The best analogy for this book would be the the way protagonist Lily's girlfriend Alison watches queer films: looking for something that doesn't fall into stereotypical tropes...but ending up always disappointed. When I saw this book in Vogue's 2024 Most-Anticipated novels list, I was intrigued by the premise of a queer main character and her developing relationship with a mentor. However, this relationship just never felt truly engaging, even when it verged into toxic territory. The pacing dragged on and the dialogue was interrupted repeatedly by sometimes pages-long flashbacks or descriptions breaking in after the first sentence of a conversation.

As part of the popular genre of "young woman in fast-paced industry comes to a reckoning" (from The Devil Wears Prada to The Assistants and The Other Black Girl, among many many others), I really wanted this to bring something new and fresh to the table, but it ended up just rehashing old tropes and telling, not showing, examples of Lily's journey from oppressed magazine writer to published author. As things moved towards the conclusion, it feels increasingly meta (former glossy magazine writer pens debut novel about being a queer multi-racial woman...sounds familiar...) and while it does wrap up most of its plot threads in a satisfying way, there was nothing special or new that stuck with me beyond the last page.

Lily is in her thirties, working for a fairly reputable fashion magazine that is slowly decaying along with the rest of the publishing industry, and... is a bit lost. She's unhappy, yet uncertain what to do next. Or if there's a thing to do next. In the midst of this identify crisis, she meets Billie Astor, sophisticated, well-known make-up industrty magnate. Billie offers to mentor her, and thus embarks a texting interchange that will change Lily forever.
In the end, it really didn't click with me. I felt like the story was very repetitive. It goes; Lily texts Billie after a situation at work and then Billie texts back with some
tough love that Lily doesn't agree with. I think that if we had more in-person moments between the two it would've broken up the monotony of just the texts. I felt that the relationships in this book weren't very compelling to me.

A chance meeting changes Lily's life in this coming of age/toxic relationship story. Lily's struggling in the evolving media landscape and in her romantic life so when Billie, a rich and powerful woman begins to text her, she's all in. Except that Billy's a lot older and she doesn't seem to have any compunctions about what she does to others. It's an interesting look at the media world but more so about the power dynamic. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

Prepare to follow Lily, journalist who catches the attention of beauty executive Billie, the older woman in the setting of the New York elite. In the beginning, I fell into the author’s storytelling with the use of metaphors, adjectives, and, at times, the scenes could be quite descriptive.
Lily could be an unlikeable character, jaded and defensive, always ready to contradict whatever a person said to her. At times, she came across as self sabotaging and insufferable for her life, and it made me wonder why a lot, as I don’t think the author gave enough attention as to why, In the end, I really don’t think I am the target market for this book. This is an easy read, good transitions and even pacing. If you pick this up, just be prepared for a lot of negativity, specifically coming from the main character.

The plot is everything I knew I would love in a book, a writer working in the magazine industry, stuck between writing pieces that she does not care for, she meets a beauty executive B at an event and B is intrigued with her writing, offers her advice on it, and we take off. But I did not enjoy this book the way I thought I would, I kept wanting to give up because we have B who is so damn hard on Lily, and then Lily dealing with her own things, there was just a lot going on. It gave me Under the Influence by Noelle Crooks, which I also didn’t enjoy. I know there are readers out there who would love this book, but it was not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This is the kind of extremely niche industry perspective novels that might as well be autobiographical that attract literary awards buzz. It just wasn't for me. I really wanted to like this, the ingredients were all there, and yet it felt indulgent and rambling. It feels like in every instance the author could have delved deeper into the intersectional commentaries that were right there for the picking, instead decided to languish in the inane atmosphere of their comfort. Ironic that this is ostensibly about an editor and I am baffled one didn't root for this to be at least half the length. The characters are extremely and transparently flattened through the protagonist's baby steps to some epiphany. Or perhaps the jaded glitz of fashion and beauty magazines in NYC is just never a world that will feel relatable to me. Not even for the sapphics, but I tried.

Unfortunately, this did not live up to the premise for me. The premise: Lily is a magazine writer trying to further her career and dreading the encroachment of digital on her dream profession. Billie is a cosmetics mogul known for her diva antics and cold demeanor. After a chance encounter, Billie decides to take Lily under her wing and mentor her through her career struggles.

The reality: a slog of a novel with endless complaining about digital killing off print magazines that feels decades old in 2024 and a lot of telling us this mentorship is toxic without showing any real toxicity.

The writing was good and it seems like this might be personal for Lawrence, so hopefully with this story out of her system, she can move on to more interesting topics.

I won't lie to you, people on the other side of this Netgalley feedback, I dnf'd this. I thought I was going to enjoy it, but Lily just got on my nerves to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore. The premise was strong, but I just wasn't feeling the execution.

It was REALLY hard to like Lily. The micro aggressions brought back almost every interaction with my previous supervisor.
Having this entire novel take place via text is a great idea, and the plot was good, but the ending fell a bit flat.

Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying this as much as I thought I would. While it was an interesting look into publishing and being a 30-something in NYC, I expected something different. I wish more time had been spent fleshing out the toxic mentorship (as it didn't even really come off as that toxic or important) and less time in the main character's head listening to her complain about the same things over and over. I do think the writing was great, and am looking forward to more from this author, I just think this one didn't deliver what it had promised.

ELLIPSES unfortunately didn't quite live up to its premise for me. I enjoyed the commentary on the fashion and magazine worlds and the difficulty of carving out a career as a young person. However, the dynamic between Lily and B never pushed the power dynamic far enough for me, leaving me wondering why Lily felt so caught up in the relationship. What felt like an explosive scene at the beginning of the novel felt like a deflation when we arrived back at it at the end of the novel since that relationship never really got much depth.

Such a shame!

