I didn’t love it. I really wanted to, I was excited about the premise, but for me this book was just meh.

New York's hottest club has secret societies, maybe witches, undercover journalists, and probably "Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss." emblazoned in some powder room somewhere. In all seriousness, this was a fun ride. The characters were all well textured -- they started as archetypes, but Hankin revealed something more to each of them. The ending personally made me happy, but I also do feel like it may have been a bit rushed. I'd be interested to see if this would get a sequel -- it seems like it was pretty wrapped up, but I would be intrigued to see where it could go next.

File under: Not My Kind of Book...but I enjoyed it anyway.

I was a bit put off by the cringey-bad title and the screaming pink cover, but this is a fun and enjoyable. Think of it as your coworking space, but even more elitist and (possibly) invoking the supernatural for its own gain.

This book looks like your average millennial twenty something takes on the big city novel (and it is that too, in the end), but amidst the major career drama and minor relationship drama, things get wild.

Jillian isn’t an especially realistic protagonist, but I liked her. She’s got some moxie and a solidly self-deprecating sense of humor. The other women of Nevertheless (great name for a women’s group, right? Speaking of, why not call the book that instead?) were interesting characters, though Margo and Caroline offer less than Vi and Libby, despite being far more important to the story.

None of this wild tale feels very plausible, but it’s sweet and fun and a perfect summer beach read.

I very much enjoyed this book. It was weird and very far-fetched, but there was some thing about it that kept me intrigued. I love the idea of a modern magic theme, especially when it comes to empowering women.

While not quite what I expected, this book was so fun and fast ad exactly what I needed.

Jillian is a journalist who recently lost her mother and her job. When she runs into Margot at her friend Raf’s restaurant opening she is struck with the idea to write an article about the exclusive women’s club that Margot is a leader of, Nevertheless. Jillian believes they had something to do with the takedown of Nancy, the first woman elected as New York City’s mayor and a woman poised to become the first female president so she decides to infiltrate the society and take them down from the inside.

I love a good takedown of privileged people. This book, however, is a little bit more. I wasn’t at all bothered by the fact that there was some “witchiness” involved, but I could see how it could throw people off and make them dislike the book if they aren’t into that kind of thing. It’s not true supernatural magic, but it is important to the book.

The writing was quick and easy to get through. I never felt like I was slogging through and I couldn’t wait for Jillian to get further and further into Nevertheless. I also liked the addition of the fake romance between Raf and Jillian.

One of the things that worked so well with this book was the balance of sisterhood and secrecy and a little it of nuttiness. It never felt like it got over the top insane to me which I think is why I was ok with some of the turns taken. I could see this happening in real life, though I definitely related more to Jillian than I did to the other women in the story.

This book has a bit of everything. Mystery, betrayal, family, sisterhood, and even some romance. I think this would be a really fun book club book and am a little sad that I didn’t read this with the girls. Even though the tone changes a bit part way through the book I still found it balanced. If you’re looking for a contemporary book with a bit of a twist I highly recommend checking this one out. I didn’t read Hankin’s previous novel but am now considering going to check it out!

Such a fun romp - jumps the shark into an entirely different genre for a moment, but ultimately so enjoyable and propulsive to read. Like if Younger/The Bold Type met The Craft.

I love the story's premise, and Laura Hankin does a great job playing with tropes in a fun way! The story starts off intriguing and feels like it does slow down, but when that twist and turn comes, the pace picks up, and I couldn't put the book down.

I looooved the premise of this book! I love a good story about secret clubs and conspiracy theories.

In this book, we have a group of powerful and influential women. People don’t know much about this group, and of course, that makes people curious.

Jillian is a reporter and she makes her way in the group. At first, it seems like they’re just rich women who believe in astrology and read tarot. How boring! But when they invite her to go deeper into the group, she finds out just how powerful they are.

It was a quick read and it definitely got me hooked.

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book very much. I think it moved at a good pace to the point where I wasn't bothered by the fact that it took some time to get to the really good part.

In some ways this book reminds me of Bunny by Mona Awad due to the mysterious, girl gang, cult like nature, but just not as weird.

Jillian, the main character was awesome and I think seeing this journey through her ambitious, sometimes awkward and sometimes funny perspective made me very invested in seeing the story through.

