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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Oh holy hell did I want to punch Eve.
Every. Time. She. Spoke.
An engaging and fun book about TechBitches, frenemies, and the power of Courtesy.
Set in the Fashion and social media industries, the main character is utterly charming, practical, and interesting. I adored her. Poise incarnate.
Her nemesis was over-the-top. The ultimate in 'ugly' - A Bully/Bitch.
It's a poignant commentary on workplace bullying, as well.
Oh - And there's some fashion-y stuff in it too.
Every. Time. She. Spoke.
An engaging and fun book about TechBitches, frenemies, and the power of Courtesy.
Set in the Fashion and social media industries, the main character is utterly charming, practical, and interesting. I adored her. Poise incarnate.
Her nemesis was over-the-top. The ultimate in 'ugly' - A Bully/Bitch.
It's a poignant commentary on workplace bullying, as well.
Oh - And there's some fashion-y stuff in it too.
Really enjoyed this! I can already see it being made into a movie.
If not for my book group, I probably would never have considered this book. The Knockoff checks a lot of boxes for topics I usually avoid: the fashion world, corporate life, women being catty, descriptions of what people are wearing, focus on millennials... Still, in the spirit of being a good book group-ie, I plunged right in. Surprise! I ended up having a lot more fun with this book than I could possibly have imagined.
The story is fairly straightforward: Imogen Tate has been the editor-in-chief of Glossy for years, connected with all the top names in the fashion world, guaranteed a front-row seat at Fashion Week, and considered one of the biggest names in the world of fashion media. But after a six-month medical leave, she returns to work to find that nothing is as she left it. Her former assistant Eve is now basically running out the show, throwing out the physical magazine in favorite of an app whose raison d'etre is their BUY IT NOW tagline on every single item in every single photo shoot. Suddenly, Glossy is Glossy.com, staffed by interchangeable millennial 20-somethings who are all looking for their breakthrough into tech gold.
Imogen is immediately out of her depth, helpless with anything related to technology, and being made to feel like a dinosaur. (Literally. Eve has a toy dinosaur on her desk with "Imogen" printed on the side.) But Imogen isn't without allies and resources, and she sets out to become relevant, going from hopelessly inept twitterer to Instagram idol practically in the blink of an eye.
What I liked:
The characters and the dialogue are bubbly fun. The writing is snappy and witty, moving quickly from scene to scene. The story is mostly told from Imogen's point-of-view, but we get occasional sections narrated by Eve or by Imogen's new assistant Ashley, and their voices are distinct and finely honed.
Imogen is a strong lead character, and I loved seeing a woman at the helm of a business, with all the respect and acclaim she deserves. It's also rewarding to see a powerful businesswoman with a home life. She works hard, but she's also got a great, supportive husband, and is a devoted mom to two young children. The other thing that's great about Imogen is that she's NICE. She's not the cookie cutter mean boss, the woman who has to be a bitch to get ahead. Imogen believes in treating people kindly and with respect, no matter their role, and it pays off for her tremendously, both in terms of actual results and in the good will generated.
I can't say that I "liked" Eve -- but I think the authors did a great job with her character. She's completely insufferable, but she's supposed to be. As written, Eve is simply an awful person, shouting "GO GO GO" at her staff, forcing them to attend spin classes with her and admire her every move, and ready to fire people at a moment's notice for really no reason at all. She's abrasive and totally oblivious to the horrible impression she makes on fashion world movers and shakers -- she's all about her Harvard MBA, and can't see beyond her adorable selfies for more than a moment. So while I despised Eve, kudos to the authors for creating such a thoroughly unlikable character!
Side characters are quite well-drawn as well, from the anxious, eager-to-please young women who follow Eve's every move, dreaming of their own big breakthroughs, to the supermodels who are Imogen's friends and the tech gurus whom Imogen finds surprisingly agreeable, each has interesting quirks and personalities. I got a big kick out of Imogen's nanny Tilly, who becomes Imogen's emergency social media advisor, teaching her how to hashtag like a boss.
