I found The Work Wife to be an engrossing Hollywood tale, and once I started reading I didn’t want to stop. I loved the perspective of the household staff, and their interactions with the couple they work for, including the detailed descriptions of their duties and obligations. The story unfolds over the course of a very long day, with the action simmering until the explosion, which happens at a big charity gala filled with film industry VIPs. This is a tale of how men and women are often treated very differently (in some professions more than others, and film producers are largely men), the power unbalances in personal and professional relationships that result, and the various paths of ambitious women in the #metoo era. I thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful book, and the ideas woven into the narrative continue to swim through my head

Featuring three different perspectives and over the course of one day, The Work Wife shows the lengths that women will go to advance their careers and protect, take down, and appease the men that hold power over them. An interesting read, and I enjoyed the message of how difficult it is for women to succeed in the entertainment industry, even in the wake of #metoo. However, ultimately this did not live fully up to the hype. I was really intrigued by the premise, but I didn't feel as invested in the characters as I wanted to be. I have no issues with "unlikable" female characters, and those are often some of my favorite reads. The Work Wife just never caught my full attention.

I was captivated by this story and its many characters. I enjoy how this novel unfolded through multiple storylines and I would consider it a thriller. I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next in this cut-throat setting. The bright lights of Hollywood and grueling routines of celebrity personal assistants are far from my current reality and for that I would also classify it as an escape read. Meanwhile, it brought important visibility to those with diverse backgrounds, and the issues of sexism, homophobia, income inequality, hustle culture, and the #metoo movement.

thank for the arc. this was interesting but didn't really change anything in me. i don't know... it was just okay? not bad, not excellent (in my opinion).

This book sounded so good, but in the end, I felt like it was a slog. The entire thing takes place in one day with 3 different POV. There was a lot going on but nothing actually happened. I wanted more to happen.

TWW follows 3 women in the orbit of (fictional) Hollywood royalty, Ted Stabler: Zanne, the temporary chief of staff who thrives off the validation of successfully completing a task. Holly, Ted's wife, who seeks validation through the parties and charity events that keep Ted socially relevant. And Phoebe, Ted's former right-hand woman, who suspects Hollywood's blacklisted her after struggling to get her own work picked up for 20 years.

So. My primary struggle with TWW is that while the story is in a vague way, there's no engaging core to keep the reader's interest for the full book. TWW is set during the length of a fundraiser/party Holly's hosting that's supposed to tie everything together, but the party's just sort of… there. Phoebe is arguably the heart of the story, but most of her page time is spent on flashbacks.

Although I liked Zanne, no self-respecting lesbian would be obsessed with a guy to the degree where she proudly claims she knows him better than his wife, so jot THAT down. Her internal motivation is also weak: she wants the promotion to keep her much younger gf. But they have no chemistry and her gf is kind of a flake.

Holly is interesting, but also underutilized. She makes messes, but never to a damning degree. She's on the cusp of being sympathetic to the reader but also on the cusp of full loathing. She's the sort of woman who cries misogyny when someone dares criticize her.

TWW is smart, and I loved loved loved lots of the ideas within, but it never fully "works", there's too much telling over showing, and it takes too long to show its true heart: it's never too late to be creative. It's never too late to follow your dreams. And watch out where you seek your validation from.

(Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.)

3 to 3.5 ⭐️

First, I could have sworn I have read a novel by Alison B Hart previously, but nope this is her debut novel. I discovered this at the end of the book as she summarized her vantage point of writing a book regarding the #metoo movement.

For me, it was almost catching a glimpse how someone like Harry Weinstein could’ve possibly hired any staff that stayed with knowledge with what he was up too.

The wouldn’t and you will see how it can go all away when you pay your people the right money.

All in all, for a debut it was okay however it was one noted.

Thank you to Graydon House, @harperaudio & @libro.fm @netgalley for the complimentary copy, all thoughts are my own.

I don't think I'm the right audience for this. I found it very boring; I didn't care about anything that was happening. The characters were shallow and I rolled my eyes through much of this.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

This book was right up my alley. I love a juicy, hollywood elite drama with strong, complex, diverse women. I love the concept of this book- getting to know the current, ex, and work wife of one asshole male hollywood director over the course of a 12 hour day. I was worried at the beginning that this book would be very performative, but it ended up being really complex. What at first felt like surface level representation of women of color and lesbians and the 1% turned into intense conversations about whether individuals can be blamed for choosing financial security over a diverse, equitable job. I was worried about Hart's ability to accurately describe the emotions and experiences of a victim of sexual abuse, and yet Phoebe was an incredibly written character. Zanne was complex and personally relatable. Holly was probably the least interesting to me, I don't have that much sympathy for people like her, but she ended up redeeming herself a lot. I would recommend The Work Life for any fan of diverse contemporary fiction who comes into my bookstore.

I've read multiple novels inspired by the #MeToo movement this year, and <em>The Work Wife</em> underwhelmed me. The book takes place over the course of one day with the narration split between Holly Stadler, the obnoxious, privileged, and clueless wife of your typical white male Hollywood mogul Ted Stadler, Zanne, Ted's head of special projects for the Stadler "family office," and Phoebe Lee, Ted's ex-wife and former co-filmmaker. Of course, Ted has some skeletons in his closet, particularly in the wake of his friend Jerry Silver's arrest for sexual misconduct.

