Member Reviews

How often I see this phrase every day. Everyone hopes I find the email well but they really don’t do they! This book is a great office banter book, full of humour and it was extremely easy to read. The book was also emotional in parts which surprised me after reading the plot. Having worked in an office for over 15 years, I loved all of the office politics and could just relate to this book so much. I did really enjoy this book and would recommend to anyone looking for an easy to read book that is full of emotions

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I want to shout from the rooftops - I LOVED THIS BOOK. As someone who has worked in offices all her adult life, I felt seen. I am Jolene (without the heavy drinking and spying on my workmates) You spend more time with your colleagues than you do your own family and if you don't get on, it can be a miserable existence. There is so much to love about this book. I loved Jolene. I loved Cliff. In the end I was tearing up over Rhonda and Armin.

Even though lying is at the heart of this book, it is for the right reasons and there is so much warmth to this book. By the end I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and seeing the good in everyone. It's also hilarious and smart and just my kind of book!

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Such an original concept, Natalie completely drew me in and I was so invested in all the characters and their secrets. I raced through this.

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I loved the idea of this book and although there is some comedic value here, I couldn’t help but also feel a bit anxious in the situation too. Perhaps a bit too relatable in tone and I just found myself feeling a bit like it was too private to read.

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Jolene, isn’t happy at work and secretly sends her co workers messages letting them know what she thinks of them, one day, she messes up and her message is spotted. When HR put a tracking filter on her PC, there’s a mess up and she gets the highest admin rights and can see all her colleagues’ e-mails and chat. All of a sudden, Jolene knows exactly what they think of her.

This reminded me of the Mel Gibson film What Women Want, where suddenly he could hear the thoughts of the women round him, sounds amazing, but is it really?

On the face of it, it sounds a fun, lighthearted story, and it is, but it also uncovers themes of lonliness, bullying, parental pressure, and grief, and the pitfalls of in appropriate use of email and social media.

It hooked me in at the start and I flew through it in a couple have days, we’ll definitely look for more from this author.

Thanks to @Netgally and @Harpercollinsuk for this opportunity to read this book.
!

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Would you rather know what everyone thinks about you or live in ignorant bliss?

I don’t think I would like to know but Jolene finds herself in a situation where she has access to her coworkers’ emails without them knowing. It’s a funny look at learning what everyone around you is up to but it’s also about learning to self reflect.

Jolene finds herself speaking with HR after sending some emails to her colleague with some “hidden” insults. At the beginning Jolene reminded me of the main character from Yellowface by RF Kuang. Jolene is a loner that does not like her colleagues. When she gets caught, it felt like she couldn’t understand why she was in trouble and that she did nothing wrong.

After the incident, restrictions are put on her computer but somehow she has access to everyone else’s emails now. She does initially try to tell HR but then she decided to lurk and see what she can learn.

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Many thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an arc of this book in return for an honest review.

Jolene is anxious and depressed and hates her life and colleagues, so when she accidentally sends an email without whiting out her real feelings, HR is on the case. But an error was made and now Jolene can read every DM and email her colleagues are sending. Added to that the new HR guy's job is to make redundancies, and Jolene can't afford to lose this job and move back into her parents house. So she does what anyone would, and uses her new access ina way HR definitely wouldn't approve of....

Anyone who says that Jolene is unlikable has never struggled with anxiety, depression or alcoholism, and or worked in a place they hate. It's never explicitly said that she suffers from all the above but it is clear from her actions and thoughts that she is.

I love the way Jolene develops and begins to find herself again through the book, but knows she is fucking up and that her actions aren't acceptable. It's so raw and so real and shows a truly complex human and they are honestly my favourite characters in books.

The relationships she forges are lovely, and even if they start with alterior motives it's clear they don't remain that way.

Let's get real any of us would love a fly on the wall looks into their colleagues lives, and that's exactly what Jolene gets. There are so many real and raw emotions throughout the book and honesty I just loved getting to know all the characters through their emails, and realise why they behave the way they do. It really goes to show you never know what's happening behind the front people put on.

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I didn't really know what to expect from I Hope This Finds You Well but I don't think I was expecting such a hard hitting book. The descriptions said it would be heart warming but more than that, this book was really quite sad in places and made me feel for Jolene, the main character in a way I wasn't expecting.

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I really liked this book. It was raw and honest and the interactions between the characters were relabable and realistic. It felt very 'millennial' in some respects (which I loved). There were also fun and sad elements to the storyline. I thought the concept was original and the author executed it well. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book.