I had such high hopes for this novel, unfortunately the overall story felt incomplete. Even though I didn't love this book, it's still worth reading. The writing is superb. Vanessa Lawrence has a beautiful and exciting prose. Lawrence just needs to work on creating a stronger and memorable storyline. I wasn't inspired by the plot. The writing pretty much saved this book. Lily was a great protagonist, but I detested Billie. Billie was so unlikeable and wooden. I wanted so much more, but this book left me feeling deflated towards the end. It's a mixed bag for me.

Ellipses was such an interesting book and concept for me. Lily, a young woman frustrated in her career, develops a strange mentorship and relationship with an older woman who has been a pioneer in her field. I enjoyed the discussions of race within the workplace and the toxicity between Lily and B.

Ellipses is a thoughtful and thought-provoking debut that follows Lily, a writer for a major magazine, as she navigates the decline of her print career as digital takes over, the complications of her relationship with her girlfriend, Alison, and the sometimes-good, sometimes-dangerous advice from her sort-of mentor, Billie. The prose is smart and sharp, and the experience through Lily’s eyes (journalism; workplace drama; life as a queer, mixed-race woman) feels deeply considered and lived-in. Through Lawrence’s storytelling, we get an insider’s look at life in the world of media that’s a good fit for fans of Sally Rooney and readers of classic periodicals like Elle, Vogue, and Cosmopolitan.

3.75/5 stars

"Ellipses" by Vanessa Lawrence is full of tension.

Lily is a journalist for a print magazine who is stalling out in her career, and a bit in her life as well. She has erected walls around herself that even her long-term girlfriend cannot penetrate. When a chance meeting puts her in direct contact with Billie Aston, a rich, successful, older, and queer icon, Lily is seduced by the chance to further her career with one-on-one mentoring. Lily and Billie quickly develop a digital mentorship, communicating only via text, and on Billie's schedule.

As work gets more difficult for Lily and she realizes how her bosses are taking advantage of her, she clings to advice from Billie to help her through, regardless of how it starts to affect her personal life.

I think this book had a great idea - sort of a queer, POC, "The Devil Wears Prada", set against a digital/modern backdrop-- but at times got caught up in the weeds of the "themes" it was attempting to deal with. As a mixed-race person myself, I loved Lily's perspective on her Asian and white backgrounds and how that affected being seen in the world. I did however feel like Lily would go on for paragraphs about her experiences and troubles in an "information dump" method as opposed to showing us through interactions. While there is certainly an underlying (and very intriguing!) plot to this novel, most of it happens inside Lily's head where she is just going over decisions and choices in her head and I did find that slow at times. I also enjoyed Lily's friends and the conversations she had with them around making a life she was happy with and not feeling forced into heteronormative milestones.

Either way, I did enjoy this read, and thought that Lily's and Billie's characters were very fresh and not at all what I expected. Lily consistently surprised me in her decision-making, especially with a big twist at the end!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love this novel--especially the ending. It's so powerful.

Ending was kinda weak but plot overall was quite cool. I found the choice to have it all by text cool and it worked well. Thanks for the arc!

While I felt hopeful about the premise of this book, the execution was lacking. There is too much telling and not enough showing. There was not enough tension building or action. The writing really lacked for me. There were so many opportunities to really explore race, class, and queer identity that just fell flat. I wanted to like this, but it just was not the book for me.

Ellipses by Vanessa Lawrence has such a promising concept—Lily, who is frustrated and feeling stuck within her career, meets B, a mega-successful business woman, who suddenly takes an interest in mentoring her. Through their texts, Lily develops a toxic and obsessive relationship with B, which spills into her personal life as well as her professional.

Over the span of the novel, Lily grapples with being mixed race in a world that prioritizes whiteness, being queer, and figuring out what it is she actually wants in life and how to reach it.

There's a lot I appreciated about Ellipses; I think the Lawerence did a fantastic job of showing how all of these facets of life that Lily was working through are intertwined. That feminism has to be inclusive, in regards to race, age, sexuality, ect.

However, I struggle giving it anything higher than a 3. Overall, I feel like the toxicity between B and Lily could have been pushed further, explored a little deeper. The audience definitely was exposed to it, but I feel like there could have been a bit more to really highlight that aspect. I also struggled with feeling like Lawrence was more of a 'teller' than a 'shower' and the ending felt a bit abrupt as well.

I was so intrigued by the concept but was let down with the full execution. It was still an enjoyable read, but I don't know if I would return to reread it.

3.5 stars! I was instantly intrigued by Ellipses—I always enjoy books with an NYC setting, that take place in the journalism/publishing (particularly magazine journalism!) worlds. The story follows Lily, a magazine writer who is navigating a toxic workplace, contemplating the future of her career, and feeling stagnant in her relationship with her girlfriend Alison. Then, the mysterious yet charming beauty executive Billie waltzes into her life, wanting to serve as her mentor—but will this new connection be more than Lily bargained for?

I loved how character-driven Ellipses was! I appreciated the focus on Lily and her journey to harness a stronger sense of identity in every facet of her life, as well as the social commentary and insights into what it is like to work in the media industry. I also enjoyed the relationship between Lily and Alison, and thought that aspect of the story was really well-done. However, I wanted a little more depth from the dynamic between Lily and Billie. Billie seems to have such a strong presence in Lily's life despite Lily only hearing from her over text, yet I feel like she lacked that presence in the book, if that makes sense. She was definitely a fascinating character, but their relationship dynamic itself wasn't as twisty or complex as the premise indicated it would be. Additionally, I loved the meta aspect of the ending, but felt like it could have been expanded on/drawn out a little more, and found the conclusion of the story a little abrupt overall. While I wanted more from certain parts of the story, I still thought Ellipses was a compelling, promising debut! Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC.