Close friends Cat, Lauren, Olivia and Max have had enough! They each work as assistants with horrible bosses. They are more than ready to fight back against sexual harassment, being taken advantage of, doing personal chores, working all hours of the day and being underpaid. They've come up with a unique way to fight back - a blog. A place where they can vent and be anonymous. It gives them a chance to get things off their chest but not lose their jobs doing it.

They never expected their blog to take off as well as it did. Now they fear their identities will be revealed and they will not only lose their jobs, but their entire careers and livelihood.

This book started off slow for me, but after a few chapters, I was totally engrossed in the plight of these four friends. It’s a timely book considering the current work place atmosphere. There’s some humor, but mostly my heart broke for these women trying to make careers for themselves but having to face obstacle after obstacle.

It’s well written and truly mirrors what’s going on in the world today. It's a captivating read that kept me anxious about how it would end. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.







FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Four best friends living in NYC who work as assistants for horrible bosses have had enough! They are tired of being sexually harassed, being their bosses’ gophers, and being passed over for promotions because they are women. They decide to say “NO,” to call it all out, but under cover of anonymity on a blog called 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. Of course, as their blog entries get bolder, the site goes viral.

𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 is a fantastic debut about toxicity in the workplace and the power of female friendship. I loved these girls and how they supported one another.

Although the subject is serious, the narrative has wit, warmth, and humor that adds the perfect balance. You’ll be cheering on these friends as they risk it all!

Thank you to @parkrowbooks @HTPbooks and @BookClubbish for a spot on tour and a gifted ebook.

Four friends doing assistant jobs to open the door
To jobs they've dreamed of doing forever more.
But they've been doing their jobs now for years
And their dreams all seem to end in tears.

Instead of opening doors for them it seems
Their bosses just overwork them and forget their dreams.
These four meet every week to share their woes
Accepting assistant roles aren't what they supposed.

However, exchanging the dreadful ways they're used
Is not something to help them stay happy or amused.
Instead it is demeaning, undermining and so
They decide to give sharing them in a blog a go.

They share their experiences using anonymous names
And never actually name their bosses, though they are famed.
But they never expected so many others to join in
Maybe banding together they can thwart the patriarchy and start to win?

This is the story of girl power at its best
Showing what they can achieve even when stressed.
A witty, fun and inspirational read this proved to be
Showing working together can cause change powerfully.

A story about #MeToo and friendship, love and romance
A great read, I'm so glad I gave it a chance!
I'll certainly look for more by this author in future, too
And hope enjoying reading it you'll also do.

For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
It is such an inspirational read, this is my honest review.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when starting this book but I was pleasantly surprised and found a new author to keep on my radar. SMILE AND LOOK PRETTY is a solid debut for Amanda Pellegrino and revolves around four friends that start a blog venting about their day-to-day lives in their professions but when it gets bigger than they ever imagined possible there comes the obstacle of keeping anonymous for as long as possible!

Cate, Lauren, Olivia, and Max are all assistants for some powerful men in the entertainment industry – which as we can only imagine comes with high stress situations, outrageous demands, and unfortunately some mistreatment in the workplace. Cate is an assistant to the head of a major book publisher, Max is an assistant at a news station and ordered around by the lead anchor, Lauren is an assistant on a show, and Olivia is an actor’s assistant. All of them are subjected to sexual harassment, demeaning comments, being used for personal errands, and all while having their dreams dangled in front of them. The meet for drinks every week to vent to each other about their horrible bosses and that’s when Twentysomething is born – a blog where they can vent about their day-to-day treatment but must use nicknames (due to NDAs) and remain as anonymous as possible. Well, things get complicated when their blog goes viral. Should they remain anonymous or should they go public and face the inevitable?

I loved the writing and thought all the characters were really well-developed. I felt for them all and shared in their frustrations with how they were being treated and I just wanted them to get the revenge they deserved to enjoy. I thought this had a great pacing to it and will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from Pellegrino in the future!

I saw Amanda Pellegrino's debut compared to the movie 9 to 5, which certainly piqued my interest. The comparison is pretty accurate, and if you've ever worked for a top-of-the-heap jerk who thinks they have a right to walk all over people, you can at least empathize with these women. I can completely understand the need to vent, so relating to these women wasn't difficult. The story is sharp and witty and kept me turning pages and talking to the characters long into the night. Yes, I tend to talk to the characters when I'm fully engaged, and I talked to these A LOT. Most people wouldn't do what these women did, but it sure is fun to think about it, and I had a blast with this story. It's wonderfully written and thoroughly entertaining. Smile and Look Pretty is one impressive debut, and I'll be interested to see what this author does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino.

