I can't remember the last time I read a book that I couldn't put down like this one. I was fully invested in this story, loved the characters and all their complexities!
I don't feel like I can fully review it as I don't have the experience of being in an interracial relationship - from where I'm standing, I really enjoyed going through the motions with the characters and seeing a glimpse of how that can be. Also being in a relationship where both parties see the world in SUCH a different way! Voting for Donald Trump? If Josh truly were smart, he wouldn't have done it... being smart is not only about maths and economy.
Anyway, once again, I was fully invested and rooting for Jess the whole way through! But I enjoyed reading about such different characters and seeing varied POVs

It is a good story but felt very long winded and convoluted in places making it hard to always stick to the thread of the story.

Everything's fine is a gentle romantic read. It is thrilling to see love sparkle between two people who surprise themselves by being attracted to each other. Jess and Josh lead the reader to explore the impact of falling in love. Jess goes on a journey of self discovery. Who is she? What is is willing to compromise for love? What have they got to lose by falling in love.? The characters feel so real. I loved meeting these two fiery people.

I loved this book. I found the writing completely absorbing and found myself caring deeply about the characters. It was thought-provoking too. I have already been out and bought the hardback.

Jess first encounters Josh on the night of Obama's election. She's elated, and he's scathing, and Jess immediately dismisses him as being just the kind of mediocre white guy she would do well to avoid. After graduation, they both find themselves working at Goldman Sachs, and an uneasy friendship develops between them, which eventually evolves into a volatile romance.

From the blurb, I was expecting a rehashing of the well-worn enemies-to-lovers romance trope, but Everything's Fine, the debut novel from financial analyst turned author Cecilia Rabess, is so much more than a romance novel. It is a challenging, uncomfortable, yet eminently readable book about what is important in life and what we should - and should not - be willing to overlook in the name of love. In an era where social media means everyone has a hot take on politics, and society has never been more polarised, this book feels relevant and important.

It is impossible to review this book without acknowledging the wildly mixed reception it has had among those who received advanced copies (as well as those who have only read the blurb). I have seen reviewers decrying the author for excusing racism and pandering to white conservatives, or suggesting that, by depicting Jess as settling for a relationship that doesn't serve her, the narrative sends a dangerous message. However, I strongly believe that most of those strong negative reactions come from people who, like Josh himself, just don't get it.

Far from downplaying racism, the story reflects the very real, very frustrating conversations that take place, particularly at a time where the USA was divided along partisan lines, the party for whom you declared your allegiance making a bold, declarative statement about your values. By making Josh a viable love interest, a respected colleague, and a well-liked friend, the author does not condone his attitudes or behaviour but highlights how the face of racism has changed. It may not be the person shouting racial slurs at children attending the first integrated schools; it could be your classmate who condemns affirmative action as 'reverse racism', or the boyfriend who believes that you could be just as successful as he is, if only you tried harder and made more of an effort to assimilate into the dominant (privileged, white, male culture).

Without going into specifics, the book did not read to me as a troubling story about someone settling for something that's harmful to her. The ending, which is apparently more ambiguous than I considered it at first based on the reviews, is extremely powerful , and many readers will interpret it, as I did, as a turning point for Jess.

From the very beginning, the power dynamic between the two leads is unsettling. Josh is condescending and dismissive of Jess, and he expects her to earn his approval and respect, both when they share a class together at college and when they are starting out at Goldman Sachs. He is innately privileged as a white, middle-class straight man, and the fact that he is brilliantly talented and increasingly successful in his career only serves to entrench the gap between him and Jess. From his position of privilege, he gaslights her, love bombs her, and undermines her at every step, making her question her beliefs, opinions, and even feelings. One particularly powerful passage, focusing on the infamous MAGA hat, one of which Josh's friend has bought for him, highlights the frustration of trying to make someone understand that the way they experience the world is not the universal truth of it.

'Love conquers all, except geography, and history, and contemporary socio-political
reality,' writes Rabess at one point, and, rather than glossing over the romantic tropes that haunt the narrative, the book skewers them. In November 2016, for a Black liberal woman and a white conservative man, is love enough to overcome 'the feeling as if half the nation, even if it was the smaller half, had stood in a line 60 million people long to spit in her face and say: people like you don’t matter.'

