Rosie and Jordan are newlyweds who upturn their lives and move to a cabin deep in the mountains after Rosie seeds an Instagram ad that makes her feel dissatisfied with everything in her life. Jordan loses his job and they end up having to live entirely in the very rundown cabin they spent way too much money on and forced to rent out a shed to a couple who end up making Rosie question everything about who she thought she was and what she wanted.
I had a really hard time deciding if I liked this book because it feels like no one is honest and even the people who seemed nice and trustworthy turn out to be big surprises, not to mention that the main character gives up and doesn't really display any character growth. It's a bit of a study on false faces and wanting something more but not wanting to do the work or even fully acknowledging what it is you want.
I like the aspect of not really knowing what people are like and not projecting who we want them to be and then being surprised that they're nothing like we imagined. It's a neat story detail that I appreciate when done as expertly as in this book.
Unfortunately, I have issues with the main character, Rosie, and how she deals with things and her decisions, so that makes the story not as enjoyable as it could be. I saw the potential, but it turned out not to be for me.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the read!

I was able to read "Trust and Safety" by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman on NetGalley. This is the story of Rosie and Jordan, a newly married couple. Rosie decides she wants to leave New York City and move upstate, a more rural place. Jordan agrees to do this for her.
But then he loses his job and his parents help with the purchase of their new home, an impulse buy that they did not properly vet. The home needs a lot of work, so to help with money they rent an outbuilding to another couple. This is when emotions start to run high. I really liked this book.

I tried really hard to get into this one, but I just wasn't able to. I am still really thankful to the publisher, author, and netgalley for granting me advanced access to this digital collection before publication day.

The calmest part of Trust and Safety is the first chapter, in which our MCs Rosie and Jordan have just married. Then the twists and turns come quickly: home buying, job changes, new tenants...and that's just the beginning.

In the eighties, there were a few movies in which urban professionals move to the country with less-than-ideal outcomes. Trust and Safety is the modern, literary version of these films and I am so glad it exists. Blackett and Gleichman have written a clever, wry, thought-provoking satire of our connected society.

Thank you, Dutton and Netgalley, for an eARC in exchange for a fair review.

authors take note: you put the word "anti-capitalist" in a book summary and tell me the book is queer, i will be reading it.

this book introduces us to rosie, newly married to jordan, who is fed up with the hustle and bustle of new york, the incessant need for new things, the tiny spaces for exorbitant rents. my first indication this was going to be a funny book was when rosie finds a historical fixer-upper in the country via social media - 'the cure' for a highly-connected world that values things and exchanges of money being found via the... instrument used to peddle even more things to consumers. that's funny to me.

after a bidding war, the house is theirs and they head off to a ramshackle home where rosie wants to nourish herself with something she's yet to find in her life. but her husband has lost his job, so instantly they decide to take on two lesbian renters for the little shack/shed out back for extra money, which is something that leaves rosie questioning things about her marriage.

it's really hard to go more in depth without spoilers. this was a careful dissection of finding a new way of life. it's also a very specific commentary on how deep the roots of capitalism and social media and all its arms go. truly, the most entertaining/scary part of this book was the device (not unlike a Google Home or Alexa) that strategically listened to conversations had throughout the home and cheerfully recommended products based on what it's heard. seriously, those parts had me laughing out loud.

funny? yes. but also scary to think that this is something that's truly happening with our devices, how seductive instruments of capitalism can be in finding you, how hard they are to escape, and how hard it is not to find your way back to them.

i gave this a four star. the ending made me stare off into space for a little while. a very good read. funny. kinda terrifying. i can't wait to pick up other books from these writers.

I could not stop laughing when it came to this book. You get a home based on what you saw on the socials, realized it’s not what it all seems (like everything about social media) and now you are stuck with the hot mess of a property. This amazing couple moves in and they do their thing, and everything turns after that, I couldn’t stop laughing it was such a fun read, the different POV’s and everything.

Trust and Safety by Laura Blackett; Eve Gleichman was a fun and unique story.
Very intriguing with fascinating characters.
I had so much fun reading this story. The book was full of vivid descriptions and vivid imagery to the point where I felt like I had slipped into the pages.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Look, this book is genius, okay.

”You came here and just expected a new way of life to arrive on a platter. You thought you could just show up, and your life would turn into a Mary Oliver poem. But that’s not how it works, Rosie. You don’t just get new friendships and a new life by paying more than everyone else for a house.”

It’s a documented fact that actual reality often differs from an Instagrammable reality. And Rosie’s one of those that’s got IG on infinite scroll morning, noon, and night, so much so that she begins to believe IG is not only real but attainable. So to fill the void consumerism has created in her heart, she convinces her husband to make a drastic shift, moving them away from a boring and basic reality in Brooklyn to an incredible IG worthy life in the Hudson Valley.

And along the way absolutely everything falls apart. Tbh it took me actual months to read this book. And why? Bc every time I picked it up I felt such a sense of creeping dread. In an effort to obtain this IG life, Rosie and her husband absolutely spiral until they are in dire financial straits, living in a house that is a stiff wind away from falling down, and playing landlord to members of a local polycule renting their outbuilding, a polycule that includes a masc lesbian who feeds Rosie’s competency kink and threatens her husband’s fragile masculinity.

Yes, I said that.

This whole book is a fascinating comment on the insidious effects of social media, consumerism, materialism, and even toxic masculinity.

As long as it took me to get going in this book (due to the aforementioned creeping sense of dread), by 40% I was riveted, so much so that I finished the last 60% of this book in one sitting.

Highly recommend!

