Do you like a book full of unlikable characters? Full of adults behaving badly? Characters so full of greed they're willing to kill to keep a secret? Then Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum is for you.
This book follows an executive team of a Tech startup on a retreat full of team building activities. One of them dies. Secrets come to light about the origins of the company. The sale of the company for millions is in jeopardy when a member of the team dies. But let's keep up appearances because we want our money.

January Lavoy does a great job with the audio. There are a lot of characters, male and female, and she gives voice to them all.
As a reader/listener, it was difficult to keep up with all of the different characters. And it was unnecessary to have so many back stories for every character. It did not add to the narrative. The CEO was the only comic relief with his constant Churchill quotes and funny outfits.
This felt like an 80's "Greed is Good" story. There are no characters to pull for or care about.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

Very Bad Company brings readers into the world of the startup tech company Aurora, where everyone seems to have a secret and you never know what you don't know.

New hire Caitlin is brought into Aurora on a lavish executive team getaway, full of team-building activities and fancy dinners. Unsure of what to make of this seemingly too-good-to-be-true company, Caitlin soon finds out there is more going on than was initially disclosed.

When one of the Aurora executives disappears, the Aurora brass will be putting on a show for potential buyers of the company, all while scrambling to figure out what happened and why!

The premise of this story was very interesting, and did keep my attention as a whole. However, I found that I could not get invested in any of the characters. I found them all to be relatively similar and by the middle of the book I realized I was still struggling to keep everyone straight. The ending of the book was decent, but I feel like it didn't fully bring the story to a close, and perhaps left more questions than it needed to. The narrator did a fine job of reading this audiobook, and helped bring the characters to life, I just feel the character development fell short.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to listen to an eAudiobook ARC of this book by Emma Rosenblum.

I'm a huge fan of Emma Rosenblum after Bad Summer People, one of my favorite books. I'm a sucker for any thriller or dark comedy about unsavory people doing horrible things and cringing at their cluelessness or nastiness. The toxic corporate environment was front and center and really painted a very realistic picture. This had everything: excessive wealth, bad people sneaking around doing bad things, partying, murder, and lots and lots of secrets. The narrator is one of my favorites too. Highly recommend and can't wait for Rosenblum's next book!

After reading this first chapter, I said to myself "boy, I went into the wrong business" but within 6 chapters, I am totally good with not being around these people LOL

- multiple POV's
- trust no one!
- no likeable characters
- very money motivated people
JOHN, JOHN, JOHN was the absolute worst! Such a trainwreck and I never knew what he was going to say/do next!

Loved this book! Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio for sending me a #promo copy of the audio! It was just an enjoyable read. Strong character building and even though the focus was spread to a point where the Main character kind of got lost I was totally ok with it. I was like watching a documentary of a tech start up that was ( and you knew it would be) doing business as corrupt and nefarious as it could just to make money. WHILE doing nothing of propriety! The little bit of murder mystery thrown in made for great fun too. I'm currently watching a lot of the Office and Below Deck so this lots of characters reality based story was really fun for me!

The narrator did a great job with the various characters and their POVs. The story itself was easy to listen to but I didn't really feel connected to any of the main characters.

This one was a little different than my normal style, but I enjoyed it.

There were multiple characters and didn't feel like there was one "main" character above all the others. The best way to describe it was a fun and kind of quirky mystery. I absolutely loved to hate some of the characters.

A billion dollar start up tech company takes their employees on a retreat. Except this company is up to some very bad things. There are lies, manipulation and a death. Obviously, everyone is on edge. To make matters worse, they are getting ready to sell the company, so PR is working overtime.

I will say that I wish I had read the book instead of the audio. I thought that the narrator did a fantastic job, but there were a lot of characters to keep track of.

Overall, it was a fun quasi-mystery, and I would recommend it.

This story focuses on Caitlin Levy who is hired at this tech company named Aurora to be the Head of Events. Caitlin is a married mother of two, and has established herself in corporate world as event coordinator. She receives a large $3million salary and is invited to Aurora's Executive retreat in Miami that her charismatic and egomaniac CEO John, and his other top company executives attend. They all have secrets especially John, and they all are jealous when they find out Caitlin is making more money than some of them, and to top it off the company has never had any big events that need planning.
The author does a great job giving the reader the background of all the characters, each of their motives, and all the naughty things they engage in with each other.
During this retreat one of the executives goes missing, and she is found dead right before John closes on the sale of Aurora. John, and the other executives try to come up with a plan, so that the death is not made public, and John would loss a huge payout from the sale.
I enjoyed getting to know Deborah, Dallas, Olive, Nicki, Martin and John. At times the dialogue is wild, funny, and intriguing. I highly recommend this book for lovers of a mystery, thriller, romance, and comedy all is one.

I want to thank Macmillian Audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this arc.. I give this a 3.5 stars.

Happy pub day to Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum! I’m so grateful to @macmillan.audio for an ALC of this one and to @flatironbooks for an advanced copy.

Very Bad Company is set at the annual corporate executives’ retreat for a company called Aurora. I wish I could tell you what Aurora does, but even after reading the book I have no idea. This could be a me problem—I often can’t follow the nuances of tech start-ups—or it could be a clever way the author is making a point about the smoke and mirrors nature of the business. On the retreat, one of the executives ends up dead. The book isn’t so much about how that happened or by whose hands—although that is part of it—but about how the group agrees to cover it up to protect their bottom line.

This book is told from multiple executive POVs—the CEO, the Chief People Officer, and a new hire just brought on to handle events for a $3 million paycheck who doesn’t really have any idea what her job will entail—to name just a few. And mostly they’re all pretty unlikeable. Some have moments where I felt for them, but if you need a book where you’re rooting for someone, I don’t think this one will be it. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a fun send up of the insanity, extravagance, and cut-throat nature of corporate culture—specifically the tech industry—this is your book. I found the read to be a lot of fun and was so curious to see how everything was going to end up even if I wasn’t attached to any of the characters. Ultimately, I wish things had been a tad clearer at the end, but I still enjoyed seeing what these characters were willing to do to save themselves.

The audiobook is narrated by January LaVoy who does a great job giving voice to all the different characters. I had to look back because I remembered this one as having multiple narrators, but I was completely wrong! I was really grateful to have a character list with their titles at the beginning of my physical copy because there are a lot of people thrown at you right away, but outside of that I’d 100% recommend the audiobook.

I think my biggest issue with this book is that there are so many characters. I had a hard time knowing who is who. The characters also seemed very similar and a little stereotypical, no one really stood out to me. The plot itself was interesting (although it’s thriller lite) and I think I would have been more engaged if there were less characters to keep track of.

I listened to the audiobook version. I wish there was more than one narrator to help distinguish between the multiple female POVs.

Story: 3 stars
Audio narration: 5 stars

January LaVoy did such a great job narrating this book. I don't usually read thrillers but was intrigued by the South Florida setting (where I live) and January LaVoy is one of my favorite narrators. She did such an amazing job bringing a unique cast of characters to life.

The story started off with a really interesting and intriguing premise and I liked that each chapter was told from different points of view. Maybe because there were so many characters in a relatively short book, I didn't get to know any of them enough to really care about them or form opinions on who I thought was responsible. Ultimately I found the mystery to fall a little flat and the big reveal wasn't overly interesting.

I voluntarily read a gifted copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Not quite as juicy as her debut but fun nonetheless.

A great easy summer pick me up for the non romance reader.

This is a review for the audiobook, so first, I'd like to express how much I enjoyed January Lavoy's narration. I actually chose this book because I've loved her narration in the past, and this was as flawless as ever!

On to the book itself. This was my first book by Emma Rosenblum, and I don't think it will be the last. There was a little bit of everything that made for an entertaining read in this one, and I enjoyed it immensely. This was a super fun and quick read. I breezed right through and was invested in the story and characters from the start.

Told from multiple POV Very Bad Company follows executives from a tech company on a retreat to Miami. From day one, this trip is a disaster. The coworkers are fighting, backstabbing, lying, sleeping together, and oh yeah, there's this little problem of a murder. This book was quite aptly titled because this is absolutely a Very Bad Company.

If you're looking for juicy gossip, murder, and corporate intrigue, then this book is where you'll find it!

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for allowing me an advanced copy of this audiobook for review. Opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this highly addictive story about fictional tech startup Aurora and its group of top executives on their annual retreat to Miami. When one of the executives vanishes, the team scrambles to protect the company and themselves.

@emma.rosenblum does a brilliant job capturing the antics that often come with the company retreat, the team building, the brainstorms, and the never-ending dinners.

I listened to this audiobook, which I don’t usually do, but I loved it so much. I was riveted! (Thank you to @emma.rosenblum for getting me happily through hours of packing. )

VERY BAD COMPANY combines the best of a captivating mystery and deliciously despicable characters. I laughed out loud and was completely invested in seeing what happened next.

Thank you to @netgalley, @emma.rosenblum , and @macmillan.audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fun look into the world of business. We hear about the sometimes crazy and cut through world of business but we never think we will get a look inside. with characters and a plot sure to keep you turning the page this book will give you a sneak peek behind the curtain of a company where nothing is going quite right and that could be deadly. Who can you trust????

Emma Rosenblum is great at creating characters you love to hate and hate to love. “Very Bad Company” is full of selfish, messed up, secret keeping narcissists who work for Aurora, a successful tech company.

January Lavoy is an excellent narrator who does a great job with differentiating between the characters, but there were so many who are integral to the story it was hard to keep track.

The executives gather for a corporate retreat in Florida just as Aurora is about to announce its acquisition by another tech company. Everyone is about to become very rich. There’s a lot of money at stake and they all have an interest in making sure their secrets stay hidden. It all gets very complicated when one of them turns up dead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.

Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum is an entertaining audiobook with amazing narration by January LaVoy. The book cover and the narrator were my favorite things about the audiobook. This story follows Caitlin Levy, Aurora’s newest hire. Her new co-workers are wondering what makes her so deserving of a seven-figure salary. She’s joining the company just in time for an exclusive retreat in Miami where someone goes missing the first night and ends up dead. This story has characters you’ll love to hate, you’ll think each character is the murderer. I couldn’t figure out the real murderer until the end when all the cards are laid out but that didn’t stop me from continually guessing. Rated 3.5 stars rounded up. ALC was provided by Macmillan Audio via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. #MacAudio2024

This was a great book. I was drawn in from the start. I really enjoyed the plot and the characters. The narrator was great. U enjoyed her voice and love how she changed up her voice for each character. It made it easy to tell the characters a part and keep me engaged.

A Big Thank You to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for sending me the “Very Bad Company” audiobook to review!

Since I hadn’t read Emma Rosenblum’s previous book, Bad Summer People (even though its on my current TBR), I went into this book with no expectations, which I think was the best way to approach this one!

I was looking forward to this book for a number of reasons such as it is an audiobook (which is my new way to read books) and it is narrated by January LaVoy (who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators).

In this book, we are introduced to a tech company, Aurora who is embarking on their annual company retreat in Miami. Each chapter introduces us to each of the executives: the CEO, the COO, the Head of HR, the Communications Director, the Executive Assistant to the CEO, and finally the new employee…the Head of Events. As we meet these eccentric and flawed characters, we learn about their deepest secrets and how they really feel about one another! However, everything comes to a head when someone goes missing after a crazy night of partying and everyone is left scrambling trying to find the person…and who is behind this person’s disappearance.

With LaVoy’s narration, I was definitely entertained by this book! It is a fun read for an airplane/train or even beach trip! I wasn’t surprised about the final twist, but there were other reveals that definitely kept me interested!

My rating: 4/5

Very Bad Company goes on-sale tomorrow (5/14/24)!

This book was better than Rosenblum's previous book, Bad Summer People, but I was disappointed with the resolution. It was messy. It could have been much better, but the ending felt rushed and failed to satisfy. This book also has a lot of sexually explicit commentary that I wasn't anticipating.