The writing is witty and clever. Even though Josh was always deeply 'problematic' (his inverted commas) and incredibly blinkered, the author sold the relationship between him and Jess convincingly. I could understand what drew them together even as I willed them apart. Rabess also pokes fun at millennial society - two of Jess's close friends ask how she could work for a corporate greed machine while they work for cookie dough start-ups and guinea pig charities, supported by their affluent parents. More than one review mentions being annoyed by arguments between characters that read like 'a Twitter thread', but I found this hilariously relatable.

Rabess, who previously worked as an associate at Goldman Sachs, draws on her personal experience of being a Black woman in a world of finance bros, and Jess's professional struggles feel specific and realistic. (Although I did find some of the banking and mathematical jargon tedious.) Jess is a likeable and relatable protagonist; I particularly felt for her in the descriptions of how she bore the strain of conflicting expectations from her father, from herself, from Josh and from her theoretical Black peers - Jess feels guilty that she has but a single Black friend. There were some troubling comments in some reviews, calling Jess irritating and annoying because of the way she is constantly second guessing the way other people interact with her; when there is such a precedent for Black female characters (and Black women in general) needing to be perfect in order to be sympathetic and worth rooting for, it is sad to see this repeated here. One review expressed frustration with Jess for her 'obsessive' focus on race, which only goes to show how important it is that stories like this, depicting the lived experience of Black women, continue to be written and read. By denying or questioning their experiences, we are no better than Josh.

I can see why you might be outraged at the premise of Everything's Fine if the book were written as a light-touch romance, and it seems that the marketing of this book has done it a disservice. I truly hope that this does not prevent this book from reaching the audience it deserves because it is really very good. On another note, the cover is just perfect.

Part of Jess and Josh's problem is that they don't like the version of themselves that they see reflected in the other. Perhaps some reviewers saw the way the author holds a mirror to a particular point in contemporary American history and didn't like what they saw.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is quite a difficult book to review as I found it an odd one; it does seem to excuse racism since the White character is constantly playing "Devil's advocate" and being a Trump apologist, and it feels like the Black character isn't that secure in her Black identity having grown up in a majority White area and only having the one Black friend, eventually, plus her dad's partner. The class bits and the grief bit were good, I liked the portrayal of a Black woman as being maths-intelligent and coding, and the friendships quite powerful but in the end it's about someone settling for something that is harmful for her, and that feels problematic. Due to the controversy raging about it because of the Goodreads stuff, etc. and because of the problematic pandering to White fragility, I don't feel comfortable reviewing it on my blog. The author writers pretty well although there were some odd elements in the sex scenes, and I wish her well for her next volume.

In equal parts, I liked and disliked this novel. The story is strongly dependent on its characters. And the characters are not for everyone. Part of me respects authors that are able to make their characters real and flawed, and the other part finds it a challenging read.

As a recap, Jess and Josh meet at college. She is black and he is white. They clash over their views on race and entitlement. They reconnect when they both work at Goldman Sachs, but Josh is a clear star and destined for great things which causes friction. The friction is also accompanied by strong attraction.

What I liked
The setting: I really enjoyed the insight into London's Investment Banking and hedge fund world. I started my career in this industry, and so many observations were spot on. I found this fresh and interesting.
The romance: The bubbling romance was also well handled, and the passion felt real.
The Male Lead: Josh made a dynamic, charismatic male lead. It was easy to see his appeal - smart, talented, cute, determined, focused, knows what he wants and goes after it.

What I didn't like
Jess! Unreasonable, strongly opinionated, inflexible, abrasive, easily influenced, treats most other people poorly (from Josh, to her friends, to her father and his partner). She is supposed to be a brilliant Mathematician, but seems to lack the accompanying objectivity and rationality - especially in her personal life. Her obsessive focus on race above all else felt limiting and exhausting.

It felt like this is a real voice, but for a specific customer segment. Perhaps that wasn't me, so while I really enjoyed parts of the story and found it well written, there were parts that left me feeling excluded and a bit frustrated.