I was reached out to with an arc of Trust and Safety and honestly, it took me a while to read it. I don't know why—I think the name made me think it was going to be more techie? I don't know, but I am so glad I finally picked it up. I think I ended up finishing it within a day or so?

When I started, I didn't realize it was a satire so I was grumbling along about how unlikable the characters were, but was intrigued (and stubborn) enough to keep on going. But once it clicked, I found myself enjoying how over-the-top and at times, painfully cringe the characters were. It was uncomfortable, but the kind of uncomfortable you grit your teeth and keep on reading through. The writing was straight-forward and sometimes almost basic; while I couldn't tell if it was for the story's sake or just their style, it did work in this instance.

There were plenty of twists so I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but as I mentioned, once I got invested, I flew through the novel. The ending was unsatisfying but, again, there's no way it could have ended to properly get the authors points across and be satisfying.

I can see this being a polarizing novel for folks, but I'm of the 'really enjoyed it' camp.

“Trust and Safety” is a satirical tale about a couple, Jordan and Rosie, who leave Brooklyn to settle in a rundown, overpriced farmhouse in the countryside. Rosie is determined that this move is essential for her happiness and won’t be content until she realizes her dream.

A side-eye look at a young wealthy couple (thanks to his mom's smoothie company) who buy a derelict home in a bucolic New York town and discovers that not all is what it seems when they rent their outbuilding. Rosie spots the house on Instagram (I follow that handle!) and convinces Jordan that they need to leave the city, which is stifling her. The house is both more and less than they expected (the mice! all of it), the prices in the country store are outrageous, and Rosie ends up working part time at a chicken farm. But most important of all are Dylan and Lark, who move in and fix up the studio. And Dylan, oh Dylan and Rosie. There are multiple twists and surprises here so no spoilers but those twists are what make this more than I expected. It's a send up of so much but it's gently pointed with small things that might resonate (that vegetable peeler!). I was charmed by their first novel; this is a step forward into a bigger world. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I know this won't be for everyone but I really enjoyed it.

DNF’d at 30% I was really looking forward to the premise of this book but I just could not get into it. I did not care at all about the main characters, which made it hard for me to keep going. I know part of that is the point of satire but it just was not the right book for me.

A cutting and truly hilarious satire! The characters are messy and over the top, which made for a fun reading experience

I really enjoyed this satirical look at a straight couple from Brooklyn who enter a bidding war for an old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley. They win with some help from family money, but once there, it’s not the dream they anticipated. They get tenants to help with costs, and these tenants are part of a queer polycule with seemingly no way to make the money they’re paying for rent, but a ton of homemaking and renovation skills.

This ends up being a clever look at compulsory heterosexuality and the limits we put on ourselves, as well as a jab at city dwellers who think they can do anything just because they have a little bit of money. Since Covid and the rising costs of living in many rural areas, this has only become more relevant. I couldn’t look away from this one, and if any of these themes appeal, I highly recommend.

This was a uniquely crafted story with some hard to like characters that grounds itself in facing sexual identity, capitalism and personal relationships. I really enjoyed the sense of humor and well thought out characters, as well as the authors' sharp wit. I think fans of friend dramas with social commentary will enjoy this one!

2.5 stars

I...truly loathed these characters, and while I realize this is satire and that - to some degree - requires characters with terrible habits, personalities, etc., this was just too much for me. The humor I was promised in all of the blurbs? Well, it ended up being more cringe than LOL, unfortunately.

Readers meet Rosie and Jordan at their wedding, and they are already infuriating. Their meet cute is creepy, and their families are terrible. It could go up from here, but as readers get to know these two better, they get worse. After Jordan loses his job for good reason (and if I have to hear another reference to that word from another person who does not use it as an identifier, I will actually scream), these two end up in relative financial trouble (but not really) and are forced to have...renters! Now, it's time for Jordan and Rosie to inflict their performative allyship all over this tiny queer bastion. And just wait until you discover what else Jordan wants to inflict all over this community and others...

I appreciate the underlying messaging and the attempts to realize it, but so much about this novel rubbed me the wrong way and not in the "I'm uncomfortable because this is satirical" fashion I was hoping for or expecting. I'd give these authors another try, but I can't imagine the kind of reader I'd recommend this to out of concern that they'd also find it frustrating and at times bordering on offensive. Adding insult to injury, I don't need to visualize or hear about murdering chickens either. Yep. Not for me, unfortunately.

I felt really bad for Jordan. Rosie is selfish and immature and he often bears the brunt of it. However, I identified with her feelings of inadequacy and always trying to find happiness. I realize this was satire, but as a Poly person it was a little bit odd.

I had to sit on this for a while because when I finished it on Friday I could not figure out my opinion. This was fun and interesting and soooo creative and surprising and a little bit ridiculous (some of the characters are so over the top that it surpasses satire) but rosie and her journey actually grounded it and made it more realistic, especially with the ending. it definitely grew on me a lot with reflection! also the very nice box has been on my list for forever and this has finally given me motivation to pick it up.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC!

Laugh out loud funny, Trust and Safety made me look at this imaginary world and think how the mess was exactly what I needed. The drama of it all kept me totally invested and I am on board with an book that can wield such a razor-sharp insight to people.

Goodreads review:

This book was such a painfully funny indictment of straight people and consumerist delusion that I had to stop and read full paragraphs out loud to my husband in order to feel like I was in on the joke. What kind of book makes you do that? The best kind!

Trust & Safety made me want to live in the woods in an artisan polycule, but it also made me want to treasure my normie life in the city. Blackett and Gleichman are so good at this and I can't wait for everyone I know to read this book.