Happy Hour follows Isa Epley on a summer of working hard at not working with her friend Gala Novak. They venture from one night of parties and people with no one- businessmen, artists, and celebs – safe from their critical eye.
The classification “Hot Girl Summer as a Novel” is an honest and very fair one. This book is refreshingly quotable and entertaining in a way that I had hoped for but did not expect.
I remember the fragility of counting every coin and worrying about being hungry, while others around me sabotaged me so easily. Female friendships, especially the early broke ones are such a trip. Being broke in a city like New York is a ride.
During Isa’s trip to the Hamptons, Marlowe writes about that upper-class racism in a way that I deeply felt, where Isa’s otherness is a steady sense of danger.
This is the kind of coming-of-age novel, slice of life tale that we are often fed by young male authors, and if she were one there would be a million accolades at the ready. Granados has a gift for calling out New York City types that feels very of the moment and timeless at the same time. She’s that girl who stands off to the side of a party/event/bar/club watching the room and you’re aware that she’s judging everything, and this is what she’s thinking. Smart, funny, a must read.
Thanks to Net Galley and Verso Books for the ARC!

Twenty-one year olds Isa and Gala arrive in New York City for the summer, with few plans other than to support themselves by selling clothing at a weekend stall and having fun. They manage to (mainly) do both, but soon learn that their clothing stall won't support the exorbitant rent they're paying on their summer sublet. And their social encounters aren't always as much fun as they'd hoped they'd be.

Slightly reminiscent of Holly Golightly, Isa slowly reveals her backstory, giving an unexpected depth to her party-girl image. A Manhattan where people go to parties, bars, ride the subway, etc. is hard to imagine in 2021, but this book was a fun escape from reality. I enjoyed it, but it's really meant for a younger reader than me. The protagonists are my older daughter's age--yikes. But the author's voice is refreshing and unique. #HappyHour #NetGalley

This should have been a home run for me - you all know I love character driven novels. I don’t require a lot of plot if the characters are developing and interesting enough. I don’t even need to like the characters if they have enough substance. This book is entirely character driven - 2 twenty-something friends take on NYC. They scrounge for money by day and live for the nightlife among artists and celebrities. That’s the extent of the story, Isa and Gala don’t show a lot of change or growth throughout the novel. It’s presented in journal format (another literary style I usually enjoy) but this just felt repetitive. I think a younger reader might enjoy this more than I did - I am FAR from the carefree days of my 20’s and I couldn’t relate.

If you take Emily in Paris and Anna Delvey, The Soho scammer plus add in the nuance of being a brown young adult you get Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados. Reading and listening to this book was a similar to when I watched the whole first season of Emily in Paris... the characters aren't likeable, the characters have a faux-self awareness, and it's all too blase, but at the same time I stayed to the end.

Happy Hour by
Marlow Granados
3 stars

This book was not exactly what I expected. I expected more of a story with all the usual rising action, climax, resolution. Instead, it was a collection of experiences that Isa and Gala go through during their time in NY. There are also flashbacks from Isa’s time in London and other countries. She’s been traveling the world since she was 18yrs old, now 21. Many of these experiences are similar, they go out, they meet various artists or people from academia, they try to better themselves with whatever they are able to get from these people. There were some lines that were quotable front he book like, “When you are smarter than you look, you have the advantage”

What saved me from giving up on this book was it was also a selection on Libro.fm and the narration done by, Bronwyn Szabo, was excellent. It brought more energy to the story for me. This was the roughest ARC I've ever read in regards to edits needed. There were many words per page that had left letters out. I felt like I was trying to interpret someone who had texted the story with many letters left out or that I was a student doing a cloze exercise.

A line from the book really summed up my feelings. One of the many men they met along the way said of Isa’s storytelling style “ when you start a story you don’t know how it’s going to end up.” That is kind of how I felt through the whole book. Where is this going? This one just didn’t do it for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Verso books for the digital ARC and Libro.fm for the audiobook version.

Such a good book! I loved this story, the characters and the development of the story. At times it took longer than I would of liked but overall I enjoyed it.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review..

What a treat. I loved this book. Very moving portrait of a women making choices to survive in this society on her own terms. I feel like it anymore detail would be spoiling, if not the outcome than at least the joy of discovery, So I would just totally recommend it to anyone who enjoys unusual depictions of female characters, and women finding the strength to live on their own terms.