I truly enjoyed this story. It is rare that I find a book that focuses on four women that doesn't immediately focus on their romantic relationships. This one does have elements of that but it is also more focused on jobs, friendships, and how to make things better.

Cate is done with being abused as an assistant at a publishing house. Since her three best friends are also assistants in their various careers they band together to create the website Twentysomething that anonymously posts about the ridiculous, horrible, and down right abusive things that happen at work with their "Bosses."

When new things come to light and the blog takes off the women have to decide what the right thing is?

This kept me on the edge of my seat and I didn't know which way it was going to play out until the end. So captivating.

We meet the four friends who make up the lead of the story- Cate, Olivia, Lauren, and Max- when they are ankle deep in professional and personal crises galore, every single one of them underpinned by the stress their bosses are infusing into their lives and by their own secrets from each other.
I loved how they care about each other and how we learn about nuance through perspective shifts throughout the story; this was a beautifully written tale that focused on how interesting the characters were in their own right without their love interests taking center stage, or any kind of romance (although one girl does embark on one).
When the women have had enough of the sexism, sexual harassment, and glass ceiling of differing heights in the workplace and decide to start a website called twentysomething, where they anonymously blast their bosses behavior, the results are stunning- they’re not alone, and maybe change is on the other side of speaking (and receiving) uncomfortable truths.

This book is SO FUN.
⁣
Smile and Look Pretty is about 4 best friends who work as assistants for the famous, the powerful, and the most important of bosses. But they are underpaid and they are overworked - and they are FED UP. ⁣
⁣
Tired of hiding their frustrations behind smiles, they start an anonymous blog where they can vent and tell all the juicy stories of their terrible bosses- and the site quickly goes viral. Enough is enough seems to resonate with more women than they could have ever imagined.
⁣
But what happens if they are exposed? Will they lose everything they’ve worked so hard for?⁣
⁣
This book is flipping amazing. It’s a smart, fresh, and wickedly funny debut, and I am beyond thrilled to have read it.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Smile and Look Pretty is a story told from multiple views and deals with many issues that women face in the workplace. Who hasn't wanted to start a blog to talk about their workplace experiences? When Cate, Olivia, Lauren and Max do just that, they don't realize how big the blog would get. This book was an entertaining follow and I related to so many of the things that the young women went through in their workplace.

The story revolves around four best friends (Cate, Lauren, Olivia, and Max) who are assistants in the entertainment industry and they are overworked in toxic environments meanwhile they watch their male colleagues getting better treatment. The friends decide to create an anonymous blog called Twentysomething where they and other contributors can post about their experiences, and we as readers watch as this snowballs.
This was an entertaining read that I could not put down.

Thank you Harlequin-Trade Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino is a fictional contemporary story that dives into the #metoo movement. This one is described as a version of 9-5 for this generation and that description does fit. The story in Smile and Look Pretty is one that is told by changing the point of view between the various characters to give all sides.

Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are all good friends that have one thing in common, they all have complaints about their various assistant jobs. Meeting once a week to air all their grievances feels like it’s just not enough anymore so they begin a website to anonymously post all the dirty laundry and allow others to post their stories as well. Before they know it the site takes on a life of it’s own.

Honesty I went into Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino thinking that it was a thriller novel and some do have it tagged as just that so I was a little let down in that regard. The story in this one is one that has been being told in the media in the last few years with these particular women being a fictional take on that movement and it was interesting to read but I was left wanting a bit more probably due to my early expectations. Overall I rated this one at three and a half stars and felt it was solidly written so perhaps I would try the author again after reading this debut novel.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Girl Power!
Ok, so, I can't believe this is Amanda's debut. It's so good.
It grabbed my attention from the beginning and didn't let go.
It's an empowering women's read and I couldn't get enough.
Highly recommend!

Best friends Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max get together once a week to gripe about their ridiculous bosses. All four work as assistants to powerful people in the industry and are tired of the awful way they are treated. They start an anonymous blog to safely share their stories and it soon goes viral. Hundreds of women write in with their own accounts of bad boss behaviour and they’re soon faced with the dilemma of how to manage this fame when they may be on the brink of making a major change.

