I mostly really liked this book. It's a good perspective on the Hollywood metoo stories, similar story to the movie The Assistant, but the story of someone who had some power, but not as much as all the white men around her. It has a good start, the daughter of working class Chinese immigrants who dreams of working in film. She is talented in her work, but also has to figure out where to draw the lines between being professional and networking in a world where those lines are gray. And it's clear that the men in this world never have to make those tough decisions. It's clear throughout the book, especially given the title, that Sarah is more involved that she claims, and that she's leaving out some parts of the story, but that isn't all revealed right away. The book made me a bit uncomfortable, knowing who is really to blame but also thinking about what I would have done differently had I been in Sarah's position. I liked it overall, some parts were frustrating, but relatable, even if you have never worked in film.

This book was hard to read at times, yet I couldn't stop reading it. This should be mandatory reading for every person wanting to work in Human Resources. I loved the character development of Sarah. And Thom the reporter was a gem of a character. I can see this being made into a movie.

https://twitter.com/KandiCowart/status/1481628312355094530

The author has such a creative voice in writing this story. The movie imagery and references added a unique levity and perspective and I especially enjoyed the italicized writing where the reader was able to hear and imagine the main character’s words and thoughts that went unspoken. Great story told in a digestible way!

I think I’m one of the right targets who truly get interested in this book more than average readers as a independent screenplay writer who witnessed the ugly face of movie industry!

I easily connected with Sarah and her striking story. The dynamics between Sarah and Sylvia are realistically developed. The sarcastic tone of story telling is well harmonized with interview excerpts help us to view multiple free voices and unique perspectives.

It was truly worth staying up all night and attending to your meeting red eyed.

Let’s take a brief look to the plot:
Sarah, a brilliant cinephile dreaming to become a screenwriter, applies for a job to Firefly Productions for the intern position. She quickly gets assistant producer position by taking attention of Sylvia Zimmerman. Her new job is working on the script and production processes of company’s upcoming project which is written and gonna be directed by Xander Schulz. A British millionaire Hugo North’s sudden involvement into project changes the entire dynamics including the production company’s name.

Then we move ten years forward: Sarah is not part of the industry anymore. She’s a lecturer, teaching screenplay writing at community college. A reporter who investigates that filming process of Xander’s script approaches her to hear her thoughts.

There are so many “#MeToo” stories circulating around different women who were also involved into production. Sarah decides it’s time to confront her past by starting to talk about what she’s been through: telling her traumatic life story by mentioning how hard to have a decent and proper job when you grow up as Chinese immigrants’ daughter.

Racism, women empowerment, #MeToo movement are sensitively approached and powerful voice of the author picks your interest from the first chapter!

I’m giving my five realistic, well approached and genuine criticism of movie industry with feminism vibes stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria/ Emily Bestler Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

THE WRITING OF THIS BOOK KEEPS YOU SO ENTRANCED. I can't rave enough about how well written this book is. I was so drawn in by the summary but the writing blew me out of this world. The protagonist is a dry humor, cynical person who you can't help but root for. Sarah always dreamt of being a screenwriter and was on the road of climbing the ranks however the book starts years alter where she is a lecturer having given up due to the ugly reality of the industry. The book is about reflecting on the past and accepting your decisions in the past despite them not being the best at the time. This ran like a thriller book however I would not describe it as one, but rather a drama book that speaks VOLUMES about topics that need to be spoken more about like sexual assault, women empowerment, and more. I thoroughly recommend this book. It is so different from other books I have read.

A poignant portrayal of the entertainment industry. Sarah struggles with the decisions she's made as an associate producer,  and what she could have done differently. Her silence has become her punishment and she is resolute to speak the truth and set the record straight. This was a fantastic and eye-opening read.

Sarah Lai was a cinephile who dreamt of working in the film industry. She got a job as an intern for a producer, Sylvia Zimmerman, of Firefly Productions, who is working on a film by an up -and- coming writer /director Xander Schulz. Sarah learned quickly and worked hard and became an assistant producer helping rewrite Xander's script and revising publicity for his first film then casting and running the filming production for his second movie. Hugo North, a British Millionaire, joins the production team as the financier and becomes an executive producer in the company and the name changes to Conquest Productions. Hugo is larger than life with a checkbook and credit cards to match.

