This book starts off strong. The author is able to get you invested in Edie and her obsessions with other characters in the book. I lost interest halfway through because Edie became very annoying and the plot was predictable. I expected more thrill when it came to the crime that happens in the book, but it seemed like the author just started relaying facts we already knew and trying really hard to make note of mental illness related to it, which is great having that representation, but I personally had a hard time staying focused, especially when I felt like a lot didn't even connect when it came down to what actually happened. I do appreciate that the characters have in-depth differences to them, although I did not like anyone in this book. This was a fast-paced read and has a lot of experiences readers can relate to. 

Thanks for the ARC from Netgelly. I was excited to read this 😁

This was a great book! I think the main character was kind of annoying, she was pretty obsessive and kept annoying me, but the rest of the book was decent! I had mixed feelings at the end of the book, but it did evoke emotion from me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

When I finished this book, I told my husband that I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it. For that reason alone, I'm giving 4 stars. While Edie is an awesome character (female in a tech world like I was), her decisions and obsession with Peter and Anaya was just off the wall. There were times that I had hopes for her but then she would make another bizarre decision. There aren't many books that puzzle me like this one, so I would recommend reading it for anyone looking for a crazy ride into Edie's world.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

Edie (FMC) was truly hard for me to like or connect to. She gave me crazy vibes, and even her friends called her creepy for her stalking/obsessive ways. That should've been my red flags, but I kept pushing through in hopes she'd have some character development and become more likable. She didn't, for me at least. Some bits felt too predictable while other bits felt too unrealistic/unbelievable. The premise seemed grand, but this just wasn't all that great for me. While these are my opinions, alone I still suggest you give it a go to try it out for yourself as well have different taste.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and William Morrow to read/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.

This book is thought provoking and left me reeling. I found many of Edie's choices to be unbearable. Her obsessesive personality could be off putting. However, I do think the author did an excellent job weaving in trauma and how that manifests in our decision making. The gray areas in Edie's life, her past traumas, and Anaya's death all come together to show how complex her world is. I was proud of the decisions Edie came to by the conclusion of the book.

I am giving it 3.5 stars rounded up. Edie was far from my favorite protagonist, but I can appreciate how her flaws humanized her. Thank you to Emily J. Smith, William Morrow, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

This was a crazy story and worked with what I was looking for from the description. The overall feel worked with what I was hoping for and had that suspenseful atmosphere that I was hoping for. It worked with the genres perfectly and thought Emily J. Smith did a great job in writing this.

Edie is a 35-year-old woman living an unfulfilling life in San Francisco. She is active on the dating apps but finds that men her age are only interested in fleeting hookups. She is grimly aware that this is not an option for her. Although unwilling to jump into a relationship, she has begun to consider that if she ever wants children, she needs to think about her options. The main stumbling block in her romantic life is that she is hopelessly in love with her old college friend Peter. Peter helped her out of a dangerous situation when they were students and has been her loyal friend ever since. Unfortunately, Peter only sees her as a friend. Edie has watched as Peter has gone through several long-term relationships. Since the last one ended, however, he has embarked on a series of dates with attractive women, many of them quite a bit younger. Edie is devastated and perplexed that he doesn't seem to consider her as a romantic partner, but she's thrilled to spend time with him and bask in his attention. One of his latest dates is the beautiful professor Anaya. During his date with her, he calls Edie to join them (as you do, on a date that's seemingly going well). Much to her surprise, Edie and Anaya hit it off, having similar experiences as driven, intelligent women who don't get the recognition or success they deserve. Edie reads all of Anaya's published works on the topics of women and their problems in society. When Anaya is found dead after a date with Peter, Edie is more devastated than he is. She becomes obsessed with finding out all she can about Anaya's life and death, to the point of inserting herself into the police investigation and even befriending the dead woman's sister. She can't believe Peter, her loyal friend, could have had anything to do with the death, but if he didn't, how and why did Anaya die?

Even though Edie could be exhausting at times, I really enjoyed her struggles with her relationship with Peter. She goes from adoration and a refusal to see his faults to acceptance that he might not be the man she believed him to be. There were many interesting insights, between Anaya's writings and Edie's own experiences, of the difficulties that women face in a man's world, and, at times, how little they are in control of their own lives.

The plot was interesting, but this book is more about its characters.
They are mostly deeply unhealthy people, who fekt real and sometimes made me really angry, but the growth of the main character was a very satisfying journey.
There was also a lot of feminist issues discussed here, and it is really interesting to see the treatment of women through the eyes of the main character.
It was a short but packed read, and a very interesting character study.

This needs to be updated with a trigger warning list but despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was very easy to read, and I loved the emotions it brought out of me.

This is a fun, lighthearted modern romance with fantastic banter and relatable characters. You'll definitely laugh through this one! I didn't care for the ending- it made the book seem too abrupt. That's it? Well, okay then!

This is the story of Edie and her best friend, a tech millionaire. I was confused about their relationship which seems to shift. The author introduces multiple characters and subplots. She even throws in a murder trial.
I simply couldn’t find myself involved with the plot or characters.

Perhaps, I’m just the wrong demographic for this novel. It seemed too confusing, The ending was just a hodgepodge of nonsense. When the big trial ends, and there is an appeal, the author states that Peter “got off free of charge” I really had to laugh at the total carelessness of the use of facts and verbiage.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

First things first, I love the representation in this book. A woman in tech is badass enough but then you add in the fact that even just being a woman in this day and age is hard, you really find yourself rooting for Edie (even though you also question her and her decisions a lot). As for the story itself, the things that kept it from being a 5 star for me have to be the lack of trigger warnings (granted, I received an ARC from Net Galley and Harper Collins so that might be included in the final version) but also I feel like this book was too short to fully satisfy me. I need to know more about how Peter ends up. I want more nitty gritty details around the issues brought up in the book (suicide, eating disorders, trauma). This felt too short, almost like a novella. Maybe if there are subsequent follow up books I will feel more satiated but until then I will have to be content with this interesting and intriguing read.

Edie was a character that you want to root for but also question the whole time. This book is funny but dark. It looks at online dating, tech, friendship and just being a woman in the world. The details and writing in this book are strong. I really liked it and wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen with Peter. I would say pick up this book.

What I loved:

-The representation of different characters.
-The characters do in fact have depth to them.
-The author creates a good villain and represents emotions well
-The author based a lot of the book on personal life experiences.
-The author is a woman in tech! This deserves to be shouted about from the rooftops, as I see a lot of men in tech publishing books, but hardly do I see women doing so.
-The girl power, societal commentary, and sentiments towards the current tech industry.
-I finished this book in a day, it was an easier read for me, which is a lovely experience to have.
-Modern day references.

What prevented it from being a 5 star book:

-I am super critical and picky, so here are a few things I would have loved to see:
-Trigger warnings before the book begins, especially since content warnings are part of the new features discussion within the book itself. This book covers really dark topics (eating disorders, addiction, alcoholism, abuse, obviously murder, suicide, drugs, and more).
-I wanted this book to be much longer for the seriousness of the topics it covers. I love seeing books that cover topics that are genuinely impacting humans – this is what books are for! Let’s have a discussion! This book was quite short at under 300 pages, which is the typical length I see for novellas, series, etc. This is also not a fully finalized copy, so the author may end up changing this.
-I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun thrill-ride book that infuses some humor along the way.

Thank you for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest feedback! This was my first official ARC review and I am excited to continue reading new books!