What I didn't like so much:
Certain parts of the premise just didn't ring true for me. Imogen is 42 years old. 42! That's not ancient! There's no way that a 42-year-old should have to have her assistants print her emails before she reads them. She may not have rocked social media previously, but I simply found it incredible that a woman in business, in her early 40s, would be that incapable of using and understanding technology.
Imogen is out on medical leave for six months, and returns to find her business completely revamped -- and no one let her know ahead of time? Is it realistic that over the course of half a year a well-established magazine would completely throw out its business model and turn itself into an app? Didn't feel that way to me.
The focus on Eve's wedding toward the end creates the climactic moments of the story, but honestly, the wedding shenanigans seemed overblown to me and beyond the point of credulity. It's hard to believe that the wedding would have created that level of buzz or attracted the who's-who of attendees -- although Eve's wedding plans, from choosing only size 2 bridesmaids to dictating guests' outfits, are kind of hilarious in their awfulness. As the madness piles up, it goes beyond funny to overdone... but yeah, not entirely unfunny either.
Okay, and I have to point out -- back in the Glossy office, where is HR in all this? Don't Imogen and Eve have bosses? How can Eve be managing the staff and the company the way she does for so many months with no intervention? I call poppycock. It's just not realistic for this size corporation to have absolutely no oversight in place. I was more than a little horrified to read about Eve's management practices (if you can even call it that). The company should have been swimming in lawsuits.
A note on the narration:
Katherine Kellgren is a terrific narrator. She gives Imogen a posh London accent, then switches gears to portray Eve's mean girl American drawl and Ashley's millennial-speak. I often find narrators distracting when they over-do their versions of the opposite gender, but in this case, the narrator's male voices were well-done without sounding fake.
The voice for Eve was strident and shouty -- but that's Eve. We're supposed to be that irritated by her.
Wrapping it all up:
The Knockoff was an unexpectedly fun listen. It's definitely not my usual subject matter, but the mix of humor and personalities really worked. Yes, I had quibbles about the plot, but this is meant to be entertainment, not a true study of the state of corporate America. Imogen's personal journey is a hoot to witness, and I couldn't help but cheer for her (while gleefully waiting for Eve's downfall). The ending is wickedly satisfying, and there's really never a dull moment. It's not a particularly deep read, but The Knockoff sure is enjoyable.
The story is fairly straightforward: Imogen Tate has been the editor-in-chief of Glossy for years, connected with all the top names in the fashion world, guaranteed a front-row seat at Fashion Week, and considered one of the biggest names in the world of fashion media. But after a six-month medical leave, she returns to work to find that nothing is as she left it. Her former assistant Eve is now basically running out the show, throwing out the physical magazine in favorite of an app whose raison d'etre is their BUY IT NOW tagline on every single item in every single photo shoot. Suddenly, Glossy is Glossy.com, staffed by interchangeable millennial 20-somethings who are all looking for their breakthrough into tech gold.
Imogen is immediately out of her depth, helpless with anything related to technology, and being made to feel like a dinosaur. (Literally. Eve has a toy dinosaur on her desk with "Imogen" printed on the side.) But Imogen isn't without allies and resources, and she sets out to become relevant, going from hopelessly inept twitterer to Instagram idol practically in the blink of an eye.
What I liked:
The characters and the dialogue are bubbly fun. The writing is snappy and witty, moving quickly from scene to scene. The story is mostly told from Imogen's point-of-view, but we get occasional sections narrated by Eve or by Imogen's new assistant Ashley, and their voices are distinct and finely honed.
Imogen is a strong lead character, and I loved seeing a woman at the helm of a business, with all the respect and acclaim she deserves. It's also rewarding to see a powerful businesswoman with a home life. She works hard, but she's also got a great, supportive husband, and is a devoted mom to two young children. The other thing that's great about Imogen is that she's NICE. She's not the cookie cutter mean boss, the woman who has to be a bitch to get ahead. Imogen believes in treating people kindly and with respect, no matter their role, and it pays off for her tremendously, both in terms of actual results and in the good will generated.
