Scandalous relationships, betrayal, twisted secrets, murder… This book has it all, yet it is missing so much more!

Before I go further into detail you should know I went into this blind. I had no idea what this book was about, and if I did I probably would never have picked it up. In theory all of the things I listed above should make for a great book. However, the feminist movement that consumed the first half of it simply ruined it for me.

So with that in mind, here is a mini synopsis...
THE HERD is an elite women-only coworking space that New Yorkers are dying to be part of... The founder, Eleanor Walsh, prides herself on mentorship and empowerment that her community offers, but is the stress too much for one woman to bare? It appears so because on the night that she is supposed to speak at a news conference, Eleanor disappears!

Everyone has their own theory as to why Eleanor took off, but when foul play is speculated everyone becomes a suspect. After all a woman like Eleanor has a trail of enemies who would love to see her fail. Two sisters, Hana and Katie, must follow the clues and face their own dark secrets to find out what really happened to Eleanor.

My thoughts…
As I already stated the feminist movement in this book just rubbed me the wrong way. Especially because it seems that all of the main characters are lying, cheating, backstabbing "frienemies". Which does not show woman power at all! For me there was no character development and I did not feel invested in any of the characters.

This book had so much going on that should have had me on the edge of my seat, yet I could barely pay attention. There are two point of views, and I found myself having to flip back to the beginning of the chapter just to figure out who was talking. Everyone has a secret, but none of them shocked me.

This book just wasn't for me. I wanted to DNF it after reading about sixty percent, but I pushed through to see if it would get better. Sadly for me it didn't.

OᐯᗴᖇᐯIᗴᗯ: The Herd is a powerful and elite women’s community that prides itself on mentorship and empowerment. But when the founder, Eleanor Walsh, goes missing everyone is a suspect. What secrets are hiding behind the walls of The Herd?

ᗯᕼᗩT ᗯᗩᔕ ᘜᖇᗴᗩT:
◇ I loved the idea of a women's only community and, of course, the drama that women in close quarters would undoubtedly bring to the story.
◇ Every character seems to have a secret to hide. And finding out the secrets and how they are all connected makes it an interesting read.
◇ The alternating narratives of Katie and her sister, Hana, add a dynamic to the story that makes it even more suspenseful.

ᗯᕼᗩT ᗯᗩᔕ ᗰIᔕᔕIᑎᘜ:
◇ I never felt connected to Eleanor and had a hard time understanding the infatuation the other women had with her.
◇ The ending was hard to see coming. I didn't catch any clues throughout and that made the the ending seem abrupt and hard to process.

ᖇᗩTIᑎᘜ: ★★★★

I loved Andrea’s book from last year The Lost Night. It’s a well-crafted thriller that really nailed the era of 2009. So I’ve been eager to read her latest, The Herd. I have to say, I might even love The Herd more than The Lost Night. This one is fantastic and really makes you think. It focuses on complex friendships, female ambition, commercial feminism and goes beyond women’s perfect veneers.

The story is set in an exclusive all-female co-worker space in Manhattan. I could just completely visualize it down to the Instagram campaign. Eleanor is the glamorous founder of the Herd and her closest friends also work there. This results in an all-female staff (another than help from a male IT friend). But while it seems to be supporting feminism and lifting each other up, there’s always more to the story.

Women are expected to always be likable and pretty much perfect. So books like The Herd are especially insightful as they show women in all different lights such as being ambitious and doing anything in the name of self-preservation. This one really focuses on female friendship and working to “have it all.” It's a must read!

Picking this up I expected a story on an all-female employer that explores relationships between women and success, which is was. I really wanted to love this book but I found some key things holding me back. The main being NONE of the characters are likable, sometimes that is fine, but in this case I wanted to root for somebody. Second being that some of the characters aren't fully explored enough to have their story make sense. I really did enjoy the twist but felt more background into the characters would have added to that. Overall it was an enjoyable read.

