After falling head over heels for Mary Jane, I couldn’t wait to dive into Jessica Anya Blau’s latest, Shopgirls. Set in the glitzy, pastel-hued world of a 1980s San Francisco department store, Shopgirls promised everything I love in fiction: a strong sense of place, a slightly off-kilter coming-of-age story, and an ensemble of quirky, flawed characters.

And while it delivered on atmosphere (seriously, the setting is a time capsule of retail glamour), I found myself craving more of the emotional depth and narrative tightness that made Mary Jane such a standout. Where Mary Jane built slowly toward emotional payoff, Shopgirls felt more episodic, like a glittering display window that was fun to browse but harder to linger in. (See what I did there? 😉)

That said, I did have a blast Googling thing while reading, like I. Magnin’s real history, the value of the clothing items mentioned, etc. Blau is brilliant at evoking time and place, and her attention to detail made the experience immersive in that regard.

Zippy is a compelling starting point for a coming-of-age narrative, but her development sometimes feels underbaked. There are glimmers of big themes like sexual identity, body image, and familial estrangement, but rarely sinks its teeth in. I kept waiting for a deeper shift, but it didn't happen.

In the end, Shopgirls didn’t quite live up to my (admittedly high) expectations, but I think it's still worth the read. If you’re a fan of Blau’s voice, or if you love stories set in spaces where department store makeup counters and personal reinvention collide, you’ll find something to enjoy here.

This was cute, if a little bit boring. I really enjoyed Blau's other book, Mary Jane, which made this one an interesting choice and I was excited. I think some of the 80s references and humor was lost on me, but the story was amusing and I loved the female friends and the main character. Overall this was a cute, if somewhat forgettable, read.

Shopgirls delivers a nostalgic and often bittersweet look at growing up and finding your place in the world. Set in the glittering world of I. Magnin—the most exclusive department store in 1980s San Francisco—Jessica Anya Blau follows nineteen-year-old Zippy as she navigates the complicated world of adulthood, ambition, and identity. With only a handful of secondhand outfits and big dreams, Zippy tries to carve out a more glamorous life while learning harsh lessons about beauty standards, class, friendship, and love.

Blau excels at capturing the vibrant energy and superficial glamour of the era, with vivid details that make the store and its colorful cast of characters come alive. The novel balances humor and heartache as Zippy encounters both the generosity and cruelty of her coworkers and mentors. The depiction of found family and the messy, complicated process of self-discovery feels authentic and relatable.

While the story’s pacing sometimes meanders and some plot developments feel a bit predictable, Shopgirls offers a charming, slice-of-life exploration of a young woman trying to find her footing in a world obsessed with appearances. A solid, enjoyable read for fans of character-driven, coming-of-age fiction with a retro vibe.

It's 1985, Zippy is nineteen and living in San Francisco. She's gotten her dream job, as a shopgirl in I. Magnin's dress department and found a room in an apartment with a woman who will quickly become her best friend. Her life is pretty sweet, even if money is tight. Then her stepfather is injured and while her mother never asks her explicitly, she feels she should move back home and take the job arranged for her in the lumber department of a hardware store. Zippy would far rather be starting her own life and being a frivolous young person in a big city, surrounded by fashion, but her feelings of obligation are very real.

Mainly, this is a love story about a girl and a job. I like to read about how people who love their work do their jobs, and this was a fantasy version of that. Zippy, the new girl, is the best salesgirl on the floor, happily helping out the women who have worked there for years. She hurries around, always able to pick the perfect dress for each customer. There's intrigue on the shop floor, but Zippy has won the respect of her boss. Zippy, herself, is insecure and kind, naive and a little silly, which is to say that the author has made sure her teenage protagonist is very much a teenager. Blau's depiction of eighties diet culture is both terrifying and authentic, from the fad diet Zippy and her roommate follow to how a perfectly normally shaped girl is convinced she's enormous. Some of the period notes feel wedged in, with a lot of mentions of brand names and television shows, but Blau has captured the feel of that time beautifully.

This is a well-written and fun novel about a time and place, and a character who embodies what is was to be young and silly back then. Where this novel falls short is in the lack of substance. There's no chance that Zippy's luck will run out, and since each time she faces a challenge, the conflict resolves without effort from her, the lack of believable stakes make this book unsatisfying.

Shop Girls is like if Clueless got trapped in a department store with The Breakfast Club. Chaotic, heartfelt, and full of questionable outfit choices. You'll laugh, cringe, and maybe reconsider every retail job you ever had (which I did).