Unfortunately I can’t seem to finish this one. Besides just feeling tedious and not being invested the kindle download is missing words and it’s almost impossible to read. I’ve tried to Mays my best guess at certain missing words but It’s taken over a month and I’m only 25% in. DNF

The story of the neo-flapper Isa - with her reckless behavior and relentless hedonism even against her deficient financial circumstances - is raw, vibrant and biting. In her debut novel, Marlowe Granados captures the coming of age story of a “flâneuse” - an urban idler woman dedicated only to the discovery of a city - through her summer in New York and fittingly the book is released in the first week of September by Verso Books. What a 21-year-old woman could be searching in New York may have many possible answers, but non apply for Isa, she is not looking for answers. Isa spends the night indulging not in mere answers but drinks, what she mostly indulges in is her signature french 75 being an invention of New York it binds Isa - like a ribbon - to her flâneuse manners. With an occasional touch of comedy of manners she gives this whole account of a summer well spent, a hilarious tone. The novel for me is more than a summer well spent in New York but a rough guide into relentless hedonism and harmless flânerie.

I honestly wanted so badly to like this as it's one of my favorite types of books to read-- two young women living in a city, broke and just trying to get by while experiencing the chaos of life being thrown at you. I found the characters unrelatable and not very interesting.... Despite myself having been a broke young woman living in New York at one point! Can't tell if I'm being too hard on this book but I simply couldn't bring myself to finish it. I got about 20% of the way through before I told myself I can't keep forcing myself to read books that I don't like! Maybe at another point in my life this will resonate more, I'm more than willing to give it a second chance since the author's writing style wasn't what put me off.

A story told in diary format by a 21-year old woman about her summer gallivanting around NYC and the Hamptons, looking for the next good time and/or fun man. She hooks up with a best friend of two, and without money (except for a part-time gig at a clothing stall) or stability, latches onto various characters who pay her way to frolic with the wealthy and celebrated.

There wasn't much insight in the writing, and I found it repetitive- party all night, crash, hangover, repeat.

As the title and cover themselves suggest, Happy Hour is the book equivalent of an aperitif. I’m thinking of an Aperol spritz and some black olives. Nice enough while you’re having them but once they are gone you’re prepared to move onto something more substantial. That is not to say that Happy Hour has no merits, if anything, my frustration towards this novel stems from the fact that, in many ways, this could have been an excellent read. But, it was an unfunny, shallow, and monotonous story about young pretty people who enjoy drinking and eating at 'in' bodegas.

Happy Hour implements the kind of literary devices and motifs that are all the rage in a certain subset of millennial literature. We have a wry narrator who is in her twenties, prone to self-sabotage, alienated 24/7, and leading a rather directionless life. While she does feel detached from those around her, her running commentary is as sharp as a knife. The dialogues have a mumblecore vibe to them so that many of the conversations sound like something we ourselves have heard in RL (the kind of small talk that happens at wannabe-artsy-parties etc). Sadly, I found many of the scenes in Happy Hour to be repetitive and interchangeable with one another. Isa and Gala meet up with some people they may or may not know at a bar or at someone’s flat. They get tipsy, or drunk, talk about nothing in particular with the other guests, and eventually make their way back home by grabbing a taxi. They try to get by sponging off other people, setting up a market stall where they halfheartedly try to sell clothes, pose as models for artists, or even by going to bars and being paid (cash + unlimited drinks) by the owner to attract more clients (making in 3 hours what would take me, a minimum-wage-worker, a whole-ass shift). Because of their immigration status, they cannot apply to ‘desk jobs’, but we never really learn much about that. Their past is very intentionally shrouded in mystery, barely alluded to. I assume they are Canadian given that they speak English fluently and that they seem familiar with American/Western culture.
I sort of resented the implication that they are ‘survivors’. They may not have a family to fall back onto, but A) they have each other B) they have travelled and can earn money fairly easily because they are young and pretty C) they are CONNECTED. In what could seem like a running-gag of sorts Isa always seems to come across someone she knows. Most of their ‘friends’ and acquaintances seem well-off and educated and these two are able to go out partying every night or so without actually spending all of their money this way. They make no conscious effort to save up, wasting money on the kind of meals that will not be filling or nutritious (ever heard of rice and beans? clearly not) nor do they try to put a stop to their night lifestyle. While they are quick, Isa especially, to notice how privileged the people around them are, they seem unaware that the fact that beauty is a currency and that their ability to party every night or earn money modelling or sponge off rich obnoxious men derives is directly proportional to their beauty.

