Absolutely loved this book -- it felt real without being cliche, true to life for an LA native and I appreciated the just general sense of malaise. I also thought the relationship between the mom and daughter was well characterized; the mom was a nightmare person that in a flattened AITA Reddit post would have inspired the daughter to go no contact, but the pull and the love the daughter still had for her made it more nuanced and textured.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and Netgalley for the ARC.

Milk Fed meets The Devil Wears Prada?

A solid debut about the inner conflicts we face as feminist women trying to succeed professionally. I was really rooting for the narrator, and both loved and hated how much I related to her sometimes. She navigates a new job, her own mental health and that of her mother, interpersonal issues with friends and men, and body image. There were moments when she was grappling with the inherent hypocrisy of trying to get ahead as a woman in a man’s world when I wanted to shout YES THIS IS SO TRUE AND SO FRUSTRATING!

Some issues with fleshing out the secondary characters, and the prose tended towards simplistic, but absolutely worth a read if you’re interested in the themes.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault/harassment.

I could not finish this book. I tried, but I could only make it half way. Not only is the main character incredibly pedantic, she also sucks any happiness out of the room, to include the one I’m in.

Now, I’m giving this three stars because I believe the character may be intended to come across that way. Maybe she’ll have a moment of growth, maybe she won’t.

I would recommend having something break up the incessant droning and judgement of the main character or you will likely lose a lot of readers.

I didn't think about this book being 'new adult' until I happened to glance it in description notes partway through, and then it was all I could see while I was reading it. Not that that's bad, but it is a story for which the grit sort of straddles the line, and I'm not sure the ending was satisfying. All that being said, it was well written and felt like an authentic experience. You could tell the author knew of what she spoke. Had high un-put-down-ability (as the pros say, haha).

This book was very well written. The characters were whole and complete people, flaws and all. The plot moved forward at a decent pace, the settings were well described, and the themes discussed were done so thoroughly and without pretense.

All that said, if you've seen the movie Bombshell, this is Bombshell told from the perspective of Kate McKinnon's character (minus the lesbian aspect). Our unnamed narrator is a liberal feminist, fresh outta college who lands a job at a major production company in Hollywood. She then discovers all that glitters isn't really gold and the harsh realities of being a woman "in the business" and in general along with the Catch-22 you find yourself in in all efforts to effect major change. I do think more stories like this need to be told, but this felt a like a story that's already been told (via film rather than book) with a slight spin - the studio is a film studio in Cali rather than a TV network in New York. We get to know our narrators narcissistic mother, her angry brother (fleetingly), and her attempt at a romance, but these side stories lend little to the themes of the book. Overall, this was s solidly-written story, it was just one I've heard before.

Major trigger warnings: SA on and off the page, manipulative parent, frequent mention of dieting/thinness vs fatness/body image.

Certainly not a happy tale, but pretty well written. I'm sure women will have a different experience with this story than men. It's mostly engaging, and I hope Kaplan continues to write.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Would make a great book club read, lots of relevant topics to discuss. The unnamed female protagonist gets a job in the entertainment industry. The book raises issues of sexism, sexual harassment, body image issues, eating disorders, etc. There may not be that much happening plot-wise, but the book is thought-provoking.

4 stars

Talk about grit! This was such an authentic and compelling read. The story follows an unnamed female protagonist and recent Harvard graduate. Recently moved back to LA, dreading the interactions with her overbearing narcissistic attorney mother, all while trying to land a job. Once settling in with an old friend as a roommate, her mother gets her an interview with her long-time friend and head of XBC, a broadcasting company, Robert Braun. As a favor, he creates a temporary job for her as a foot in the door.

Overall this story is about tackling the male-dominated industry, as well as jumping in on topics such as body dysmorphia, eating disorders, OCD behaviors/habits, anxiety, and sexual assault.

This book was left completely open-ended. It is entirely up to the reader to decide what happens and if there is a chance at attempting to change a system and dynamic that is soo hard to escape and made to benefit men and fail women or whether to ignore it and use it as an advantage. It's definitely a conversational piece that brought up many emotions in me but also was incredibly relatable and refreshing at times.

