Review by Booklist Review
When Harper Cruz loses her job in publishing, she decides on a whim to apply for a job with influencer Charlotte Green. By the next day, she's being swept off on a plane to Nashville, leaving her life in New York behind. Charlotte has chosen Harper's application without even seeing her in person. As Harper gets settled, she realizes just how embedded Charlotte is in her employees' lives. She expects them to work punishing hours, make appearances at weekend events, and drop everything to help her when she wants them to. They even live on Charlotte's sprawling campus, their apartments located in the "Green Suites." Harper admires Charlotte despite her backstabbing and entitlement, inciting conflict with Harper's new work friends and her best friend back in New York. Will Harper escape Charlotte's real-life influence? Crooks' debut is a modern update to The Devil Wears Prada, emphasizing the all-too-common blurring of our personal and work lives. Harper's denial of Charlotte's true nature is unsettling yet authentic. Suggest to fans of Ellery Lloyd's People Like Her (2021).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Crooks debuts with a magnetic story about a broke New Yorker looking to make her mark within the publishing world. Harper Cruz lives with her privileged friend, Poppy, in an apartment Poppy inherited on the Upper East Side. She can't afford the rent Poppy charges, however, and is desperate to avoid moving back home to the Hudson Valley. At Poppy's encouragement, Harper applies for a job with influencer Charlotte Green in Nashville, Tenn., and is hired as Charlotte's Visionary Support Strategist. In Tennessee, her role turns out to be just as vague as the title suggests, though less glamorous. She's tasked with running mindless errands--buying yoga mats, crystals, and candles--and with baking holiday cookies and babysitting Charlotte's five children. The story takes a turn when Tiffany, one of Charlotte's "OG Three," quits and threatens to dish on social media about Charlotte's toxic workplace environment. The plot has plenty of momentum, and Crooks lays bare Harper's desperation to succeed. Readers will gobble up this intelligent update on The Devil Wears Prada for the digital age. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA. (Aug.)
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