Cover Image: Smile and Look Pretty

Smile and Look Pretty

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This was a good women empowerment story. It follows four women who all work as assistants in the entertainment industry. They created a blog, “Twentysomething”, where women could submit anonymous stories about the discrimination and sexual harassment that they endured at their jobs. It was little hard to keep all of the women’s stories straight. All of their storylines were all blurred together at first. It took me a while to differentiate and really enjoy each woman’s story. The topics presented are still prevalent in today’s society and the message behind the story Is powerful.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Harlequin Publishing for giving me a copy for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this addition to the #metoo narratives that have been written in the last few years. I think the author did a great job detailing the different levels of abuse in several different fields.

My only complaint was that some of it felt very similar to The Morning Show, which was probably based on The Today Show.

I also felt disconnected from the main characters because there wasn’t a ton of character development or description. For the first 1/3 of the story I didn’t even realize there were four girls, they all blended into two.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Devil wears Prada in the Metoo era. The plot is interesting and keeps you reading. There is a bit too many secondary characters that are just names and jobs it gets a bit too much. But the plot does move at a good pace. Entertaining with an open ending.

Was this review helpful?

For every worker who has dealt with a terrible boss, Smile and Look Pretty is a delicious tale of revenge and taking control of your own destiny. The story outlines the struggles of four women assistants working in various fields in New York, each enduring harassment and indignities at the hands of their employers. After starting an anonymous website to vent their frustrations, they end up stoking a revolution that brings down one of the most powerful (and perverted) men in media.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.

Was this review helpful?

this was a beautifully done story, the author has a beautifully done writing style and I enjoyed reading this book.

Was this review helpful?

I was intrigued by the description of this novel when I first read it. It reminded me of Camille Perri's novel, the Assistants, about similarly positioned assistants who embezzle money from their billionaire bosses to pay off their student loans. Similar to Perri's novel, Smile and Look Pretty focuses on a group of assistants who experience poor treatment from their bosses. But that is where the similarities end. I found more of a hopeful resolution with this novel.

Was this review helpful?

Hell yeah! I enjoy girl power books so much! This one is also about the discrimination, mannerism, inequality at workplace. 9 to 5 meets Devil wears Prada and Horrible Bosses vibes help us enjoy our journey! Overall. this was an easy to read, empowering, smart, entertaining, riveting book. It started like chic lit fictions but the second half of the book, the tone got more provocative and girl power messages were inspirational. You cannot help yourself so you raise fist and scream “atta girl” several times! I definitely enjoyed this one.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much for letting me read and review! I really adored reading this book and overall enjoyed it while reading it. I wasn't sure what all to expect but it definitely met my expectations and then some! Looking forward to the next one!

Was this review helpful?

I adored Smile and Look Pretty. I could relate to many of the situations and feelings all four characters experienced. I love that the story is modern and relevant in today’s society. The writing is fast-paced and smooth. The title and cover fit the story like a glove. Smile and Look Pretty is a stunning debut.
I look forward to more from Amanda Pellegrino.

Was this review helpful?

THIS book is one of the best pieces of women fiction I’ve ever read! I am still totally vested in the lives of each of the four friends who started a movement! Everything came together perfectly and I couldn’t love the ending more! Amanda Pellegrino just plopped herself firmly on my auto-buy authors list! I can’t wait for her next book!

Was this review helpful?

Oh man, do I love a good debut novel. Smile and Look Pretty is a thoughtful, timely look at four assistants – Lauren, Olivia, Max, and Cate – and their anonymous blog. These four assistants were so relatable, and you root for them throughout the story. Anyone who has worked as an assistant to a demanding boss will get a kick out of this one.

Was this review helpful?

Smile and Look Pretty is the first novel I've seen by Amanda Pellegrino, and I love giving new thriller authors a shot. The title is chilling in a painfully familiar way – something I feel like many readers could say. That was enough to grab my attention.

Four office assistants have sworn to stick together through thick and thin. In this instance, that means they're going to tackle to the toxic environment that is their workplace – together. Their master plan? Start a blog highlighting their experiences.

Their stories resonate with many readers, causing their blog to go viral. Women share their stories, spreading the word with each passing day. Unfortunately, their blog going viral means they're all the more likely to get busted for what they're doing.

"...we can't speak up. Instead, we're told to be invisible but look presentable. To blend in but wear more makeup. To shroud our faces but put on tighter pants. To be grateful to have a job but barely make minimum wage."

Before I begin my review, I want to comment on something. I feel like Smile and Look Pretty is one of several books that came out in the past few months with a similar name. I had to double and triple-check my book notes before writing my review since I was terrified I would mix things up on you guys. I know book titles have trends, so it happens. Anybody else notice this?

Man, Smile and Look Pretty hits HARD. Even the title is based on something very relevant these days, which amps up its impact tenfold. The book itself hits even harder, and with good reason.

This book starts kind of slow but quickly picks up in place. I promise you that you'll be screaming at anybody who dares interrupt your reading by the end. Totally not speaking from experience here (I swear).

As for the characters, they're tough and in the best of ways. They're dealing with a lot, both in their working lives and with the pressure of it all. Seeing them find a different way to strike back was refreshing; I'll give you that much!

I liked Amanda Pellegrino's writing style and am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next. Here's hoping we'll find out soon enough.

