This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. This was a page turning thriller and I read it in one sitting. It was super unique and I definitely recommend it for thriller fans!

Chilling and thrilling. So thankful that in what is now today's craziness we have these awesome well told stories to get lost in for a short time. Absolutely pick this up and prepare to be dazzled. Happy reading!

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC! This book had a lot of promise but overall fell flat. There was too much exposition, too much plot that was striving to be twisty, and too many flat characters. In the end I felt like nothing really made sense and that the author wasted too much time trying to give twists and red herrings. Also - speaking of the ending - what was that epilogue? I read it three times and didn't understand what I was supposed to make of it.

Overall - the concept is fun but this felt like a misstep.

The Herd seems like a feminist kind of place when you first hear about it. A shared workspace just for women. Then you really think about it and it's just a money-making scheme by a young woman who wants to be an influencer of others, but richer.

That's how I also feel about the characters. They seem nice on the surface, but they are just self-serving and self-involved. The fact that this leads to bad things is not really surprising, is it? Eleanor is the founder of the Her-d. After she started a company that seemed very Goop-like. I just got a very feminism for rich women vibe from the whole thing. I hope that is what the author intended, because it really was an underlying theme and then an in your face moment. Hana and Mikki are her friends from college who work for her. Katie is Hana's little sister who has joined the little group and moved to New York.

Eleanor goes missing and everyone has secrets. That's a pretty basic story idea. The secrets underneath are sometimes intriguing and sometimes less so. Everything came together well in the end. Thus, the 4 star rating. Even small threads were brought back in and the epilogue was a little last jolt for the reader.

I found myself wondering if the author was making the statements about social media, neo-feminism, and the influencer culture that I was forming in my mind or if they were byproducts of the author's experiences. Paying a lot of money and having to wear the right shows to join an exclusive women's work space is not feminism. Nor is separation. Sure, it is nice to sometimes surround yourself with people like yourself. But it can be extremely limiting and result in the same backstabbing and prejudice that you would get in a room full of men. The point is equality getting to the point to which it is no longer and issue. Not using the trendy #s of the moment to make a buck.

Off my soapbox now. This was a good mystery and a snapshot of the present world as some see it. I was given a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review. My review will also appear on my blog: https://readeotw.wordpress.com

DNF at 60%. I really like the idea of this story but unfortunately it isn’t working for me. I’m not feeling connected to any of the characters and I’m bored waiting to find out the resolution to the central mystery.

I also find it frustrating when characters are constantly like “do you think this is tied to our thing from the past??” “No, don’t tell about the thing from the past!” But the reader is left hanging and hanging about what the thing was. I guess it’s supposed to build suspense but instead it just makes me lose interest.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy.

💜 Book Review 💜⁣
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The HERd⁣
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Thank you @netgalley @andrebartz and @ballantinebooks for the copy of this amazing book!⁣
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Synopsis ⁣
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The enigmatic founder of an exclusive female-only co-working space suddenly disappears, stirring up a maelstrom of secrets in Andre Bartz new thriller novel The Herd publishing on March 24, 2020⁣
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This book is amazing! So many twist and turns. I honestly suspected every single character 😆 and what an ending!! This was my first book from Andrea Bartz and it wont be my last.⁣

***Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Expected release date March 24, 2020.***

🌠 🌠 🌠 🌠

This was the perfect book for what I needed right now … something that wasn’t overly heavy, but not so sweet that it made my teeth hurt.

The story was very enjoyable … it had a kind of slow build for me due to the alternate POVs, but that’s not a bad thing.

It was refreshing to have a group of smart, successful women working to make a safe environment to help enable others to do the same. Of course, the other side of the coin was finding out what happened and ultimately led to that "safe environment."

I WILL be on the lookout for other works by this author. 😊

To me, this book defies categorization. It starts in what seems to be women’s fiction and then takes a sharp 90 degree turn into several whodunit threads. Kept me guessing and hooked. Received as an ARC from Netgalley.

Never judge a book by its cover. I thought this would be a teen focused book that would be difficult to get through and boy was I wrong! Murder mystery that had me guessing until the very end. Did not guess the twist at the end at all, nor see it coming. I was captivated with every character and the build up to how they were all entwined. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a twisty fun thriller this is! Eleanor, the glossy shiny head of the HERd has gone missing on the night of her big announcement! Katie, her sister Hanna, and their friend Mikki are desperate to find her. The tale is told in Katie and Hana's voices- and they each bring a distinct perspective. Yes these are young people but they're carrying a lot of baggage- a lot. Each of them has a secret, as do Cameron and Ted, Eleanor's childhood friends and neighbors, her husband Daniel, and her parents. No spoilers but Eleanor is eventually found murdered and then the question is- who did it? The villain, the reasons, all of them were a surprise to me. Bartz is an excellent storyteller who roped me in and kept me reading. She also was careful not to parody the HERd or make fun of the women, all of whom are quite realistically drawn. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A real and quite entertaining page turner!