In this moment of holding people accountable, Smile and Look Pretty is an incredibly timely subject to explore. I can equate it with various Instagram accounts who anonymously air the dirty laundry of different industries – some fueling actual change – and this felt inspired by that. I do want to share a content warning at some moments in the novel of sexual harassment that may be triggering and uncomfortable for some.

The experiences and stories from the four leads, and subsequently the other women later, all seemed extremely probable and likely could even be based on actual incidents. I would think that almost everyone could probably contribute some horror stories (because there’s never just one) that they’ve experienced in their workplace at some time or another – myself included. That helpless feeling of being too afraid for your job to speak up. I loved the empowering feeling this book evoked, hopefully inspiring others to no longer accept and put up with being treated in inappropriate ways just because of their hierarchal standing in a company.

My main challenge with the story, however, was that I felt there were too many names to easily keep straight of who worked for who, and in what role. The four women all had similar “entertainment” industry type jobs, and they each had a whole cast of characters related to their roles, the timing for how things play out in their jobs is similar, and most of them also had a guy they were interested in. And while usually the chapters separated the POVs, sometimes it would switch mid chapter and I’d have to wrap my head around which setting we were now in again. Like, wait is she the one who works for the actor or the writer? Is she rich or is that the other one? I understand the want to make it a foursome of best friends but, personally, I felt perhaps that either their individual stories were differentiated a bit more drastically, or there were a few less people/POVs.

Overall, I really enjoyed this debut novel from Amanda Pellegrino. It felt reminiscent of the movie Bombshell which was set in and around 2016, but updated for a present day landscape. I’m hopeful for this growing movement to hold people accountable for bad behaviour. Maybe eventually one day those starting out in the workforce won’t know the extent of how their predecessors were once treated.

This is such a well written book, that will have any young woman who has been in the workforce shaking her head going “uh huh”. While I did find it to be a little catty and maybe too “mean girl” ish, overall I enjoyed it.

Smile and Look Pretty is something many woman have been told for centuries. This book blows that up. While it is is fiction it highlights powerful social issues around women in the workplace. I loved every word of this book. I love the four main characters and their ideas. I felt more powerful as a woman after reading this book. Truly amazing book!

This was a lot of fun! If you’ve ever had a job where your boss made you want to quit almost daily, this is a book you’re going to love. Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are all personal assistants. Each to their own personal hell of a boss. They are constantly exhausted, taken advantage of, and pushed to the limits with what they have to put up with. Still, they stay, because they each have their own hope that where they are now will help them get to where they want to be. Or, you know, it would be if they weren’t female.

Yes friends, this book deals with the inequality in all types of work spaces and it does it brilliantly. It finally gets to the point where Cate has had enough. She decides to start an anonymous blog, where her and her friends can share the horror stories of their jobs. All that toxic behavior, all that frustration, out on a page for the world to see. What they don’t foresee is how many other women will come forward and start sharing their own stories. What started as a small way to let off steam grows into something massive, and possibly the one way to cause change.

I loved these characters, even when I was ridiculously frustrated with them for putting up with the situations that they were in. Pellegrino makes each character shine, and makes it easy to understand why they just can’t leave. When you’ve finally broken into a male dominated industry, it’s hard to just leave and start over again, after all. Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are all just brilliant women who make you want to cheer them on, especially once the book hits the mid point. I wanted them to succeed so much! Laying it all on the line for change, that’s how you do it.

Truly, I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did! The beginning was a little bit of a slow start, but as things started to escalate I was more and more invested. I feel like this is a very appropriate story for today’s world, and one that a lot of readers are probably going to see themselves in. Hopefully it will make them feel as empowered as the women in this book! If not, I can guarantee you at least that you’ll have a blast reading this.

This book is "Mean Girls" for the professional world in a way. These 4 friends work in a toxic office environment, are constantly looked down upon, and finally, they have had enough. What seems like something they can do to let off steam... well... it steam-rolls into a viral sensation and they risk exposure.

Sometimes speaking against someone with more power is scary - but sometimes necessary. I love the plot of this book and can absolutely see movie potential in this one.

I have so many thoughts about Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino. The website that the characters created to expose toxic workspaces is so topical. It’s prevalent in our world and I loved seeing it examined. This started slow for me and while I kept mixing up two of the main characters, I was fully invested about 55% of the way in. To me, the most important thing about this book is the message that we don’t have to tolerate this behavior or hide it. If you are going through it, likely someone else is as well.

What’s it about (in a nutshell):
Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino is thought-provoking, relatable, and realistic story about the current work conditions for young twenty-something professionals trying to get their break in their chosen careers.

