I Hope This Finds You Well is a story of office politics. How to get along with your co-workers, and the challenges of balancing performance with personal feelings. Jolene is an administrative aide for a department store chain based in Calgary. She is disgruntled, with her job, her co-workers, and her life. She has a very bad habit of "whiting out" portions of emails that she sends to her co-workers, the "white portion" being what she thinks is unseen by her colleagues, but one day she forgets to "white out" something and hits send anyway. She is called in to meet with her boss and a new to the company Human Resources representative, Cliff. She receives a warning, and is asked to complete a course of HR training with Cliff. Cliff makes some changes to her office PC, which he mistakenly adds access to everyone in the company's emails. Jolene tries to tell Cliff this, but doesn't succeed. She then decides that having access to everyone's email might be a really good thing for her, and she uses the access to her advantage.

This debut novel from Natalie Sue had promise, and then dropped the ball. Jolene has a lot of issues, not just with her co-workers at work, but a disturbing incident from her past, which haunts her, making her a "functioning" alcoholic, disturbed, and down-right mean at times. Some of her quips to her co-workers are funny, and her sense of humor attracts Cliff, but for the most part, Jolene is mean - to her parents, to her neighbors, and to her co-workers. We know that she is still tortured by the incident in her past, but the way she treats her co-workers should have raised red flags before the email was caught.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I loved this book so much! This is my favorite book so far this year! It reminds me of both The Office (tv show) and "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" but yet it is also unique. I love all of the characters and it is just a fun book! I think anyone who has worked in an office setting will enjoy this story!

Jolene is working admin at a soulless corporation. She sucks at peopling and sucks at life. When she suddenly and accidentally gets access to the emails of everyone at her office, she has to decide: will she use this knowledge for good or for evil?

This was marketed as wry and funny, but I found it stressful and sad. Yes, Jolene embodies each of us who work at monotonous office jobs, just trying to survive. But the incidents in this book go beyond office stereotypes. Jolene is genuinely struggling and does not make good choices. Each of the people she works with are also hiding significant secrets. And as the book progresses, it's easy to see how everything will implode in Joelene's face. I found her difficult to like and identify with, and kept wishing she would make different choices.

This was entertaining but difficult to get though. Those who have thicker skin may enjoy it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review a digital ARC of this book.

See my review on Goodreads here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6512721902

This might just be my top book of the year 🥹 it’s hard to believe that this is a debut! Come for the hilarious sarcasm and stay for the character development.

I laughed, nearly cried, and somehow stayed on the edge of my seat despite the fact that this novel was set in an outdated office with florescent lights and dusty cubicles. If you like found family, a flawed protagonist with a redemption arc and fully fleshed side characters who don’t distract from the story, then this is the book for you!

The obvious TV comp is The Office, but I actually found myself thinking of the best parts of Community and Ted Lasso when reading this book. And do NOT be deceived by the ad copy comparing this book to Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine; I didn’t particularly enjoy either of those and both are entirely different in tone. This novel is so unique that it’s hard to compare to much else, but it felt similar to Remarkably Bright Creatures.

You’ll walk away laughing as you think back on some of the one liners and reflecting on what lies beneath the surface of the people in your own periphery.

Thank you so much to the author, Net Galley and William Morrow for the ARC!


P. S. My one teeny tiny criticism is how many times Jolene mentions her “insides” churning or someone’s lip curling. But these are very forgivable offenses in light of the masterpiece that this book is.

Oh I loved this. It drew me in almost immediately - the story, the characters (even though it was fairly one-sided for much of the book), the writing.

I was enthralled by the seemingly mundane lives of office drones. And kept reaching for the book (kindle) whenever I had a free minute.

Highly recommend!

Honestly, I got this book because it said it was funny and it sounded funny. What I found was a meaningful discussion of trauma, social anxiety and someone struggling to manage the inner-workings of stupid office politics. It was an interesting read that went quickly for me. It was so much hilarious as I expected but well worth it anyways.

4/5 - This workplace drama had me howling. Witty, dry, a bit depressing, on the nose and comically relatable, I loved this weird and rude cast of flawed and funny characters. You love em, you can’t stand em, you can’t help but want to hear more about them. Think The Office meets Super Store but more thought provoking and tender. The character development is outstanding!

Jolene is a thirty something Iranian-Canadian stuck in an administrative job at the corporate headquarters of a big box shopping center. And while much of the book centers around her place of work (it is, after all, sort of all she has), a bulk of it is also about her internal mental health struggles and relationship with her family. Grief is huge here, as is the immigrant experience, the intricacies and complications of adult friendships, the lonelineless that can come with both independence and our “behind the screen” culture, and ultimately, navigating work and life when we spent so much of our life working.

