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.

I found this book quite uncomfortable to read at times and it was hard going. I'm still not sure how I actually feel about this book.

This novel is such a mind fuck. It really makes you think as to how complicit we all are to how 'the system' works. What is our place in the world and when is inaction the best option? Every woman should read this! Trigger warning : Rape/sexual assault

Ambitious, privileged millennial strives for a career in Hollywood.

Themes of mother-daughter relationships, patriarchy and the workplace.

Readable, sometimes funny, stronger towards the end. Something about the tone of this novel feels as though it has missed the #metoo bus.

With thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Not Safe for Work is definitely one of the harder-hitting books I’ve read in recent times, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. In fact, it pulled me right in through its mix of exploring serious topics such as sexual harassment and abuse, but told from the POV of a woman who is smart, sassy and not afraid of seeing the irony in a situation.

The story is delivered by an unnamed protagonist, a young woman, recently graduated from the prestigious Harvard university. She moves back to her hometown of LA and starts a job at a TV production company.

She’s working in the industry that makes LA famous and comes up against all the controversy and discrimination that we’ve heard so much about with the #MeToo revelations.

Not Safe for Work explores how women are victimised, judged and silenced and forever having to balance not speaking up when, for example, they’re abused or harassed, if the person who did it to them is more powerful.

The nuances of our lead character’s co-dependent, majoritively toxic, mother-daughter relationship are also looked at in depth and reveal how much this affects all areas of both of their lives. It was woven through the main plotline and definitely added depth to the origins of her insecurities and vulnerability. As mentioned, she was also clever and funny – a great blend that meant you really cared for her.

Despite (or, more accurately, because of) its gritty, often raw depiction of a shocking reality for so many women, Not Safe for Work pulled me in. I loved that the ambiguous ending flipped things onto you and made you think about what you would do if you were ever faced with an unfair, difficult situation.

A book that leaves you pondering and gives great social commentary on the glass ceiling that very much still exists between women and equality in both the workplace and life, is always an excellent read.

I really enjoyed this - it takes a very light hand to some difficult subject matter and I thought gave a very nuanced picture of the Me Too movement and the real impact of reporting a crime on a young woman’s life and career. The protagonist is extremely likeable (not a given as she’s very privileged and not always making the best decision) and I really empathised with her. I raced through this book and highly recommend - thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I don't really know how I feel about Not Safe For Work. On the one hand it is an exposing novel about the struggle of millennials and about how it is difficult for them to find their footing in the workplace - putting in ridiculous hours for the tiniest crumb of possible promotion. On the other hand it is about the patriarchal nature of the workplace and how men in positions of power use it to their advantage and see it as cache to do what they want to who they want. On another hand (yes I know I am up to three hands) it is a novel about a toxic relationship between mother and daughter. The problem for me is that at times I don't really feel that these three threads connected on the page.

Initially, the story was a slow burner but from halfway things started to pick up but still not much really happens. Not Safe For Work is definitely a character driven novel rather than plot driven but even then the characters were slightly problematic for me.

I genuinely don't really know what I am meant to be feeling which is disheartening when Not Safe For Work seems to have had such great reviews. Maybe it is a case of right book/wrong time.

Not Safe For Work by Isabel Kaplan is available now.

For more information regarding Penguin Michael Joseph (@MichaelJBooks) please visit their Twitter page.

Living in LA, she manages to land a job as an assistant for a successful television broadcaster - because she had to do something with that English degree she'd spent years studying for. The chairman, Robert, is charismatic if not eccentric. The director, a powerful woman at the top of her game. And the work, it's difficult but it's the only way to make it to the top. It's the perfect step towards a career where she can make a real difference to the way women are written and shown on screen.

Until, she uncovers the truth about the people around her - the rape, abuse and misogyny behind every door. And maybe worse, amongst the rapists and abusers living in their untouchable towers, are the people turning a blind eye and covering it up. She's not safe anywhere.

"People love to tell women to come forward, as if it's a moral imperative, but they aren't considering what it means to live as that woman."

