This was a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and The Firm. Alex, straight out of Harvard accepts an offer at a top-tier firm in Manhattan. Alex, wanting to become one of the gang, becomes insufferable. She becomes neglectful of her family and boyfriend. How far will she take things to rise to the top? Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An enlightening book about power, sex and money and what it is worth to you!! I hungrily flipped pages to come to the very satisfying and realistic conclusion. Superb characterization and written so vividly. Loved every page!!

I thought this was a super engrossing read with a disappointing ending. Throughout, the book was detailed and a total page turner, it's clear the author has experience in BigLaw. However, the ending felt tacked on and kind of thrown together, which was a disappointment after such a gripping read. The story arc, and some of the beats reminded me a lot of the Devil Wear Prada, but obviously in a very different setting. I think this would make a great book club read, there's a little something for everyone and there would be plenty to discuss around the experiences of women in the workplace and the role work plays in all our lives.

Absolutely loved this! Main character was very likable, even though I wanted to shake her sometimes. An interesting look at the lives of young women in the legal field.

I really loved this! Big law firm, first year lawyers, excess. I got Whisper Network vibes mixed with the Firm. It definitely felt timely and was a quick read. Definitely recommend.

Erica Katz’s The Boys’ Club is a look at a powerful corporate Manhattan law firm through the eyes of a new associate during her first year. The author worked at a Manhattan law firm, so I assumed when I read the description that she would represent the culture accurately, and the premise of the story is women trying to be competitive in the traditionally male-dominated world of mergers and acquisitions.

Alex grew up in a small Connecticut town where her father is an oncologist and her mother volunteers at a library. They still call her Bunny, and she promises her longtime boyfriend that she will pursue a match to any group at Klasko & Fitch except M&A. Alex is about as straitlaced as you can get, so when she finds herself attracted to the pace and competitiveness of M&A, let’s just say she’s not so straitlaced after all.

The book is divided into six parts, each beginning with a legal definition (target list, NDA, indication of interest, etc.), which basically mirrors Alex’s life in her first year at the firm. Following each definition chapter is an Interstitial in which Alex is being questioned about the socialization practices at the firm as well as specifics about Gary Kaplan and Peter Dunn. We know from the questions that something serious happened, but we obviously don’t find out what until late in the book.

Everyone knows that attorneys are rumored to work killer hours, especially in Manhattan, and the attorneys at Klasko & Fitch are no exception. Alex regularly works through the night, catching a few hours of sleep at the office, working through holidays, cancelling plans with her boyfriend. The pace of Alex’s lifestyle is fast, and the book follows suit. It doesn’t take long for Alex to give in to pressure from her colleagues to stay out increasingly later drinking and drugging even when she’s not going to actually be working.

If the epilogue of the book is supposed to be present day, Alex’s first year is around four years ago, just before #metoo went viral, so the story itself is a lead-in to that without specifically mentioning the #metoo movement. In the male-dominated world Alex inhabits, she feels obligated to conform to compete and succeed. That’s what I liked about the book. Most women have been in that position in their careers. The question is how far do you go in giving up your values to do it?

What knocked this down to only three stars for me is that Alex became SO unlikeable so quickly. I understand that she is probably a realistic representation. As I mentioned, the author is an attorney. But when Alex is at a point of making things right, I feel like it’s too late. It’s really difficult to view her as redeemable by the time we get to the end of the story.

I know there will be plenty of people who rate this a five-star read, but I want my protagonists to retain some semblance of likeability if I’m supposed to actually like them at the end. Alex just doesn’t, and it kind of ruined it for me.

I saw that Erica Katz's book has been optioned by Netflix for a series, and I think this is the case of what's on the page translating better on the screen.

Not that this is a bad book. I liked Alex, and I cheered loudly for her. I wanted more for her than her bland boyfriend, and I also wanted her to achieve professional success, thwarting those who tried to get in her way. The "will she? won't she?" mystery kept me anxiously turning the pages.

The problem is that too many of the supporting characters feel like caricatures. The brash lawyer who's hot as sin! The evil partners! The fawning women! Only Alex comes off as original and fully developed. Her dynamism as a well-drawn character causes problems, though, when those around her aren't as skillfully presented.

Let me know what you think of this book. Can you see it on TV? I sure can.

This definitely was my favorite book that I read this summer.
I am so happy I had this novel on my radar, and that Erica Katz chatting with us on Zoom. The recording is posted in my Words+Wine Bookclub Facebook page.
I think I adored this story because it reminded me so much of my personal work experience.
Erica told us in the chat, that she wants people to be able to discuss these types of issues that are occurring in major companies across American without judging or pointing the finger at real life examples.
The heroine of the story is very much flawed, and doesn't always make the right decision, but that is what I loved about Alex. She was so relatable. Decisions and relationship are not as black and white as people think.
If this book is not in your TBR stack, then you need to put it on there right now and move it to the top!

