3.5 stars rounded up.
Jolene hates her job, her coworkers, her entire life in fact. When she’s accidentally given access to the whole office’s emails, personal messages and folders, she finds out what everyone thinks of her too (and it’s not good).

She decides to take the opportunity to use her new found knowledge to change their opinion of her and wreak revenge in the same breath.

I liked the concept but found it dragged a little in the telling, and I was tempted to skip pages at times.

Funny, loveable character, and a realism that is relatable. Highly recommend. The line about being for fans of the US version of the office was correct

I could not have loved this book more.

Darkly funny, laugh out loud hilarious and so unbelievably relatable, Jolene says what we've all thought in work situations.
But there was also so much more than humor to this book, it's sad, moving, heartwarming and addresses anxiety & mental health so well. An absolute all rounder.

A book I will be recommending again and again.

Jolene is suffering from anxiety and has unresolved issues from her past. So she tries not to connect with the people she works with or anyone else to protect herself. When an IT error gives her access to everyone's private emails she discovers that her job is in danger and she was not hiding as well as she thought. So she uses this knowledge to start connecting with her colleagues. She is not a likeable character for most of the book. There are quite a few cringe moments that are fairly obvious. However the characters are interesting and as their personal stories develop the book improves.

Who doesn’t want this to happen to them? Honestly I would have an actual field day if I could read all my colleagues emails and private messages, especially the management! But in all seriousness, this book was what I needed right now, it was so so funny I was actually belly laughing, I was absorbed into the intricacy of the feelings and issues with anxiety and depression that Jolene suffered and in between the laughter it was so thought provoking and real that you couldn’t help but fly through it. This could honestly be a contender for my favourite book of the year - go and read this now!

i cannot go on any further. dropped this at 49% mark. “a laugh-till-you-cry debut novel”? “wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy”? “crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogues”? sorry but i disagree.

the whole time reading i either getting annoyed with the the mc or cringing from second hand embarrassment. i mean, come on. i have social anxiety too. but i would never commit jolene’s constant questionable decisions. i didn’t found any of the characters likeable. jolene’s coworkers (except for cliff) are all two-faced bitches who only truly care about themselves. and of course jolene herself was insufferable. sorry. i really wanted to like this book, but i can’t.

I've been using emails since th 90s and one of the first thing I learned is that the only machine that cannot be hacked is one disconnected from the net.
This is a novel about office, the relationship with your coworkers and how we say more than we think in our work communications.
Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now even if I enjoyed this book. A proper review will follow
Recommended.Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you for my earc of this book. I really enjoyed the premise of this story and thought it was executed well. I found it relatable, funny and heartwarming, though Jolene’s actions were frustrating at times.
Overall an enjoyable read!

This novel was fun, quirky and filled with a unique premise. I loved the characters, plot and the freshness that this book brings to the genre.
I loved Jolene and the anxiety representation in this book, as well as how readers who work in offices can relate to it, especially when it comes to the email parts. I can't wait for more books by this author. She's definitely made my top list of the year.

Jolene, a quiet office worker haunted by past trauma, struggles to fit in with her often ruthless coworkers. To cope, she hides her true feelings in the white font of her emails, but when a heated argument with her coworker Caitlin leads to an HR investigation, Jolene’s secret is exposed. An IT mishap grants her access to all her coworkers’ communications, revealing office gossip and Caitlin's schemes against her.

Despite the office drama, Natalie Sue’s debut shines with its well-developed, endearing characters. Jolene’s wit and realism make her a relatable protagonist, navigating her loneliness and discovering that she's not alone in her struggles. The book strikes a perfect balance of comedy, romance, and heartwarming moments, showcasing a remarkable debut with a compelling plot and characters.

I really enjoyed this funny and insightful novel which, for anyone who works in an office or has had to deal with work politics, is the ultimate wish fulfilment of suddenly being able to see everything your colleagues are saying about you in secret. Highly recommended and many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book did indeed find me well. I love how it's such a fun on work and relationships and colleagues and the importance of remembering that humans work behind the screens sending emails. I really, really adored this so much that I bought a physical copy too!

I throughly enjoyed this quirky little novel! A really interesting concept that was both funny but also heavy hitting! A lot more heartwarming than I expected and so glad I gave it a chance as I was unsure at the initial synopsis!

I really enjoyed this book because it’s so relatable!

The premise is interesting being set in an office full of people with issues.

I enjoyed all the insights in to the characters and that it doesn’t just tie up all of their issues in a neat bow makes it feel more authentic.

It’s easy reading and funny so good holiday read.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue is a story about an office worker, Jolene, and the relationships she has both in and out of the workplace.

I absolutely adored this book! Going into it, I thought this would be an easy breezy summer read but it was so much more than that. This book deals with trauma, workplace relationships, familial relationships, the pressure of living up to familial expectations and so much more. Jolene is a true leading lady and I loved following her journey of growth and self-discovery. There were some really special characters in this book also that will stay with me for a long time.