This book is a journey with an unnamed narrator, a woman who could be any one of us - and unfortunately one too many of us can relate to painfully. Making a striking statement of the rape culture and casual misogyny that exists in society and corporate culture, standing painfully on that razors edge of our need for revenge and our terror of speaking up against an oppressive system.

From birth control, to the madonnna/whore complex, to silently enforced beauty standards, to sex and careers - this story takes a magnifying glass to a mans world and what it really looks like to see it as a woman. Take Veronica, for example, a successful director, a powerhouse, a woman who takes up space, who acts like many of the successful men in the industry but is seen as a bossy bitch for simply being a boss, refusing to apologise for taking up space.

It's dark and disturbing, a horror story that is even more scary because even this fiction is too real, from the central themes to the exploration of how our formative relationships and experiences can impact us and leave lasting damage, every single theme in these pages is undeniably, painfully evocative and real.

Now, the storytelling is quite dense, with heavy prose and a lot of scene setting, with larger than life characters - but these characters drive the plot forward to create a book that can't be called enjoyable in any way, but is a story that needs to be told until it doesn't ring true anymore.

"It's a funny thing, the writing, and rewriting of history."

This is such a good book and very relevant, I think to todays world. The book is about tackling a male dominated industry and many other modern day themes such as sexual harassment, eating disorders etc.

I thought it was a very thought provoking book. It made the reader question quite a lot about the working world and what it entails - I thought it to be very interesting.

I’d highly recommend this read. I think it’s quite important for everyone to read. It’s a hard world out there! I’ve had my fair share of workplace bullying.

Thank you @netgalley and Isabel Kaplan for sending me a copy of this book.

Our narrator doesn’t get a name. We know how much she weighs, but not what her name is. This summarises the theme of the book pretty well, as a Hollywood wannabe climbs the slippery slope to greatness.

She gets a job in an agency through family connections - her mother is a well known, ball-bustin’ lawyer. Quickly becoming embroiled in the day to day discussions, power struggles and gossip in her office, she meets a pretty astonishing array of dreadful people, classic LA/Hollywood characters.

While I don’t want to talk too much about the detailed plot, I do want to describe the overall feel of the book. Firstly, this was interesting from a #MeToo perspective, as the narrator becomes more aware of the hierarchies and intrinsic sexism in the industry. I felt personally that I’m just a little bit out of the age range for this as some of the situations in the book were fairly obviously on the way and she just didn’t seem to pick up on the cues. Maybe that’s the fun of it - sitting on the couch, internally/externally willing someone to spot the creep(s).

This read like The Devil Wears Prada set in Hollywood, as she starts off thinking that this is a job to tide her over, get her mother to stop bugging her and then she’ll get a real job. In the space of a few chapters she’s dressing the part (even more so than she was), socialising enthusiastically and plotting on how to get promoted.

I was surprised when it ended - this is quite a slim novel and it felt like she was just getting started, when it ended. There is an option for a sequel so maybe that’s the plan.

Overall, this was enjoyable but I’d say not as satisfying as I hoped. I get the impression it was supposed to be more hard hitting than it was, and it didn’t really say more than we already know. Recommended if you’re looking for something like Devil Wears Prada, not too deep but a nice entry into further reading.
There should be a trigger warning as there is some assault described on the pages.

Thanks for the DRC Netgalley and Michael Joseph!

I really enjoyed this book, incredibly sharp writing paired with a topical subject ends with me just loving everything about it.

If I had to pick a favorite thing about this book it would be the incredible way the author writes the heady experience of being in your early twenties. Fabulous and engrossing.

I'm not sure what possessed me to try this. I assumed it would be full of struggles of women breaking through glass ceilings galore and there was some of that but it was all very specific to Hollywood which means nothing to me. Her upbringing left me unimpressed too. I now no families where everyone 'has' a therapist. All in all, I found no real struggle. Not for me.

