Wild and creepy for sure. So, in summary, I enjoyed the weirdness and minded the triggers much less than most but didn't love the ending. Still found it an enjoyable read but would warn most readers to be familiar with the subject matter and to be ready to embrace a bizarre theme (or really, several bizarre themes) before diving into this one. I really like the psychological aspects of it and how the author incorporated it into the story. The main character Lorelei has an incredible bond and love for her pet cats. I can relate to that as I feel the same about my cat. You think you know where this book is gonna go and it ended up heading somewhere completely different.

I tend to value thrillers on two charts: how hard was it for me to put down & how shocked was I by the way the plot played out. WOMAN OF THE YEAR definitely won on the first axis -- I couldn't look away from this absolute trainwreck, and as the protagonist lost touch with reality, I got more and more hooked. So, on that level, this book was a total winner. I can't say that I was ultimately blown away by the plot or that invested in the characters (admittedly, I am largely unmoved by unreliable narrators in thrillers), but I can say that I stayed up way too late to finish this one!

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started this book, but quickly realized that our main character, Lorelei Green, is deeply troubled and wants revenge on a former friend from college. We follow along as Lorelei recounts her trauma during her time as a psychology major in college and the events that unfolded during her senior year. While this story moved quite quickly and was gripping, the last few chapters were disappointing. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This first person POV crazy cat lady psychological revenge thriller started off a bit weird and just got weirder. Sadly it was not for me. I managed to stick it out to the end (and thankfully it wasn't a long one) but yeah, just a bit too wacky. The protagonist wasn't particularly likeable and there was a lot of sexual abuse/gaslighting I didn't enjoy much. Okay on audio narrated by Tavia Gilbert but even her performance couldn't redeem Lorelei (the MC) for me. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

A wild and crazy adventure that left me wondering “what did I just read?!” I love the twists and and the overall insanity. Not my favorite book from the author but definitely a crazy adventure!

I was really excited for this one but it fell flat for me. For a short book, it was very slow and I just could not connect to the story or characters. I didn’t find any of the characters to be enjoyable, which doesn’t help in character-driven books, and you don’t really understand why Lorelei wants revenge until you get closer to the end of the story. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the book, I can see it being translated well into a movie. Overall, this was a strange one and just didn’t work for me!

Super great book that was easy to read and enjoyable. I loved the main character in this one. She is different but in a way that keeps her interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Book and Darcey Bell for this eARC. I have noticed that Darcey Bell's books always have a great starting for me. I thought this would be the redeeming book for her after "All I Want" but I found this not be odd and not thrilling for me. I do not know why this happens with her books. I pressed on and finished it and I found the character to be dull and just not worth reading about.

I didn’t care for this book.
When I read the synopsis I was excited to read it.
The first chapter fell flat for me but I kept reading hoping it would improve.
Unfortunately it didn’t. The main character has a lot of issues and I struggled to sort out what was the truth and what was the delusion.
I didn’t get this book.
The narrative was flat.

Read if you like:
👀 Mysteries & Suspense
🐈 Cat Lady’s
🔪 Thrillers
🧠 Psychology
⏳Past and Present Timelines
👿 Revenge

This one was interesting. It wasn’t my favorite and it wasn’t the worst. I was glad it was shorter than most books or else I don’t know if I would have been able to finish it other than the fact I really wanted to know what “the woman of the year” had done to the MC but then, it wasn’t anything that we didn’t already know and there wasn’t a huge twist or reveal that made me feel validated in my quest to learn the truth.

I did like the subtle twist around of the title with the ending. Overall, this was good enough but I don’t know that it’s one I’d recommend heavily.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria, for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an eARC of Woman of the Year in exchange for my honest review!

This is the first time I'd ever read a Darcy Bell book, although I'd always known about her thanks to the 2018 film adaptation of her debut thriller novel A Simple Favor. I'll give the book credit for being consistently engaging to read, but that compensates for neither the mediocre machinations of the revenge plot nor the one-dimensional characters. I was particularly irritated by the writing for Lorelei, which left me feeling like events in the plot are always happening to her rather than her being a proactive protagonist of her own story. This book also tries to weave concepts about human psychology into the narrative, but it ends up coming off as superficial. It sure does shower tons of love on cats, though, which I can appreciate.

Overall, Woman of the Year is one of the more underwhelming thrillers I've read.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the electronic copy of Woman of the Year by Darcey Bell. This premise of the book had a lot of promise. Twenty years ago Lorelei and Holly become friends as students in a coveted unique college psychology class with a well-known professor. However, their friendship falls apart. Lorelei has a generic office job and Holly is uber-wealthy and successful. When Holly wins a "Woman of the Year" award, Lorelei hits her limit and decides to take her revenge. But is she the only person with a grudge against Holly? And if not, why?

