals? She makes friends and enemies amongst her colleagues, keeping secrets and jostling for small scraps of pointless power, battling disordered eating and taking charge of her life in that way you do in your twenties – where (hopefully) one day you get to look back and realise how so much of it was out of your control. If you’re a woman who worked in an office in your younger years, there’s a heartbreaking chance that you’ll feel quite seen by Kaplan’s debut; gritty, grim-faced, darkly comic and hugely realistic, this is a quick read but a disturbingly good one.

I wanted to love this, but I just found it impossible to get into, and gave up about 20% in. I'll try it again in future - perhaps it just wasn't right for me right now.

'
Not Safe For Work' is usually a phrase used about explicit images that shouldnt be opened in a workplace, but in this instance its used to refer to real life behaviours and people who are 'not safe'. The book talks about sexual abuse, rape and violence, as well as workplace nepotism and being given jobs due to connections rather than talent. Lots to get your literary teeth into but im not sure I was in the right headspace to read it or appreciate what it was trying to say about the world.
thanks for the chance to read it

I did like this, and it felt like it was very much ‘of a time’ but it didn’t really feel like it moved very far - there was no big reveal or success or underdog story. But it was easy to read and good to shine a light on some big issues.

Although this book was fairly short, it took me a while to finish. I feel the subject matter of the #metoo movement is definitely one to be shared but there were parts of this book that just made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, just through the ease of the telling and the tone. I was glad I kept reading though as I found it a somewhat important viewpoint and a book that definitely made me think

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I guess the timing's right for a few novels to be coming out about the #MeToo movement at the moment, but what I find interesting is that most of them seem to be exploring the angle of female complicity in sexual harrassment due to lack of reporting or looking the other way. The book does just this, perhaps going further by making the protagonist's mother a previous rape victim and sexual harrassment lawyer and advocate. The plot was engaging and realistic, and it also chimed a lot with millennial experience of awful work-life balance in low-paid jobs.

I liked this book, and female complicity is definitely an issue in workplace sexual harrassment/.assault, but I would like to see a different angle on this issue that doesn't smack so much of victim-blaming.

"Occasionally, I wonder what constitutes appropriate workplace behaviour. If everyone views something as appropriate for a given workplace, does that make it so?'"

TW: sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape.

The book explores office dynamics explicitly in Hollywood, but in reality, in the West. The book goes into the problems around nepotism, the issue of individuals who refuse to recognise how their privilege paved their way and the reality that even in a post Me Too world, women still have to consider the professional implications of exposing their abusers.

The book has so many great premises. The protagonist remains unnamed, reflecting the reality of assistants that come and go in Hollywood and whose names we don't learn. It also explores the unhealthy relationships families may have - with every member of the main characters family enrolled under the same therapist in what I can only assume is a grey-area of professionalism.

I personally enjoyed the book. It's a quick read but it hits the nail on the head for modern day battle women face in their careers. If compromised at work, can you report it? Of course officially there are policies and procedures in place, but really, can you actually report? Probably not.

Further, I really liked how unlikeable the protagonist was. The fact she was handed a role by virtue of her mothers connections, and then perception that future promotions she was offered were a result of her hard work and not her connections. The book is very real - I can't count how many conversations I've had with 'self-made' people who forget their expensive education, familial connections and 'challenges' which are light, if challenging at all. This isn't to begrudge those experiences - if anything, there's a clear gap in the socio-economic awareness depending where you fall in society, and this book hits that.

The writing isn't the strongest but the ideas were enough for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.

A slow burning, character-driven novel.

Set in LA, the unnamed narrator starts work as an assistant for a television broadcaster. She’s keen to work her way to the top and knows she must put in the hours and put up with a certain amount of difficulty from colleagues and bosses.

But the truth of what she must put up with is more complex as she discovers that there is abuse of power and a great deal of misogyny on the way up the corporate ladder.

The book explores the turn-a-blind-eye/cover-it-up culture and deals with the repercussions of speaking out. Can you change the system without becoming part of it? It also examines a toxic mother/daughter relationship in depth and looks at how this formative relationship can impact future choices and actions.

I found the narrator likeable. She has privilege but is aware of it and her vacillations about what to do felt true. I enjoyed spending time in her head, though I did sometimes find myself shouting from the side-lines re her relationship with her mom. I just wanted her to speak her truth!

Overall, a well-written and thought-provoking book.