What I Enjoyed:
I enjoyed several aspects of the novel, but I loved the sisterhood of the main characters–Olivia, Cate, Lauren, and Max–the best. They aren’t biological sisters, but their bonds can withstand as much as any genuine sister relationship. They hug and fight, agree and disagree, but in the end, they will always be there for one another through thick and thin. I loved the genuineness of the small nuances that create the complete picture. I even love that they keep secrets from one another because… well… don’t we all have those parts of ourselves that we don’t share unless we must?

This story made me think for a long time after I finished it. I contemplated the state of the work world today regarding harassment and toxic relationships with bosses compared to how it was in the 80s and the 2000s. It saddened me that things, even though they have improved somewhat, still are relatively the same as they were in those decades when such movies as 9 to 5 and The Devil Wears Prada sought to illuminate how badly bosses treat assistants. Here we are in 2022, sexual harassment runs rampant, and the toxicity still exists between some employers and their assistants. I think we can learn lessons from this story to make an even more significant dent in improving work conditions for all but primarily disproportionately targeted women.

I loved the fast pace of this third-person narrated story. The pages just sped by from beginning to end, flipping at break-neck speed the closer I got to the conclusion. I wanted the four young women to win… to come forward and say, “Yes, I am calling out my boss for bad, and in most cases illegal, behavior because I know if I don’t do it, those with the power to do such things will sweep it under the rug.” The women's empowerment just exudes off of the pages, and I couldn’t help but be swept up in their much-needed movement.

Characters:
The four main characters are incredibly well-developed, with different backgrounds, issues, and personal challenges. I particularly loved Lauren because of the complex challenges that only she faced-challenges stemming from race and skin color and problems of growing up without a father. Her character stood out to me because she was usually the dissenting voice among the four, and learning what made her tick taught me so much. I spent a lot of time telling her to take a leap of faith and just do it. Lol. If ever you talk to characters in a story, this one will be it. Cate is the most like me, Olivia is the least, and Max, sweet, quiet Max, I just wanted to hold her hand through the chaos and help her get to the other side. Then rejoice with her over her accomplishments.

Reminds Me Of:
It reminded me a lot of 9 to 5 and The Devil Wears Prada–every bit as horrifying, rallying, and relatable.

What I Wish:
The only technical issue with this story is that I had trouble keeping names straight. I’m not sure why that was since the characters are very well-developed and utterly different. But, yet I did.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you are looking for a fast-paced, thought-provoking story that will have you cheering for the underdog, then this is one you will want to pick up as soon as possible.

Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino an excellent standalone novel. The story centers on 4 best friends, who work at different jobs, as assistants. They are overworked, underpaid and little time for themselves, as their powerful bosses expect 7-day, 24-hour availability; in a toxic environment, and never get promoted, since they are bypassed by their male counterparts. We meet these ladies, Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max, who have strong friendship bonds, that help them deal and share their grievances; we get to see the things they have to deal with, with various POV’s.

Cate brings the girls together, as she convinces them that they should set up an anonymous blog to share their stories. They will use names such as The Bossy One, The Bitchy One, The Aggressive One and The Emotional One. At first, they are nervous, worried they will lose their jobs, or have a hard time finding another job; but they agree that they need do this for themselves. The blog, Twentysomething, grows bigger with each passing day, with other women submitting their own stories. In a short time, the blog becomes a sensation, as it begins to garner more attention not only from many women who also suffer, but now the news media is interested in finding out who these ladies are.

Cate is an assistant to a publisher, who expects her to constantly do personal jobs, such as get coffee, bring cupcakes to his son’s school, pick up things for his wife; all which have nothing to do with her actual job. Lauren is an assistant who wants to be a script writer on their show, but keeps getting by passed by her boss, even if she is the one who does most of the work. Max works at a news station, where she is harassed by the news anchor, with everyone ignoring the suggestive behavior of the anchor. Olivia is an assistant to an actor, and she also is expected to do all the demeaning things he wants.

Smile and Look Pretty is an amazing story so very well written by Amanda Pellegrino. The story focuses on these 4 wonderful ladies, and the terrible things they had to endure. The last third of the book was great, as their site escalates into a major movement, with the “girl power” stepping up to fight for their rights, and together the ladies will each be able to express their voices, and allowing the news to right all wrongs. Smile and Look Pretty was a terrific story of women rallying against the unfairness of their treatments, and what together their friendship can do. Great novel.