<em>The Work Wife</em> had too much exposition and too little plot. While the book dealt with serious issues of sexism, racism, harassment, and sexual abuse in Hollywood, the ending was then wrapped up in a neat little bow.

The three main characters also read like archetypes to me rather than fully fledged human beings. Holly was absolutely insufferable, and I did not care for her character at all—she was incredibly self-indulgent, oblivious, and irritating. I admired Zanne's ambition, but I could spot her "come-to-Jesus" moment about what an awful person Ted actually was to work for from a mile away. And while I empathized with Phoebe, a Korean-American woman who was clearly used and abused in the industry, she was also so nice and squeaky clean that she was too neat a foil to Holly and Zanne. I didn't think <em>The Work Wife</em> added much new to the conversation among similar novels, nor was I as entertained as I hoped I would be reading it. I sadly found this one difficult to read all the way through to the end.

The Work Wife was an interesting ride, and unlike anything I've read before! This story follows three women as they navigate a party hosted by the Hollywood elite and reflect on the events that led them there. Phoebe, a producer and filmmaker who was sidelined by the industry and her ex twenty years ago, was by the far the most likable character. I loved reading her backstory and admired her persistence to see her film through. Zanne was more complicated. I disliked how she pandered to the Stablers even after seeing how they treated others and actively being part of silencing women in Hollywood, but she saw the light in the end and came to Pheobe's defense, which pretty much redeemed her in my eyes. Holly...well, I don't really think she went through any major character development. She is the epitome of performative white feminism and I honestly didn't sympathize with her throughout the story. However, I think this novel gives a wonderful representation of how Hollywood works against people who don't fit the mold, and how ridiculous rich people can be.

I just simply couldn’t get into this one - the story was way too slow to keep my interest and didn’t like the characters too much either.

I’ve always been interested in the entertainment industry, so I was excited to read this book. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the lives of the ultra-wealthy.

This is a book that i liked more as i kept going. I would say the main character has some real antihero vibes but in a way that works for me more when the character is a queer woman (like here) than for straight women, or ESPECIALLY men who are antiheroes who i basically always hate. So anyway, that grew on me, and one of the other two characters was also compelling to me.

This is, as you can tell from the description, really starting from the context of #metoo in a Hollywood context and that's fine but i don't think it adds much to that conversation, though maybe some people are having a different conversation than i am used to and it helps there? But the actual story and structure work well, and got me hooked even though the first 50 pages or so didn't really work for me.

I am so interested what famous couples people were thinking about when reading this--like what celebrities probably have a home staff of 30-40? That's what has really stuck with me, the ways that labor politics were and weren't a part of this and the ways those politics play out in homes from people with one-off babysitters to people with these giant staffs.

I thought this was going to be a gossipy Hollywood book. A light and fluffy beach read full of frenemies and backstabbing to get ahead.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it is nothing like that. It was about the ultra wealthy in Hollywood yes, but the women in this story didn’t belong on a real housewives show. The story had many layers and a compact timeline, but it didn’t fee rushed. In fact, for much of the book it felt like a-day-in-the-life story. I didn’t really know where we were headed.

Overall, an engaging story that kept me turning the pages for more!

This had potential but I didn’t enjoy the way it was written. It jumped back and forth from past to present, but I was constantly lost and had to reread paragraphs multiple times because it was confusing. I think it could’ve benefitted from having specific chapters based in the past so the reader can follow along more easily.

The characters had ZERO depth. There wasn’t one I enjoyed reading. We have Zanne- the emotionless assistant; Holly- the desperate housewife; and Phoebe- the woman scorned. I tried hard to sympathize with them but I just didn’t care.

I appreciate the message this book was trying to address (the #metoo movement) but the story itself just didn’t quite do it for me.

This novel was not at all what I was expecting. The cover and the blurb made me think it would be a light read, but it touched on some pretty deep topics. I struggled getting into the story, but it was worth the wait. Despite the fact that all of the book unfolds over one day through three different perspectives, the wife, ex-wife, and personal assistant (aka work wife) it seemed well thought out and flowed well.

Zanne is a personal assistant to Ted Stabler, half of a Hollywood power couple. After battling her younger years as an addict, this role allowed her to afford to get out of debt and start a bit of a nest age. Unlike many jobs, there are some behaviors and situations that might make someone question their morals. Once Zanne uncovers some information that makes her question her choices to stay somewhere so compromising of her ideals, things begin to lock into place.

Thank you to Graydon House and NetGalley for an e-arc for review.

One day in the life of.......a hugely famous producer and the world that revolves around him. The Work Wife is of course, his personal assistant. The one person responsible for keeping his "empire" running smoothly. The story jumps from the perspective of three women, each with their own hopes and dreams that revolve around this one man who find maybe not so nice. It closely follows today's celebrity headlines while being an actually great unique story. Too many adjectives? I dont think so.

I knew nothing about this book before reading it and it was nothing like I falsely presumed from the title and cover. There was a ‘work wife’ but her duties astounded me. The story is told by three POV’s and it takes place over a one day period. Zanne is the work wife to Ted, a powerful movie executive. Ted and Holly run their home and business with an amazing amount of staff. It was mind boggling to see their expectations of their staff and how devoted the staff was in accepting the crazy rules and job responsibilities. There is a #metoo component to the story with the return of Ted’s first wife. Overall I found this book a bit of a stretch and I had a hard time connecting to it.