Phew, this was a lot! Pretty sure my heart rate was high the entire time I was reading this book. These characters live such a different lifestyle from me, I found this very stressful to read -- but it's also the reason that I enjoyed it. Another reviewer called this a "legal thriller," and I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I was definitely speeding through it to find out what happened.

This was a surprisingly great read for me! I had no idea what to expect and at times I got annoyed with the characters and their decisions, but I was hooked. I couldn’t help but root for Alex and didn’t want her story to end.

If you're a woman in your 20s trying to navigate the corporate ladder, this book is a must-read. Is it contemporary? Is it a thriller? In my opinion, it's a fantastic mash-up of the two genres while never fully leaning into one or the other. An excellent post-#MeToo-era novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC of this novel.

The Boys' Club by Erica Katz is an entertaining spiral of one young lawyer's ambition to make it in the "big boy" leagues of a male-dominated Mergers & Acquisitions department at a top New York law firm.

I was legitimately stressed reading this story as Alex descends into her glamorous Big Law work obsession by any means necessary. The main character's competitive drive also amps the tone of the story as readers see her compete for the top spot with her associate colleagues. But, the real chase is Alex spiraling nearly out of control to fit it with the M&A boys while being drawn away from her long-term boyfriend. I enjoyed the pacing of the book, and I couldn't put it down once the story picked up with the M&A group. Although the characters are flawed, it makes for interesting reading and has readers rooting for an underdog. I was expecting a little more confrontation between certain characters, and the resolution wrapped up a little quickly for me. But, overall, a great debut filled with high stakes and drama! I'm already looking forward to Erica Katz's next work.

This was a pretty good one! I wish the cover was cooler. I would recommend this to people who like interesting topics!

I can't believe I waited this long to read Erica Katz's debut. The Boys' Club is a legal thriller combined with a subtle manifesto on Big Law's corruption and misogyny. Alex Vogel, Harvard law school grad, gets hired at a big 5th Avenue Manhattan firm, Klasko & Fitch, and begins her journey as an attorney. While decided which path to take, she decides to dive into Mergers & Acquisitions, the most cut-throat of all departments. She knows she must compete with the old cliche, "the good old boys club," as she tries to make her way up the corporate ladder.

Alex begins to see just how cut-throat the industry is, and when her work-home life balance becomes almost obsolete, she begins to question her own life and the changes she has adapted to. She also begins to question how Big Law functions for females, those who are just as qualified as their counterparts.

I couldn't put this one down. I was rooting for Alex while still questioning her and chastising her in my head. There was great insight into Big Law and Big Law's untouchable clients as well as a well-created cast of characters. 4 stars! Thank you to Netgalley and Harper for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book. It was different than anticipated although the last chapter took a different turn. I enjoyed the conclusion but felt it was a bit rushed.

This was a solid read. It reminded me in many ways to the underrated classic “A Separate Piece”. For teachers still teaching that book, it would pair nicely, and for literary gurus who want to read both together, that would be an adventure.

So, I used to be a lawyer. I was once a first-year associate at a big law firm, wearing a suit, trying to learn a whole new language, putting in long hours and feeling insecure about where I stood among the other associates. That was a lifetime ago – I left law 16 years ago and have been happily employed ever since in jobs that are a better fit. But I do remember those days. So when The Boys’ Club, Erica Katz’s fictionalized account of a young woman’s first year at at a big law firm in New York hit the book scene this summer, I knew I wanted to read it.

Alex Vogel, a recent Harvard Law School graduate, joins Klasko and Fitch, a top New York law firm as a first-year associate. She is excited to start her legal career and anxious about the process of picking a practice group. She’s been told to avoid the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) group, which is known for being the most intense and working its associates the hardest. But she’s also drawn to its high octane, fraternity-esque nature, and gets sucked in when one of the partners asks her to work on a deal. From then on, Alex becomes completely immersed in her work, pulling all nighters and then partying with her colleagues (and clients) to prove that she’s one of the boys and worthy of a spot on the team.