Sounds interesting, but the execution fell flat for me. It got a bit repetitive. That said, I could see this as a mini-series or other adaptation. The novel itself though was only ok.

In a traditional college way over twenty years ago Lorelei and Holly met in a psychology seminar. They became fast friends with one another and their college professor but then an event transpired that resulted in the end of the friendship.

Holly's life is picturesque and Lorelei's life isn't what she imagined it to be. She has been following Holly's life and when she finds out that Holly is about to honored as Woman of the Year she sets a plan in action to humiliate, Holly. A plan based on revenge and obsession.

Lorelei is an unreliable character. Everyone is on the batshit crazy rader. The story moves quickly and leaves you with many WTF moments. This is a dark, twisted, trail of suspense and a book you should pick up!

A twisted thriller that follows Lorelei and her revenge plot against her college friend, Holly. As Lorelei tells the story of deception spanning the decades between her college life and now, truth and delusion seem to twist together.
Great quick read! I was hooked from a couple of chapters in.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books in exchange for my honest review

Hmmmm....this author is a hit or miss for me and sadly this story was a miss. Both characters are just horrible people. It's revenge story which I normally love but I just could not get behind either woman and the animal things.....just not for me.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Darcey Bell and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I am a huge fan of Darcey Bell's other books, I especially loved A Simple Favor. So I was really excited to get an ARC of her newest book, Woman of the Year. Unfortunately, this book did not feel like her normal writing. From the first page, you could tell it was off and that there was going to TW all over. I ended up skimming the book since i just couldn't stomach really reading the whole thing. This book was not for me but since I liked her previous books, I will be willing to try her next book after this one.

I've enjoyed Darcey's other books and while this was good, I don't know that I loved it or it will last in my memory for too long.

I do think you need to go in and check trigger warnings though...some things were hard to stomach.

I actually enjoyed Darcy Bell's previous two books but this one just was not for me. Too unlikable characters and the animal abuse in the story disgusted me. I will read her future books because I did enjoy her others before this one.

I usually love Darcy’s Bell’s novels. This one felt a little off to me and was harder for me to follow. While this wasn’t the book for me, I will still look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

3.5 stars. I've read two of Darcey Bell's previous novels -- A Simple Favor and All I Want -- and I didn't particularly enjoy either of them very much. So imagine my surprise when I started reading Woman of the Year and was immediately captivated by it. And as I devoured it in just a couple of sittings, that feeling didn't go away -- I was utterly entranced by this book from the first page to the last.

Lorelei has shown up at a Woman of the Year benefit dinner, where her former friend Holly Serpenta is being honored. She's there to get revenge on Holly for something that happened way back in college, when they were classmates in a coveted psychology seminar -- but just a little bit of revenge. Nothing major or permanent. Over the course of the novel, Lorelei is going to tell us why she's out for revenge -- but she's going to tell the story in her own way. Go ahead and judge her when you know the whole truth.

Woman of the Year is a creative take on the revenge trope, with the success of the novel relying almost completely on its protagonist. We are in Lorelei's head for the entire book in a narrative that weaves between the past and the present, and the way the story was presented was so inventive, the tone so campy and conversational, that it kept me completely riveted. In Lorelei, Bell has given us a "crazy cat lady" protagonist who is quirky, slightly deluded, and maybe not all that reliable. But she's also funny and wry, and I found myself really enjoying the meandering way she told her story.

As for Lorelei's story itself -- well, there are lots of moving parts that are incredibly unique and fascinating. There's a Thanksgiving dinner that I'm pretty sure will go down as one of the most disturbing, uncomfortable scenes I've ever read. There's a #MeToo plot. There are lots of cats. There's discussion of mind control. There are also some parts of the book that focus on animal experimentation, so if animal harm is a trigger for you it might be a good idea to give this one a skip. I wish Lorelei's friendship with Holly would've been a bit more fleshed-out, but the whole idea is that we're supposed to trust Lorelei's version of events, so I can see why she may have felt the details of their friendship weren't necessary.

I have to say, Bell impressed me with Woman of the Year. The behavioral psychology element was so intriguing, and the entire book -- the plot, the characters -- just felt slightly off in a way that kept me wanting to know what strange turn we'd take next. This is a weird, wild book that stands out in the revenge thriller genre due to its unique plot elements and unforgettable narrator. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advance reading opportunity.