Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. This book was so good! I loved every single character and was rooting for all of them.

I love, love, love this book. The first few pages, I was concerned that the snarkiness felt forced, but I ended up enjoying the balance of sarcasm, sadness, and compassion in this book.

Jolene is the depressed, snarky but also likable protagonist of this novel. You really root for her even though she elicits a fair amount of cringe. Jolene has become the office weirdo because of her social awkwardness. She also despises her coworkers and has the bad habit of adding fireable postscripts to her emails but written in white text so they can't see them...until one day she forgets to change the font color, gets reported to HR, and comes close to getting fired.

To keep her job, Jolene has to undergo training with the new (and dare I say handsome) HR guy. She also has software installed on her computer to monitor any inappropriate communications...except something doesn't go quite right with the installation and she is now able to read everyone's office communications — emails and inner-office chats. Does Jolene alert cute HR man? No, she does not.

From there, we're on a funny, uncomfortable, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful journey with Jolene as she gets to know her coworkers through a heavy dose of deception and begins to find her way to a healthier place....but it's gonna hurt a little first.

There is a little romance here, which is an enjoyable side plot to the overall story. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Jolene was half-Persian, which is a significant aspect of the book as she navigates her mother's expectations and connects with a fellow Iranian-Canadian coworker.

I am sad to say that I had to DNF this. I could not connect or find myself into this book. I would still recommend to others, especially fans of literacy fiction but this was just not for me.

I Hope This Finds You Well debuts May 21, 2024, and surprised me in the best way. Jolene is a 30 something Persian woman working in an unfulfilling administrative position. She doesn't get along with her colleagues but gets by. Everything changes when she is called in to HR on her birthday to be admonished for harassment in the workplace. When she gets cultural and menial barbs in the workplace, she adds text in WHITE font to her email telling her coworkers what she really thinks. To add to the hilarity, IT messes up her tracking software. She can now see EVERYTHING. All the candid and horrible things her colleagues say about her. All the real possibilities that the new HR manager, Cliff, seems supportive but really needs to lay off/fire a few employees.

Jolene also immigrated to Canada from Iran and has never really found equal footing. There is a ton of trauma around a death of a friend in high school--only she was bullied and harassed to made to blame. She is often bullied in the workplace Big time. When Jolene can see what others say to each other and what they really feel about her, she begins to make some real changes. She knows that SHE has been through it, but everyone has their own story and is suffering in their own way.

Seeing Jolene struggle through social situations with her traditional Persian family, her coworkers, her neighbors has had a profound effect on me. I never thought I would be glued to my Kindle--ugly crying in anticipation of her demise? Comeback?

I've heard it's for fans of "The Office." I am. This is different and more than that. I encourage you to hitch a ride. It's worth the journey.

This book is so tender. Sweet. Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC. Again, this book hits May 21. Add it to the list. You will be changed.

Thank you William Morrow Books and Netgalley for the E-ARC of this title.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this more than I had anticipated. As an Executive Assistant myself, I found this relatable, hilarious and emotional. This is just the story I needed right now.

For readers who work or have worked in an office setting day in and day out. This has some of the show The Office's work shenanigans with a deeper more emotional side to the characters.

Our main character Jolene is just trying to get through another day living the dream as an Admin for a company that is lacking in the morale department. After being turned in by a co-worker for harassment, Jolene is presented with an unexpected circumstance in which she can see all of the department's email and instant messages. Having access to this information proves helpful yet hurtful.

Poking fun at the stereotypical happenings in an office setting, but then adding a deeper element to the characters and their personal stories works for me.

A great story that demonstrates the saying, "you never know what people are going through until you walk in their shoes," (or slide into their emails).

This book was so good. I laughed, I wanted to cry, I laughed some more! And it was all so relatable! Jolene is a mess but in a way that we can all see a little bit of ourselves in. I really enjoyed getting to know her and all the silly people at supershops.

I really enjoyed this one. It's a hilarious and often cringey look at a traumatized and severely anxious woman who is about to lose her job, causing her to do whatever she can to save it- namely, actually speak to her coworkers after virtually spying on them via the company admin account. This ends up being a really wonderful and heartfelt look at humanity and the things we are all dealing with under the surface. If you've ever worked in an office, you will relate to some aspect of this. I am not a crier but wow I did cry at the ending. I also loved the Persian cultural aspects that were included- I wasn't expecting that when I started this, and it was a lovely treat (I'm currently taking Farsi lessons). Highly recommend!

Jolene hates her job, her workers and her life - that is, until she gets a glimpse behind the curtain. This book could be summed up as "you never really know what other people have going on". This book was enjoyable enough while reading it but whenever I stepped away, I never really missed the characters or wondered what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this e-ARC.

I’ve been seeing this book all over the place and managed to get an arc so I settled in. If you’re in the corporate world, the picture painted here is only too real. Would I do the same as Jolene? I don’t know….

