Entertaining story of a woman who finds herself a victim of shame and answers an invitation originally sent to her cheating husband. The invitation is to join a society that helps shamed people.

A fun and fast paced read that was ultimately a little too unbelievable to work for me. While Roper definitely has a way with words and tells a pretty clever dad joke there's something kind of unlikeable about her main character, put upon mom Kathleen that made it hard to root for her. It almost feels like the novel is trying to highlight too many issues which leaves it all feeling too much like lip service. Not a bad choice for a summer beach read or book club but lacking in substance.

The Society of Shame by Jane Roper delivers on its premise: a sharp satire about the tempermental and ultimately fleeting nature of social media. Set over a few short weeks (during which a great deal happens), the book shines a light on our collective obsession with raising up and then tearing down each and every insta-celebrity that sparks a conversation. 

Kathleen Held is initially thrust into the spotlight when a garage fire reveals the philandering ways of her husband, Bill Held, who happens to be running for Senate in NY. To make matters worse, the photo taken on the scene shows a giant period stain on Kathleen's pants, and launches the hashtags #YesWeBleed.

A few days later, she intercepts mail intended for him: an invitation to the "Society of Shame," hand-delivered by a mysterious chauffeur. Although Kathleen isn't technically the one being shamed, she decides to go in his place. It turns out the society is run by now-cancelled author Danica Bellevue, and it's made up of people who went viral for all the wrong reasons (porn addiction, racist comments, fat shaming, etc). 

Kathleen "rebrands" as Kat, and starts to lean into her instacelebrity. The fervor reaches a fever pitch on the same day Kat's daughter Aggie gets her first period. Finally, although it's a few weeks too late, Kat realizes what actually matters and starts to make the right choices. 

The book reminded me why I've taken a hiatus from most social media. The satire was at times frustrating and uncomfortable, but always in a purposeful way. I was laughing, I was cringing, I was begging Kat to see the error of her ways. Ultimately, the book is equally incisive towards all of us: the ones who go viral as well as the ones who chose to deify or vilify the viral entity, often without merit in either direction. It's a mirror we should all be forced to look into.

Highly recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC.

This book started off great but by the end it was a chore to finish. I can’t put my finger on exactly where it went off the rails but it did

THE SOCIETY OF SHAME is smart, hilarious, and a must-read. I loved it. Jane Roper has hit a home run with this novel -- you won't think of periods, swans, or cancel culture the same after reading this story. Everyone should read this book!

I must say the story line of the book is quite unique - period mishaps.  Point given for that.  There is some mother-daughter bonding that happens but for the most part the main character is being swept up in the resulting frenzy rather than charting her own course.  An unusual read with some good points.

Thank you to NetGalley for this clever and witty novel. The satirical prose had me laughing many times. 

Kathleen (Kat) comes home to find her garage on fire and her husband in the precarious position of trying to douse the flames with his pants at his ankles and another woman in the background. Her taxi driver manages to capture it all on his phone and Kat’s life is never the same. To her horror, one of the pictures show her from behind with dried blood on her pants. Shortly thereafter, a new hashtag is born - #yeswebleed.  Kat leans into her new role as a perimenopausal warrior alongside her 12-year-old daughter in the “Yes We Bleed” movement. 

There are many aspects of today’s social media world portrayed in this book, the good, the bad and the ugly. Social media can be damaging to one’s psyche and it can elevate others to fame. This book shines a light on all of it. It’s the first book I’ve ever read that has a focus on menstruation and it’s done in a unique, mostly hilarious, way.

This book was very unique in the fact that it deals with a subject matter not often talked about. I loved the way the author used humour to get her point across. We women need to be able to laugh at ourselves. I often joke about my hot flashes (as horribly uncomfortable as they are)

The book also has a funny take. social media, our online presence, cancel culture and the so-called "woke" mob. It's really satire about the whole thing. It was very thoughtful and provocative and I loved how Katherine/Kat came into her own and focused on her growth. I liked the format of the book and how it used texts and newspaper articles to help get the point across.

Ultimately though this was a mother-daughter bonding and getting to know each other story. Kate's twelve-year-old daughter, Aggie is prominent in the story and their relationship is the heart of the book, and I loved that

Roper offers a funny and readable satire on society’s current obsession with social media movements and cancel culture, as well as society’s predilection for rendering older women invisible. Thank you to NetGalley and Anchor books for the ARC

I enjoyed this! It was an entertaining read about how to come back from a humiliating experience and how tempting a taste of fame can be.  I recommend it.

Kathleen Held is the hero we all need! How apropos that I finished reading this on National Women's Day?  It's the book we all need right now, a light in a tunnel through a world that often seems dark and devoid of humor. THE SOCIETY OF SHAME is a funny and fun romp through the more ridiculous parts of the world in which we live--celebrity shame, viral hashtags #YesWeBleed...HA! and the dangerous side of our online lives. Roper's wit is spot on, and you'll find yourself laughing and laughing with every page (that you won't be able to stop turning). A truly hilarious book, right up there with Maria Semple's WHERE DID YOU GO BERNADETTE and Amy Poeppel's THE SWEET SPOT.

THE SOCIETY OF SHAME is a fun, satirical read. Well-written and smart, the plot tackles issues related to social media and cancel culture. We sympathize with the main character and her efforts to reinvent herself. It could have been shorter; at times the pace dragged. But overall, this is thoroughly enjoyable and a must-read if you're interested in witty social commentary within a dramatic storyline.

