An interesting and very disturbing insight to the dirty tricks of the tabloids.
Although a good read, this was not my favourite book by Sandie Jones
Thank You to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and Sandie Jones for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A friend told me about this book so I searched on netgalley and found it. So glad I had a chance to read this book because I honestly couldn't put it down. 5 star book and I was drawn to the blurb after my friend told me and man I already told others that they need to read this book. I couldn't put it down at all. Might reread it later on in the year.

The Trade Off is a fast paced, interesting view at the world of tabloid journalism and just how far they will go to get the story.

Jess is a newbie reporter at The Globe, and she is quickly asked to compromise her ethical beliefs in service of getting a big story, Stella is her editor, a veteran at the paper who seems willing to do anything to get a story, including setting up a sting to catch celebrities in naughty acts. Their two opposing view seem ready to come to blows when the editor in chief, Max, asks Jess to help him make the paper more honest. But in this newsroom it is tough to tell who is actually after the true story.

Books by Jones are always well written, concise, quick reads for me. I liked this story full of morally grey characters and enjoyed the character development. I did feel that sometimes the action was left off the page- a chapter would end when something big was about to happen, and we would come back to it later but the character had already moved on and was just thinking about what had happened.

The story has ties to the #metoo movement, and that part was compelling. The set up for it was a bit clumsy, with a flashback that I didn’t realize was a flashback and me being confused about what in the world was happening since it seemed like a jump completely out of place. Maybe a subheading saying however long ago that event happened would help?

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

It's no secret that I love Sandie Jones -- ever since I read The Other Woman I have been hooked! I was thrilled to score an ARC of The Trade Off and flew through it!! Once again, Sandie Jones had a clever plot and really went above and beyond with her character development. In particular, I thought that Stella had an exceptional character arc -- it truly is the sign of a great writer when you are able to go from disliking to loving a primary character. A MUST READ for 2023!

When I first started reading this one, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. But then it sort of went cat and mouse and it was fun deciding who were the bad ones vs good ones. A good read about a gossip newspaper and how they went about getting their stories. Some good twists and a few unexpected turns. Another good one by the author who Ive read all of her books and really enjoy! Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC. All comments are my own.

This was a miss for me. I was interested in the premise of a newsroom thriller, but it took forever for the plot to pick up and I just wasn't compelled to want to read it.

This novel follows season tabloid journalist Stella and Jess, a newbie journalist at the Globe. The Globe is a bestselling paper that makes it's most money on catching folks in compromising positions. Stella is deeply unlikeable and while I think the author was trying to make her a feminist who takes no mercy, I ultimately couldn't handle her. Jess is a green newbie, with naïveté that kills ya. The first 30% of the book is multiple instances of the journalists catching celebrities in manufactured and compromising positions, the fall out, and... then again.

DNF'd at 45%.

A workplace thriller centered around the dark secrets and ugly truth of tabloid journalism. Jones delivered a rather chaotic (in my opinion) story about a rookie reporter who struggles with playing the dirty tricks of the tabloids, but does she have what it takes to reveal the truth to the world.

THE TRADE OFF was a big miss for me. I struggled with getting through this one, however I will say that the last few chapters did keep you entertained but nothing outstanding.

Told in alternate POVs, the reader learns about both Jess and Stella. Two women in power positions that allow them to either tell the truth or manipulate it in order to be successful.

Applause to Jones for the character development, unfortunately they are so unlikable that I wasn’t invested.

THE TRADE OFF was more of a women’s fiction book rather than a thriller. If tabloids, workplace drama and multiple storylines are your thing, then you’ll enjoy if not, SKIP.

🖤Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Jess lands a highly coveted journalism role at The Globe, she feels on top of the world. Little does she know that the reporting done at the paper, however, is less about news and more about manipulation. Told from opposing points of view, Jess and her supervisor Stella must determine if they want to continue down the path of reporting they are currently on, especially after discovering a tragedy together. What they uncover might be enough to bring them together, or tear the paper down as a whole.

I'm not a big fan of workplace thrillers but because Sandie Jones wrote it I wanted to give it a try. Overall, I think this one was pretty solid but I think my disdain for the subgenre/trope stopped me from loving it as much as I should have. Perhaps I'll go back to it in the future when I'm craving something out of my comfort zone!

Jess is a new reporter at The Globe, a London tabloid. She quickly gets schooled on the cutthroat business of how newspapers will do just about anything for a story. This is a fast read, told in alternating points of view. It was a bit confusing as there were many storylines going, and the main story was predictable. I would have liked more character development, as these were interesting characters. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I would be interested in reading more.

