Well, where to start? I thoroughly enjoyed the first. half of the book when our plucky heroine investigative journalist infiltrated a secret group of professional women, supported her best platonic pal's restaurant launch, and grieved the loss of her mother. The turn into magical realism was a disappointment, not because it was not somewhat engaging as storytelling, but because I had already invested emotionally in the realistic fiction narrative. It's like ordering a hamburger and halfway through eating it, it turns into pie. I love pie. But I was eating a hamburger. T

Bexley has hit rock bottom. She is grieving the recent death of her mother and has abruptly lost her job. Her childhood home has been sold and she desperately needs to find somewhere to live. She’s trying hard to be happy for her childhood friend Raf as his new restaurant opens to rave reviews.

Bexley is with Raf at his opening when she meets Margot, a beautiful socialite rumored to be a part of the most exclusive women’s club in the city. Bexley uses Raf’s connections to finagle an invite. As she meets this circle of wealthy, powerful, and influential women, Bexley thinks that penetrating this secretive circle of women could get her back in the writing game-and her ex editor and crush Miles is eager to help her succeed.

But as Bexley begins to get to know these women and unravel the secrets of the group, she is drawn to the power and magic that seem to dwell within their circle. As she gathers information for her article, she must decide if she can truly betray this new sisterhood... or what it would be like to truly belong.

Hankin has written a smart novel and almost social commentary on the rise of “girl power” and resistance in this current climate. Enthralling and thought-provoking, I recommend this novel.

A woman only social club, secret meetings, clubhouse
A journalist struggling, needs to get her credibility back

I could not stop reading once I got into story
I will recommend this book to everyone

Witchy Women

Laura Hankin’s 2020 novel Happy & You Know It combined chick lit (I say with love), suspense, classism, New York real estate porn, the feelings of being an outsider, and working girl ambition. Her latest, A Special Place for Women, touches the same pleasure points with a similar story about women’s work, friendships, and our singular quest for independence and love (partner and family--blood or not) at the same time.

We know from the first page that there’s a mysterious women’s only club called Nevertheless “where the elite tastemakers of NYC met to scratch one another’s backs.” Jillian Bechley is a young reporter/writer out of a job when the news website where she worked, Quill, gets sold. She has a few heavy things going all at once: a story hunt to pitch to her ex-editor and inappropriate crush Miles working at another paper and going through a divorce, supporting her childhood friend and the new hottest chef in Manhattan Raf, dealing with the loss of her mother to cancer (”all those mornings over the past couple months where I’d woken up thinking that I still had a mother, and then had to reorient myself all over again”), selling her childhood house, and working as a bartender in a dive to pay the bills.

So when she meets Margot, the beautiful rich millennial influencer who runs a hip horoscope app, she plots to get into her club Nevertheless and write an exclusive story busting the doors wide open and their possible part in taking down a promising female politician whom they recently backed but who fell from grace. Page turner for real! Bonus points for tackling what it’s like to be physically vulnerable as woman, “I knew that nobody would come to help me, that I was finally in that moment so many women experience, the moment when our luck runs out.”

Wendy Ward
http://wendyrward.tumblr.com

The setting for this book is a combination of like a Goop business, spa and country club for women. It’s an incredibly fun narrative about the current scape of luxury for women. While the characters may not all be relatable they are very much people you will recognize. The plot will provoke, incense, and intrigue you. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the the ARC.

More like 3.75/5 but still it was fun, fast paced read! I love reading books where white women confront other white women who are misusing their privilege (injected with humor and satire) and this one didn't disappoint. It does get a little *~weird~* but it manages to steady itself even then and concludes well. A must read for anyone who's interested in elite women's clubs like The Wing and the weirdness that rich ladies do. This book is very of the moment.

It does go into the grief of losing a parent quite a bit, so if that's a sensitive topic to you, maybe wait or sit this one out.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the eARC of this lovely book!

Alexa, play all the girl power songs you have.

This was such a fun and enjoyable book to read. I was hooked from the first chapter. The main character, Jillian, was so relatable and I was sucked into her writing this story about Nevertheless as much as she was I think. This was a perfect blend of girl power, wit and humor, romance, mystery, and witchy vibes. I loved every character - they were all perfectly fleshed out (one of them even had an emotional support snake which is perfect). I thought the ending of this was perfection, it was literally women empowering women until the end (with only a few minor hiccups). And of course sweet Raf, loved that ending for him and Jillian as well.

This book is out on 05/11/2021 and you do not want to miss it.

(publishing my review on GR and Netgalley now, will publish my review to IG on pub date)

Well this took a turn I definitely wasn't expecting and didn't really love but I think many readers will find interesting. I really was engaged until the last 1/3 of the book and it stalled a little for me there but still overall good!