Wow! The Herd is a not-to-be-missed thriller, as Andrea Bartz dazzles in her second novel. If you're familiar with Glossier and/or Goop, you'll love this, especially if you find yourself wondering how perfect these shiny CEOs really are. If you're interested in the dynamics of female friendships, you'll love this. If you like a genuinely suspenseful thriller, oh wow will you love this! (I actually was surprised by several of the book's many twists, yay!!)

The Herd is a well-written and propulsive thriller that asks us to think about who we really are vs. the construction we present. It's also a fascinating look at family, friendships, and how quickly ever changing digital landscape impacts our lives. Very highly recommended.

After all I had read about this book, it failed to come up to my expectations. Yes, it was about the hypocrisy of feminism, but in the end, I felt like it was just jealousy which spilled over into cat fights. I connected with none of the characters. I felt the push on beauty and clothing sort of negated what feminism is about. I just didn’t see this as a plausible story. Entertaining, yes, but I needed more of a connection to the women who didn’t seem to really have to struggle at all to make their mark in New York City.

As a former NYC-er, I could not help but to love this book. I could vividly imagine almost every scene in the novel which mad me smile. (Not sure if that was the author's intent haha).

But, don't be fooled by my smiles: this novel definitely isn't a funny read. This female centric novel centers around The Herd, an elite ladies-only co-working space based in Manhattan (think WeWork, but much more fashionable) and its founder - Eleanor Walsh. Eleanor is that perfect Manhattan chick we all love to hate...you know, super smart, skinny, with a fabulous townhouse and doting husband to match. She works alongside her college chums (Harvard alums, because of course), Hana and Mickey. Hana's little sister Katie moves back to NYC to jumpstart her writer life and is dying to become a member of The Herd. But, before Katie finds out if Eleanor plans on granting her a golden ticket into the club, she vanishes.

The story is told through the eyes of both Katie and Hana and I was riveted the entire time. It reminded me of my own (sometimes fake) friendships that I've amassed during the 10 years I lived in Manhattan....you know, those you make because you work together and see each other at the same events, but aren't really like friend friends. Of course, if that makes no sense to you, don't worry. This novel is still a great thriller and will keep you guessing 'till the end.

I loved this book! It was a twisty thriller, which I enjoy and I also appreciated the smart, insightful interrogation of The Wing culture. I would definitely recommend this book.

A twisty tale of female drama, murder, and doing whatever it takes to climb to the top. If you are looking for a book with likable female characters who support each other and help each other succeed, well, this isn't it. But it is a fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing for the first three quarters and then waiting to see if I was right in the end.

Eleanor Walsh is the dynamic and magnetic creator of THE HERD in New York. An all female collective co-working space, empowering and mentoring each other.
Katie Bradley comes back to the city after caring for her mother during her illness. A book idea she had been exploring failed to develop and she secretly has her sights on Eleanor as the subject of her new project.
Her sister Hana heads the PR department for the group and they are getting ready to make a big pronouncement.
On the night of the news conference, Eleanor disappears. Did she run from her seemingly perfect life, or has something terrible happened to her?
As Katie and Hanna probe into her vanishing, buried secrets begin to surface.
This feminist thriller was an enjoyable read and the unexpected ending was compelling , but the characters didn't engage me and were difficult to like.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballentine Books for the e-ARC via NetGalley.
3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.

I'm not sure if I was misled or if I just had unrealistic expectations for The Herd. I thought I was going to get an of-the-moment, satirical look at the dog-eat-dog culture of women's coworking spaces (or, let's be honest, just The Wing, since that's The Herd's most obvious influence) and the hypocritical culture of being for marginalized people, while still charging hundreds for membership and catering to mostly upper-middle-class white women.