Highly amusing comedy of manners that, despite the clear politics of the set-up (she's a democrat he's republican; she's Black, he's white, etc), on the surface still initially reads like it’s going to be a fairly standard enemies-to-lovers romcom. It quickly becomes clear that those early tensions are only the beginning of this painful, poignant look into all those issues and more – delivering all the way through to its final lines.

Infuriating at times. I can see what was trying to be done but felt the plot/characters fell flat, especially in comparison to the themes being handled. It almost felt like a twitter thread personified. I still appreciated it though and overall rate it 3 stars.A review is pending upload on my book page @thebraidedbibliophile.
Thank you for allowing me to read.

This is an interesting novel that looks at a relationship between a black woman, and her white boyfriend, who both work in finance in the USA.
The novel touches on racism, and the misogyny is found by women in the workforce when they’re majority of the people working in the industry were men.
Relationship between the narrator and her longtime boyfriend is seen from their early days at college, where their initial feelings were more of hate than of love, and throughout their often stormy relationship
The author has a clear easily read prose style, making the novel an easy read.
I found the authors characterisation is accurate and relatable. I felt I’ve met people like her books characters before.
My one criticism was that there was rather a lot of rather technical banking and finance details, which I didn’t think I did much to the story.
I would recommend this book to those like a relationship based modern novel.
I write an early copy of this book on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 8th of June 2023 by Pana McMillan. This review will be published in good reads., Net, galley, UK, and on my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com

I started this book, as I usually do, without reading reviews and became more and more uncomfortable with the content. I then checked the reviews and was not surprised to see the backlash. DNF.

I really wanted to root for Jess, as a young black woman in the very white male dominated field of investment banking, I really did. In the beginning of the story she presented a very strong, dynamic, and (in my opinion) likable character, in contrast to her foil Josh, a conservative white classmate she met in college and ends up working with at Goldman, who starts off fairly one-dimensional and unlikeable. Over the course of the book she becomes rather more unlikeable and immature, and it gets harder to be in her corner when it feels like she's not in it for herself either. Josh does show promise and has more depth than we initially see. Ultimately this feels like a story of a strong physical attraction between two very smart people in their early 20s who just may not be right for each other and the rollercoaster of their relationship, whereas some of the deeper themes, like Jess being raised by a single dad in an all-white community and how that impacted her identity as a Black woman and connection to her Black community, and the stark differences between those with generational wealth and without wound up by the wayside of Josh and Jess's tumultuous hormones.

An interesting novel portraying the complications of a mixed race couple, and how love can still find a way. It follows the story of Jess and Josh, colleagues and then more at New York’s elite banking companies. Neither can fully deal with each others’ world nor reconcile them with their own.

When is physical/chemical attraction enough in a relationship?
When Jess first meets Josh, he seems to be everything she dislikes in a man - arrogant, privileged and with high expectations of what the world owes him. She is at odds with the world - black, raised by her father, and feeling like she doesn't fit in anywhere.
They meet again when they both find employment with an investment bank. Josh fits the role perfectly; Jess is perfectly capable of the work, but feels marginalised in a misogynistic, predominantly white environment.
But alongside this, Jess and Josh start to see a different side to each other. Their differences are a source of heated discussion, but they still feel drawn to each other. Jess struggles to reconcile how much she has to compromise to settle in Josh's privileged world, with her fierce desire to protect and acknowledge her heritage.
The result is a compelling and thought-provoking novel....one I thoroughly recommend.

(Between 3 & 4 stars)

Initially after seeing the reaction to this book I was planning on staying very clear…but then curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to read this for myself and make up my own mind and I'm glad I did.

In the end, I found this very readable, (even with the analytical/finance bro/math genius jargon), entertaining and a compulsive read.

Both characters are flawed and difficult, but I didn’t feel like they were made to be likeable ‘despite their flaws’ - they very much were not likeable (but the side characters like Barbara, Dax and Paul more than made up for it).

Yes, there were cute moments in their relationships but I wouldn't want any part of their relationship and don't feel like it romanticised their situation personally. I'm not entirely sure why they're together and why their love is so intense, but I feel like that in itself is a conversation.

Overall, I thought this was a brave, insightful and brutally honest debut, that took a risk in highlighting a lot of elements of our society and relationships that we shy away from and not afraid to put a magnifying glass to itself. It’s unlike anything i’ve read and I am so interested to see the conversation continue to unravel after it's release.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy, thoughts are my own !