Jolene’s life is a bit sad, and it was hard to be a part of her spirals. And yet, it was harder not to root for her! Thank you to @netgalley, William Morrow and the talented Natalie Sue for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Out now!

I went into this not knowing what to expect, and I ended up loving it. To some extent, it’s a workplace comedy, but it’s more than that. It explores the impact of bullying, trauma, loss, and mental health difficulties. It comments on corporate nonsense, the kinds of people who too often end up as corporate leaders, the complexity of relationships with people we spend so much time with but wouldn’t necessarily choose to be around otherwise.

The main character, Jolene, was complex but ultimately kindhearted. She made a lot of frustrating decisions, but it was hard not to root for her anyway. I loved her development throughout the story.

When I first picked this book up I was expecting that this would be a cutesy rom com but was surprised to get so much more out of this.

This book highlights how we live in our own world without really noticing that everyone around us is not just an NPC and is living a whole life outside of what you see. This story had a lot of depth and I loved following Jolene and watch her character growth.

As someone who reads mostly romance books I would have wanted the romantic elements to have been more throughout but the way this book is set up makes it very rewarding at the pace it is set.

The writing in this book was amazing I genuinely was sucked in to reading this and could not put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for review!

8.5/10. This was a lovely read. I'm not normally a fan of this type of predictable rom-com story but this book was honest, heartwarming story about very real and relatable characters. This book had me laughing out loud and crying throughout the story.

Jolene is a complex character that I imagine is very relatable to a lot of readers out there; someone harboring guilt, feeling stuck, and yet still holding out hope for an opportunity for things to change. Jolene gets the opportunity to do the thing we've all wished we could at our soul-sucking jobs, and she runs with it in a way most of us would be to scared to do. This story built with nearly the intensity of a thriller, keeping me on the edge of my seat. Much of the time I feel endings are predictable and boring, but Sue did a fantastic job at taking a seemingly predictable ending and making it redeeming and heartfelt.

My favorite quote from Jolene: "But I'm more interested in the parts that people want to show me. And right now, that's all I can see."

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. Highly recommend!

I simply cannot believe that this is a debut novel. The writing is excellent. It is funny without feeling forced, and reflective in a way that feels genuine. Just such an enjoyable - albeit VERY STRESSFUL AT TIMES - reading experience.

This was a weirdly slow read for me given that it isn't really inherently a dense book or topic, and the eventual wrap-up felt very quick compared to the pacing of the rest of the book. Neither of these two things really impacted how much I enjoyed the story or the writing. Cannot wait to watch the miniseries version of this book whenever it inevitably gets picked up, and will 10/10 be reading future works by Natalie Sue.

This is probably going to be my favorite debut of 2024. If you're a fan of books such as Maame and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and if you watch The Office on repeat as if it never went off the air, this is for you.

The story starts off with our main character, Jolene, getting in trouble because the little nasty remarks she usually sends at the end of every email in **white text ** were accidentally left legible this time. Thus, she now needs to meet with HR for harassment training. They also feel it is necessary to change her computer privacy settings to monitor her activity for anything threatening, but this all backfires when they accidentally make it so that she can see EVERYONE'S emails and instant messages to each other. Jolene, the office outcast, decides to use the information she gathers from her colleagues' private messages and emails to get a leg up in the office. As you can imagine, this story was MESSY, but oh so delightful.

This was equal parts hilarious, cringe, and heartfelt. At times you will root for Jolene, and at others, you will find yourself rooting for the other characters more. There is a budding romance that I really enjoyed, a lot of deeper issues explored, and if you ever worked in an office full of catty coworkers, you'll totally relate to this story.

Jolene wasn't likeable, but she had many decent moments. Like all of us, she's deeply flawed and also has a lot of unresolved trauma. This story gets chaotic real quick, and when I finished this book, I was sad. With all of my trauma from previous office jobs I am surprised I didn't want to leave this fictional one! I am mourning the end of this book, but also so excited to see what the author comes up with next. I also loved how the author wove in her own experience of being a white-passing Iranian woman and how that has affected her in the workplace.

I felt such a deep emotional connection to this story and these characters when I finished. This was funny, thoughtful, witty, emotional, and above all else, honest.

Thank you, Netgalley & William Morrow, for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I Hope This Finds You Well exceeded my expectations in every way. What I expected was a light comedy, similar to “The Office” but what Sue gave us is so much more. Her characters quirky and relatable, and the story is heartfelt and smart. This was a compassionate, touching gem of a novel that I was unable to put down. For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, All the Lonely People, and “Fleabag”. A contender for one of my favorite books of the year.