This was just delightful. I loved Zippy's wide-eyed view of the world and firsthand accounts of her life in and out of the department store. And the Berber coffee guy!

I loved Blau's first book, Mary Jane, so was excited to read Shopgirls. The setting and timeframe initially pulled me in but the storyline eventually fizzled for me.

I remember reading Mary Jane a couple years back and thoroughly enjoyed it. This one, however, somehow missed the mark. It's only when I got almost 3/4ths of the way through that Zippy gets that "a-ha" moment and realizes her purpose in life.

Having been a teenager in the mid-80s, I identified with all the cultural references that the author threw in: the hot dress designers (Bill Blass, Jessica McClintock, Anne Klein), the TV shows (Cheers, Cosby Show, Night Court) and, of course, the music (Chaka Khan, Wham!, Whitney, Prince and Dire Straits). It does also briefly touch on heavier subject matter.

I began the book by listening to the audio, but then switched back to the ebook when it started annoying me.

Overall, a fast, entertaining read!

A big Thank You to Mariner Books and Netgalley for the complimentary digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Zippy is 19, has just moved out of her mother and stepfather’s chaotic home, living with a roommate, and working at a high end department store in San Francisco in the mid 1980s. She has never met her father, feels completely out of place at her job having to interact with fancy people (she has to rotate about three salvation army bought outfits), and is just trying to figure out where she falls in the world. This is a coming of age novel when the world was also coming of age, adapting to a new reality with the AIDS epidemic.

I love a good eighties nostalgia read (I wasn’t an adult then so I was simply an innocent observer) - it was actually a very intersting time when there was a lot of societal changed. This one was a very character driven novel, and for those types of stories you really have to connect in some way with the characters, unfortunately I didn’t connect with any of them in this book, including Zippy. I appreciate how the story tried to show how AIDS was starting to become a mainstream issue but I felt it wasn't a deep enough dive for me. I wanted to like this one more and I think people did - this may just be a matter of personal taste.

3.5 stars

Thank you to mariner books and netgalley for the ARC to review

Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau tells the story of Zippy a young girl who works in IMagin a high end department store during the 1980’s in San Francisco. I was really looking forward to this book since I really liked Mary Jane. Unfortunately I was disappointed.

The story line sounded good but the delivery seemed very amateurish. Zippy is 19 and going through a few things. She has a single mom, doesn’t know who her father is until he contacts her one day. The work place environment is a bit off the wall, making paper dolls and a coworker who goes to pray in the dressing room. Left me shaking my head.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this ARC.

Zippy didn’t belong in the exquisite that was I.madelin. She was between rotating Salvation Army outfits and waiting for the day she would be called in to be her last.

This is for the people who feel like they don’t belong but a lot of the insecurity is in their head too. The author laid heavy into setting and imagery but left me yearning to get to know the main character a little more early on. Be prepared for shallow and vapid characters and a main character who seems to want to be anyone but herself.

I didn’t like a lot of the judgement and self righteous vibes the writing would give. They would pray quite a bit but the mc was constantly discussing her eating, or her eating on/off days, and critiquing the shape of other’s womens bodies.

The writer definitely felt like someone writing from the experience of a commission dept but the dialogue left a lot to be desired. The conversations did not flow at all- they either felt forced and random or flat and shallow. Like it would go from “work friends” conversations to conversations you would have with a therapist. Definitely character contradictions when it came to Zippy and left me too confused. She was almost likeable and charming but not quite there for me with lack of consistency. And especially how gossipy and childish she ended up in the end, when she found out about someone close to her and the lifestyle they were keeping secret. Like made me want to hate her for that. This needed a few more draft rounds before seeing the public eye.

fter being absolutely obsessed with Mary Jane a few years ago, this was a highly anticipated read for me!! I overall really enjoyed it and had so much fun listening to the audio!

This was such a heartfelt and quirky coming of age story of a girl working in an ‘80s department store. I loved all the characters in the book and thought it was truly just a good time and a unique premise! I loved the friendships in the book and the writing style!