This is unlike anything I have read before! Jane Roper found a new perspective to share. It's about social media--good and bad, reinventing yourself, and menstruation. Yes, #webleed. It's a bit over the top sometimes, but I could not stop reading. We follow Kathleen Held, a NY politician;s wife. One day, she arrives home to find a fire at her house, her husband with his pants off (and a passed out drunk woman in the bushes), and a photo taken of her goes viral...because she has leaked through her pants...and now becomes the face of a new hashtag #yeswebleed. She doesn't like it at first, but after joining a "secret society" of people who have all been publicly shamed, she decided to take it on and reinvent herself. But is she really happy? Is this really her in the news-fancy clothes, well coiffed hair, manicures? And what about her relationship with her pre-teen daughter? Will it survive her reinvention? I think readers who like fun stories, like mother daughter relationship stories, and are looking forsomethingo very different will enjoy this one!

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

A page-turning joy, sly and wise. The mother-daughter interactions were spot-on, as were the scenes of a marriage in trouble.

I requested The Society of Shame, by Jane Roper because it was described as perfect for fans of Lessons in Chemistry, one of the best written feminist novels that I have read in decades, which is why it is still on the NYT Best Seller Hard Print Book list.  The Society of Shame is exactly just the opposite of Lessons in Chemistry.  Kathleen has spent her adult life never standing up for herself.  She is a perpetual victim, whose singular episode of embarrassment creates so much shame and embarrassment that she combats her shame by ignoring her only child and turning herself into a media sensation.  After selling herself far too cheaply, she becomes a cliche.  Kathleen/Kat Held is not Elizabeth Zott, whose strength of character is inspiring.  Zott is a real heroine, whose ability to turn true adversity into success is what turned Lessons in Chemistry into a novel loved by readers.

The Society of Shame is supposed to be funny, and while there is some humor near the beginning of the book, but the time I hit the 50% mark, I bored beyond belief.  The characters are superficial, like an advertising promo for a very thin but far too long, story.  The Society of Shame would have been far more successful as a brief novella.  I never like feeling as if I had been sold something that doesn't exist.  Bonnie Garmus should feel insulted.  I feel that way on her behalf.

I do know that not all books are suited for all readers, and obviously, The Society of Shame is not well suited for me, but I do appreciate that the publisher provided this novel as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  I am sure there are readers who will exjoy The Society of Shame.  I am just not one of those readers.  Thank you to NetGalley for having sent this book to me to read.

I felt like this book was mis-advertised. I it was promoted for fans of Lessons in Chemistry but in fact the main character, Kathleen, was the total opposite of Elizabeth Zott. Elizabeth has a clear understanding of herself and her goals. Kathleen, on the other hand, is a weak victim who reacts to the challenges in her life with panic and confusion. The supporting characters also were not as vividly drawn as the Chemistry crowd. There were some amusing word sketches of a friend or her philandering husband but for the most part, the portraits were pretty shallow..
In an earlier decade The social cause to which Kathleen attaches  herself, We All Bleed, would have been great satiric fun, but in current times, the championing of this bodily function is taken very seriously, and I’m sorry, friends, the ick factor could not be totally eliminated.
The book is a commentary on the power strangers have over us through social media and eventually the lessons are learned, but I sure would have rather had Elizabeth Zott teaching those lessons than Kathleen who was never comfortable in the role of teacher.

An entertaining take on cancel culture from the perspective of a politician’s wife caught up in her husband’s cheating scandal. Kathleen Held, loyal wife and mother and reluctant dog mom, finds herself at the center of an emerging women’s rights YesWeBleed movement after a photo of her sizable period stain goes viral. We follow her as she longs for peace and privacy but instead is a trending Twitter hashtag.

This was certainly an unusual story and I enjoyed the premise and commentary on fleeting Internet trends, lofty standards for public figures, etc. etc. I felt like the Society of Shame gatherings dragged at times and I didn’t necessarily connect or empathize with any of the characters. Kathleen “Kat” Held isn’t particularly likable or a protagonist to cheer on, however, I was still engrossed in her whirlwind journey of famous person’s wife trying to fade into the background to the new Rosie the Riveter of menstrual rights. The interludes of press clippings and interviews often had me chuckling, particularly cisgendered straight men complaining about their exclusion from the YesWeBleed movement. There is a lot to like and think about in this provocative yet lighthearted novel.

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

Kathleen Held comes home from the airport to find her garage on fire, her husband—who happens to be running for U.S. Senate in his underwear outside, and a woman scaling her fence with her panties in her hand. But, when a photo of the incident goes viral, what really grabs the internet’s attention is the fact that Kathleen was on her period and had bled through her pants. Suddenly, Kathleen finds herself the face of the #YesWeBleed movement and caught up in a social media storm. 

This book explores the power of the internet, cancel culture, the fickleness of social media loyalty, and tenets of modern feminism—though not in the most intersectional way. While by the middle, I was feeling like some period overload, I appreciated the messages and the satirical look at how movements are born, change, and can be squashed.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this advanced copy of the manuscript.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and #NetGalley. Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own. 

Fun, cute and a lively look at cancel culture. Well done, I was highly entertained.