Was this review helpful?

Stopped at 10%. I dislike toxic environments with characters who seem to do nothing to get out of them and are happy to sit around and complain. This isn’t a book for me. I imagine a lot of our readers might enjoy and relate, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

This one really had it ups and downs. I don’t think I enjoyed the plot as much but I did enjoy the writing which I find more important. I would read more from this author.

Was this review helpful?

💄Best friends Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max, overworked and underpaid assistants to powerful people in the entertainment industry, realize that no dream job is worth the toxic environment and demeaning tasks they put up with. Passed over for promotions, ignored, and worse, they reach a collective breaking point, and start a secret blog detailing their experiences. The blog takes off and hundreds of others come forward to tell their own stories. Telling their truths is so freeing but the consequences of getting found out could be severe.

💄This is not my usual read but something about the cover and the description really appealed to me. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down.

💄The author does an excellent job of developing the characters and their stories that as a reader (perhaps especially as a female reader) it felt so real. When they realize they have the ability to take back the power but must guard their secret, it is just a matter of time before the other shoe drops...

💄So, so satisfying, not a thriller but a thrilling and oh so satisfying read.

Was this review helpful?

Smile and Look Pretty is a great 2022 release given all that's going on in this world! Cate, Lauren, Olivia & Max are underpaid and overworked at their assistant jobs. They suffer at the hands of their bosses, and they're ready to say that enough is enough! The four best friends reach a breaking point when they start a blog detailing their experience - Which causes others to step forward about their work nightmares, too. What was meant to be truly anonymous, may not stay that way.

This book is sharp, funny, and packed with drama. I could relate to these girls in so many ways. One thing I struggled with a bit at the start was getting each character straight in my mind with alternating POVs, but this gets easier as you continue reading. I look forward to seeing what Pellegrino writes next!

Was this review helpful?

*Thank you to Harlequin Trade, Amanda Pellegrino and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/smile-and-look-pretty/

“…Cate looked at her friends, the assistants busting their asses, making the rules from behind the scenes. What if they all got together? What if they called bullshit? What if they all said no?”
–Cate, Smile and Look Pretty.

Amanda Pellegrino’s debut novel, Smile and Look Pretty, is what happens when the famous movie 9-5 meets the #metoo movement. Lauren, the assistant to a head writer of a workplace comedy, has a big job getting coffee. It was a clear ladder to her dream of being a writer for a television series. But it’s been three years, and not only have they have passed her up for promotions, she has also been the subject of sexual harassment by another writer. A writer who has is rehired after being let go after she reported him for sexual harassment. Cate has her dream job at Larcey Press, working as the head editor’s assistant. She is officially the longest lasting assistant in Larcey history. It is her two-year anniversary and while she has done no editing; she does deliver her boss’s cupcakes to his child’s school party and makes his travel plans for a $37,000 safari while she can’t afford to go home for Christmas. Max works at the Good Morning Show, as an assistant to anchors Sheena and Richard (think Savannah and Matt) but every day she has to put up with Richard making lewd comments and pinching her butt. When she says something to the assistant producer, he tells her to keep it on the down low. Olivia keeps a running tally on her phone of how many times she has seen her boss’ penis, a c-list actor who hasn’t worked in a long time, in the three years she has worked for him.

Best friends Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max have a weekly calendar date called “the shit list,” where they meet and discuss all the outrageous things their bosses have asked them to do over the week. Cate decides their weekly date isn’t enough. She presents the idea of a blog called “Twentysomething” where assistants all over the country can submit their own stories. They become the Aggressive One, the Bossy One, the Bitchy One and the Emotional One. Almost immediately, women are submitting their stories of sexual harassment and bad bosses. The blog quickly goes viral. When the four girls find out someone is trying to expose them, they find a way to control their own narrative. What follows is a fast-paced and frenetic race to reveal themselves, and what truly becomes the best part of the book.

As an assistant to a publisher at my first job many years ago, I was delighted to read this. Of course, a non-fictional version of this story has been told in the media for the last three years, officially canceling figures such as Matt Lauer, Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein. It is hard to believe this is Amanda Pellegrino’s debut novel. Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are so self-aware, and their complex friendship with each other really shines brightly. The reader is rooting for them throughout the entire novel.

Was this review helpful?

This is the perfect book for today's social media crowd!
Four best friends who work as assistants. As with most YAs now a days they are overwork, underpaid and under appreciated.
Every weekend, they get together to drown their stress together. Its a vent fest
Then in almost sort of a crazy 9-5 in a alternate universe sort of vibe, the girls decide to share their experiences on their blog and it just takes off.

I loved this book. Many many times as I was reading it, i felt myself thinking "You go with your badass self!"

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Such a great fun read!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Park Row for providing me with an e-ARC of Smile and Look Pretty in exchange for an honest review!

Who run the world?
Girls.

Smile & Look Pretty is a very timely book centering around workplace inequality, harassment & all of those other really non-fun things that women are forced to deal with at their 9-5. Definitely recommend it if you're looking for a book filled with GIRL POWER~!, friendships & taking the patriarchy down one anonymous blog post at a time.

My biggest problem with this book (& a problem I did get over by the end of it) is the number of characters & perspective-changing. But, once you adjust its smooth sailing from there!

Was this review helpful?