It has been a while since a book has made my cry and broken my heart then pieced it back together again, but I Hope This Finds You Well does just that. It’s just a beautifully observed and superbly plotted story about people working office jobs and trying to really just get through the day, through their lives. We spend almost a third of our life at work yet we tolerate them and keep them at an arm’s length. That’s what Jolene has been doing. Dealing a deep sense of loneliness and ache she numbs herself with eating crap and consuming alcohol on the weekends. She’s bit of a loner. She deals with the fakeness of her colleagues by inserting in her emails to them a p.s. which reveals what she really thinks of them. She highlights these p.s. in white text so they won’t see the text and it’s cathartic for her. But one day she forgets to change the colour and the worst of her colleague receives it and complains about Jolene. Matter is taken to HR who give her a warning and put her through a course which she must pass to save her job. However life changes irrevocably for Jolene when one day through some glitch she finds her can read her co-workers’ emails. She know has access to their private thoughts and learns the rumours of a redundancy coming up are true. Furthermore she starts to discover what her colleagues really think of her and a sort of comedy of errors ensues.
When I started this book I was immediately gripped by Jolene’s voice. Its first person narrative, and looking at other reviews I will say this book is a marmite one - you will either get Jolene or not. For people like us, who have been outcasts with not many friends, we’ll relate to her. She’s a bit Eleanor Oliphant and a bit Fleabag. Jolene is someone coasting through life. Adrift, and restless. A spectator of life than a participant. I was hooked through and through, and found the story heartwarming.

What a sweet and heartbreaking story. It’s like if the character of Enid from the noughties cult movie, Ghost World, gets a job in The Office US. Our protagonist is Jolene - nearly 30-years old and of Iranian heritage - doing a boring admin job in an office. She’s just trying to survive. Until one day she sends an email where her unfiltered thoughts towards her colleague that she typed but forgot to change the colour to white is received by said colleague and she’s pulled in by HR. She has to complete a course if she wants to be off warning. But during the course something weird happens. From her computer suddenly she can access everyone’s emails and instant chat messages. She learns what her colleagues really think of her. She also learns that the rumours of layoffs is true and if she wants to save her job, she’ll have to play the game of office politics…
This was an endearing book. The characters really grow on you, and you find yourself invested in Jolene’s story. I was completely absorbed and didn’t want the book to end. The characters, initially unlikeable, turn into complex and fully-rounded people and I was interested in their stories. Ultimately they were lonely and going through their own struggles. The prose is so good with so many moving quotes that I highlighted on my kindle. Such a lovely story with some pathos and bitterness sprinkled throughout.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Not my usual type of read but heartwarming and enjoyable.

Thoroughly unputdownable. What would you do if suddenly you were given access to all your colleagues emails? Would you use it for your own gain, or try to help those around you? Jolene has been in her dead end job for 8 years. She passes the time by adding secret messages in white font at the bottom of her emails to her colleagues. One day she forgets to change the font and is hauled to HR. An administration error leads to her gaining access to all the inboxes throughout the company. What's a girl to do? A broken. sad, anxiety ridden Jolene decides to turn her life around using this new found information.

Darkly funny and utterly poignant.

An enticing read.

I loved this book. Brilliant concept and brilliantly executed. Jolene was relatable and lovable and every supporting character was well developed and relevant to the plot and story.

A wonderful story that pokes at workplace culture, and what we do to ‘fit in’. This was a hopeful, emotional and optimistic story.

Read it, it’s great! I give this 4.5 stars 🌟 thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved this so, so much - the observational humour was pitch-perfect, the characters were fully fleshed out and felt real, and the pacing was excellent. I was crying at the end!! Reckon this will definitely be one of my favourites of the year.

Who among us hasn't wondered what our colleagues truly think of us or what they are up to in private? When Jolene forgets to delete her true thoughts in an email to her office rival and gets accused of harassment, HR demand her use of email is restricted. However, through a technical glitch, Jolene now has unfettered access to everything on her colleagues computers. Whilst the rest of us can speculate about our colleagues, Jolene can actually find out everything she ever wanted to know (and some of the things she definitely didn't) about her colleagues. With redundancies on the horizon, why shouldn't she use this to her advantage?

