I wanted to absolutely love this book. Being a woman that has been in an interracial relationship/marriage for almost 20 years, I could relate to what Jess was going through not only being in an interracial relationship but also being the main person of colour around the work place and living away from family. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the chemistry between Jess and Josh, it was there, but Josh’s lack of understanding through me sideways and kept my eyes rolling. So when they finally had the big fight we all saw coming, I thought okay good, they both need to work on themselves and once Jess started feeling a bit better after the passing of her father and Josh calling her months later, I thought, okay, he changed too. But it seems as though that wasn’t the case. I would have loved to see Josh grow more too instead of them living in their bubble acting like “everything’s fine.” So I’d give this a 3.5.

I absolutely loved this book!! I couldn’t put it down.
I just loved all the characters. I highly recommend this book.

Hmm… this book was not it for me.
DNF at 23% which is typically way earlier than I tend to put a book down but there were a couple of things I just couldn’t get past! The first was the writing style which was extremely hard to follow - it was choppy in general but also jumped around a lot between thoughts making it hard to piece together exactly what was going on! I also just did not agree with some of the very conservative views coming from one of the main characters, it left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

A solid coming of age debut that explores the complexities of interracial relationships, the corporate work scene in NYC during the early 2000s and life for BIPOC people under Obama and later Trump. Relatable, vulnerable and very astute.

Highly recommended, especially for fans of books like The other Black girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris or Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst. Good on audio narrated by Denee Benton. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

What do you think about an enemies to lovers, opposites attract story, with a healthy sprinkling of race, class and politics? Everything’s Fine by Cecilia Rabess covers it all. This story centres around Jess, a single black woman trying to make it in the predominantly white male business world. Enter Josh, her classmate who relentlessly debated her about every issue and is now her co-worker at Goldman Sachs. Jess finds that she does not really fit in at work, and second guesses herself when Josh surprises her by helping her out. When she is able to figure out his formula on her own, he no longer underestimates her ability and over time and conversations, the two become friends. Josh ultimately leaves and heads up projects at a competitive trading firm. Jess finds that she misses him and Josh sets up a monthly dinner date where they continue to debate about anything and everything. Eventually, their friendship spills over into social events and even Thanksgiving with Josh’s Mother. Josh convinces Jess to leave Goldman Sachs and work for his company where she once again ends up having to prove her worth. To spite excellent performance, she is let go and she blames Josh for leaving her in the dark. Over time, their friendship turns into more, but the two keep their relationship a secret from everyone. As Donald Trump rises in the Republican Party and racial tensions rise in the USA, Jess and Josh try to navigate their opposing political views in this new climate with their personal relationship. Following an argument, tragedy strikes and Jess and Josh must figure out if their relationship can survive. Jess is a wonderful character, so full of passion and intelligence, and trying to find her own way in the world while so many people have underestimated her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After reading a bunch of reviews from trusted friends, I've decided not to read this. It sounds like it won't be my cup of tea, and that there were some frustrations with the story that I've had in similar tales. 3 stars as a neutral rating!

I recently listened to a Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books podcast in which Curtis Sittenfeld was the guest. Curtis was asked what she was reading and she raved about Everything’s Fine and the author’s writing style. As a big Sittenfeld fan I knew I had to seek this out.

The book is basically a will-they/won’t-they romance between two very different people. Jess and Josh come from very different backgrounds and have opposing political viewpoints. They initially meet in university and his conservative outlook and opinions turn her off. They, however, reconnect upon both being hired by Goldman Sachs after graduation where they realize they have a spark.

This book had a lot of dialogue that was sophisticated and smart and about meaningful issues. The relationship development was filled with a lot of nuance and depth. It wasn’t a light romance book. However, the will-they/won’t-they drama was a tad too drawn out and started to wear thin for me. I also really didn’t like the leading man, Josh, as a character and didn’t find him to have any redeeming qualities.

Overall I liked this story and the way that it incorporated current issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and Trump politics. It was thought-provoking and a fresh take on this genre.

will not be reviewing this book - i don't know who signed off on this concept and thought that racist characters that don't change for the duration of the book is someone we would want to root for in a romance(?)/romantic subplot, nor the ignoring of said racist behaviours and words on the grounds of 'love' or 'difference of opinions' - just gross and tone deaf and ignorant

I just am not getting along with this writing style. It is very choppy and jumpy, so you’re unable to settle into the story. It also makes it difficult to create any kind of connection with the characters.

I just don’t think this one is for me.

Everything’s Fine is about Jess, a black woman, working as an analyst but gets treated like the coffee runner and a bunch of horrible men that basically keep their backs to her. One of them is supposed to be a love interest and he’s also racist.
We want to see the best in people, I get that, but Jess was stuck in the most toxic relationship and I felt for her. There are different viewpoints and ideology that makes this relationship so entirely fractured and it’s not just politics. (ie. him thinking abolishing rent control in New York wouldn’t be a bad thing)
In my opinion, Everything’s Fine is not a love story but a tale of caution of being in a relationship that everyone sees is diminishing you, thinking that you’re in love, but not at all being seen or respected. The ending isn’t neatly tied in a bow either, it leaves it open and I will continue to root for Jess finding her own.

This is not the book for me - way too many negative reviews and poor feedback surrounding this book.

I’m still trying to process my feelings about this book. It is well written and clever. The story itself was very clever.. I felt like I was taking turns being frustrated by the two main characters. Mostly Josh. I had a very hard time identifying with him, though at times he was very lovable. You get the feeling at one point that he has evolved, but by the end I felt like he hadn’t learned anything.
It ended very abruptly. So abruptly that I thought there was a problem with the epub I sent to my kindle.
I found the pacing to be confusing. The story jumped around a lot.

Thank you Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.