I can’t wait to see what she writes next ✍🏼

<i>Shopgirls</i> surprised me in the best way possible. I think that Jessica Anya Blau had such a unique way of telling a story that pulls the reader in without even realizing how truly invested they are in the main characters personal growth.
Following the life of a 19-year-old Zippy as she works the petite dresses floor for a San Francisco high end department store in the 80s could really have been dull. Let me assure you that I would happily still continue reading stories of how Zippy handles her clients and fellow shopgirls.
Zippy ended up making me feel like I would want to be part of her inner circle. She was able to relate to anyone of any age and had true empathy and thoughtfulness for them. Her naivety of how the world works got her further than she would have ever dreamed possible for herself.
I think Blau is easily on the list of authors whose books I will read the second they are released without even knowing what they are about first.

I was very excited to read this after LOVING Mary Jane but this one fell a little short for me. While I liked the setting and the time period a LOT, plus the scenes in the store where Zippy was doing her job, I was not a fan of the paper dolls thing and also how young Zippy felt. I usually love coming of age but this one felt like it was written for 14 year olds. 3.5 stars.

📕I understand the need to look after family, but why this girl had to do it by taking over the job that was once her stepfather’s. Was that necessary? She might not be making enough to cover all expenses working at a department store as a sales girl, but if the other job paid good enough her mom and her stepfather would already be well off. Okay enough with venting
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📗I loved Mary Jane. I loved the whimsical, wholesome story of a girl getting adopted by power figures making her one happy girl. But this felt so much a repeat of it. Instead of rockstar, now we have an ad star. It was 70s, this is 80s
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📘I still liked Blau’s storytelling and character development, but I needed another kinda story that would create same feelings as Mary Jane. I know not every book needs to exceed expectations, but it’s Blau’s fault for creating that expectation 😜

I was very excited to see Shopgirls come out, since Mary Jane was one of my favorite books that I read last year. While I enjoyed the read, it didn't quite live up to her other novel. Set in the 1980s, Zippy is embarking on adulthood. She works in I. Magnin an upscale department store. It explores her grappling with becoming an adult and learning to live on her own terms. There were certainly nods to the '80s (Bill Cosby reference was notable), but it didn't really read as a historical novel or feel like the time place was central to the theme. The novel had a sweetness to it and I felt like it was more about her growth than it was about everything else that was going on. Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for providing me an ARC copy of this book.

I loved the coming of age story 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲 by Jessica Anya Blau. I think 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 is supposed to have a similar coming of age vibe but it just doesn’t work. The whole time I wondered what was the point of the story and who was the intended audience. It reads quite YA. I felt like she picked a random time period (the 80s) and threw in a few fashion brands popular at the time and a controversial topic - AIDS. There was nothing else that supported the time and place. Zippy’s family story made no sense to me (I’ll avoid spoilers but the mom’s questionable memory is ridiculous). This was a bummer. I had high hopes. I should have judged this one by the cover.

I worked in an upscale department store after college so I was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Shopgirls read more like a YA or New Adult novel. I liked the parts that were set in I Magnin with the clothes and the relationship between the "shopgirl" but the rest of the story fell flat for me.

Thanks to Mariner and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

Shopgirls is a book that I had looked forward to reading, particularly due to the time period it was set in - the 1980s and the setting of San Francisco.. Thank you Mariner Books for my DRC .

I wanted to love this book and therefore put it down several times when I hit a point when it no longer was holding my attention. I thought it might just be what was taking place in the world that was distracting me. However, I came to realize the book and I were just not a fit.

The story didn’t feel like the 1980s but rather the 60s. And the main characters felt flat without much growth. Sometimes books are just not meant for us and I think that is the case here. So while not my treasure read it could easily be yours!

3 stars — aggressively fine, thanks for asking

Shopgirls is the literary equivalent of a soft shrug. It’s 1985, we’ve got Zippy working the floor at I. Magnin in San Francisco, and as someone who works in the corporate office for a department store, I was READY. Retail setting? Yes please. Give me the buyer drama, give me an unhinged department head, give me wild customers and a rogue mannequin or two.

Instead, I got… a light afternoon. Some mild laughs. A friendship with her friend/roommate Raquel that was cute enough to keep me from DNFing. One interaction with a dress buyer that gave me a flicker of hope before the plot wandered off again like a bored teenager in accessories.

It wasn’t bad. It was just mid. No real high highs, no dramatic lows. It coasted. Which is fine! I’ve read worse! But I’ve also already forgotten half of it.

If you want to spend a few hours in a lukewarm bath of 1980s nostalgia and mild department store vibes, go for it. Just don’t expect anything to stick.

Would I recommend it?
Sure, if you’re bored and mildly retail-curious.
Will I think about it again?
Nope.

Thank you Mariner Books for the free ebook and audiobook to review.