What follows is a fast-paced story that careens from coke-fueled nights, office affairs and high-stakes deals to the strain Alex’s job causes in her personal relationships. Alex also endures sexism and harassment, which she mostly stays quiet about to protect her tenuous standing in the group. As a protagonist, Alex can be annoying – she’s arrogant and materialistic, and she makes a number of really bad decisions. But the story is fun and the pages fly by. As for the ending: it’s disappointing, unrealistic and kind of bizarre, sorry to say. I think the author intended The Boys’ Club to be a feminist statement, but I’m not sure it worked in that regard.

Overall, I had fun reading The Boys’ Club. It ultimately bore little resemblance to my own experience as a lawyer in a big firm (thankfully), and it certainly doesn’t portray BigLaw in a flattering light. If you enjoy getting an action-packed glimpse of someone else’s profession (or maybe your own), however distorted, you may enjoy this one.

Big Law meets Devils Wears Prada this book was a page turner. i really loved it and felt that was a compelling read. Thank you for letting me read and review this book. I will feature in a future podcast episode.

I thought this was going to be light and fluffy, but it was truly something else. Alex, as she gets her very first job in BigLaw, fresh out of law school, is immediately stereotyped as a prissy goody two-shoes by her colleagues. We watch her learn some hard truths about the male-dominated corporate world: sometimes you have to choose between advancing your career and calling out the unacceptable aspects of boys-will-be-boys culture. There are a lot of exaggerated stereotypes that probably don't ring true in the real legal world, but I feel like they work effectively to create a toxic corporate backdrop. It was fun (in a painful way) to watch her go from an extremely green lawyer, to a person ruined by her naive decisions, to a woman scorned. Something about this book was very cathartic, and it was also just a solid thriller/drama.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. I really enjoyed this one, but the characters were all despicable.. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to HarperCollinsPublishers and NetGalley for the early digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Either you're going to be perfect or you're going to be alive. Can't be both."

Triggers: Lying, cheating, drugs, sexual abuse / assault.

Alex Vogel is finally becoming a lawyer after attending Harvard Law. She's always been an overachiever throughout high school/college, and she refuses to stop when it comes to her career. She is accepted at Klasko & Fitch—a prestigious Manhattan law firm. She's placed in the real estate group, but quickly learns that M&A is where she strives to be. M&A is the top dog department within the law firm. Everyone pretty much has a job because of them. It's chock full of egotistical men who treat women like they're a piece of meat, but of course, Alex is accepted to be a part of the team. She's not like other girls, even though a girl she went to law school with was also accepted.

Their client is Stag River, founded and general partners with Gary Kaplan, the man that causes the need for questioning throughout the book. Gary is a terrible person, and I'm happy that Alex doesn't put up with it. She puts up with a lot of mental / physical abuse throughout the story, and she gets told to accept the abuse because of who the people are. Most women in the industry put up with it, and Alex realizes that it's a bigger problem than she anticipated.

"I watched his lips moving, and in a crystal-clear moment, I saw it: my cheating with a serial adulterer, my assault by a rich scumbag, my entire existence in corporate America, was just so . . . typical."

I like that the ending portrayed a truthful outcome—Gary not getting put in jail for a long time for what he did / does to women. The last sentence of the book should give the reader hope, though.

My issues with the book stemmed from the lying and cheating. I know that it's for entertainment purposes, but it was so immediate. Alex cheats and lies to her boyfriend when it's not necessary. There are moments where I blame Sam for not supporting her, then there are moments where I blame Alex for being so mean to him. Cheating is never the answer. Always talk with your partner if you're not happy. I couldn't help but hate Alex, no matter how much Sam didn't 100% support her journey as a lawyer. I just didn't like it.

One of the other reasons I gave it three stars is because it just didn't wow me like I thought it would. It had its compelling moments, but there were a lot of bland chapters throughout.

I enjoyed the writing style, and the story was definitely more exciting in theory. I think that it had so much potential to be a five-star read for me. I'm impressed enough to read another book by this author. I'll try to go in with fewer expectations.

Published by Harper on August 4, 2020

The largest law firms in the United States believe themselves to be stocked with the best lawyers. That attitude reflects arrogance rather than reality. Most lawyers in Big Law lack creativity and have little regard for justice. They help big businesses move money back and forth while returning scant value to society. None of that comes through in The Boy’s Club, a novel that is not so much an indictment of Big Law as an industry but of sexism in its upper echelons. There is merit in telling that story, but the pseudonymous Erica Katz doesn’t tell it effectively.