What a brilliant debut novel. It's a fantastic concept for a plot, delivered brilliantly. I enjoyed snooping on Jolene's merry band of devious colleagues and the epistolary style used was perfect for that. I think anyone who has ever felt like an outsider looking in, can relate to Jolene's position. If you've ever worked in an office, you'll likely recognise some of your old colleagues in the characters. I loved how the story developed and how Jolene got more from the secret snooping than anticipated. The romance within the plot was great, I really rooted for those characters. I felt like the explanation of Jolene's past trauma needed more work, it felt quite vague and I was left a bit unsure of what had happened overall. However, I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. Perfect for fans of characters like Eleanor Oliphant, dark humour and romance reads. I'll definitely be recommending this book.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Jolene made me sad...I can recognise that workplace very well (thankfully not my current one) and I thoroughly enjoyed her way of dealing with the irritations and exclusions she suffered.
Following a cringe-fest of HR interactions she finds herself with access to everyone's emails and suddenly knows more than she ever wanted to- some perhaps advantageous but the rest very detrimental.
The characters are great- some definite office stereotypes but the stereotype wouldn't exist if the people didn't!!
A lovely romance balances out the negativity for Jolene and the book ends pleasingly!

I devoured this book it had me laughing out loud, chuckling and then breaking my heart the next. Jolene is a wonderful character and I feel in love with her immediately, I found her observations really amusing. When Jolene is reported to HR for sending a nasty email to a work colleague her emails are sanctioned. By some IT error Jolene is now copied into every email exchange by those in her office. Armed now with knowledge about what her colleagues think of her and the inner workings of the office Jolene now has all the information she needs to understand all the social clues that had eluded her. It helps her understand how her baviour was viewed by others and how much she misses out on by trying to keep her head down at work and isolating herself from her colleagues.

This is an amazing debut novel, the characers are all very relatable and is a real feel good read. I didn't want the book to end.

LOVED this book - modern and touching, with a really relatable and recognisable setting for anyone who's worked in an office job of any kind. I found the plot really believable too, which is a nice change for modern fiction.

I was really invested in the relationship between Jolene and her family, the culture she's from, and the guilt she feels about something that happened in her past. It was lovely to see her blossom amongst her "deception", and realise that she's actually a normal person, with feelings and emotions that were worth nurturing and exploring. This happened as she got to know her colleagues too, who seemed awful at first, but all had things going on in their personal lives that affected their behaviours and attitudes, just like Jolene herself.

Will look forward to reading more books by Natalie Sue! Thank you for the chance to read and review this book.

This dark humor drama was a delightful read that had me laughing from the beginning to the end. The story was so relatable that anyone can enjoy this office drama book. Despite being a devout book, the author created fascinating and well-developed characters that made this book a surprise. The book's structure made it easy to read and provided a delightful reader experience. I highly recommend it and look forward to exploring more of Ultra's work. It's like a fresh and funny breeze of literature that left me thoroughly entertained.

A dark office based drama laced with humour and emotion. I could relate to the office poltics, sheer pettiness and over wriiten emails. The characters were well rounded and believable and I enjoyed the storytelling. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

For fans of Eleanor Oliphant and Swimming for Beginners, I Hope This Finds You Well is a wonderful tale that anyone who has ever worked in an office and struggled with anxiety can relate to.

Jolene is a disappointment to her parents, she’s a loner at work, she’s painfully shy with her ideas and her closest relationship is to her gin bottle.

Yet, when an HR incident accidentally results in her getting access to all of her colleagues’ emails and chats, she starts to see that not everything is as it seems.

It’s a relaxed read rather than being pacy, but there are plenty of mysteries to unwind and relationships to explore. The only disappointment for me was the lack of development for Miley - more could have been made of that storyline.

You will laugh out loud and groan in comprehension as Natalie Sue’s writing hits the nail on the head every time. It’s the perfect summer read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this book although it was not at all what I expected. From the blurb I thought it would be frothy and light hearted but, although there is humour in it, the book deals with people who are sad and/or lonely and have all sorts of issues which many readers will be familiar with.