I admit that I requested this book just for the title, it made me die laughing. So my approach to the story was a bit superficial, but once I got into the book, I couldn't stop reading it. Jolene can perhaps be defined as an anti-heroine (?), we root for her, but we feel sorry for her too. Unfortunately she has some alcoholism problems, and is unable to focus on her life, so she is kind of stuck.
On her birthday, however, something changes her life, initially it doesn't seem like it's a positive thing, but quite the opposite. Little by little we find ourselves "undressing" all the characters that surround Jolene's working life, and those who initially seem to be "enemies" and let's face it, a**holes, are actually also "humans", with their problems, their weaknesses and their string of lies and intrigues to survive the working jungle and life outside the office. The humanization of the characters in this story is amazing, everything is taken with irony and lightness, but it allowed me to really reflect, sometimes behind an a**hole in the office, someone sensitive can hide. A round of applause also to Cliff, I would also like human resources like him.
Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Natalie Sue for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for my honest review.
#IHopeThisFindsYouWell #NetGalley

3.5⭐️
This book is a mix of the quirky characters from the office mixed with some pretty decent mental health representation. There’s some fun banter, lies that go too far, a sprinkle of trauma, and minor romance tropes/plot points like a fake engagement gone horribly wrong. It was a little slow to get into but I really started to feel more for the characters at the halfway mark and then ending was a really nice pay off!

With this book, I was expecting a low-key comedy but it quickly turned into a book that makes you rethink your life. Jolene has a lot of character flaws, but watching her growth throughout the book was great. Everyone has shit they don’t talk about. I loved this!

This was a surprisingly heartwarming and quick read! I loved the way each character developed as the book went on and it really felt like you were growing as Jolene was too. Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Natalie Sue for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oh no... It's happened. I just read my favorite book of the year. What a sucker-punch. From the description, I had no idea that this book would make me feel so much, but by the end I was openly weeping. Pretty sure that's my first book-related cry of 2024? I really, really loved Jolene, Cliff, Rhonda, Armin, Miley... these characters totally took over my heart. What a beautiful portrait of isolation and anxiety (and over-reliance on alcohol) and trauma and grief, somehow coupled with humor and maybe the kindest love interest in a story I've ever read. This was such a joy and I'm going to be thinking about it for a long, long time.

This is a debut novel??? This book was well written with characters who seemed very realistic and flawed. Described as an office comedy I found it to be a lot more than that.

It was easy to empathize with Jolene, the main character of the book. Her actions after the change to her computer seemed reasonable even though they may not have been the right actions. I liked getting to know Jolne more along with Rhonda, Armin, and Caitlin. Through Jolene's actions we get to see what is going on in these coworkers lives and why they do what they do and act like they do. I also enjoyed Cliff and Miley.

This book flowed easily from chapter to chapter and was hard to put down. I found myself thinking about these characters when I was pulled away from their stories. The author did a great job of adding humor in to lighten some moments.

I enjoyed this book and can picture myself reading it again. I think it would be an excellent book club pick as there is much to discuss after reading. I will also be watching for future books from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion which I have given.

This book was a joy to read! I got irrationally attached to the characters and it felt like I was really in the office with them. I would recommend this book to anyone wanted to escape their 9-5 into someone else's even more dysfunctional job.

As someone who works in close proximity with toxic people and also as someone whose employer has an internal messaging system, I am horrified. I will also be utilizing said system differently moving forward. Some of this was too relatable and I must say, I am sorry. I have no doubt that the office described here is an office culture that permeates throughout the country, nay world. (Side note: can someone actually be granted this kind of access? Do people actually read these instant messages in real time? Omg. Please. no.)

With the preliminaries addressed, our main character Jolene is awesome and I'm glad we saw some character development. I really liked the dynamic between all of her coworkers. What resonates is the message that we really do not know the people we work with or understand the heavy loads they carry (and why they act the way that they do in a professional setting).

I was hooked pretty instantly and vibed with both the writing and our main character's internal monologuing. I wish the ending was not so tidy and Caitlin....don't get me started. It seems on one hand, we can forgive Caitlin for her outrageous behavior, but we cannot forgive just plain ol toxic masculinity- Gregory had no reason other than just being his gross, disgusting self. But Caitlin was just the absolute worst and I cannot forgive her. But I guess I am glad Jolene is the bigger person blah blah blah. These aspects were slightly unsatisfying to me.

Overall, I really loved all the workplace drama with each character and how things just spiraled and I could not put this book down.

I received an e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, I actually really enjoyed this read. I felt good picking it up every time. The author did so well making the characters vivid, and I had no issue imagining anything. I really enjoyed the FMC a lot. She was perpetually unhappy, but not for naught. I was rooting for her the whole book. I also liked the side characters a lot. I cried twice & It was a solid 4 stars for me.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

if you've ever thought about falling asleep during work to never wake up again just so you can escape one more awkward second of purgatory with your coworkers....this one's for you. I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did...in fact, the tragic backstory that was hinted at in the beginning gave me pause and I put down the book for a bit because I was not ready for a sappy, sentimental story disguised as an "office comedy". But I judged early, because this book was so much better than what I initially expected. This story was everything; equal parts unhinged, heartwarming, relatable, and most of all, absolutely hilarious !!! My jaw dropped multiple times throughout the story because there was just no way...its like the author heard my intrusive thoughts and me telling myself no way this would be a plot point and then decided to prove me wrong. And even within all the chaos, there was amazing character development. I loved seeing Jolene gradually open up to her coworkers and form relationships with them, realizing that there was something to love about everyone as they realized the same about her, as well as coming to terms with herself. This was such a perfectly balanced story, soo funny yet full of heart. I hope everyone else who reads it loves it as much as I did!!!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me an early digital copy of this book!