This book was probably one of the most original thrillers I've read. The crazy cat lady POV was a wild ride and I never could really guess where the author was taking us with the story. The repetition of the narrative and animal abuse aspects turned me off, but it was a quick and fascinating book. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I give up on this author. This book was so choppy and sloppy.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

When Lorelei finds out her college best friend-turned-enemy will be receiving a Woman of the Year award, she decides that not only must she attend, she must also enact revenge on Holly. She comes up with a plan to harm and humiliate Holly at the gala, just to knock down her ego a bit. But when Holly ends up dead, things only get worse for Lorelei.

This is my second book from this author. If I had not read another book by her previously, I do not think I would have finished this, but I was optimistic the book would get better. Boy, was I wrong. The main character was so unlikable it was tough to root for. Coupled with the repetitive writing throughout the book (we get it, Holly is Woman of the Year- no need to mention it every single paragraph!) the book was tough to hold interest and get through. While the subplot of her past chapters from college were more interesting, they still dragged a bit and then ended up pretty anticlimactic. In the general the entire book felt like a love letter to cats, which added in a lot of strange story lines.

Unfortunately I would not recommend this book, but would be open to reading the author's next book. Maybe third time's a charm?

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Woman of the year- thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster this one published last week so I’m a bit late to promote it! This is by the author of a simple favor and follows the dark side of female friends and is a fun little revenge plot that gets out of hand!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This book made me almost vomit. As someone with a cat, I was extremely grossed out. This book is not for the faint of heart. I really don't know how much more I can say. It was a quick read/listen, but I for sure need a VERY light read after this one. Just not my vibe. This book should have a MAJOR trigger warning. There was animal testing/abuse, sexual assault, and suicide.

I really enjoyed A Simple Favor, but this was not it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell

This was a fun read for me. I love an unreliable narrator and Lorelei is a little unstable. I love the dual timeline so we’re learning about Lorelei’s trauma as she is currently moving forward with this revenge plot, but the further the story progresses the more I wondered how much was actually true.

But I wanna know what you think. Do you believe all of her trauma? Or does it feel like she’s living in her own world.

Special shout-out to Catzilla for being the real hero.

Thanks to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this advanced reader. Woman of the Year released 3/21/24.

#BookReview #Bookstagram #DarceyBell #WomanOfTheYear #AtriaBooks #BookishLife #Reading #Bibliophile #BookPhotography #BookRecommendations #InstaBooks #BookNerd #ThrillerBooks #Fiction

I've loved all of Darcey Bell's books so far, but this one missed the mark for me a little bit. There was a lot of narration from the protagonist, and it seemed like very little action or dialogue. until the very end This book also seemed to lack some direction in the beginning and it was hard to see where it was going. While the twist at the end was well done overall, it didn't really solicit a strong response from me. Overall, this was an average read, especially compared to her previous novels.

This book was not what I expected - it was strangely, yet uniquely laid out which took a little time to get used to. I was not a fan of any of the characters or the storyline -it felt very immature and like there was something missing from the plot.

This book had a strong start for me. It was was fast paced and intriguing. It did start to lose me a bit about 60-70% in as it felt a bit repetitive, but the ending was unexpected.
I don’t think the writing style will be for everyone as it’s written as the character thinks, but I did enjoy that. All in all I gave this one 3⭐️

Couldn’t get into this one. The novel started slow and never picked up steam. I wasn’t able to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Woman of the Year! In true Darcey Bell fashion, Woman of the Year was twisty, dark, and a little, well, weird. The novel takes us through a psychological journey, starting with Lorelei’s college years in a psychology class with interesting methods of learning. From here, we learn about Lorelei’s relationship with her college professors, unique cat, and Holly, the now Woman of the Year. Trigger warnings for animal abuse, psychological experiments, and gaslighting. Not sure this one was for me, but if you have an unhealthy obsession with cats and suspending your belief for an entire book, it may be for you!

This is my second book by this author and I’m beginning to think maybe she’s not for me. I don’t enjoy her writing style and that’s ok because maybe she works great for other people. I do however wish there were some trigger warnings for this particular novel. I cannot do animal abuse/testing and that was very offputting and probably ended up ruining the book for me.

Twenty years ago, gregarious Lorelei and mousy Holly became fast friends as students in the same college psychology seminar. Taught by an expert in control and human behavior, the two students also grew close to their charismatic professor. But in one twisted moment of gaslighting, their friendship flamed out and Lorelei’s once-promising future fell apart.
Flashforward, Holly has everything Lorelei ever wanted, while Lorelei is a lonely cat lady. Now, Holly is even up for an award at a Woman of the Year ceremony, and Lorelei finally has the perfect opportunity to get the revenge she’s wanted for years. But she’s not the only person who has been obsessively following Holly’s career—and when someone winds up dead, Lorelei realizes she may be in danger, too.
This book wasn't terrible but it wasn't super great either. The plot seemed promising but I just had a hard time staying interested in it and almost decided not to finish it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria Books for an eARC of Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell.

