This was not the book for me. I DNF'd at about 10%. I could not get into the story and unfortunately this is not the first time I have had such an experience with this authors books. I do believe some people would enjoy this book but it was just not for me.

Twenty years ago, gregarious Lorelei and mousy Holly became fast friends as students in the same college psychology seminar. Taught by an expert in control and human behavior, the two students also grew close to their charismatic professor. But in one twisted moment of gaslighting, their friendship flamed out and Lorelei’s once-promising future fell apart.

Flashforward, Holly has everything Lorelei ever wanted, while Lorelei is a lonely cat lady. Now, Holly is even up for an award at a Woman of the Year ceremony, and Lorelei finally has the perfect opportunity to get the revenge she’s wanted for years. But she’s not the only person who has been obsessively following Holly’s career—and when someone winds up dead, Lorelei realizes she may be in danger, too.

I have really enjoyed Darcey Bell’s previous novels, but Woman of the Year was a little far out for me. Very disappointing as I really wanted to get more into it, but sometimes struggle with gaslighting and SA content as it is triggering for me. Sadly, I had to stop reading part way as I just couldn’t push on reading.
I hope others are able to get into the storyline more than me.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the chance to read/review this ARC.

I think this is it for Darcey Bell and I.

First of all, there should've been a trigger warning at the beginning of this book for the animal abuse alone, but also for SA. Dark romances get a lot of criticism for their trigger warnings but you're not going into those blind, and other book genres should really follow suit.

Aside from that, I just did not connect with this story. I love an unreliable narrator that leaves you questioning everything, but this book started sooo slowly and I just truly didn't care to pick it back up. I ended up mostly skimming, and the scenes I mentioned above were enough to dissuade me from finishing this one. No star rating for that reason!

Woman of the Year follows the main character's, Lorelei, story about her revenge scheme on a former college best friend, Holly Serpenta. Lorelei is very much at this point a cat lady in the making. Her cats are very prominent in her life. Lorelei and Holly were both psychology students taking a class together which was basically a group therapy session monitored by faculty and upper-grad students. Lorelei falls for her older and very intelligent, sexy, and mysterious professor. She and the professor start an inappropriate sexual relationship that she keeps secret from Holly and it strains their relationship. As most teacher-student relationships do, theirs ended after 6 weeks but something strange happens that changes her feelings towards her professor and best friend. Twenty years later her ex-best friend is receiving the Woman of the Year Award and Lorelei wants revenge for what happened in college, which we are told about throughout the story. Turns out someone else had the same idea and Holly Serpenta winds up dead. Lorelei is convinced she knows who the murderer is but is surprised when she learns the truth and when her cat, CatZilla attacks them. Lorelei throughout seems unhinged, a little crazy, and unreliable as the story teller. She is also borderline a crazy cat lady. But I loved how she was portrayed and how you unravel why she feels and is the way she is. A very intriguing, unique, and psychological mystery that kept me entertained. Also any story with cats is great!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this entertaining ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was probably one of the most original thrillers I've read. The crazy cat lady POV was a wild ride and I never could really guess where the author was taking us with the story. The repetition of the narrative and animal abuse aspects turned me off, but it was a quick and fascinating book. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I give up on this author. This book was so choppy and sloppy.

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

When Lorelei finds out her college best friend-turned-enemy will be receiving a Woman of the Year award, she decides that not only must she attend, she must also enact revenge on Holly. She comes up with a plan to harm and humiliate Holly at the gala, just to knock down her ego a bit. But when Holly ends up dead, things only get worse for Lorelei.

This is my second book from this author. If I had not read another book by her previously, I do not think I would have finished this, but I was optimistic the book would get better. Boy, was I wrong. The main character was so unlikable it was tough to root for. Coupled with the repetitive writing throughout the book (we get it, Holly is Woman of the Year- no need to mention it every single paragraph!) the book was tough to hold interest and get through. While the subplot of her past chapters from college were more interesting, they still dragged a bit and then ended up pretty anticlimactic. In the general the entire book felt like a love letter to cats, which added in a lot of strange story lines.

Unfortunately I would not recommend this book, but would be open to reading the author's next book. Maybe third time's a charm?

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Woman of the year- thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster this one published last week so I’m a bit late to promote it! This is by the author of a simple favor and follows the dark side of female friends and is a fun little revenge plot that gets out of hand!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This book made me almost vomit. As someone with a cat, I was extremely grossed out. This book is not for the faint of heart. I really don't know how much more I can say. It was a quick read/listen, but I for sure need a VERY light read after this one. Just not my vibe. This book should have a MAJOR trigger warning. There was animal testing/abuse, sexual assault, and suicide.