Isa has ‘suffered’, one of the men she sort of sees briefly during the course of the novel ghosts her or something along those lines and not for one second was I convinced that she was truly broken up about it. The author really tries to make her sound jaded and caustic but her observations were predictably vanilla, and, worst still, always seem to posit her in a good light. The dynamic between Isa and Gala was the most disappointing aspect of the novel. As I’ve said, I’m all for complicated female friendships like the one in Moshfegh’s MYORAR, or between Ferrante’s Lila and Lenù or Morrison’s Sula and Nel or Ruchika Tomar’s Cale and Penny. But here, eh. Isa is clearly better than Gala. Gala is selfish, superficial, a bad friend and possibly even a bad person. She’s a fake whose moments of vulnerability are an act to earn ‘male’ attention or sympathy from others. And I hate that they have to resort to the king of ‘who has a right to be sad’ pissing content. Gala was born in Sarajevo but Isa ridicules the fact that the Bosnian war may have traumatised her since she left when she was just a ‘baby’ (as if her parents’ trauma couldn’t have possibly have affected her growing up) and immediately has to mention her own ACTUAL trauma (her mom died, i think). Like, ma che cazzo? And before you say, clearly Isa believes herself to be the good guy, well, other characters consolidate this narrative of her being GOOD and Gala bad. Every guy they come across prefers Isa to Gala, all of their ‘shared’ friends don’t give two shits about Gala but care about Isa etc etc.
And, boy, the storyline was just so very repetitive. Yeah, the author is able to convey a sort of artsy-academic-hipster-millennial atmosphere however, even if a lot of the dialogues in her novel sound like actual conversations (the type you may overhear at parties or in a bar or even while using public transport) that doesn’t result in an incredibly realistic and or compelling narrative. Isa was a very one-dimensional vapid character who manages to be both dull and irksome. She's a twenty-something possibly Canadian woman who describes herself as being both Pinoy and Salvadoreña. She was raised by her mother after her father decided to go MIA or whatever. Her mother died a few years ago and even if Isa barely acknowledges her, her presence is felt by her absence. While I appreciated the author’s subtle approach to Isa’s grief, my heart did not warm up to Isa. I wanted to like her and some of her comments about modern culture or the so-called millennial malaise were relatable(ish), but, I disliked how full of herself she was but not in an obvious egomaniacal sort of way, no, in a more self-pitying, ‘I’m Not Like Other People’, way. She has to put with Gala and the mean people she meets at her parties and her limbs ache after hours spent lying still for a painting and she’s always the one making the money whereas Gala does fuck all and life is not fair that horrible socialites have it better than her. Her navel-gazing wasn’t particularly amusing, her moments of introspection struck me as self-dramatising, and her observations on class, identity, and life in New York were rather vanilla. Worst of all, Isa’s dry narration is profoundly unfunny. She sounds exactly like the people she’s so quick to ridicule.
I will say that I did enjoy reading her thoughts on the art of conversation and I did find the novel to have a strong atmosphere and sense of place. You can easily envision the kind of events and parties the girls are in, as well as the kind of crowds occupying these places. It just so happens that like Isa herself I’m not all that keen or rich and pretentious. Unlike Isa however, I do not, and would not want to, move in their same circles. For all her complaining Isa doesn’t really try to forge more meaningful connections nor did she seem to really care about Gala. Their friendship seemed one of convenience and nothing else.

That’s more or less it. I wouldn’t have minded if Isa’s voice had been as amusing and entertaining as say the main character in Luster or My Year of Rest and Relaxation or Pretend I’m Dead or You Exist Too Much or The Idiot. It just so happens that I actively disliked Isa. This is weird given that the mcs from the novels I’ve just mentioned are not necessarily nice or kind or strictly likeable. But I found myself drawn to them all the same. Isa just pissed me off. She’s constantly painting herself as the better friend or the better person, and other characters are shown to be bad or mean or shallow. In My Year of Rest and Relaxation both the narrator and her ‘best friend’ are depicted as solipsistic, often immature, decidedly toxic people. Here instead Isa is the good guy and almost every other character is bad (because they are wealthy, white, pretentious, superficial etc.). At one point she’s at a gay bar (if i recall correctly) and someone asks her what she’s doing there and that this isn’t a place for her housemate fends him off immediately (saying something like “she’s my sister you old, white queen”). I’m not keen on authors using gay characters to ‘defend’ straight ones from other lgbtq+ people. Like, it’s okay because a gay character is telling off another gay character. He called her ‘his sister’ so that makes her what, part of the queer community?! This scene just rubbed me the wrong way. What, Isa has a right to be in gay spaces because she has a gay friend and she’s just Not Like Other Straight People? Ma daje!