What I got instead was a "thriller" that was terribly boring, with twists that seemed to have no basis in the book's reality. I don't read a lot of mysteries, but even I know that an astute reader should be able to figure out whodunnit before the end of the book. Now, though, having read the entire book and knowing the outcome, I'm still baffled as to how we were supposed to make those connections. I'm left mostly with questions--not the thoughtful, reflective kind, but more about why this book was ever published. Really disappointing.

Thank you to Netgalley, Andrea, and Ballantine Books for an advance copy of The Herd.

Girl bosses. Female empowerment. Scandal. Secrets. Murder.

Gah. I wanted to love this. And I did really enjoy the last 30% or so, but overall I didn't love the book.

The HERd is an all-women co-op created and operated by the fabulous Eleanor. It's elite and tough competition to get a spot, but Eleanor has just as many enemies as she does admirers. Upon her disappearance, Herders Hana and Mikki, along with Hana's sister and Herder hopeful Katie go on a deep dive into their past (which is connected to Eleanor) and Eleanor's secret life to try and unravel what has happened to their friend.

The characters were kind of all the same, which made it difficult to keep them straight as the story switched POVs. I know there was supposed to be a disconnect between all of them for various reasons, but everything just felt stiff and uncomfortable as if they were just meeting, not that they had distance and secrets and stress separating their once-close friendships. Beyond that, the characters just weren't likable. Vapid, self-absorbed, and uninteresting (which may have been the idea...it would make sense that they were written that way on one hand, but on the other it makes no sense as the book is semi-focused on female empowerment).

I enjoyed the big plot twist, I didn't see that one coming until it was smacking me in the face. If readers make it through the first half of the book, I think they'll be pleasantly surprised when it all comes together at the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ballantine books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I LOVED everything about this book! From Eleanor's forward thinking working space to how sisters Hana and Katie deal with the Eleanor's disappearance . Yes, Eleanor, founder of the HERD has gone missing the night before a huge news conference and no one knows what happened.
A great novel filled with twist and turns that you will not see coming!

Katie Bradley is back in New York after a year in Michigan. She took a year to help take care of her mother, diagnosed with cancer, and to work on a book about an internet start-up. But now she’s back in Manhattan to be with her sister Hana and their friends Eleanor and Mikki as Eleanor takes her ground-breaking woman empowering co-working space The Herd to new heights. They are expanding their operations, opening new locations, and staying exclusive, much to the dismay of Eleanor’s adversaries and internet trolls, The Antiherd.

Katie’s first day at The Herd, she finds out that someone had broken in overnight to vandalize the Gleam Room, a room devoted to Gleam cosmetics, Eleanor’s first company. Clearly whoever wrote the malicious phrase on the wall was targeting Eleanor. Now Katie and her journalist brain can’t seem to stop trying to figure out who would write that. And with her book on the internet start-up dying in her hands, she needs a new idea to pitch to her agent and publisher. Why not write about Eleanor, from an insider’s point of view? Katie had been friends with her since she was a high-schooler visiting Hana and Mikki and Eleanor at Harvard.

And now there’s a big announcement coming. Eleanor is being cagey, keeping it a secret, but Katie knows that it will only improve her chances at selling this new book to a publisher. And right as the press is poised to hear the big changes for The Herd, Eleanor disappears. Katie has to scramble to figure out what’s happened to her friend, and to keep her book deal in play.

Is the Antiherd behind the disappearance? Did Eleanor leave on her own? Or is the answer something far darker? It’s only as Katie and Hana and Mikki try to figure out the truth about Eleanor that they discover what it means to be women working together towards empowerment and unity.

Andrea Bartz is back with The Herd, a taut story about women taking on the things that stand in their way and discovering success by being honest with themselves. It’s a complicated story, told in alternating points of view by the sisters Bradley. Katie and Hana offer up their lives and lifestyles to give the story dimension and attitude, empathy and insight. And I loved every page.