Four glamorous women that have it all together (or do they?) are college friends and work side be side at The Herd. The Herd is a members only camp like atmosphere for women. On the brink of a big announcement, their founder, Eleanor, vanishes without a trace. Where is she?? Everyone has secrets and as the search heats up, those secrets are exposed, but what happened to Eleanor? A soapy good read. A dark and twisty slow burn of a novel.

In this novel surrounding millennial women, forward-thinking Eleanor opens a female & marginalized genders only co-working space, with the support and help of her best friends, Hana & Mikki. Hana's younger sister, Katie, moves back to NYC and hopes to join the ranks of The Herd (HER in caps & purple, always) but is disappointed to find she has to go through the same application process as everyone else. On the eve of big news for her company, Eleanor goes missing. Told through a dual narrative, sisters, Hana and Katie, along with the help of Mikki, scramble to try to figure out just what happened to their friend: did she up and leave, or did someone take Eleanor's fate into their own hands? This was a three-star read for me. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, so I didn't feel compelled to read it or consumed by the story. It did keep me interested when I did pick it up though, and there were some pretty good twists and turns throughout. While I didn't love it, I know this is a book other readers 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 love. I can see people being captivated by the ending, so be sure to check it out for yourselves! Thank you to Ballantine books, Andrea Bartz, and Netgalley for my review copy.

📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: The Herd
AUTHOR: Andrea Bartz
@andibartz
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐
Published: March 24, 2020
https://amzn.to/38QInu7

The Herd is an intriguing little mystery. People are not who they seem, and it really keeps you guessing who is who and what is going on. I felt like this book was deceptively sinister in it’s underlying tone, especially because you never know if a group of women working together can do good or a lot of trouble (in this circumstance… I wanna hope a group of women would be good together).

I feel like the people in this book should have just gotten together and talked it out. There were a lot of secrets, But that’s what made this book intriguing.

Small Summary:
The name of the elite, women-only coworking space stretches across the wall behind the check-in desk: THE HERD, the H-E-R always in purple. In-the-know New Yorkers crawl over each other to apply for membership to this community that prides itself on mentorship and empowerment. Among the hopefuls is Katie Bradley, who's just returned from the Midwest after a stint of book research blew up in her face. Luckily, Katie has an in, thanks to her sister Hana, an original Herder and the best friend of Eleanor Walsh, its charismatic founder.
As head of PR, Hana is working around the clock in preparation for a huge announcement from Eleanor—one that would change the trajectory of The Herd forever. Though Katie loves her sister's crew, she secretly hopes she's found her next book subject in Eleanor, who's brilliant, trailblazing—and extremely private.
Then, on the night of the glitzy Herd news conference, Eleanor vanishes without a trace. Everybody has a theory about what made Eleanor run, but when the police suggest foul play, everyone is a suspect: Eleanor’s husband, other Herders, the men’s rights groups that have had it out for the Herd since its launch—even Eleanor’s closest friends. As Hana struggles to figure out what her friend was hiding and Katie chases the story of her life, the sisters must face the secrets they’ve been keeping from each other. From the author of The Lost Night comes a thrilling novel that shows just how dangerous it can be when women's perfect veneers start to crack, crumble, and then fall away all together.
*****
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

This is the sort of woman-disappears-mysteriously thriller that does really well right now, and if you like those, you'll probably like this. For me, I usually read one a year and that sates me plenty. This has a ripped-from-real-life bit of being set in a co-working space for women that's not The Wing, but is totally The Wing going on, but it feels like there's one too many pieces of secret backstory between the lead characters going on that needs to get revealed happening at all times.

This sort of book thrives on A Secret Revealed, and the three main voices of the lead characters all blur together in a way that makes it hard to keep track of who's who, dulling the effect those secrets have when you can't remember whose head you're supposed to be in for a given chapter. Add in a fairly muddled ending and this was fine, but only just fine.

THE HERD is a co-working space for the cream of the crop New Yorkers based entirely around those who identify as a woman. With a long wait list just to be accepted for membership causing those on it to desire getting in at nearly any cost – even though The Herd fosters ideals of acknowledgement, coaching and networking. Katie Bradley is returning from book research that took a spectacular nosedive and is among those hopeful women – but she does have an in. Her sister Hana is an original member and they’re both friends with the dedicated and successful founder, Eleanor Walsh.

Eleanor’s surprise announcement regarding The Herd’s future has been keeping Hana busy with her role as head of PR. With her failed book project looming over her head Katie is hoping that Eleanor will agree to be her next book project. The drawback being that Eleanor is nearly reclusive regarding her personal life.

