I loved loved this audio book. Lots of bad behavior and gossipy fun on a company retreat. January LaVoy is perfect with her narration as always. I will listen to most anything she narrates.

Big thanks to @macmillan.audio for this juicy mystery to kick off my summer reading!

If you're hunting for the ultimate poolside read, I’ve got some 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 for you.

You won't believe the book I just read! Our girl Caitlin has just accepted a seven-figure job at Aurora, a trendy tech startup… and now, before even meeting anyone she’s being whisked away to Miami for their annual VIP retreat. Sounds dreamy, right? Kicking off a new job with an enormous benefit package and 5-star vacation — what could go wrong?

Well, everything! After the first night, a top exec goes missing, throwing the whole company into chaos. But instead of calling the cops, Caitlin and the team opt to keep up the “everything is fine” charade and continue their extravagant team-building activities to save the company's future and their financial wellbeing.

Guys, if you love it when self-absorbed rich people spiral into chaos, uncover juicy secrets, and get hit with darkly funny twists, you have to check this out! Especially the audiobook—January LaVoy nails it with her multi-character magic. She’s in her element and totally delivers.

*Review will be posted on Instagram @ParksideReads on June 1, 2024.

Huge thank you to @macmillian.audio and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of adults behaving badly, very badly. A Tech company that is on the verge of even bigger and better things is trying to keep a mystery under wraps. When one of their high level executives vanish after the first night of their retreat they need to keep this hushed up. This is a bit of a mystery and a whole lot of greed! This one is best to go in blind.

What a perfect name for this book! Not only was the book about a "very bad company" but I also feel like I wouldn't want the "company" of anyone that worked for it!

Lying, cheating, & murder? Would you want to work for the tech company Aurora? You'll soon find out!

I was so excited to read/listen to this book. I loved Bad Summer People but unfortunately this one missed the mark for me.

I don't know much about how tech companies are run & it wasn't really explained-- but Aurora is one hot mess. The lingo, all the money being spent, the lies being told & the huge salaries just didn't make sense. I found that not one character was likable & I didn't care what happened to any of them.

I had to keep listening in hopes that it would turn around but it felt like it was getting messier by the minute & it was very hard to keep track of all of the characters & who was who.

There were times when it just felt really unrealistic but I am a teacher turned stay at home mom so maybe I just didn't relate because it's so far out of my world.

If you loved Bad Summer People & you're all about the drama drama drama-- I would still give this one a shot!

Thank you so much Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for this audio book in exchange for an honest review!

“For anyone who has ever had a crazy boss, felt out of the loop, or wanted to kill or marry a coworker.” From this spot-on dedication to the last page, Very Bad Company had me hooked. A quick, fast-paced read/listen, this book is The Hangover meets just about any corporate job. Colleagues gather for a corporate retreat and we quickly learn it is “very bad company” in more ways than one. I found myself laughing at more parts than the average reader probably would, but I saw many glimpses into my previous job, making it one of my favorite reads of the year. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook, in exchange for my honest opinion.

4 Stars

This was great on Audiobook. The narrator was fantastic. The story is one of those where you kind of love/hate all of the characters because they are all crappy people. Even so I liked this book. I listened to it straight through while i was doing housework and errands. The main character interviews for a new job and is offered 3 million a year salary. Even though the CEO seems a little off she takes the job and has to immediately go on a staff retreat to Miami with the executives. All of the executives have their issues and it gets really interesting. This is a multiple POV story and it is done very well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillion Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

As delicious as her 2023 debut, Bad Summer People, Emma Rosenblum delivers Very Bad Company. This dark comedy with a dash of intrigue is set within the corporate IT world. The author deftly presents a full cast of characters. Each contributes their own special flavor and distinct voice. A wild ride from start to finish.

Special thanks to NetGalley for advance access to the audiobook narrated by January LaVoy.

Get ready for a wild corporate ride with Very Bad Company! This delightfully mischievous novel takes readers behind the scenes of a swanky tech company retreat in Miami, where the sun is sizzling, and the drama is even hotter.

I listened to the audiobook of this one, and I thought it made for a great listen. The narrator, January LaVoy, was great. I'd definitely listen to more books narrated by her.

Our protagonist, Caitlin Levy, is the newest member of Aurora's elite crew, scoring an enviable gig as the head of events. With a jaw-dropping seven-figure salary, cushy perks, and all the vacation days her heart desires, it seems like Caitlin has hit the jackpot. But as we all know, when things look too good to be true, there's usually a catch.