The first two acts of this thriller were great, but it fell apart in the third act. I didn't believe the twist. Without giving anything away, the first two acts are super invested in building Stella into one thing, but in the third act it all falls apart. It's almost as if the first two acts were written together in a sprint, and the third act was added after. It's entertaining enough, but now something I would rec to a friend.

I really enjoy this author's writing and found this book to be tense and a page turner, in that I was really hoping to find answers to the many questions I had.

The biggest is why on earth Jess was plucked from her small time newspaper to work for the biggest in Britain, but I can only guess that Max was looking for the dumbest and most naïve person in all literature to do his dirty work. How on earth can someone not know how tabloids work??

Stella was an interesting character in that we were always guessing if she were truly good or bad. And there's a nice discussion of MeToo and Media's complicity in carrying water for corrupt politicians. But I'm not entirely sure if I'd recommend this one. Jess's POV (half the book, with Stella being the other) is just so...annoying (sorry!).

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Unfortunately this didn’t hit the mark for me! I felt like I had a hard time getting invested in the story because the beginning had such a long setup that it fizzled out before it really had a chance to shine. If you are willing to muddle through a slow start, the back half of the book is better!

Not really my "cup of tea." Decent plotlines, believable characters. It was a quick read, and I do think that people will enjoy it. I found that it wasn't really a thriller; it was a little suspenseful, but I wasn't really invested enough in the characters or the plot to consider it a book I couldn't put down.

I ended up DNF’ing this book. I feel like the book starts in the middle of the story and there is zero explanation. The first half was sooooo long and overly involved in creating characters that are just in likable.

I so badly wanted to enjoy this novel, but the multiple storylines were just too much for me. Jess begins her career as a new reporter at The Globe and quickly realizes it’s not what she expected. Her boss Stella is underhanded, and her boss’ boss needs Jess to keep an eye on Stella. There are shady dealings with former prisoners, fights for the editors spot, and figuring out how far someone will go to get the scoop.

Overall, this thriller seemed chaotic and I found myself having to put the book down frequently. I couldn’t figure out why Jess was chosen as a new journalist to keep an eye on Stella and why she didn’t walk away from the job at the first sign of impropriety. I didn’t enjoy any of the characters and felt there was something missing the whole time.

A great thriller, centered in the fascinating world of tabloid journalism, "fake news" and viral social media posts. A young tabloid reporter is drawn in to a sensationalized story which ends up hurting its subject very much. She wants to make things right somehow, but someone (or more than one someone) is out to stop her. I look forward to recommending this title.

Ohhh the deception and lies are STRONG in this book! Sandie Jones is one of my favorite authors and I always go into her books wondering who I can trust and I'm literally never right. LOL. Jess is the newest reporter at The Globe and Stella is a cut throat editor who does anything (and everything) for a story. Does it matter if the story is true if it draws in readers? Before long, Jess gets her name attached to the wrong article and she doesn't want anything to do with it -she would never compromise her integrity for this tabloid. Or would she?

Part cat-and-mouse thriller, part popcorn-thriller but I enjoyed it all! If you're seeking the perfect summer thriller for the beach or to pass the time during those hot end of summer days -grab this one! You won't be disappointed!




Trigger warnings:
•Murder
•Kidnapping
•Suicide
•Talk of sexual assault (past tense)

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel as an eGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Not what I expected from Sandie Jones, but still satisfying! The Trade Off is intriguing, quick, and fun to read, despite some heavy subject matter.

As a former journalist, I really enjoyed the novel's alternating viewpoints of The Globe's new reporter vs. deputy editor. I haven't seen that take on a novel/narrators before. It worked for me and built the story well.

In the past, I have read Jones' The Other Woman and The First Mistake. This book is quite a bit different from those because of the dual female narrators, the dealing with celebrities, a tabloid, and the elements of the #MeToo movement. I don't want to say much more than that so that I don't ruin the twists, what I will say is, several of the twists at the end were unpredictable and thoroughly shocked me. I'm not one who is easily surprised due to the number of thrillers I read.

I recommend this novel to anyone who likes slow burns, mysteries, and stories about reporters chasing stories. It's fast-paced and you could read through this in one road trip or day of traveling, sitting by the pool, binge reading session, etc. I read this while traveling and it was a nice companion to lose myself in.

I really struggled getting into this book. It was very slow, and nothing really happened until about the half way mark. The characters were pretty unlikeable, and I just didn’t care what happened to them. The last 20% or so of the book were interesting, but not enough to carry the whole book. I think maybe if I was more into back stabbing and politics I might have enjoyed this one. Or if I was a salacious tabloid reader. I just never felt invested in the story. I also think that this book is mislabeled as a thriller. Nothing exciting really happens so I would classify it more as contemporary fiction.