The book takes place 10 years later with Sarah now teaching screen writing at a community college and centers on Sarah talking to a NY Times reporter Thom Gallagher about her years working on Xander's films and working with Hugo, Xander, Sylvia. There are a number of "MeToo" stories circulating and Thom is interviewing a number of people who worked on the production. Sarah tells the story of her life as a child of Chinese immigrants, working in her parents' restaurant and dreaming of film. She tells of being the responsible one, the naïve one, the go to person that everyone could count on to get the job done. It is the story of what she saw, what she suspected happened, what happened to her, and what she did to protect her job in spite of all of that.

It is a mechanism to talk about sexism and sexual assault, harassment, groping in the film industry and how women view other women, how they blamed the women for putting themselves in that position, how women sometimes closed their eyes to what they suspected was happening because they didn't want to think it could happen to them, or that the man they trusted was capable of such behavior, or that they needed to ignore it in order to protect their jobs, how they wrote it off the the "cost of doing business" or "what can you do about it". It is also the story of how women blamed themselves if it did happen to them, how they shut down, powered through, pretended it didn't happen, or dropped out in order to protect themselves and their careers. It is the story of male privilege on a couple of levels, there are hint as white privilege, and the story of the privilege of wealth. It is the story of the effect that trauma has on people in their present and their futures.

It was a well written story using the device of interview excerpts to insert multiple voices into the story. The main characters are fleshed out. The relationship between Sarah and Sylvia is well done, especially how it changed when the story moved to L.A. and how they protected each other at times and blamed each other for events that occurred.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an unbiased review.

Complicit
By Winnie M Li

This book had me up till early morning hours.
The plot had me gripped.
Pacing was amazing.
These characters practically walk off the page, they're so realistic it was beyond amazing.
This book exceeded my already high expectations; it emanates a quiet power, a slow drawing in and connection of reader to book, one that I found myself able to get lost in due to the lush atmosphere and the depth of emotion.

Atria/Emily Bestler Books,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review closer to pub date.

<b>How far is one woman willing to compromise her values for her dream?</b>

Sarah Lai has always dreamed of working in the movie business. A cinephile from a young age, she did not follow the traditional career path that her parents had hoped for when they immigrated to the US. Sarah gained an entry-level job for a production company and climbed the ranks quickly by working harder than anyone and leveraging her passion and talent. She soon found herself entangled with Hugo North, an enigmatic businessman and film producer.

Years later, Sarah has abandoned her dream and settled for a job as a lecturer. But when receives an email from a famous journalist who is working on a story about North and his past, specifically accusations of sexual misconduct against him, she finds herself revisiting her past and reflecting on the mistakes she’s made during her career.

This was an engaging read for me. The plot was timely in light of the #Metoo movement that sprung up in 2017. The writing was good. And while imperfect, Sarah was a character that I’m sure many women will relate to. I couldn’t stop reading and while I wouldn’t say this is a thriller, it still grabbed and kept my attention. I appreciated the details that the author wrote about how films get produced. I ended the book with more insight on the industry.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is looking for an engaging read.

Ooo this one was definitely a suspenseful one... I was definitely intrigued the whole time and it was a fantastic read. The characters were crazy, I loved them. Such a thrill and the writing was out of this world.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Complicity.

Ever since Harvey Weinstein was busted and #MeToo was created, there have been a steady rise of novels with similar premises.

Complicit is about a young woman of color with a passion for film and filmmaking whose career is derailed after years of sacrifice, hard work and a shocking assault.

When the opportunity arises to tell her story, she must balance her regret against her desire to tell her story truthfully and her own complicity in what happened over a decade ago.

I loved that the main character was Asian, a rare commodity in the whitewashed filmmaking industry. Sarah Lai is resourceful, intelligent and hard working, and taught to toe the line, as if culturally expected in her upbringing.

The writing is great; how author introduces readers to Sarah Lai and how she became part of the cutthroat world of the film industry, giving readers a behind the scenes look at what it takes to produce a film.

Filmmaking is not a glamorous job; it's hard and demanding work and it can take years to produce and complete a film.

And it's boring because producing a movie is a business and business means seeking financing, reams of paperwork, logistics, details, the constant follow up with emails and phone calls.

At times the narrative dragged, mostly when it came to the exposition involving how long it takes to produce a movie; searching for the right cast and actors, auditions.