I would recommend this book to everybody, because there is definitely a little bit of Jolene in all of us.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book. As always, my opinions are my own.

Thirty-three-year-old Iranian Canadian Jolene is an admin assistant at Supershops, Inc, a dead-end office job which has been slowly killing her from the inside out for the past eight years: she manages her growing frustrations with her fellow employees by telling them exactly what she thinks of them at the end of each email, but changes the text colour to white to render her thoughts invisible, hiding them in plain sight. This tactic works until it doesn’t, and Jolene is hauled up in front of HR to complete sensitivity training and restrictions on her email access – but in the course of having the limits applied, an IT mixup gives her complete access to everyone else’s emails and DMs. Overwhelmed by her new power, Jolene quickly decides to use her newfound advantage to secure her uncertain position at the company, solving one problem in her life – and discover a little more about her annoying coworkers along the way. But how long can her access remain undetected? This is a great example of the workplace comedy genre, with a central premise that’s a lot of fun to think about if applied to your own situation. There’s much to admire for fans of The Office or 2024’s Green Dot, but it’s the scenes with Jolene’s over-involved, Iranian mother and her “auntie” network that are particularly well drawn. An enjoyable summer read that’s ideal for anyone escaping an office for a few weeks.

Featured in July 2024 Cambridge Edition magazine – print and online linked below

I've seen this book on so many 'must reads of 2024' lists and I can absolutely see why! It is so much more tender than the concept might initially suggest, and a really gorgeous character study, not just of the narrator Jolene but of all of the people around her - the characters are the real stars of this book, and I fell hard for all of them. I would possibly have liked slightly more of a delve in to Jolene's mental health, which sounds like a strange comment to make as that's essentially what the entire book is about, but while she came to understand herself better as the novel went on, I really wanted to know what happened next and the ways she found to cope with the way her brain works. Actually, having typed it out like that perhaps it's an achievement of the book rather than a failing - if I so desperately wanted to know what happens next, isn't that a good sign? I loved this.

This was like a breath of fresh air. It was all the right kinds of tense, sad and hopeful wrapped into one. We start with Jolene flexing her frustration with her colleagues by emailing nasty messages in white font, a wild but effective solution - until she gets found out. It goes from bad to worse in HR training, when she accidentally gets access to everyone's messages (including what they say about her).

Honestly a fantastic workplaces premise. What begins with anger opens up, as Jolene sees the things her workmates go through in private. It says a lot about what happens behind closed doors and how far a little empathy goes, while also acknowledging the pain of workplace bullying and oneupmanship.

Really enjoyed this one, I'd definitely recommend it to a friend.

Jolene keeps her interactions with her colleagues to a bare minimum, preferring to blend into the background. As a coping mechanism, she vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, with the font changed to white so it can’t be seen. Then, when one of her secret messages is discovered, it results in sensitivity training and restrictions being placed on her emails. But an IT error grants her access to the entire office’s emails and messages instead and Jolene soon finds herself drawn into the lives and secrets of her co-workers, and her carefully built walls begin to crumble.

This book is incredibly relatable for anyone who works in an office. It’s funny and engaging, just unfortunate that Jolene is so unlikeable for a large portion of the book. How does she complain about being so lonely, recognise the loneliness in someone else, and still flat-out refuse to be friendly towards them? It doesn’t make a lot of sense. However, other elements of her personality are entirely realistic and understandable, and I did warm up towards her as the story progressed.

The other thing that didn’t work for me in this book was the timeline. It is totally unrealistic for someone to work with the same people for over eight years, being consistently rude to them, for everyone to accept it and become friends when she finally decides to behave like a normal human being towards them. After eight years of rude and dismissive behaviour, I don’t blame Caitlin for disliking Jolene.

Fortunately, the rest of the book was dramatic and engaging enough to keep me entertained and, somehow, rooting for Jolene to do better.

Although filled with humorous observations and a tantalisingly believable romance, this isn’t your average light-hearted romcom. There are serious themes and raw moments throughout.

I knew I was going to love this purely from the blurb (which never happens, and why I don’t usually read the back of books) – and from the very first chapter I was hooked.
Set in Canada? Check
Office shenanigans? Check
Could it really happen? CAN YOU IMAGINE?

I was ready for a full-on comedy but I Hope This Finds You Well was so much more, the descriptions of Jolene’s loneliness and isolation were intricate and somewhat relatable, and the journey she went on through the book was beautiful. I found myself holding my breath hoping Jolene wouldn’t get caught, even though I didn’t always agree with the decisions she was making. There are lessons to be learned in here but it never felt preachy. I loved that each character’s personalities were explored to the point that I could imagine working with them, the office dynamics were very familiar!

I Hope This Finds You Well has been one of my favourite books of the year so far. I read this a while ago now and still thinking about it! A really great read, and looking forward to the author’s next one already!