I really enjoyed A Simple Favor, but this was not it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell

This was a fun read for me. I love an unreliable narrator and Lorelei is a little unstable. I love the dual timeline so we’re learning about Lorelei’s trauma as she is currently moving forward with this revenge plot, but the further the story progresses the more I wondered how much was actually true.

But I wanna know what you think. Do you believe all of her trauma? Or does it feel like she’s living in her own world.

Special shout-out to Catzilla for being the real hero.

Thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this advanced reader. Woman of the Year released 3/21/24.

#BookReview #Bookstagram #DarceyBell #WomanOfTheYear #AtriaBooks #BookishLife #Reading #Bibliophile #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #InstaBooks #BookNerd #ThrillerBooks #Fiction

I've loved all of Darcey Bell's books so far, but this one missed the mark for me a little bit. There was a lot of narration from the protagonist, and it seemed like very little action or dialogue. until the very end This book also seemed to lack some direction in the beginning and it was hard to see where it was going. While the twist at the end was well done overall, it didn't really solicit a strong response from me. Overall, this was an average read, especially compared to her previous novels.

This book was not what I expected - it was strangely, yet uniquely laid out which took a little time to get used to. I was not a fan of any of the characters or the storyline -it felt very immature and like there was something missing from the plot.

This book had a strong start for me. It was was fast paced and intriguing. It did start to lose me a bit about 60-70% in as it felt a bit repetitive, but the ending was unexpected.
I don’t think the writing style will be for everyone as it’s written as the character thinks, but I did enjoy that. All in all I gave this one 3⭐️

Couldn’t get into this one. The novel started slow and never picked up steam. I wasn’t able to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Woman of the Year! In true Darcey Bell fashion, Woman of the Year was twisty, dark, and a little, well, weird. The novel takes us through a psychological journey, starting with Lorelei’s college years in a psychology class with interesting methods of learning. From here, we learn about Lorelei’s relationship with her college professors, unique cat, and Holly, the now Woman of the Year. Trigger warnings for animal abuse, psychological experiments, and gaslighting. Not sure this one was for me, but if you have an unhealthy obsession with cats and suspending your belief for an entire book, it may be for you!

This is my second book by this author and I’m beginning to think maybe she’s not for me. I don’t enjoy her writing style and that’s ok because maybe she works great for other people. I do however wish there were some trigger warnings for this particular novel. I cannot do animal abuse/testing and that was very offputting and probably ended up ruining the book for me.

Twenty years ago, gregarious Lorelei and mousy Holly became fast friends as students in the same college psychology seminar. Taught by an expert in control and human behavior, the two students also grew close to their charismatic professor. But in one twisted moment of gaslighting, their friendship flamed out and Lorelei’s once-promising future fell apart.
Flashforward, Holly has everything Lorelei ever wanted, while Lorelei is a lonely cat lady. Now, Holly is even up for an award at a Woman of the Year ceremony, and Lorelei finally has the perfect opportunity to get the revenge she’s wanted for years. But she’s not the only person who has been obsessively following Holly’s career—and when someone winds up dead, Lorelei realizes she may be in danger, too.
This book wasn't terrible but it wasn't super great either. The plot seemed promising but I just had a hard time staying interested in it and almost decided not to finish it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria Books for an eARC of Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell.

This was my first read by this author after watching A Simple Favor as a movie.

The book follows the friendship of Lorelei and Holly from start twenty years ago - to a flash forward of their lives now. What was once a blossoming friendship may now be an absolute nightmare.

This book was OK for me - I usually don't have any triggers, but animal abuse is absolutely one and wasn't something I expected. Just to keep in mind going into this one if that may bother you. I found it a bit predictable, but binge-able nonetheless!

Woman of the Year was a much anticipated read for me but unfortunately did not live up to all of the hype I made for it for myself. Lorelei narrates her tale of revenge while also coming across as a very unreliable narrator, so you’re not sure what story to believe. The time jumps of memory versus present day were not made super clear at all points throughout the story, so I found myself getting reacclimated any time a new chapter started. While the twists were quite clever, I wished they were somehow executed in a more wily way.
Overall, the story is quite unique and entertaining. It does contain mentions of animal testing and animal abuse as well as psychological testing.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.