As a child, Alexandra (“Alex”) Vogel always did what she wanted to do. Her willfulness got her anything she desired. Her drive got her into a top law school and a job at Klasko, one of the top Big Law firms. Now she wants to make partner in Mergers & Acquisitions, the most competitive practice group in the firm. It’s also the group that generates the most revenue, allowing partners to make their own rules and to break the firm’s rules with impunity.

Alex spends most of her first year deciding whether she wants to “match” with a particular practice group. The group will then decide whether to accept her. Alex hopes to match with M&A, as does her best friend in the firm, Carmen. The M&A group, however, is a boy’s club that selects female first year associates based on how hot they are, not on their talent. (“Talent,” in this case, refers to a lawyer’s ability to attract and retain clients. The firm sees males as more likely to do so, since most of the business executives they deal with are males who bond with their lawyers over drinks at strip clubs.)

Alex has the usual life of a first year Big Law associate, meaning she has no life to speak of outside of work. She’s expected to bill every hour of every day. She is handsomely compensated for her efforts, but Sam, her live-in boyfriend, grows weary of never seeing her. Alex purports to love Sam but that doesn’t stop her from having an affair with the most successful M&A partner, Peter Dunn. Flattered by Dunn’s attention, Alex cheats on Sam while ignoring the likelihood that Dunn is probably sleeping with every woman who meets his standard of hotness.

There’s not much more to a plot that is fairly predictable. All the high-powered men behave atrociously toward women. Catty women talk about Alex behind her back, although it is easy to see why they think she is trying to sleep her way to the top. Gary Kaplan, the firm’s best client, assaults Alex and turns out to be a serial abuser of women. Kaplan relies on wealth and nondisclosure agreements to keep his victims from reporting his assaults. Klasko relies on settlements and nondisclosure agreements to keep female associates from suing for sexual harassment. Eventually Alex does something that she thinks might make the world a better place for women while knowing that the fight must continue.

Katz makes Kaplan over-the-top to make her point. News stories tell us about powerful men who sexually abuse women, but Kaplan actually flies women from Miami to New York and pays them to accept brutal beatings. The point could have been made without bludgeoning the reader with such unlikely evidence that Kaplan is a foul specimen of maleness.

Alex is a spectacularly unsympathetic character. Her primary complaint about life at her firm is not that her boss slept with her but that he didn't sleep with her (and his wife) exclusively. That's a complaint fueled by jealousy, not by sexual harassment. Alex feels sorry for herself when Sam gets tired of her inattention, a rather hypocritical reaction, given that she is cheating on him with a married man. She also feels sorry for herself when she learns that she’s not the only first year associate to be ill-treated at her firm, apparently because she’s too self-absorbed to take note of the firm’s culture. Her belated efforts to change that culture are too contrived to redeem her. Despite a bonding moment in another contrived scene with an associate who is about to kill herself, Alex’s love of money, shopping, and expensive wine clearly outweigh her concern about her co-workers (much less the female support staff, who are barely on her radar).

Promotional materials characterize The Boy’s Club as a novel about “sex and power” that has been optioned to Netflix, presumably because cheesy stories of sex and power have been a consistent television draw since the days of Dallas and Dynasty. I wouldn’t call The Boy’s Club cheesy, but the characters are shallow and the story holds no surprises. From a stylistic perspective, The Boy’s Club is well written. Still, this is a novel in which style triumphs over substance.

The Boy’s Club comes across as a “message” novel. It’s a good message, but only people who willfully ignore the news need to be awakened to the fact that powerful men often behave atrociously. So do powerful women (albeit in different ways). The prose quality and some interesting scenes kept me reading, but the predictable story and unpleasant protagonist kept me from enjoying the book from beginning to end.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

The buzz is REAL!!! Erica Katz's work lives up to the hype. The Boys' Club follows the journey of Alex Vogel, a first-year associate at Kasko & Fitch, a high-powered law firm in NYC. Vogel is immediately drawn into the land of the M&T associates who work long hours and play even harder. She needs to find her place in the boy's world. The reader is with her as she struggles to find herself in a world that is not welcoming to women, where she must smile at inappropriate comments and ignore passes made her way. I would highly recommend this novel to others and be prepared for a sleepless night so you can finish it!!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Boy's Club by Erica Katz.