An thrilling legal thriller that did a decent job occupying my attention. I wish I had liked the characters a bit more, but overall an enjoyable read.

Any type of legal thriller/drama basically sucks me right in; needless to say, I was hooked as soon as I started reading., I love this cast of characters and how well they compliment one another. They all have such unique personalities (and issues) that the reader had a glimpse of a true office community, instead of a cookie cutter idea of what a lawyer should look/dress/act like on repeat for each character.

I appreciated that it is written by an attorney because it contains details that someone without that background may have overlooked.. It was clever to set it up as the parts of a failed merger, but most of all I loved that it flipped back and forth between events and trial transcripts. I feel that it added a layer of suspense that kept me riveted.

Serious props to the author for tackling women's issues in the office. It is so much bigger than simply what to wear; it really is playing by a whole different set of rules and walking a tightrope while you do it. One mis-step and it's over.

Alex Vogel tough ambitious top of her game garners a spot in her dream job of a firm in the dog pound that is Manhattan. Working longer and harder hoping to be acknowledged she forged ahead. Arriving early and last to leave, it’s not all work and no play. But how many private plane rides and expensive dinners is your soul worth. Here lies the crux of this morality tale told amid sky scraper Manhattan. Delightful.

Great read! Didn’t want it to end. Felt like I was right there with Skippy. Can’t wait to read her next book!

If you are interested in the high-powered world of big law firms, you’ll enjoy this story of Alex Vogel, an ambitious female associate as she spends nine months dealing with hard word, long hours, politics and harassment. She’s a complicated protagonist and her story rings true, as she faces gossip and alcoholism, and the rather unethical members of her team.

Freshly minted female attorney takes job at high-powered NYC law firm and becomes disillusioned in her first year by the male behavior around her. Author Erica Katz, searching for an ending to THE BOYS CLUB, decided to use the #metoo movement as a template to sort this out. She could have been more creative and kept my interest. I wish she had created a protagonist that was more engaging. Not all new attorneys are this naive or needy. I craved a character with some redeeming features or even some humor. The book was just too predictable for my tastes. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I throughly enjoyed this book. I was fascinated by the lifestyles these lawyers live. I won’t lie, I hated Alex at several times, she makes several bad decisions, has some serious cringe worthy moments and sometimes I thought surely no one can be this shallow. Y’all, just stick with her - Alex kicks ass and takes names. I love that this author is also a big time lawyer and for a debut novel, she nailed it.

I could not put this book down! Think The Devil Wears Prada but with Lawyers. I am so excited that Netflix is adapting it and have already been thinking of my dram cast! Would highly recommend this book.

This isn't my usual type of book but I did have high hopes for it. Unfortunately, the book did not land for me. I found the plot to be pretty much what I expected, and the characters felt flat and stereotypical. This book reminded me of a movie, and not in a good way. At times I was far more interested in sub-plots and side characters (like the only Black gay man working at the firm being fired, for example) than with our narrator, in part because her attitude is difficult to like. I also found the handling of class sloppy. Given the amount of money we're talking about, and our narrator feeling out of place at the start of the book, I felt annoyed when there was no real class analysis on structural inequity... We also have a narrator "embarrassed" of her childhood home, when her father is a physician! A different world than Big Law in NYC, sure, but far from poverty.

This book interested me from the start with its smart writing and structure. Set in the framework of a legal proceeding, the book does a great job of keeping the actual conflict a mystery until the very end. Alex, the main character, is a mostly likable and often compelling character. Although at times I was unsure about whether I liked this character or not, it seemed like a realistic portrayal of a young female attorney in a high-powered firm. Although the introductory chapters seemed a bit perfunctory, the book picked up steam as it went along. I was hooked fairly early, and read the book straight through in a day, as the plot became more intense. The authenticity of the setting, as evidenced by the situations and the characters, seemed to be confirmed once I read the author bio, as she (under a pseudonym) is an attorney in a similar firm. I was impressed to see that this is her first novel, and I would anticipate great things from this author in the future.

I loved this book. It was everything I wanted and more. The characters, story, and the format made it incredibly entertaining and impossible to put down. A captivating glimpse into corporate life for women. I will definitely be recommending this book on my FoxyBookRecs Instagram account on August 4th!

Very interesting look into corporate life of women in America.

At first I felt sorry for Alex - then disliked her - then rejoiced when she emerged from the pit. It was also a surprise to find this was written by someone who lived the life.

Good book + would make a great movie or series! Definitely a book club book.