Jillian é uma jornalista determinada, mas ultimamente as coisas não tem estado boas. Ela acabou de perder a mãe e o site para o qual trabalhava acabou de fechar. Sem emprego e ainda de luto, ela tenta ao menos apoiar seu amigo Raf que esta se tornando um chef famoso. Na inauguração do restaurante ela conhece Margot, a socialite que dizem participar de um clube secreto para mulheres nem sucedidas. E é assim que Jillian acaba pensando em uma matéria, se ela conseguisse se infiltrar no clube poderia dar ao público a chance de conhecer essa sociedade secreta por dentro. O que ela não esperava era que as coisas ficassem tão complicadas.
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Eu não tinha muitas expectativas sobre esse livro, mas acabei me surpreendendo ao encontrar uma história sobre sororidade cheia de camadas e com um toque sobrenatural.
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Jillian aprende ao longo dessa jornada que para alcançar seus objetivos ela não precisa passar por cima de ninguém e que nem sempre ela vai encontrar as respostas que queria. As coisas no clube não são bem o que ela pensava e no fim tudo que Jillian encontra são mulheres que de maneiras por vezes tortas querem apoiar mulheres.
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Há um romance, e talvez até uma tentativa de triângulo amoroso, mas com o passar das páginas esse assunto se torna cada vez menor dentro da narrativa. Sim, Jillian se apaixona, mas esse não é o ponto principal do livro.
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Além disso, temos um toque sobrenatural dentro da narrativa que foi muito divertido de ler. Sabe aquele ditado "Somos as netas das bruxas que eles não conseguiram queimar"? Faz todo o sentido dentro dessa história.
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Enfim, é realmente uma história que provavelmente se eu for ler de novo vou achar mais camadas para falar pra vocês. Singelo e direto ao ponto.

A Special Place for Women was definitely a special kind of read! It took me a bit to get into it and as a lot of reviews point out, it gets kinda weird once you're halfway through the book! It's unexpected and different but I enjoyed the twists and turns. This book follows a journalist named Jillian Beckley who is need of some good things in her life. She lost her Mom and is dealing with career troubles and wants to impress her old boss by writing an exclusive story about a women's secret society in NYC. I really liked the main character Jillian and her friendship with her best friend, Raj. I love a good 'fake dating' story line and how supportive they were of one another. Everything else was a little bizarre to me - the women in the society and the antics of it all. Overall, I liked how the author created this secret society full of sinister and dangerous women and I haven't read anything like this before. I am interested in reading Laura Hankin's first novel as well and her future works! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy!

Finally! It's June 1, and this is the first book this year to really interest me. By interest I mean, waking up at 3 am and thinking...I could finish my book! I had read Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin and knew I enjoyed her voice. Funny, sarcastic, quick witted characters are her strong point. She did not disappoint with this new novel. Jillian was on point. A character I cared about, rooted for and truly wanted her to be happy in the end. This was definitely on track to be my 5 star read. For me, the end became a bit muddled and over the top but still a thoroughly enjoyable read that I will recommend to all. Thank you Berkley/Netgalley for the advanced copy. Can't wait for more from Hankin. Well done!!

So I don't know if this is a spoiler, but for some it might have been. At the beginning of the book, I saw that this book was classified as Occult Fiction. To me, that means expect this to be a witchy book.

At the beginning, there is brief mention of witchy stuff and tarot cards, but it seems a bit played down. When the big twist happens, it surprised a lot of people in my buddy read. For me, I was just waiting for the witchy part to begin. They weren't expecting the witchy part at all.

So is it a spoiler to see at the very beginning of the book where the copyright page is that this is an Occult Fiction book?

Personally, I loved everything about this book. I even loved how it ended. It had me crossing my toes and fingers that there will be a sequel to this book, maybe even a prequel. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves witchy tales and stories about strong women.

An underground club that is solely for women and is even more elite in that it is invite only with a few tests that must be passed before membership is granted. Jillian Beckley is a journalist and until recently was employed full time, so she needs to find her next big article that could get a spot on the map. An interesting encounter with some women from this underground club and some rumors that have been swirling set Jillian's life in motion.

This was mean girls but on a whole other level where careers are ended and lives are in danger. These women are vindictive and horrible and with each page I was honestly repulsed by them and it reminded me of all the reasons I don't love YA with the unnecessary character drama. I want to live in a world where its sunshine and rainbows and women uplift others and see the good in all women succeeding, so this book just tore me apart and because of my own thinking I had a hard time enjoying it.

But, I loved Jillian Beckley and her constant struggle to be an honest true person and the pull of the group. I was giving her a pass as she was in a hard place mentally with the recent passing of her mother and the way these women used that against her. She was the reason I was able to continue reading and could waffle between enjoying it and getting frustrated by it.