This read is full of compelling language to tell the story of an authentic main character trying to succeed in a boys' club industry. It's an interesting read.

Content warnings: sexual assault, body dysmorphia, eating disorders

I really enjoyed this book and read it within about a day. I appreciate the generational glimpse of feminism in action between the main character and her mother, and the conflicting feelings and impulses even from people who are advocates/allies to women. I also appreciated the way body image and eating disorders come up in the book, from the comments from the narrator's physician to her reaction to being initially read as a sex worker. I liked the very final image, of us not knowing who the protagonist will call back, and the opportunity to imagine where that might lead her.

The book isn't the perfect fit for me, as I feel it could still be even fresher--the brief mentions to the friend who is dating the couple and into crystals, for example, made me wonder what that book might be like. But that's definitely a matter of personal taste in the subject matter and fit. This is a great novel and one I'm sure many people will relate to and find valuable.

This was really interesting! This story follows an unnamed protagonist as she navigates the world of media. It's an interesting and necessary look into the big question: can we change a broken system from the inside? How much impact can one person really have? Kaplan's writing style is sharp and biting, and it's really what cements NSFW as something incredible.

“I don’t like being alone with my indignation.”

NSFW by Isabel Kaplan tells the story of an unnamed protagonist (the first of many Moshfegh references) as she navigates a highly desirable entry-level role in media. The world she enters is cutthroat and that tension is felt throughout, making this book a page turner. This book is a study of whether it’s possible to change a toxic system from the inside - and if we could, would it even be worth it? This book is biting in the best way -- you can tell that Kaplan is drawing from lived (universal?) experiences as the themes here are familiar. Gender norms, getting your first job, slowly learning what is expected of you, and what role you’re expected to play. I would recommend this book for fans of “My Body” and Ottessa Moshefegh.

TW: Assault

NSFW unexpectedly hooked me not only for the honest and sharp writing, but because of the author’s ability to accurately capture corporate workplace culture. It made me remember the suffocating feeling following college graduation of trying decide on my hopes and dreams, and once employed, the constant feeling of imposter syndrome.

Following graduation, the unnamed main character moves back to LA where she receives a job at a broadcasting network in Hollywood. As she struggles to get noticed by executives and competes with her colleagues for recognition, she is faced with the haunting reality of gender discrimination and sexual abuse by men in power. As she navigates her job and personal life, she struggles between doing what is ethical and doing what is best for her career.

I loved the amount of detail and research that clearly went into writing this book from the mention of a food science course the protagonist took in college to the hushed conversations women whisper as they retell stories where a man might have crossed the line. The author also excelled when it came to portraying the toxic relationship the protagonist had with her mother and how most people struggle to set boundaries with their loved ones. I wish the ending had more closure regarding the allegations, but maybe the author did not want to disappoint the audience with yet another case of abuse that goes unpunished.

Terrific. Kaplan's obviously drawing on real-life experience because she nails every tiny detail of what it's like to work in the studio system in modern LA. She has an exquisite ear for dialogue and paints her characters quickly and nimbly. It's not plot-heavy, and that is to the book's credit. Brutally honest and deeply funny.

Interesting but just couldn’t get into it. A story of a girls transition from an entry level job and even the struggle to get this entry level job. The true life of working in Hollywood from sexual harassment to living with her boyfriend. Awkward, difficult to follow and honestly didn’t even want to finish. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Henry Holt & Company and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

A page turner at its finest. A well thought out story about behaviors in the workplace that are often accepted, even now.

trigger warnings for sexual assault, harassment, etc.
a wonderful exploration of sexism in an industry a lot of us only see from the outside
this has a wonderfully complex main character that we can simultaneously get furious at and root for
narrative is also pretty engaging and i felt myself turning the pages quickly
the way kaplan is able to write about such multifaceted scenarios and allow multiple angles on the ways women are treated by an industry that sees them as disposable is truly masterful
there were some issues i had with the plot here and there but nothing major
a short but definitely worthwhile read!

This one kept me turning the pages! Kaplan does a phenomenal job exploring the sexism and "acceptable" behaviors that are often seen in many workplaces. The lack of closure in the book felt perfect, because so many who experience these situations never receive closure, they just work to move forward.