This was my first read by this author after watching A Simple Favor as a movie.

The book follows the friendship of Lorelei and Holly from start twenty years ago - to a flash forward of their lives now. What was once a blossoming friendship may now be an absolute nightmare.

This book was OK for me - I usually don't have any triggers, but animal abuse is absolutely one and wasn't something I expected. Just to keep in mind going into this one if that may bother you. I found it a bit predictable, but binge-able nonetheless!

Woman of the Year was a much anticipated read for me but unfortunately did not live up to all of the hype I made for it for myself. Lorelei narrates her tale of revenge while also coming across as a very unreliable narrator, so you’re not sure what story to believe. The time jumps of memory versus present day were not made super clear at all points throughout the story, so I found myself getting reacclimated any time a new chapter started. While the twists were quite clever, I wished they were somehow executed in a more wily way.
Overall, the story is quite unique and entertaining. It does contain mentions of animal testing and animal abuse as well as psychological testing.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a psychological thriller so much. But the problem I find is that they're often really good, or really bad. And when they are bad, they fall so flat that it's hard to recover. That's what happened with this book. There was so much promise in this story. I loved that this story is told in two different times in Holly and Lorelei's life. I loved that the flashback time was during their college years. And I love revenge stories! So there was a lot I was looking forward to in this book. Unfortunately, this is where my excitement ended.

A slow moving thriller can be done well, but this story was painfully slow. I managed to finish the story, even though I wanted to put it down a few times. Honestly, as bad as it was, there was something addicting and obsessive about this story that I wanted to see how it all played out. But please don't mistake that for my enjoyment of the story.

This was my first book by Darcey Bell, and honestly, I just didn't enjoy her writing style. And that can be a make or break aspect of a story. Not loving her writing from the beginning probably didn't help when I was trying to enjoy the story. Thankfully, this was a relatively quick read.

My favorite part of the story? All the love and appreciation for cats (even if it did get weird and disturbing at times.) Trigger warning for animal testing and labs. I loved the quote: "Cats surprise you but they don't disappoint you." This is what I'll forever love and remember from this story.

Overall, this book was just not good. There were some disturbing moments, creepy characters, confusing events and so much I just didn't enjoy. I appreciate the opportunity to read this story, but I don't think I'll be looking for future books by this author.

This was a weird book that made me uncomfortable almost the entire time I read it. There wasn't a single likeable character and I never felt sorry for Laura Lee/Lorelei. I could understand her wanting revenge for what was done to her, but I didn't really care that she got "justice" and really didn't care for the ending. Honestly, the whole book was like a bad dream that happens after too much Taco Bell.

Trigger warning: there are quite a few. Animal abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are mine and freely given.

If you thought A Simple Favor was kinda twisty and weird, buckle up! The latest Darcey Bell thriller is all about psychology, #metoo, and cats. Yes, you read that right… cats. And the dark side of female friendship, toxic relationships, gaslighting and emotional manipulation.

Twenty years ago, Laura Lee Green and Holly Snopes were best friends and classmates as college seniors in the psychology program. Until an incident tore them apart and their lives dramatically diverged. Now Laura Lee - aka Loralei - clings to a sad solitary life with unhealthy attachment to her cat, and the other - now Holly Serpente - is a glamorous and famous socialite activist who’s been named Woman of the Year. Holly doesn’t even recognize Lorelai at the dinner honoring her, not even when she tried to kill her. But when she turns up dead a few days later, Lorelai has to wonder who else wanted Holly dead and if they also know about their shared history and if she’s next.

As much a commentary on #metoo, female friendships and the lengths women will go to to have their truths heard and believed (and throws a lot of shade at the people who call female cat owners “crazy cat ladies”) as it is a thriller, this one had me turning the pages from start to finish. If you liked any of Bell’s previous books, as well as Vera Kurian’s Never Saw Me Coming or Sascha Rothchild’s Blood Sugar, you’ll enjoy this one!

I usually don’t post about books that I dislike, but this is one of those that is so bizarre that I need to talk about it with anyone else who has read it (seriously, come talk to me).

It’s a quick read that feels like a more commercial version of an Ottessa Moshfegh novel that supposedly explores the past and present relationship of two women who participated in a psychological experiment together in college.

But the story is the farthest thing from that. It reads like a long-winded monologue that tries to be a MeToo story about gaslighting and toxic relationships, but it doesn’t cover either of those topics well. The characters’ motivations make absolutely zero sense and there’s a lot of silliness that feels out of place amid the larger themes of the story (Catzilla?? Seriously?). I also found a lot of problems with the pacing and plotting, as all of the important events feel crammed into the last 10% of the book. There’s also a lot of animal cruelty throughout, which felt very unnecessary for the larger point of the story.

I truly loved Darcey Bell’s debut A Simple Favor, so if you want to check out one of her books, skip this one and pick up that instead.

Woman of the Year is out today. Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.