The fun and games take a sinister turn when a high-ranking executive mysteriously vanishes on the first night. With millions of dollars hanging in the balance, Caitlin and her colleagues must maintain a picture-perfect façade, playing along with team-building exercises and brainstorming sessions while the suspense simmers behind the scenes.

Very Bad Company is a deliciously snarky sendup of corporate culture, dishing out both laughs and thrills in equal measure. Buckle up and enjoy this compulsively readable romp through the treacherous world of big business and bigger egos. You'll be equal parts entertained and appalled – in the best way possible!

"Very Bad Company," written by Emma Rosenblum and narrated by the talented January LaVoy, offers a gripping and darkly comedic take on corporate culture. With its portrayal of various stereotypes within the corporate world and a compelling storyline, this audiobook promises an engaging listening experience.

The characters in "Very Bad Company" skillfully represent different archetypes prevalent in the corporate environment. From the eccentric CEO to ruthlessly competitive employees, whistleblowers, secret workplace romances, and women determined to shatter glass ceilings, each character adds depth and complexity to the narrative.

As someone who appreciated Emma Rosenblum's previous work in "Bad Summer People," I was drawn to "Very Bad Company." Additionally, knowing that it is narrated by January LaVoy further solidified my decision to dive into this novel. LaVoy's exceptional narration skills have been showcased in numerous audiobooks, making her one of the best in her field. Her ability to bring characters to life through voice acting enhances the overall listening experience.

The premise of "Very Bad Company" sets the stage for an enthralling tale centered around wealthy executives at a tech startup retreat in Miami. The disappearance of a high-level executive threatens not only individual careers but also jeopardizes millions for everyone involved with Aurora. As Caitlin Levy navigates through team-building exercises and group brainstorms while maintaining appearances amid fatal speculations about their colleague's vanishing act, readers are taken on a suspenseful journey wrapped in captivating mystery.

" Very Bad Company" delivers an intriguing blend of dark comedy and corporate intrigue that will keep listeners hooked from beginning to end. The vivid portrayal of corporate stereotypes combined with January LaVoy's stellar narration elevates this novel into a must-listen for fans of thrillers. Compulsively readable,this book serves as both an entertaining satire on corporate culture and an engrossing mystery.

A drama filled workplace read! I really connected with this one because I am in the corporate event industry and know the locations and initeraries of retreats like the one in the book. It's an interesting cast of characters. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and secrets everyone seemed to have.

Loved the way this story threaded the mystery thorough the already mysterious world of corporate life and greed. This was a win

3.5 stars. This was a classic "rich people behaving badly" storyline. It's mildly a thriller, but also just a lot of shenanigans on the executive team of a start-up that is getting bought. I thought it was interesting to have so many POVs in the story - it was a lot to keep track of, but also gave the story some extra layers for sure.

There were parts of this book that cracked me up - there are parallels to organizations in the tech world that may be exaggerated, but hit really closely to what happens in the industry. The executive retreat, the way that the executives interacted with each other, and a lot of the start-up culture felt recognizable which really drew me in multiple times throughout the story.

Overall, this was an enjoyable quick read with not a whole lot of depth, but a lot of layers and different interconnected characters. I did like the way that certain events were told from multiple perspectives to help round out the view of what was happening at a given time. It was also pretty incredible that so much happened in essentially a three day period of time.

The audio narration was very well done. This is a fast-paced book and was fun to listen to. The narrator did a great job managing the different POVs and helping to distinguish somewhat the different characters. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC to read!

Title: Very Bad Company
Author: Emma Rosenblum
Genre: Contemporary
Series or Standalone: Standalone
Narrator: January LaVoy
Rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for an advance listener copy of Very Bad Company.

Aurora is a tech start-up having their final top exec retreat before being sold - several days of sand, sun, drinks, and team-building exercises. Seems like a blast until one of the higher ups disappears on the first night after being out partying with everyone. If this news gets out it could ruin the sale, so everyone puts on their best front to appear as though everything is fine while low-key trying to determine what happened, who did it…and what it means for everyone remaining.

First, I’ll get this out of the way: I wholly disagree with this being marketed as a thriller. I don’t believe it should be filed on goodreads as thriller, crime, or suspense and yet those are three of the top categories. This is not a book for a thriller reader. This is a book for those who love toxic people behaving badly. Yes, there’s a dash of mystery & whodunit, but the book itself really is contemporary fiction - and in that realm, it excels. When it’s marketed as a thriller, it fails.

Back to toxic people behaving badly - when I say toxic, I mean T O X I C and when I say behaving badly…well, yep I mean that too. There’s all the fun elements you expect from a corporate ladder-climbing group of ambitious young people with booze and dollar signs being thrown at them with every turn. And in no way do you root for any of these characters, but they are still a fun bunch to sit back and watch self-destruction unfold.