This wasn’t for me at all, I just think the light hand approach to Me Too and everything going on in Hollywood and beyond made it too uncomfortable to me, so I can’t recommend

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I was so looking forward to reading this book as the blurb of it was so captivating and interesting. However, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It was an interesting read about very important topics and some realities of a still very patriarchal society. However, I felt that this book was missing the connection with the main protagonist since she was unnamed, therefore it was hard to relate to her or get to know her as a character. Additionally, the rest of the characters were not explored in depth and their personalities were only displayed from the viewpoint of the main protagonist.
This story is about an unnamed protagonist and her search for a job in Hollywood, especially her struggles to move up in the company and show that she is just as worthy as her male co-workers. The story also explored the protagonist sometimes rather a toxic relationship with her mother and barely existing relationships with her brother and father. Additionally, topics of eating disorders, weight and self-abuse were also discussed, especially how females in Hollywood try to look as good as possible with the help of diets, starvation, gym, medication and of course Botox, makeup, etc, in hope that it will help them to impress their bosses and move up in their jobs.
I think the topics discussed in this book are very important, especially sexism, privilege and still very much male domination in society, as well as toxic parenting and mental health issues. I loved reading all about that, but the book really dragged until about the last 20%. Some of the dialogue and scenes were not adding anything to the plot and sometimes the main protagonist just seemed whinny and childish when dealing with simple tasks and conversations.
The ending left me very surprised. I expected something more and it just flopped flatly…just abruptly stopped. Thus, the story just felt unfinished to me. I even checked a few times if my file wasn’t corrupted and it is the actual ending.
Overall: This book explores so many important topics, such as sexism, toxic relationships, abuse, mental health and eating disorders, but it fell flat with the execution. This storyline and plot had so much potential that was not executed well and the story itself just felt a bit weak, especially in comparison to the other books that explore similar themes as NSFW. At times it felt that the toxic relationship storyline between the protagonist and her mother took the front seat, whereas the main storyline about sexism, male power and abuse took a backseat. Most of the time, however, I just couldn’t connect with the main protagonist and her story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for a chance to read and review this book.

Not Safe For Work is a slow-burning, carefully observed commentary on the pernicious and persisting systems that uphold power in Hollywood, written by one who has first-hand experience of the industry. It's also the story of a middle-class young woman and her mother, and the unhealthy co-dependent relationship they cannot seem to extricate themselves from. At times, reading Not Safe For Work is a journey of frustration at how the protagonist cannot change the system without becoming part of it, and other times it's painfully easy to identify with her and her struggles, written in intricate detail by the author.

It is terribly well-written; the author has an easy, effortless way with words that draw you in, even through the slower chapters (and there are quite a few). Somewhat disappointingly, the novel's premise (you know your boss is one of the good guys... don't you?) doesn't develop till almost the end, and the protagonist's struggle to decide which side she wants to take on the novel's central ethical question is left unresolved at the end. You may think you know what she'll choose, but do you really? Although we spend a great deal of time in the protagonist's inner thoughts, by the end of the novel, I still did not feel like I really knew her.

It's a novel to give plenty of food for thought, and will likely be a popular book-club book for the many discussions it will spark, but for readers who like things to be wrapped up at the end, it might leave them a little peckish.

Description 🔖

She’s young, smart, ambitious and eager to learn. Her first job out of college is in television and it comes with a set of unspoken rules. You will work whenever you are asked to, you’ll do whatever you’re asked to, you won’t complain, you’ll wait your turn for promotion and most importantly for the females; you’ll stay looking pretty.

Rumours start to circulate around the office that there are sexual predators working amongst them and the realisation sets in that there is a lot to lose by speaking out and plenty to gain by staying quiet. She knows her own boss is a great guy though and he would never do anything untoward….would he?

General Thoughts 🤔

I enjoyed this book so much. I thought it was so insightful, even though it was about a subject that as a female, we can all relate to, we all understand and a lot of us have probably had some experience of. The story is set prior to the #metoo movement and therefore many of the females didn’t feel comfortable speaking out about their experiences or even worse, downplayed them. I thought it was important that even characters that were very in touch what what was acceptable or not fell into that trap.

Characters 👫👭👬

I have to start off with the mother. My goodness, what an aggravating woman I found her to be. She was needy, unreasonable and insistent on maintaining a strong dependency between herself and her daughter. I don’t know how the daughter (I keep saying daughter as she was unnamed in the book) kept her patience and was mostly able to stay polite and courteous as I think I would have cut ties very early on.

I loved the main character in this story. Although I don’t think she would have described herself in this way, I thought that she was extremely strong willed and she had a firm understanding of her own boundaries. Until her boundaries were crossed. It was at this point that I think she became vulnerable and for me a very relatable character. Sometimes it’s easy to preach about what you would do in a theoretical situation, until you are facing it head on.

Writing Style ✍️

For a relatively short book, the author was able to pack so much into this story. I thought that the narrative was interesting and paced well. I didn’t feel like I wanted to tear through it but that’s because I didn’t want to. I wanted to know what the characters were feeling and what their next move was going to be and I think that was done really well.

I think that the author was able to beautifully capture being female in your twenties. Though I’m passed that in my life now, this book brought back all the feelings of realising that the world is hard, you have no idea what you’re doing and you question everything you thought you knew about the people in your life. I do not miss any of the above, but I did appreciate the reminder and the confirmation that it happens to most of us.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

I got through this book in pretty much one sitting and I really enjoyed it. The main character is one that I couldn’t help but fall in love with and root for. I was a teeny tiny bit disappointed with the open ending but hopefully it means that there may be more to come as I would love to read more about these characters and their lives. This book did a great job of forcing me to question “what would I do?” but hopefully, I’ll never have to find out.