There's no suspense since you know where Sarah's story is going to end up; this is about how she felt after the assault, her regret and sorrow for not speaking up, at realizing what 'complicit' truly means and her role in the drama that was unfolding around her and everyone else.

I really liked the hopeful ending for Sarah and anyone else who may be in a similar situation.

The title of this book accurately describes the story in one word - Complicit.

This story takes place in the beginning stages of the #metoo movement in Hollywood. Men are being held accountable for their past behavior. In this story, we have one ambitious woman who used to be part of the Hollywood scene. She is now being interviewed by an investigational journalist - I am picturing Ronan Farrow.

You can just feel her guilt. You can tell that she wants to tell the story and get it off her chest, but she is afraid. What will the journalist think? What will people who read the article think? How much of what happened was her fault and does she really KNOW what happened.

I thought the writing was excellent since I could picture the entire scene, and the characters. I could tell how each of them were feeling without it being spelled out. It did feel a little slow and I didn't like any of the characters. But I had to keep reading to see what happened.

I like how you received a lot of background on what the roles were in Hollywood and how they work together. I never realized what a producer actually does, so I loved that.

I like how this made me think about what I would do. Is there a difference between helping bad behavior and just ignoring it for your own career? I love that the main character was Asian - not to stereotype, but Asian women are raised to be a bit more submissive - meaning, dont rock the boat. But let's be honest - how many of us have just turned a blind eye when we are new in our careers? I was an auditor when I was first starting out, and I had a Board member slap me on the butt and ask me for coffee. I just got him coffee. Now being older, and wiser, and the times being more enlightened, would I handle it differently? maybe. This book gives you a lot of time to anticipate what's coming, and what you might have done.

This book is about the journey more than the destination.

I want to thank the author #WinniemMli the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

COMPLICIT is a great examination of how women participate in the subjugation of other women, not because they actively want to, but because they are afraid of the cost to themselves if they speak up. Sarah Lai's desire to get ahead and prove herself (to both her parents, the world and, most importantly, herself) is conjoined with her lifelong feeling of being on the outside, looking in. Li does an exceptional job of making Sarah into a full human being - one we root for and are disappointed by. This is a complicated, truthful story, beautifully told.

3 stars rounded up to 4
I really wanted to like this book. I’m just not one that enjoys politics creeping into my escape from them. The authors writing style is enjoyable, as is the storytelling, the “me too” stuff just isn’t for me though. I’m reading to escape that daily barrage. I will say the author handled the subject well.
I round up to 4 because I cannot doc the author any stars because I dont like the subject matter, when she did her job and did it well. It’s just not my taste in books.

A fictional account of a “Me Too” movement story. Sarah Lai finds her way into a movie production company. Her intelligence, hard work, and ambition soon elevates her to an associate producer position. This inside look at the movie industry was fascinating, but also disappointing in its realistic portrayal of sexual harassment, abuse, and the struggles women face in dealing with men in power. The title of the book - “Complicit” - is an accountability question for women. If a woman has been sexually harassed and/or abused but chooses to stay silent is she in some way complicit in the abuse of other women? It’s a complicated question and I’m sure there are many different opinions on the matter but my takeaway is that the abuser bears the responsibility. Victims do what they need to do at the time to survive, and thrive, and I refuse to assign any blame to them for the actions of the abuser in power. This book was really well written and not at all “preachy” or anti-male or helpless victim focused. Just an enjoyable and thought-provoking fictional read about a relevant and timely subject.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really liked this book I like to read about the entertainment industry. it was also interesting to read the parts about Me Too especially the way the author told it

This very timely and interesting novel is told through the eyes of Sarah Lai, a woman who was witness (complicit) in the machinations and abuse by a wealthy, powerful producer. The catalyst of the novel is the reporter, Thom Gallagher, who invites Sarah to share her recollections of this very disturbing story that has been part of the film industry. Of course, the story connects to all the ME TOO accusations that have been uncovered during the last years.

Sarah is a very sympathetic character, whose enthusiasm and love of film was crushed by the evil forces surrounding her. All of us, like Sarah, find others taking credit for the work we have done. Sarah makes bad decisions, keeps secrets but wraps herself in a cloak of victimhood.

I enjoyed this view of the inside of the politics of filmmaking, seen through the eyes of an abused assistant.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is really a great story. The topic is incredibly timely and it’s handled in a really smart way. It means you’re just somebody that you’ll get to know and relate to and try to understand. I would absolutely recommend this book.