I thought The Herd offered a thrilling story along with the understanding that women have just as much entitlement to succeed, to fail, to love, to lie, and to fight their way to the top as any man. These woman are fierce, smart and successful, each in her own way, but also flawed and cunning and striving for more. It’s a powerful novel with strong characters, and I recommend it to anyone who isn’t afraid of ambitious women trying to live their best lives.

Galleys for The Herd were provided by Ballantine Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A well written, tightly plotted page that had me reading late into the night! I appreciated the multi dimensional female characters and very much enjoyed the differences between the two sisters and narrators. This was very enjoyable and felt extremely timely.

For any woman that works with other women in a high stress, long hours job, the background to this story definitely relates! It was awesome to read a book with all female protagonists, and while still a thriller/mystery, it kept the dynamics that were being portrayed and expressed, true to what many women have experienced in the workplace. A great read that I found myself wishing to go back to as soon as I could!

Whew, what a JOURNEY we're taken on in this book. I loved Bartz's explorations of white feminism and the complexities female relationships; though these themes were occasionally heavy-handed presences, she did a nuanced job of unpacking the current state of women empowerment. I also appreciated just how intimately Bartz understood the delicate and almost imperceptible dynamics of women-centric co-working spaces and the values they claim to espouse; those observations were spot-on.

Feminist entrepreneur Eleanor Walsh has already founded two successful companies: Gleam, a natural beauty line, and the Herd, an exclusive woman's-only co-working space which provides education, mentorship, and networking.

Journalist Katie Bradley, who has returned to New York after a year researching a book in Michigan, hopes to become a member, though she believes it's a fait accompli: her sister, Hana, publicist for the Herd, has been a member of Eleanor's inner circle, along with Mikki Danziger, since they were students at Harvard. Hana, however, doesn't know that Katie's research ended prematurely in humiliation and to redeem herself, she plans to write a book about Eleanor who though brilliant and charismatic is also famously private.

Hana herself is distracted preparing a press conference for a major announcement from Eleanor that promises to alter the future of the Herd. With members of the media and celebrities gathered for Eleanor's announcement, Hana, Katie, and Mikki wait fruitlessly for Eleanor to arrive.

Why did Eleanor disappear? Did she leave willingly to escape the stress of her job or because of the cracks in her marriage? Or was it foul play?

Both Katie and Hana are determined to learn the truth, but they are equally committed to keeping their own secrets hidden. As they try to maintain their carefully curated images, the gulf that grows between them may be their downfall.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘥 by Andrea Bartz is an ideal thriller: compelling and fast-paced with surprise through some clever misdirection. I enjoyed the women's-only setting (I think I want a Herd membership) and the focus on women's friendships—and rivalries. A few plot points are unrealistic but no more so than any other thriller, and ultimately I found the resolution satisfying. Plus, there is a very cute cat!

I recommend thriller fans add 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘥 to their reading lists!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦/𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

I wish I liked The Herd ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 as much as everyone else did! I really liked The Lost Night, so decided to give this one a chance. I can see by all the glowing reviews for this book I’m in the minority, but unfortunately it was just ok for me. This was a 3.5 rounded up to 4.
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The Herd takes place in NYC at an elite women only coworking space that women desperately want to be a part of. On the night of a Herd news conference the founder of The Herd vanishes. When the police suspect foul play everyone becomes a suspect.
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This one fell flat for me because I didn’t really care for any of the main characters, I had a hard time keeping track of the main characters, and I found the epilogue confusing. Can someone explain to me what it means?
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I did enjoy the mystery from the past that enfolded, the secrets that were revealed throughout the book, and all the juicy drama.
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This one is out now! If you were a fan of The Lost Night def check this one out! Thank you @netgalley for providing me with this in exchange for an honest review.

Well, I can't say that I liked any of the characters -they all had their flaws. The story seemed to take forever to get anywhere and by that time, I barely cared. I did guess who the killer was before it was revealed but not for awhile.

This book is getting a lot of hype but for me it was just ok.