I can't say that I "liked" Eve -- but I think the authors did a great job with her character. She's completely insufferable, but she's supposed to be. As written, Eve is simply an awful person, shouting "GO GO GO" at her staff, forcing them to attend spin classes with her and admire her every move, and ready to fire people at a moment's notice for really no reason at all. She's abrasive and totally oblivious to the horrible impression she makes on fashion world movers and shakers -- she's all about her Harvard MBA, and can't see beyond her adorable selfies for more than a moment. So while I despised Eve, kudos to the authors for creating such a thoroughly unlikable character!
Side characters are quite well-drawn as well, from the anxious, eager-to-please young women who follow Eve's every move, dreaming of their own big breakthroughs, to the supermodels who are Imogen's friends and the tech gurus whom Imogen finds surprisingly agreeable, each has interesting quirks and personalities. I got a big kick out of Imogen's nanny Tilly, who becomes Imogen's emergency social media advisor, teaching her how to hashtag like a boss.
What I didn't like so much:
Certain parts of the premise just didn't ring true for me. Imogen is 42 years old. 42! That's not ancient! There's no way that a 42-year-old should have to have her assistants print her emails before she reads them. She may not have rocked social media previously, but I simply found it incredible that a woman in business, in her early 40s, would be that incapable of using and understanding technology.
Imogen is out on medical leave for six months, and returns to find her business completely revamped -- and no one let her know ahead of time? Is it realistic that over the course of half a year a well-established magazine would completely throw out its business model and turn itself into an app? Didn't feel that way to me.
The focus on Eve's wedding toward the end creates the climactic moments of the story, but honestly, the wedding shenanigans seemed overblown to me and beyond the point of credulity. It's hard to believe that the wedding would have created that level of buzz or attracted the who's-who of attendees -- although Eve's wedding plans, from choosing only size 2 bridesmaids to dictating guests' outfits, are kind of hilarious in their awfulness. As the madness piles up, it goes beyond funny to overdone... but yeah, not entirely unfunny either.
Okay, and I have to point out -- back in the Glossy office, where is HR in all this? Don't Imogen and Eve have bosses? How can Eve be managing the staff and the company the way she does for so many months with no intervention? I call poppycock. It's just not realistic for this size corporation to have absolutely no oversight in place. I was more than a little horrified to read about Eve's management practices (if you can even call it that). The company should have been swimming in lawsuits.
A note on the narration:
Katherine Kellgren is a terrific narrator. She gives Imogen a posh London accent, then switches gears to portray Eve's mean girl American drawl and Ashley's millennial-speak. I often find narrators distracting when they over-do their versions of the opposite gender, but in this case, the narrator's male voices were well-done without sounding fake.
The voice for Eve was strident and shouty -- but that's Eve. We're supposed to be that irritated by her.
Wrapping it all up:
The Knockoff was an unexpectedly fun listen. It's definitely not my usual subject matter, but the mix of humor and personalities really worked. Yes, I had quibbles about the plot, but this is meant to be entertainment, not a true study of the state of corporate America. Imogen's personal journey is a hoot to witness, and I couldn't help but cheer for her (while gleefully waiting for Eve's downfall). The ending is wickedly satisfying, and there's really never a dull moment. It's not a particularly deep read, but The Knockoff sure is enjoyable.
Uma narrativa que nos mostra como somos capazes de nos adaptarmos aos novos tempo. Identifiquei-me muito com a protagonista, uma mulher acima de 40 anos que se vê, de repente, no turbilhão de mudanças provocadas pelo surgimento da internet, do smartphone, dos apps, etc. Mostrando o lado cruel de pessoas com alto conhecimento tecnológico e pouco discernimento sobre valores humanos, esta narrativa nos aponta, também, como podemos ser técnicos / tecnológicos sem perdermos o que nos faz humanos: nossa capacidade de sentir e de respeitar o outro.
Fun summer read - Imogen was a great character, but I did find her complete lack of tech knowledge unrealistic. She was out of work for 6mo, not 16 years. She could have had some more rudimentary skills and it wouldn't have impacted the central conflict of the novel. Otherwise, enjoyable!
REALLY enjoyed this book. Love the work drama & the outrageous characters. Like a reverse Devil Wears Prada situation. Very fun! Listened to the audiobook of course.
fun, but should have been about either tech or fashion, not both.