I really enjoyed Happy and You Know It and the unexpected turns that came from the familiar concept of elite motherhood, and Hankin pulls it off again offering an unexpected twist to the always-fun-to-explore world of female empowerment.
I don't want to say too much about the book because I think the reveals are worth getting to experience first hand. If you've read The Herd, the first part of this novel may feel all too familiar, but it really is its own story- so continue reading! And there's actually a romance worth rooting for in this one too.

You know those books that are just plain fun? A Special Place for Women took me on an unexpected ride, but I had a blast! After reading a few heavier books recently, this was a fantastic one to pick up. I read Laura Hankin’s book Happy and You Know It last year, and it was the perfect mix of dark comedy and shocking twists. I’ve been excited for her next book ever since, and it was everything I wanted it to be! If there’s one book trope I’ll never get sick of, it’s when a character infiltrates a group of rich, privileged women, so I was ready with my popcorn to dig into this wickedly delicious novel.

Jillian is a NYC based journalist, who has recently lost her job after the news website she worked at folded. When her best friend Raf, an up and coming chef, attracts the attention of socialite Margot Wilding at his restaurant opening, Jillian sees this as her chance to get a big story that will help her land a new job. There’s a mysterious club just for women that no one talks about, but everyone knows about called Nevertheless. Only the most rich and powerful NYC women get invited to this secretive social club, and a friendship with Margot could give Jillian the access she needs to write her story. With rumors swirling that this group is the reason New York’s first female mayor got elected, and the reason she was subsequently sabotaged after she proposed a wealth tax on the richest New York residents, Jillian sees the makings of an exposé that could propel her career. But the deeper in she gets, the harder it will be to get back out again.

This is a hard review to write without spoilers. Much like in Happy and You Know It, about two thirds of the way through the book, it takes a giant turn you won’t see coming that changes the entire course of the story. So my review will be brief, but stick around for what I can give you! And once you read it, send me an email and we’ll talk more in depth!

From the first page, I was captivated by Hankin’s easy and humorous style of writing. Jillian was an extremely likeable character, and as she had not only recently lost her mom to cancer, but her job as well, it was impossible not to feel for her. Her inner dialogue was at times both witty and heartfelt. While on the surface this might seem to be just a book about snobbish, elitist women of New York and their secret society, it has much more depth than that alone. The commentary on the wealth gap and the corruption and hypocrisy that is rampant in American politics was something I wasn’t expecting to read about in this book, but was happy to see it acknowledged and highlighted. People usually use the term “world-building” to describe fantasy novels, but it totally existed in this one as well. Hankin painted such a picture of Nevertheless’ clubhouse and the atmosphere inside, I felt completely transported. If The Secret History by Donna Tartt and the movie Mean Girls had a baby, it would be A Special Place for Women, and if you were a fan of Hankin’s previous novel, you won’t be let down by this fun and entertaining follow up!

This book was not at all what I thought it would be; it was better... and that’s saying something because I was already pretty amped to read this one! I thought it was going to be about a journalist seeking answers about an exclusive secret society and proving a whispered conspiracy theory true, but it held twists I didn’t see coming, changing the entire plot of the novel. The main character, Jillian, is witty, funny, and bold. She lost her mother to cancer, but has a best friend (Raf) whom has always platonically been there for her. Jillian has strived to be a successful journalist, but her current company went under so she finds herself struggling for her next move. I won’t say much about the book’s contents for fear of giving away any elements of surprise, however, I have to share that I loved the concept of “found family” throughout! This novel completely draws you in and breaks up the typical reading genres you may lean toward (from my experience, this novel is unique to anything I’ve ever read before). I can totally see it getting picked up for a movie because it’s entire gripping, spooky, and unpredictable.

Also - major kudos to Laura and all the feminism she was able to pop into these pages; it was very refreshing.

I was so excited to get this ARC. I found this book very enjoyable and it hooked me from the first page. At approximately 62% I was thrown off when the plot took a bit of a twist and turn but overall this book was really good. I loved how relatable Jillian was and found her relationship with her best friend to be very enduring. Check out this book when it hits shelves in 2021!

Some thing wicked(ly amazing) this way comes!

I absolutely adored this book! I sunk in deep into the world of Jillian and Margot and Raf (oh how I loved Raf!) The writing was sharp and timely and the pacing raced along at the perfect clip. I’ll be singing it’s praises all year long!

Happy & You Know It was one of my favorite "brain candy" books during 2020 and I knew I wanted to read whatever author Laura Hankin came out with next. And when I saw that she was coming out with another novel in 2021, I was just thrilled!

A Special Place for Women was such a fun and wild reading ride and just the perfect "escape read". I definitely found myself thinking about it between sittings and I couldn't wait to see how the author pulled it all together.