A really well written and interesting read that covers many issues in modern America, I just struggled to see how Jess would ever get together with Josh, never mind through such a turbulent political backdrop.

This book sounded interesting when I requested it: a black woman and a white man that clash initially but realise there's a growing attraction between them despite their many differences. However, I struggled to connect with the characters and the author's writing. There was a lot of talk between Jess and Josh (the main characters) about finance issues that I struggled to understand. The opening chapters containing arguments between the main characters seemed quite cold and had no warmth to it, which didn’t allow me to warm to either character. I did not finish this book. Other readers might find this book interesting but it wasn't for me.

Jesse accepts a job at Goldman Sachs, only to find Josh is on her team. She knows Josh from university - he is white and Republican, she is black and voted for Obama. According to the blurb “despite their differences, the force of their attraction propels the relationship forward”

A couple of quotes to illustrate the writing style and depth of this book:

“I feel the weight of history tonight. To cast my very first vote for our nation’s very first black president is such an awesome privilege. A privilege that my ancestors, slaves, did not share. Standing on the shoulders of so much strength and sacrifice, I’ve never felt more humbled or hopeful.

“Everyone seems to forget that we’re in the middle of a financial crisis. The stock market is in free fall. Gas is $4 a gallon. So I’m not convinced that now is the right time to entrust another tax and spend liberal with the economy,” he shrugged, “but I can see the appeal.”

Hardly subtle…but it gets worse

But he does stop, sort of. He kisses the side of her mouth and her face and her neck and wraps his hands around her midriff and her stomach flips and flips and flips.
Jess feels as if she has been sitting on top of an ancient volcano, with a thousand years of secrets and sediment buried inside.

Apparently this book has received a lot of negative reaction….especially by people who haven’t even read it. As someone who has read it I would just say it isn’t particularly good.

Thanks to Netgallery for the ARC

I was not aware of the controversy around this book when I requested it - and it wasn't until I was halfway through and I was updating my progress on Goodreads I saw the negative reviews. It's important to note that the blurb I read before requesting is not the same that has been circulating online.

Jess is a liberal black woman and Josh is a republican white man, they both work in the banking - at Goldman Sachs to begin with - and it plays out very much as an enemies to lovers book. To begin with as I was reading it I enjoyed it, it was set in 2016 - it finishes on the night of Donald Trump's inauguration - but had flashbacks to their time at college, where they weren't friends but they knew each other.

The differences between them are, social economic, cultural, political and moral. I think it was as the book went on it became obvious that it wasn't a healthy relationship as much as you may have been rooting for them as a couple to begin with, as it went on you realised that he wasn't an ally for her and it seemed she backed down a lot more than him during their discussions and he was constantly gaslighting her.

Knowing what has happened between then and now totally changes the book, and I think if it had been written and released during the presidential campaign it may have been received differently, a time when no one thought that an extra from Home Alone 2 would win. But knowing what happened over those 4 years there were times I genuinely felt fearful for Jess. There's one particular discovery by Jess that I found hard to believe that she would've backed down from, that almost stopped me reading the book.

There's also a theme running through the book of Jess' relationship with her culture. There's a point where she realises that she only has one black friend and during a discussion with him her about this, he says "it's healthy for a soul to have some relationships where there's no need to explain anything" and I would've loved if this led to more of a journey for Jess, exploring her history and culture. Her relationship with her dad who raised her on his own after the death of her mother when she was a child was also really interesting, it's a very strong relationship but she doesn't tell him about Josh. I do wonder if towards the end of the book and after a particular event in Jess' family life she would've forgiven Josh for the issue I mentioned earlier?

I really enjoyed Cecilia's writing, and her insight into a woman working in a male dominated industry shows that she's drawing on her personal experience. I look forward to reading more from her and would love a book that catches up with a Joshless Jess.

I think this is a book that should be read and discussed in book clubs.

I can't do half stars but this is def 3.5 stars

Wow !!!! When I first read the blurb I presumed this was just another enemies to lovers rom com. How wrong I was. From the opening chapter I was simply gripped and I just couldn't stop reading. I loved how strong the female main character is and I loved the trader bank environment. Also made me think about class and racism.