On the eve of her high profile announcement for The Herd the beautiful founder Eleanor is a no show. As the police find more evidence that leads them to believe something may have happened to Eleanor everyone suddenly finds themselves a potential suspect: fellow Herders, men’s rights groups formed out of spite for The Herd, her husband and her best friends. Hana and Katie embark on a journey of hidden secrets and desires but they don’t just belong to Eleanor.

“I thought about the deer again. The coyotes too – all social creatures, like us. But a herd’s primary purpose is to keep the highest percentage of its members alive. Evolution doesn’t care about the individual, about survival of the least-fit. We team up for the most selfish reason possible: self-preservation.”

The Herd would be in the same vein as The Devil Wears Prada if it were considered a suspense thriller. I really enjoyed the combination of the two, I didn’t expect quite a few of the twists and turns in the plot or the conclusion on Eleanor. I honestly felt a little let down by the conclusion to Katie’s panic attack riddled responses any time anyone asked her what happened with her prior book deal. It was sometimes hard remember which sister’s experience I was currently in, even though each chapter is clearly titled. This book is moderately paced, only slightly long on details and general character set up with frequent dashes of intrigue and secrets. Overall the book is a spotlight on what could be potentially lurking under our supposed “perfection” that we like to offer the world up as our true selves – when it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“The book’s going to be about fake-news culture as a whole – including our personal lives. Curation, editing, thinking our actual realities, our selves, aren’t enough.”

It’s possible that older readers may have some issues connecting with the characters in this book and may find the characters childish and/or brash in their behavior. I would highly suggest this book to readers who enjoy edgy/trendy subjects, feminist themes, thrillers, suspense, and mystery. I wouldn’t consider this book to be riddled with sensitive subjects but here’s the short list – drug use, death, and LGBTQ (minimal). I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel – I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A much-needed firm is created in order to fill a void in the professional workplace: an organization created, operated and accepting female-only professionals. The concept is very successful; many businesswomen had craved a safe, creative and proactive environment to conduct their business. The organization is the brainchild of four college friends, Eleanor, Hana, Hana’s little sister Katie, and Mikki. These four highly successful ladies have recently reunited when Katie moves back from the Midwest. As tensions rise over a huge merger announcement to be made, Eleanor disappears without a trace. This is not her nature; she’s the force behind the success of the company.
As we look back over a variety of events that led up to Eleanor’s absence, each person in the organization has something to hide and something to gain, including the men who challenge the organization and personally attack the leaders, and the husbands and /or boyfriends of the group. Has Eleanor simply left the country, as her tracks seem to show?
Constantly twisting with complicated and deeply interlaced friendships, a dark history they all must share, and a strong desire of each person to succeed will keep you turning the page until the very end.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for making it available.)

This book was very well written, and filled with constant twists and turns. I could not put it down. Read it within a couple of hours!

I know there was a lot of buzz around Andrea Bartz's book The Lost Night, so I was excited to check out The Herd, which also centers on a group of millennial women in New York City. When journalist Katie's book implodes because of some dark mystery incident, she joins her sister and group of friends at their new company, The Herd, an exclusive female co-working space that's a mix of WeWork and Goop. But the shining success of strong, smart founder Eleanor has attracted some sinister undercurrents, and she goes missing on the eve of a big company announcement.
Despite the annoying characters, the writing was solid and fast-paced. However, too many extraneous plot lines and flimsy motivations made this a pretty forgettable and pointless read. The themes of the costs of success and the dark side of being a successful woman were alluded to but never really fleshed out in this haphazard novel.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

Katie has always admired her sister, Hana and her friends, Mikki and Eleanor. They embraced her since she was a teen visiting her sister at college, and they are all highly successful. Eleanor has created The HERd, an all female communal space for the elite and Hana and Mikki help to manage it. Katie has been dreaming about being a part of it since her return to New York, with ulterior motives of writing a book about the private life of Eleanor. When Eleanor disappears the night before a big announcement that will forever change HERd, Katie is even more determined to dig into her life. As long, buried secrets are revealed and more evidence is uncovered, it becomes clear that there may be more reasons below the surface of Eleanor’s sudden disappearance. Things aren’t always what they seem and betrayal can change a person’s life.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Not all is as it seems in The Herd.
A close knit group of friends come together and create a women only co-working space called the Herd. Told in two different perspectives, sisters Hana and Katie, unravel the mystique of the Herd, and it's founder, Eleanor. Hana, public relations extraordinaire, lives the single life with roomie Mikki, the artist/designer, both a part of Eleanor's inner circle. Katie, Hana's sister, comes back into town, running from her own demons and looking to start over. Filled with scandalous secrets and intense family drama, no one is safe and everyone is suspect. Let us not forget Teddy, Cameron, and Daniel, all lured by the heady Eleanor. Sweet, charismatic Eleanor. They were all lured by Eleanor.

I enjoyed the book. Enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. And by the time I was finished, I despised Eleanor.(and her parents). Sad, sad people, the lot of them.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher, and Andrea Bartz for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.