I did like that it touched on the subject of what it’s like to be a woman in this sort of corporate world (in case you were unsure, it’s not easy!) but it was in no way ‘political’ or too on the nose that I was annoyed by being unable to escape the real world.

I enjoyed January’s narration. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep characters straight in an audiobook, especially when they all have similarities (like being toxic greedy jerks) but I did an okay job keeping up with who was who. I would suggest for those listening on audio that they make this a binge listen so as to not take some time away from the book and forget who’s who because I did split this between two days and it took me a bit to get back on track. Books like this do tend to work better with multiple narrators, but January handled multiple people well giving them distinguishing accents or inflections.

Very Bad Company unfolds during an executive retreat for a small tech firm. The tension escalates when one of the company's original executives goes missing on the first morning. The novel can best be described as messy, filled with gossip, extravagant team-building exercises, secrets, and greed. Surprisingly, the coworkers seem more concerned with their own affairs than the disappearance of their colleague.

I appreciated how the narrative alternated between the perspectives of different executive team members, maintaining a steady progression despite the shifts in viewpoint, which allowed for a smooth flow throughout the book.

Overall, I found the book to be mediocre, though this might simply be a matter of personal taste. It could appeal to those who enjoy dramatic fiction with elements of a thriller.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the ALC.

Well, in Very Bad Company, the execs from a tech company embark on a retreat in Miami when one of them dies and a million secrets and lies start to pour out. This book was an absolute blast. I loved how gossipy and scandalous it all turned. I loved seeing the true personalities of the different characters unfold. I loved the sarcasm. It was almost like watching a Bravo show about tech execs instead of yachties on Below Deck. And it touched on life as a working mom and the juggling act that is required to pull it off and that is always a plus for me.

The Hunting Wives meets Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow .. lots of bad behavior, toxic relationships and office place gossip fill this novel with content. Sketchy people wanting to get ahead, money rules the actions and leadership is definately not exhibiting above board behavior. Fun listen, but honestly just a bit fluffy for me.

Very Bad Company
Emma Rosenblum
Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: May 14, 2024
4/5


Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio for an advanced audiobook!

A group of rich execs, an egotistical CEO, and a luxury vacation in Florida, is it really shocking that there is also a murder? In this summer read, we become intertwined in the gossip and scandals of Aurora, a startup tech company who is making waves. Every character is a love-to-hate kind of drama that rivals any reality show of the woes of the rich and famous.
Rosenblum takes us on this luxury vacation, following every character as they try to piece together what is going on with the company and if their colleague died from an overdose or was murdered. There were times where I found the book to be a bit slow, but then would be smacked in the face with some juicy information that made everything else start to click together.
This is the perfect summer beach read, especially if you’re looking for gossip and intrigue. The book focuses less on the murder, and more on the viciousness of the tech world and their need to succeed, regardless of who gets trampled under them during their race to the top.

I was the middle of the road for this book almost the entire time. The numbers thrown and the ridiculousness of it all fit so well while reading/listening about these out-of-touch people. But in the mean time,I think this could have been funner if I liked the characters even a little bit. The author did well writing them, sure, but there wasn't enough of them that made me care what happened to them. They whined most of the time, in which I got it if the author wanted them to be vapid and selfish. I didn't mind that; there just wasn't enough for me to care.

At first, I was put off with so many characters. Typically eventually they all blend together and you couldn't distinguish one from another. But the author did well on that, thank goodness, because I would hate to keep thinking - Who the heck was this? How did this person fit into the story? Even better was the narrator from the audiobook, she did a phenomenal job. Just too bad the storyline barely moved from mundane to excitement.

Overall, it was middle-road entertaining. There wasn't really a shock in any attempted turn, but I appreciated the effort. Reading about rich people doing selfish dumb things could be fun, but this one just wasn't enough to make it great through the roof.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audiobook version of this book. All opinions are my own.

I am not sure what your plans are this weekend but if you can, you should listen to this audio while you are doing them!

This was a highly entertaining workplace MESS and I LOVED it.

There are characters that drive you crazy but also ones you love. There’s some mystery and scandal that really keeps you baited. Oh the gossip and the frenzy. I really could not get enough!

I also really, really enjoyed January LaVoy’s narration. The story is told from multiple points of view and she does a great job of differentiating the characters.

Thank you so much @macmillian.audio for the early listening copy

4 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This was the perfect almost beach read! This author is now an auto buy author for me!