Alex Vogel has graduated top of her class and is chomping at the bit to start her prestigious job at Klasco and Fitch. It doesn't take long before Alex realizes just how hard she is going to have to work if she ever plans to make it in the business. Sleep rarely happens, drugs are used to keep the bodies and brains active, and the competition is cut throat. But Alex is ready for it, and it doesn't take long before she starts to see important relationships in her life suffer because of it.

This is a story about a woman trying to make it in a Good Ol' Boy's club, and working hard to stay true to her morals and ethics, while succeeding, which don't always go hand in hand.

I enjoyed this book and I really felt Alex's exhaustion and frustration. The author does a really good job showing her slow decline into the world of drugs and debauchery, maybe TOO good of a job. It got a bit slow and redundant after a while, but I definitely got the picture. I have never been exposed to that particular world, so I can't speak for how accurate this account is to what it must be like for young lawyers. I am dubious, but also scared, that the corporate world can be so ugly.

I really enjoyed this book, and I found that it strayed from stereotypes in very creative ways. I saw a couple twists coming, but certainly not the majority of them. The timing of this novel is perfect, and the lead character is both strong and thoughtful, which I appreciated. Nothing felt too worn out, and I loved the depth of the characters that Erica Katz has created. I want a sequel!

Fast paced and mostly entertaining. Alex Vogel is a Harvard grad and first year associate at a top law firm in NYC. She works insane hours, succumbs to the cutthroat competition, and daydreams about what her bonus will buy her at Bergdorfs. I felt like I had read this book before, it was part John Grisham, and part The Devil Wears Prada with a nod to the #METOO movement. I wish the main character was more likeable, but as she got caught up in her ambition it was hard to sympathize with her even when she got in over her head and began to self destruct. Looking forward to seeing what Netflix will produce with the movie rights.

The Boys’ Club is my favorite kind of vacation book…one that reads easy, but has good substance (aka Brain Candy with substance). I read it in 2 days during an August beach vacation. The Boys’ Club was marketed as Sweetbitter meets The Firm, but I thought it was more The Devil Wears Prada. Alex is a normal girl (albeit super smart) who gets swept up in this glitzy, high stakes world and begins to change…she then has to reckon with who she wants to be and whether she fits in at work or at home. Katz (which is a pseudonym, as she actually works in “BigLaw” in New York City) paints a spot-on portrayal of the world of BigLaw, which is incredibly stressful and can be a toxic culture for women. These people work around the clock and pretty much forfeit their personal lives. And, she provides excellent commentary on women’s unique struggles with trying to pursue a career in an intense, male-dominated industry. My one complaint is that Alex is a former competitive swimmer and Katz was off on some swimming details (ex: Alex supposedly held the World Junior Records for the 50 and 400 Freestyle…it’s highly improbable that the same person would ever hold these 2 particular records. One is a sprint and the other is a distance event…different specialties), but most readers would never notice this. The Boys’ Club is the kind of Brain Candy I love…4.5 stars!

Alex Vogel, a Harvard Law School graduate had a plan. She’d join a Big Law firm, but settle into a lower key specialty, preserving a life for herself and her boyfriend, Sam. Like many plans, Alex’s vanished when the real world and her very competitive nature got in the way. Instead, Alex ventured into the limelight with the big hitters in Mergers & Acquisitions.

Thus, begins The Boys’ Club by debut author Erica Katz, a foray into a literary legal drama that made for some excellent summer reading. I liked getting a behind the scenes look at the complexities of corporate America and the legal maneuvering as one company gobbles up another. Some of the details sort of flew over my head, but that didn’t really matter because Alex and her role were always clear. As an eager young, female lawyer in a heavily male-dominated arena, Alex had a lot to prove. I found both her successes and failures compelling, keeping me turning the pages throughout.

The story had two small flaws for me. First, I wish there had been an exact placement in time. As in, was this before or after #MeToo? It felt like before, but I was never sure. Second, does every young female character need to sleep with a colleague? It’s an over used trope and one that I think could easily have been avoided in The Boys’ Club. Despite those two issues, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with Alex and her compatriots in the world of M & A.

Note: I received a copy of this book from Harper in exchange for my honest thoughts..