*SPOILER-FREE REVIEW*

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start off by saying that I Hope This Finds You Well was so fun and binge-able that it got me out of an almost two-month reading slump! I started it on a whim one day and found myself so gravitated to Jolene and her story that I was picking it up whenever I had a free moment. As many have said, this is a great read for fans of The Office or Parks & Rec. However, focusing purely on the entertainment factor doesn't do this book justice.

I Hope This Finds You Well is an incredibly well-written debut featuring a cast of complex, lovably flawed, realistic characters. This novel showcases the depth and growth of Jolene and her coworkers as she learns more about them over the course of the story. Even the characters who aren't as likable are written with enough care and depth that I was able to empathize with them even while disagreeing with their actions.

While this book was no doubt a witty office drama, at its core it was also a story about the importance of community and connection in coping with all that life throws at you. If you're a fan of lit fic, comedy, (light) contemporary romance, or all of the above (where are my fellow mood readers??) then I can't recommend this enough for your next read!

Jolene is a bitter, introverted office worker who mistakenly gets access to the entire company’s inboxes just in time for layoffs. She plans to eliminate the competition by sabotaging a coworker who has it out for her. What starts off as a bizarre workplace comedy evolves into an emotional story that touches on loneliness, grief, and belonging. Jolene is such a well-written character—witty and sarcastic while also harboring major unresolved trauma from her teen years. Sue perfectly balances humor with heart in this entertaining story that reminds us to be kind because we never know what others are going through. Thank you so much @williammorrowbooks for my gifted copy.

This one was a fun read! As someone in corporate, a lot of this really hit for me. The character development through the emails and messages was well done. The characters all felt very real and they drove this story for sure.

This was such a delightful read! If you've ever worked in an office, you'll find it incredibly relatable. Sue nails all the little quirks and funny moments that make office life so unique. I laughed out loud so many times—it's rare to find a book that genuinely makes you laugh like this one does. The story is super cute without ever feeling cheesy, which is a tough balance to strike. Beyond the humor and romance, the book also tackles some more serious topics and does it really well.

This book was much deeper than a simple comedy. The book reminded me of watching The Office but with more intricate plot line & drama. Jolene is a character that faces anxiety & pent up emotion. She’s truly interesting and unique while also very relatable as an adult in a career, trying to figure out her life.

Navigating mental health while also dealing with pressures of immigrant parents is not fun but Natalie Sue does an amazing job of capturing that and how we can bridge that connection.

It was funny & easy to follow along. It felt as though nothing was really happening but there was also so much going on at the same time. Kind of like working in an office?

I enjoyed seeing the caricatures of office workers because they all do fall into some categories. And enjoyed reading about how to overcome the social anxiety and overthinking to form relationships and connections with those around us.

An amazing debut & I’m excited to read more in the years to come!

I thought this book was so fun! I loved reading about all of the work place drama! I found Jolene to be a very interesting character, and I thought she was able to keep the perfect mix of being both funny and awful. I was definitely on the edge of my seat a few times throughout this book, wondering what Jolene was going to do next. Overall, this book was fun, messy, gossip filled workplace romance that i would recommend to anyone looking for a fun read.

Our fmc Jolene struggles with anxiety and is disconnected from her co-workers at her dead-end job. She meets Cliff from HR after she is discovered secretly adding phantom white-fonted postscripts on her inter-office emails in a cathartic effort to privately air grievances with her co-workers. After 8 years in a soulless job, she barely interacts with any of her colleagues. She seems to suffer from social anxiety and anxiety in general, and there are hints of a mysterious tragic past, which made me wonder if continuing to work at her horrible job with what she considers sub-par humans is a form of self-flagellation. (Although I think many of us can relate to just tolerating your co-workers and working a thankless job that is most definitely *not* a fulfilling career.) Some technical hi-jinks ensue, leading Jolene to have full access to her co-worker's emails and inter-office communications. What will Jolene do with all of this forbidden information? What lines would you be tempted to cross in that situation, and would you actually do it? It turns into quite a ride for both Jolene and for Cliff (who, by the way, is an absolute sweetheart and completely lovable).

Ordinarily, I wouldn't enjoy a book like this due to the excessive collateral anxiety I'd experience on behalf of the characters. And make no mistake, there are a lot of cringe-inducing events in this book. But they're written so earnestly and, at times, with such great comedic absurdity that they're a delight to read. I love the progression of the supporting characters as Jolene learns more about her co-workers, as she (and we as readers) see them evolve from one-dimensional quasi-adversaries to actual human beings with lives and personalities and problems. I also really love the author's comedic timing (Jolene's inner snark is fantastic), her ability to almost trick us into liking semi-unlikable characters, and her knack for weaving both emotional tension and hopefulness into the story. The complexity of the supporting characters almost make this seem like an ensemble story although it's very definitely Jolene's narrative. This was a fun debut book, and I will absolutely read this author again!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this story, this is my honest and objective review.