Our unnamed protagonist is just starting out her working life in Los Angeles after graduating from college in Boston. She is desperate to get ahead whilst retaining her feminist ideals but is that really going to be possible in this pre-me too world? As rumours start to emerge of problematic behaviour at her company, with talk of sexual harassment and even rape being covered up and brushed under the carpet, she knows that she should say something but she also knows the dangers of speaking out. Will she put other people or her career first?

“Not Safe for Work” by Isabel Kaplan is due to be published by Michael Joseph Books on 4 August. I was fortunate to receive an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

It was the premise that really drew me in to this one. As a result of the Me Too movement a lot of behaviours have been brought into the light that were previously ignored or seen as just being part of the Hollywood way of doing things. Kaplan explores what was seemingly commonplace within the industry prior to Me Too and how these issues may have been handled and also why it was allowed to happen for so long.

Unusually our protagonist is unnamed. The story is told in first person narrative from her point of view and this coupled with her name not being mentioned really helps put you in her shoes and gets you thinking about how you would behave in her position. She has not had an easy upbringing and this has left her with a quite a lot of unresolved issues. Combined with a return from Boston to LA and an overbearing Mother this makes for a character with body image issues, an overwhelming need to please others and a problem with relationships. This did mean, for me, that being in her head is not easy. Her indecisive in particular was quite annoying to me.

I didn’t always find Kaplan’s writing to have a very good flow. It was quite stilted in places, maybe this was intentional to show the protagonist’s thought patterns but it didn’t make for the best reading experience. I was surprised by how quickly I got through it as I didn’t feel particularly gripped.

The protagonist has a complicated relationship with her Mother who is a very well known lawyer with a reputation as a strong feminist who specialises in sexual assault and rape cases having written a book about her own experience of being raped when she was younger. Behind closed doors she’s manipulative of her daughter and spends most of the book in some crisis or another, locking herself away in her bedroom and taking various drugs. Through her we get a very blunt description of what life would be like for a lower level employee who accuses a TV star of rape and it is not pleasant. Although she tries to say she was advising the woman for her own good, it’s clear she was using her position to convince the woman not to go public in order to help her friend at the studio. Again you can see why this behaviour was so prevalent in Hollywood for so long with nothing really being done about it.

Kaplan has clearly set out to write a book that really forces the reader to think about how they would act in the situations the protagonist is put in and it certainly does that, although for me the execution was a little clunky and clumsy.

I loved this book a lot. The narrator was somewhat unlikeable, but I found her very realistic. I thought the characters were incredibly realistic, and I especially liked how Gregory was portrayed. I read it in two sittings because I couldn't put it down. I adored the ending – it felt like a brave editorial choice and one that 100% paid off.

Not Safe for Work is an insightful look into the world of Hollywood and one young woman's battle to do whatever it takes to move through the ranks.

The narrator takes the reader on a journey that highlights how fickle showbusiness is - all controlled by the patriarchy. How often have we heard about 'the casting couch' and how females have been subjected to its curse.

The narrator tells her story of backstabbing work colleagues, a powerful mother who has connections everywhere, and how she is battling an eating disorder 'to fit in' with the expectations of Hollywood.

An enjoyable read.

Thank you @penguinrandomhouse for an advanced e-copy of this book via NetGalley.

An exploration into the pre-MeToo television industry set from the perspective of a young assistant trying to cut her way into the male dominated industry.

I’ve read/watched/engaged with many mediums that cover the subject of MeToo. As someone that works in the television industry, it’s a subject that’s felt very close to home. I found Not Safe To Work another comment, but it didn’t necessarily have anything new to say on the subject. However, I did find the exploration into nepotism and relationships an interesting combination with the rest of the ongoing storyline. It was an enjoyable read, very pacy and full of little twists, and a great book capturing that feeling of ‘what now’ in your early 20s. Very readable, but a little heavy in places.