I sat on the fence on this book and even delayed writing my review for a few days to see if my thoughts would settle on whether I could recommend it to other readers. And to be honest, I am still on the fence because I know my thoughts about this book (more so than most) are very personal in that my own worldview and thinking really played into my reading of this book. Yes, I know we bring our own world view to every book, but for me it felt more so in this one. I am intrigued to see where Laura Hankin goes from here.

Laura Hankin, you did it again! I loved this novel and all of its craziness. So many unexpected twists and turns that I NEVER expected. The character connections were great (Raf is the best!). I’d love to see this in film/show sometime!

5 stars for me!

Thank you to @berkleypub and @netgalley for this copy!

A Special Place for Women was just what I needed to escape reality a little while!

Part humorous satire, part intriguing mystery, and mixed in with a hint of romance, A Special Place for Women was supremely entertaining.

Jillian is a down-on-her-luck journalist looking for a juicy story to break when she decides to infiltrate Nevertheless: a secret society of wealthy influential women who are also trying to smash the patriarchy. Nevertheless doesn't just let anyone join, so Jillian pretends to be dating her bff Raf because he runs the hottest restaurant in town and then she's cool by association...

The story took a turn I wasn't expecting 3/4 a way in, but it only added a level of intrigue.

Definitely would recommend this one to anyone looking for a snarky read that ends happily. This was my second book by this author and she's going on my watch list because she just keeps getting better!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5 stars

I think the fact of the matter is I just adore Laura Hankin!

I loved this book, love the cover and think this is a must read for summer 2021.

I really liked Laura Hankin's first book and had high hopes for this one but thought it was just WEIRD. I was very engaged but once the twist was revealed it just took a weird turn and became ODD.

Thank you for my advanced copy!

After reading Laura Hankin’s first book, Happy & You Know It, when I saw that Hankin had a new book coming out, I was eager to get my hands on it. Lucky for me, I was able to get a copy of A Special Place for Women quickly at our library! And oh boy, it did not disappoint.

Jillian Beckley is a journalist in need of a juicy scoop, and an exclusive womens club called Nevertheless may just be her ticket. Nevertheless is rumored to be an elite group of NYC tastemakers who were rumored, among other things, to have handpicked the first female mayor. However, as Jillian worms her way into the club, she quickly realizes that she is in for more than she bargained for.

Hankin has such an imagination, and it shines in her writing. The way that Nevertheless is written about is full of rich and vivid description, has a great deal of depth, and makes you want to keep turning the pages. It is so well written about, that it makes you wonder if it’s a real club in New York City, or some other major city in the world.

This book was full of interesting characters as well. Jillian, along with her fellow club members, all made questionable decisions, and it made for such great entertainment. The club members’ devotion all shone through as well, making Nevertheless even more exciting to read about. It’s not quite a thriller, and not quite character-driven, but has elements of both, combined with a few other things I own’t spoil at this time.

If you loved Happy & You Know It, or you enjoy books about adults behaving badly, make sure to check this one out. It would be great for a beach or poolside read.

Jillian Beckley é uma jovem jornalista que acabou de perder a mãe e seu emprego. Com muitas contas de hospital para pagar, Jillian tenta conseguir um novo emprego em uma revista onde seu antigo editor trabalha e para isso, ela precisa de uma história bombástica. Após muitas sugestões negadas, Jillian pensa sobre uma matéria expondo o grupo Nevertheless, uma sociedade secreta das mulheres mais ricas e influentes de Nova York, responsável pela ascensão e queda da única mulher a ser eleita prefeita da cidade. O único problema é que Jillian não é rica e nem influente para conseguir seu lugar no grupo. Com a ajuda de seu amigo Raf, um chef de cozinha em ascensão, Jillian consegue seu espaço e descobre que o grupo não é feito apenas de frases de efeito feministas e que há muitos segredos por trás de uma porta secreta.

Esse livro foi incrivelmente divertido, o que foi uma surpresa. Jillian é uma protagonista engraçada e inteligente, e todos os outros personagens são tridimensionais, fazendo com que você mude de opinião sobre eles o tempo todo. Ao contrário do que possa parecer, esse livro não é um suspense. É mais uma crítica ao elitismo e como o feminismo também pode machucar algumas mulheres. Há uma reviravolta no enredo após a metade do livro que pode chocar algumas pessoas, mas também há romance e um “quase” triângulo amoroso envolvendo um namoro falso. No final, o livro acaba sendo sobre amizade e usar suas palavras para o bem. A Special Place for Women está em desenvolvimento para virar uma série na Paramount.