I liked Jolene and I sympathised very much with her. She has a trauma in her past but, to be honest, I don't think that was a necessary plot line, many people feel like outsiders at school for many reasons, not necessarily as dramatic as what happened to Jolene's friend Ellie. It is a realistic book too. Jolene has a young neighbour who is also an outsider and in a lighter hearted book, Jolene and Millie would bond but this book is perhaps more true to life.

I loved Cliff and even Armin and Rhonda. the bits with the aunties and the the descriptions of the families so desperate to see thier chidren married was really very funny. The petty feuds, backbiting, tale telling and empire building which goes on in so many offices, is well described and will be so familiar to some office workers they will think they are still at work lol. The book also knows that even the most jaded and beaten down worker was once keen - it is so sad that poor Larry once won awards.

Gregory and his touching of things is stomach churning and he is a horrible man.

Really, a great read with a satisfactory ending and a catch up "one year later" at the end which I always like.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did! I hadn’t really read the blurb but liked the title & cover (typical me!) and assumed it was just going to be an easy, funny, office gossip based story but actually it went a lot deeper than that, it definitely highlighted the old saying of ‘you never know what’s going on behind close doors’ and therefore just be bloody kind!!
As much as it was at (many) times laugh out loud funny it was also tender and heartwarming, it explored many sensitive topics including social anxiety, toxic work cultures, loneliness, family/cultural expectations and had well rounded diverse characters.
Looking forward to reading more from this author!

I adored this book. It is beautifully written, with dark humor. Jolene has difficulties connecting with other people and her job is on the line. When she accidentally gets access to everyone else’s emails and messages at work, she decides to use it to get an advantage. I thought it was an amazing portrayal of human connections, how hard it can be. The romance was so cute as well. A hopeful, beautiful book.

Protagonist, Jolene has a problem at work, and this novel tells the story of her faffs and mistakes. If you enjoy a humorous, fun, contemporary read, then you'll love this novel because it's full of quite realistic office politics, juicy gossip, really well developed characterisation and humour. The title says it all really: those cliched phrases we receive in emails, that really, nobody means. Subtle and enjoyable, this novel. Highly recommended, easy and relateable read. Gratitude to the publishers and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Such an amazing debut novel!

I went into this expecting a lighthearted and funny workplace drama, and it delivered on that and more.
The story revolves around Jolene who is stuck in a dead end office job and who is placed into a mandatory HR course after she is caught sending out harassing emails to colleagues and then whiting out the text, which is a hilarious premise.

What caught me off guard was how much heart this book has, mainly by showing how you can find connection in the most unexpected of places. It also touches on some quite difficult topics really well.

There were so many laugh out loud moments between Jolene and the HR guy Cliff, I couldn’t put this book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollinsUK for providing me with an ARC.

I loved this book. I want to recommend it to all my friends. I want to make it mandatory reading for anybody who works in an office - even more so the people who manage people who work in an office.

Think of a Persian Eleanor Olifant with a tiny bit more self-worth, a tragic backstory, and something close to loathing for all her workmates and then pop her in Calgary (the kind of Canadian city where books rarely seem to be set).

Jolene (yes, I hummed the tune and no, it didn't seem to fit her origins) works a tedious job in an office full of people she dislikes. When she accidentally sends the email with her real thoughts to a colleague (she's been doing it for ages, but usually changes the font to white so they don't see it), she's hauled across the coals and assigned to a programme to reform her ways.

Firstly, nobody would surely EVER do that white text thing. You're absolutely screwed if your colleague has set their monitor to a dark background. But I'm willing to look the other way because the rest is so good.

HR man, Cliff, is a daft, big-hearted man who has to reform Jolene. And along the way, she gets access to everybody in the office's emails and network files, and comes to realise that people are seldom what they seem.

It's super.
It's endearing.
I loved everybody (well nearly).

BUT, one big question remains unanswered. Why and how did she get the access to everybody's files? Cliff is supposed to have installed some kind of tracking software that will spy on her and keep her on the straight and narrow, but somehow she's got something completely different. Was that an accident? Was it intentional? We never find out.

This would have been five stars for me if I had ever learned about the IT mess-up. I'm going to have to knock off a point where the whole plot relies on a device that never gets explained.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this excellent book.

Extremely relatable depictions of a dreary office environment. Witty and sad, a must read exploration of corporate relationships.