Set in pre-#MeToo Hollywood, our twenty-something unnamed narrator is doing her best to climb the ranks at a television company. She has just graduated from a prestigious college and her attorney mother may have helped pull a few strings to get her the entry level job but she's determined to succeed on her own merits. Taking on extra work, becoming a whizz at the administrative tasks others find beneath them, she quickly comes to the attention of one of the Execs. Becoming one step closer to the powerful team running the network she starts to hear things including who the female president of the company has slept with; which of the male bosses is a bit "handsy" - or worse. Our protagonist keeps her head down until suddenly she is confronted with a terrible dilemma and her personal and professional lives collide as she turns to her mother for support, uncovering industry secrets that will permanently alter both XBC and her future.

I thought this was going to be a dark comedy but to be honest, it was mostly just dark! There are definitely trigger warnings for: sexual assault/disordered eating/mental illness/drug abuse/toxic parent-child relationships.

NSFW is about being silent and being complicit, that it's naive to think that if you ignore something that is happening to other people it won't happen to you.

I enjoyed learning more about television networks and what goes on behind the scenes to bring us our favourite TV programmes (although at times some of the technicalities were a bit over my head!). The cut and thrust of the television world is fast-paced and brutal with any hint of weakness singling you out, and someone else (usually younger) more than happy to step over you to make a name for themselves.

Ultimately, this was not a particularly uplifting read. I understand the ending being left open to allow the reader to imagine what happens afterwards to our unnamed narrator (and usually I don't mind such an ending) but in this instance more 'closure' would have made a stronger ending. The novel is relatively short but it felt like it took me a while to read it and I suppose it left me feeling that despite some strong social commentary on sexism in the workplace etc. it doesn't offer the reader anything particularly new.

This novel has an interesting plot about a young woman trying to succeed in a male world called Hollywood. The main character doesn’t have a name and deals with a lot of office politics in her first job out of college/uni.

I really appreciate it dealing with all of these controversy topics and even mentioning them especially in this modern day and age where each year has a lot of stuff going on in the world making a huge impact.

It shows how it can be almost inescapable the abuse women get in particular jobs and the extra pressure put on women in show business.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Really thought provoking around harassment in the workplace and what women go through. A slightly uncomfortable read at times but a good story.

T/W: Where to begin? Graphic descriptions of violent rape and sexual assault, discussions of sexual harassment, disordered eating, toxic parent-child relationship, drug/narcotics abuse.

I don't know why I picked this up thinking it was a dark comedy. Because it's literally the furthest thing from that. It's Edgy Girl Fiction Goes to Hollywood.

'NSFW' follows an unnamed protagonist with a toxic mother and a nepotism-baby job at a major US broadcast network. Her menial job as a floating temp opens her up to the shady corners of the industry, of the rampant sexual abuse that runs through it. It's the #MeToo novel written from the inside, with suitably vague machinations on life, love and sex.

There's a pretentiousness to this book that is difficult to get past. The novel has been labelled 'blisteringly smart' and I don't know if I fully agree with that. It's smart, but in a way that's exclusive and inaccessible. Presenting the world in shades of grey that only certain people can see. I found myself skimming some paragraphs because I just didn't care about this character's first world problems. It felt like reading a teenager's edgy diary. This is not a book where a lot happens - either in the plot or for the characters. It feels like the kind of book where I'll forget the plot within a few weeks. Forget, perhaps, that I even read it at all.

It's tackling the Me Too issue in a murky way, one that blurs the lines (for lack of a better phrase) between personal ambition and social responsibility. I felt hugely unsatisfied by the actions taken in the book - namely because the central issues weren't introduced until halfway through and by that point, there wasn't enough time to fully unpack and explore them. The book ends very abruptly, with a question mark ending that will leave you to speculate just what the protagonist has decided to do. There were times when I felt it was shocking for shock's sake and leaned too heavily on the dramatic (the mother character is vile) to create tension. This unnamed protagonist is seemingly the new iteration of the 'cool girl'; anxious, easily led to narcotics, obsessed with sex.

I don't know if I liked or disliked this book. I wouldn't call it 'compulsively readable' - stuff has to happen to earn that moniker - and it didn't exactly deviate from similar subject novels. Hm.