Review by Booklist Review
Strangers is a popular social-media platform. Its founder, Jake Sarnoff, is considered a tech darling. He's progressive and handsome and talks a lot about feminism. His company is about to go public, he's about to become a father again, and everybody's talking. What most don't know, though, is that Jake has a long line of women in his wake who have not only contributed to his success but have ensured it. Behind every great man, right? There's Anna, his ex-wife and the mother of his two sons. There's Jessica, his second wife and the mother of his new daughter. There's also Samanta, whose contributions to his life and business are as powerful as they are secret. All three women will be tempted and tested by Jake's impending wealth and his incredible charisma. Jake's desire to keep all three women on a string will also be his downfall. Dunlop's latest is a compelling and fascinating tale of performative feminism and the women who suffer under it.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Dunlop (We Came Here to Forget) follows two women whose ideas are exploited by a tech entrepreneur in this dramatic if simplistic outing. Jake Sarnoff is about to become a dad again with his much younger second wife Jessica, whom he started seeing while still married to Anna. Jake still flirts with Anna and relies on her for support and advice regarding his social media site, Strangers, which Anna helped create. In public, Jake pays a lot of lip service to the importance of family, but at home, he hardly lifts a finger. Meanwhile, Sam Flores-Walsh moves to town and founds a popular yoga studio that Jessica frequents, though she's unaware that Sam is Jake's ex and an uncredited cofounder of Strangers. Sam has been telling a reporter at the New York Times how Jake ran with her concept and cut her out of the company, though she's worried she doesn't have enough proof. Though Dunlop's girl-power angle feels a bit stock ("A mother is capable of anything," reads one of Sam's Instagram posts; Anna and a friend clank wine glasses and shout "fuck the patriarchy"), she does a good job showing Jake's slippery, selfish nature. There's plenty to root for, but readers who prefer nuance should look elsewhere. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In his ruthless climb to the top, social-media mogul Jake Sarnoff has left a trail of overlooked, objectified, and oppressed women behind him. First, there was Samanta, whom Jake charmed in college and then forced out of the company she helped build. Then came Anna, Jake's first wife, who unfailingly supported his dreams for 17 years before he left her and their two sons. Now Jake is married to Jessica, whose youth and beauty are still not enough to stop him from straying, though she sacrifices everything to give him a picture-perfect family. Just when Anna and Samanta decide to bring Jake to justice, Jake and Jessica's infant daughter goes missing, and the women must join forces to find her. Dunlop (We Came Here To Forget) crafts a compelling family fiction about misogyny and manipulation. Narrator Frankie Corzo offers minimal vocal variation between the female leads, making them difficult to discern, but her performance of the intricate narrative is engaging and exciting. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking dramatic domestic fiction melded with a thought-provoking thriller. Recommended for fans of Laura Dave, Cate Ray, and Robyn Harding.--Lauren Hackert
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The lives of three women intertwine in Portside, Washington, as a new social platform gets ready to launch its IPO. Anna Sarnoff, 41, a one-time lawyer, was married to Jake Sarnoff for 15 years and had two sons with him while helping him build his social media company, Strangers. Before Jake married Anna, his college girlfriend, Samanta Flores-Walsh--one-time programmer, now a single mother and yoga-studio owner--helped him and his co-founder, Sai Chandra, hammer out the kinks in their original algorithm. And Jake's young, beautiful, pregnant new wife, Jessica, an Instagram influencer and vet tech, has some ideas of her own that help the company. The story, told primarily from the points of view of Anna and Sam, examines the women's experiences with Jake and his superficial brand of feminism, the increasingly pregnant Jessica, the company, motherhood, their own careers and choices. As all this unfolds, the reader is already aware that Jessica and Jake's daughter will be taken one night when she's 6 weeks old. Author Dunlop has created an intriguing world where women's contributions might be overlooked and downplayed as the "natural" role of girlfriend, mother, or wife, but that doesn't mean these contributions didn't occur or aren't worthy of merit and reward. Adoption, teen pregnancy, abandonment, the deaths of parents, love (and lies and affairs), divorce, bullying (both in-person and online), secrets, motherhood, intellectual property, poverty, and privilege all are addressed. A well-written story that will leave readers thinking that women are indeed the fiercest creatures. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
