Book Review: Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino
The Details
Media Type: Ebook (ARC)
Title: Smile and Look Pretty
Author(s): Amanda Pellegrino
Publisher: Park Row
Pages/Length: Paperback; 368
Release Date: March 8, 2022
Source: Publisher
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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A juicy, fun yet piercing debut novel, Smile and Look Pretty tells the story of four assistants working in media who band together to take on their toxic office environments in the ultimate comeuppance—pitched as Sweetbitter meets Whisper Network.
Online they’re The Aggressive One, The Bossy One, The Bitchy One, and The Emotional One. In real life, best friends Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max all have one thing in common—they’re overworked, overtired, and underpaid assistants to some of the most powerful men in the media and entertainment industries. When they secretly start an anonymous blog detailing their experiences, their posts go viral and hundreds of other women come forward with stories of their own. Confronted with the risks of newfound fame and the possibility of their identities being revealed, they have to contend with what happens when you try and change the world.
Gripping, razor-sharp, and scathingly funny, Smile and Look Pretty is a fast-paced millennial rallying cry about the consequences of whistleblowing for an entire generation, and a testament to the strength of female friendship and what can be accomplished when women come together.
The Review
This was a lot of fun! If you’ve ever had a job where your boss made you want to quit almost daily, this is a book you’re going to love. Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are all personal assistants. Each to their own personal hell of a boss. They are constantly exhausted, taken advantage of, and pushed to the limits with what they have to put up with. Still, they stay, because they each have their own hope that where they are now will help them get to where they want to be. Or, you know, it would be if they weren’t female.
Yes friends, this book deals with the inequality in all types of work spaces and it does it brilliantly. It finally gets to the point where Cate has had enough. She decides to start an anonymous blog, where her and her friends can share the horror stories of their jobs. All that toxic behavior, all that frustration, out on a page for the world to see. What they don’t foresee is how many other women will come forward and start sharing their own stories. What started as a small way to let off steam grows into something massive, and possibly the one way to cause change.
I loved these characters, even when I was ridiculously frustrated with them for putting up with the situations that they were in. Pellegrino makes each character shine, and makes it easy to understand why they just can’t leave. When you’ve finally broken into a male dominated industry, it’s hard to just leave and start over again, after all. Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are all just brilliant women who make you want to cheer them on, especially once the book hits the mid point. I wanted them to succeed so much! Laying it all on the line for change, that’s how you do it.
Truly, I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did! The beginning was a little bit of a slow start, but as things started to escalate I was more and more invested. I feel like this is a very appropriate story for today’s world, and one that a lot of readers are probably going to see themselves in. Hopefully it will make them feel as empowered as the women in this book! If not, I can guarantee you at least that you’ll have a blast reading this.