The story follows Jillian, a journalist who is attempting to get in on the city's most elusive and exclusive club. This club, made up of the wealthiest "girl bosses" around is invitation only, and the details have never been uncovered. As Jillian makes her way into the group, she gets way more than she bargained for- for better and for worse.

Overall, I loved this read- I did find it got a little extra for me at some points but that is also what made it so engrossing. With an extremely unique storyline and a very satisfying ending, I highly recommend adding this to your spring 2021 reading list!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

After I thoroughly enjoyed the witty and insightful Happy and You Know It by this author, I instantly knew I wanted to read her next book. Here, it's set in an exclusive women's-only social club in Manhattan that's presumably focused on smashing the glass ceiling, however, the secretive members are caught up in a dark business that no one outside the group knows. Enter down-on-her-luck journalist Jillian, who needs a big scoop to pivot her career after getting laid off. So, after meeting the group's head at her friend Raf's restaurant, she decides she wants to write an expose of the club from the inside. It turns out she also has a vested personal interest in taking this group down, and the more she learns, it turns out there are more consequences for speaking out against these insanely influential and powerful women. This book has such descriptive language and relatable contemporary characters. Like, it's just so juicy with plenty of secrets as the book chronicles Jillian experiencing this club with fresh eyes as a newbie. Then, holy heck, what a freaking bombshell! I didn't see any of that coming, and like OMG! These bombshells were so unique, and nothing was truly predictable or tropey aside from her romantic relationship drama, but that was mostly a side plotline. Wow, just so engaging and enthralling.

This book was such an unexpected delight! Laura Hankin's writing is so captivating and the subject was especially fascinating as a former member of a special women's only club. Thought-provoking. Funny. One of my favorite books I've read this year!

I was excited to receive the ARC for Laura Hankin's newest novel, A Special Place for Women, because I enjoyed her novel Happy & You Know It so much! I personally enjoyed that the story's focus was on Jillian and this influential group of women, not on her love triangle with Raf and Miles. Though the love triangle was entertaining and I absolutely loved Raf's character and his devotion to Jillian. The core of the story was Jillian attempting to do whatever she could to get in the inner sanctum of the elite All-Women's powerhouse club. The women of the club were flawed but enjoyable and I found myself routing for most of them, especially Vy!

I did, however, struggle with the unlikability of Jillian throughout most of the story. She acted much younger than her character was supposed to be which I found grating. Her dialog was also mostly slang, even in professional settings, which didn't mesh with her career as a budding journalist.

I did enjoy the ending of the story and felt it wrapped up nicely though not too perfectly. I recommend reading this book for a strong dose of female empowerment, a little suspense, and a hint of romance.

Oh, I was so grateful to receive an ARC of this vook, so thank you to all who made that possible! I'm all for women in power, astrology, anything kind of mysterious or mystical, etc, so I felt thos book was going to be right up my alley, and boy was I right! I was sucked in from the very first page and I had a hard time puttong it down at night. I really appreciated the strength of the characters and their desire to make a difference, no holds barred. I was rooting for Vy, Caroline, Margot, Libby, Raf (even though he was male), and of course, Jillian. There was a lot going on with this book, but never did it become overwhelming. I did request because I thought it was a thriller, but it was actually more "Women's Fiction" than anything else, and although that isn't the type of book I normally read, I was so pleasantly surprised about this particular novel. I've really enjoyed Laura Hankin's last two books, so I will absolutely look for future title by her. 5/5, easily!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Jillian was a flawed, but charming heroine, and the women of Nevertheless were a complicated, varied bunch.

It was nice to see a story with women lifting each other up ultimately, even though there were some bumps along the way.

The relationships between Jillian and Raf and Jillian and Miles were very delightful and well-written, but I liked that they weren’t the main focus of the book.

I’m looking forward to recommending this book to friends and loved ones who are looking for a fun read about strong women.

A Special Place for Women is Laura Hankin’s latest novel in which journalist Jillian Beckley attempts to infiltrate and report on NYC’s most powerful and secret women’s club - Nevertheless. A club that may have made and then destroyed the city’s first female mayor and has eyes, ears and influence in every borough. What will Jillian find as she makes her way past the tarot card readings and career workshops and into the elite inner circle of women? Will it be the exposé that could make her career, or will it leave her exposed in an underground world of magical, tragical loss?

I totally sped read this book like it was the most intriguing in-depth New York Times article, which I think is one of Laura Hankin’s greatest accomplishments in this book. She writes such realism and humor into the narrator’s voice, and with an attention to detail and intentionality in building out this secret world of powerful women, that it made such a wild story so believable!

If you loved - The Girls by Emma Cline, Laura Hankin’s previous book Happy & You Know It, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, or Writers & Lovers by Lilly King - you’ll love (and will probably laugh out loud at times and stay up until 2 a.m. reading) A Special Place for Women!