While, yes, I did dislike and was bored by Isa as well her story’s supposed storyline (don’t get me wrong i love a good ol’ slice-of-life now and again but here these parties & co were so samey and intent only on satirising millennials & the-so-called upper-crust) I actually liked the author’s style.
It’s a pity that I wasn’t able to connect to Isa (or anyone else for the matter). The cast of ever-changing characters made it hard for me to become familiar with anyone really. Many of them also happen to have silly posh sounding nicknames or names that make it even harder to remember who-the-hell-was-who. Some just exist only in the space of a single scene or to deliver a throwaway line and nothing else besides. The men around Isa all blurred into one generic asshole-ish kind of man. The story ends on a cheesy note, with Isa being ready to finally talk about her past.
But I don’t wish to dissuade prospective readers from giving this a shot. If you liked Jo Hamya’s Three Romes or Kavita Bedford’s Friends & Dark Shapes you might like this more than I was able to. It just so happens that, as stated above, I hated Isa and found her narrative to have one too many of the same kind of scenes/conversations. I would have liked more variety in the story and the characters themselves. All in all, it left me wanting.

A tale of two young women and the summer they spend in New York in 2013. The premise is great-the story is just okay.

I immediately loved the voice of the narrator. Sort of a mix between Joan Didion, Catcher in the Rye, and The Bell Jar. The content took me some time to get into. It was almost a DNF at 30% because of the seemingly repetitive events and somewhat interchangeable social interactions Isa and Gala were finding themselves in. The story is in no way plot-driven, instead it is the observations of a 21-year-old immigrant (does it ever say where they are from?) to New York City. Isa and the dialogue are detached and aloof in an almost surreal way. I found her aloofness unbelievable at times--she never drops that cool exterior, but I think that is the point of the book. This is not a book with heart or warmth. The characterizations and observations are subtle. Written in a diary format, the entries are sparse and to the point, not at all purpley or flowery, which I liked. She gives just enough to see what is going on, but you really have to read between the lines. In the end, I breezed through it, finding great insight through Isa's spare prose.

Isa Epley arrived in New York City doing absolutely nothing, as she is initially apt to tell all the up and coming artists at the gallery show she attends one night. However, being in NYC, that's not in the cards for long. She and her friend Gala pursue various jobs to cobble together an income enough to stay in the city. You see, the purpose is not necessarily to have a career, but rather to have a good time. So they spend many nights out at clubs nearly until close. They find friends and people willing to pay for their drinks. They party until they can't anymore.

I found this book boring and repetitive. I struggled to find entertainment in their messy lives, and struggled to connect with them emotionally. Perhaps this is due in part to the fact that I have never found partying or trying to get in with the social elites at art galleries to be pleasurable. So this constantly turning novel didn't keep me on my toes with excitement; it kept me disengaged at arm's length.

Written as though it were Isa's diary, it is meant to capture her most important memories from each day. This has made me realize just how boring it can be to read someone else's diary. Frankly I'm just not interested.

This is one of those books that I think people are going to love or hate—the journal entries, very little concrete plot, aimless 20-somethings partying nonstop, frequent long descriptions—it’s all a very heady reading experience. I often enjoy books like this one, but I have to say this fell a little flat for me on this first read. I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind or if I just couldn’t connect with the characters, but I found myself a bit bored. It was repetitive at times, I didn’t always feel like I was actually reading anything, if that makes sense? I think the premise is a good one and I may re-visit the book later, but I don’t know. Just not a winner for me, not one I’ll be quick to recommend, I’m sorry to say.

My thanks to NetGalley and Verso Books for an advance reader’s copy.

I tried to read this but all of the letter combinations of "fi" and "fl" and sometimes just "f" are missing and it became too complicated to always figure out what the words were supposed to be. Thank you for the opportunity

A lovely book. It's a portrait of friendship with an impeccable voice for place. New York really pops off the page. Interspersed with the lush depictions of luxury and partying are really insightful and delightful commentaries on modern life. Highly recommend.

This book was a fun summer read; it feels like watching The OC or Gossip Girl. There wasn't a ton of substance, but it was satisfying and fun to read.

This was a little too privileged and precious for me. I think I would have liked this more when I was in college, jealous of the girls who were living glamorous, carefree NYC lives. It gave me Bell Jar vibes in the first half where the characters are first experiencing NYC, but it certainly doesn't have the same bang of an ending as the Bell Jar. Since there is no plot, you really have to love Isa & Gala, which I did not. I think this could do well with Gen Z readers, even though it follows millennial characters.