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I absolutely loved this book, it was brilliant. I laughed throughout and although it was funny it was authentic when it came to outcomes of situations which made the book very sad in places. The book kept me hooked throughout wanting to know what happened next. Would definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

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A fabulous read! After a screw-up at work, Jolene is told her emails will be monitored, instead she's accidentally given access to all her colleagues' emails. She goes from horrified to intrigued to realising this could help her career. It's a warm-hearted, witty read with interesting characters, led by the relatable and very real Jolene. And, of course, it has one thinking what would we do if ever in a similar situation. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

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Jolene works in an office, and she is riddled with anxiety and depression. Her life is one hamster wheel of dullness. She has no interest in social niceties with her colleagues; the less she knows about them, the better.

Her one work highlight? Composing scathing emails to her colleagues and actually sending them but in a white-coloured font so that they can't see her rants.

Except when emailing her nemesis about a particularly smelly lunch, she forgets to change the text colour. This diatribe leads to an HR investigation, and Jolene is forced to attend an anti-harassment course with the new HR guy, Clifford. Jolene is humiliated, especially when Cliff sets up new security measures on her computer.

Jolene is initially horrified when a catastrophic IT f*ck up grants her access to all of her colleague's emails and private messages. The last thing she wants is to be privy to their sad discussions about dying desk plants and marital troubles. Of course, she also learns of the terrible things her co-workers are saying about her from the safety of their keyboards. But this means she can gather intel that could help her improve her performance and a master plan is hatched to help her be the star employee!

I Hope This Finds You Well is an astute, often witty, portrait of an incredibly lonely woman lacking the self-confidence to build workplace connections. She is a woman who people would most actually like if only she found the courage to open up and be known. 4⭐

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read I Hope This Finds You Well in return for an honest review.

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3.5 stars rounded up.
Jolene hates her job, her coworkers, her entire life in fact. When she’s accidentally given access to the whole office’s emails, personal messages and folders, she finds out what everyone thinks of her too (and it’s not good).

She decides to take the opportunity to use her new found knowledge to change their opinion of her and wreak revenge in the same breath.

I liked the concept but found it dragged a little in the telling, and I was tempted to skip pages at times.

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Funny, loveable character, and a realism that is relatable. Highly recommend. The line about being for fans of the US version of the office was correct

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I could not have loved this book more.

Darkly funny, laugh out loud hilarious and so unbelievably relatable, Jolene says what we've all thought in work situations.
But there was also so much more than humor to this book, it's sad, moving, heartwarming and addresses anxiety & mental health so well. An absolute all rounder.

A book I will be recommending again and again.

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Jolene is suffering from anxiety and has unresolved issues from her past. So she tries not to connect with the people she works with or anyone else to protect herself. When an IT error gives her access to everyone's private emails she discovers that her job is in danger and she was not hiding as well as she thought. So she uses this knowledge to start connecting with her colleagues. She is not a likeable character for most of the book. There are quite a few cringe moments that are fairly obvious. However the characters are interesting and as their personal stories develop the book improves.

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Who doesn’t want this to happen to them? Honestly I would have an actual field day if I could read all my colleagues emails and private messages, especially the management! But in all seriousness, this book was what I needed right now, it was so so funny I was actually belly laughing, I was absorbed into the intricacy of the feelings and issues with anxiety and depression that Jolene suffered and in between the laughter it was so thought provoking and real that you couldn’t help but fly through it. This could honestly be a contender for my favourite book of the year - go and read this now!

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i cannot go on any further. dropped this at 49% mark. “a laugh-till-you-cry debut novel”? “wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy”? “crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogues”? sorry but i disagree.

the whole time reading i either getting annoyed with the the mc or cringing from second hand embarrassment. i mean, come on. i have social anxiety too. but i would never commit jolene’s constant questionable decisions. i didn’t found any of the characters likeable. jolene’s coworkers (except for cliff) are all two-faced bitches who only truly care about themselves. and of course jolene herself was insufferable. sorry. i really wanted to like this book, but i can’t.

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I've been using emails since th 90s and one of the first thing I learned is that the only machine that cannot be hacked is one disconnected from the net.
This is a novel about office, the relationship with your coworkers and how we say more than we think in our work communications.
Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now even if I enjoyed this book. A proper review will follow
Recommended.Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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Thank you for my earc of this book. I really enjoyed the premise of this story and thought it was executed well. I found it relatable, funny and heartwarming, though Jolene’s actions were frustrating at times.
Overall an enjoyable read!

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