Another day, another NYC media book. This one follows Lily, a magazine writer who got her start during the golden days of print media and is struggling to adapt to the rise of digital journalism. As her frustrations build, she turns to Billie, a cosmetics mogul who agrees to mentor her until their relationship grows toxIc.
Without sounding like a broken record (because I feel like I note this every time I read a book set in the media world!), Tloved those aspects. Even though Lily was very unlikable (IMO), I loved the sections about her work life.
Billie and Lily's relationship is told primarily through texts. This got a little too repetitive - wish we had gotten IRL chats. The writing also felt really clunky at times.

Well--it sounded intriguing but the main character was such a 'poor me', 'I'm a victim' person who turns to an older successful for woman for advice on every little thing when she knows what she needs to do and then says it's the older woman who's manipulative. I couldn't wait to be done with that whiner!

I love a book where one character is being manipulated by another and you have a difficult time believing they don’t realize it’s happening. Think Fake by Erica Katz; completely different plot line on the surface, but vibes are the same. Magazine writer Lily is caught up in the charisma of the enigmatic Billie, a cosmetics mogul, while navigating her toxic workplace and breaking down relationship with Alison. It keeps you on the edge of wondering what will happen next.

Thanks to Dutton for providing and advance copy of this book.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book and I think Lawrence has mega potential - someone I'll definitely keep my eyes on for new works. I think this story fell a little bit flat for me because I thought the relationship between Lily and Billie (ngl, didn't love that their names rhymed) was going to be more of the focus of the story but it almost felt like a subplot. There were some interesting points made from the perspective of different generations, media evolution, racism, sexism, etc, but left me feeling disjointed overall. Like some ideas were really fleshed out while others were there just to be included.

I do think I'd read this again to try and dig out some more subtext/to see if my understanding and impressions change.

Intriguing concept, flat execution. The book reads like it was a memoir with major identifiers changed. Lots of dragging, redundant inner monologue; unnecessary details about the scene and food; unbelievable dialogue; boring characters. The identity issues (race, LGBTQ+) explored were the most interesting aspect, but the characters were not written in a way where I cared about their lives or outcomes in the end. It’s not that Lawrence is a bad writer, but it’s not the kind of writing that makes an interesting, engaging novel. It’s long-form magazine feature writing. Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book.

I really liked Ellipses. I enjoyed watching Lily evolve in her thinking and her confidence throughout the book as she navigated an industry that was starting to see a large transformation. We were able to follow along through her struggles in her career, with her sense of self, her partner, and with a potentially problematic "mentor".

I loved the deep exploration of what being all consumed with work can do to you, even though it's so easy to glamorize that kind of life. A easy read with some laughs, definitely helped me take a step back and look at how much time and energy I've been putting into things in my life--and thinking about how to reprioritize the things that matter most.

Debut novels often feel like autofiction, and that was most certainly the case in Vanessa Lawrence's new book, Ellipses. In Ellipses, a 32 year old woman, Lily, falls into a toxic text-based mentorship with Billie, an older and wildly successful beauty mogul. Lily is delighted by this chance at friendship—and maybe even something more—with Billie. She's stalled out in her career at a magazine and is generally frustrated by life. Billie offers the perfect escape.

The plot structure that Lawrence dreamed up is incredible. The idea that someone in her early 30s is still capable of falling prey to what is essentially a form of grooming is fascinating and something that doesn't get explored enough. It takes away the layer of "this person is creepy" and moves it to "this person is domineering/controlling", which makes for a far more interesting story in today's day and age. I was excited to see how Lily's relationship with Billie would unfold.

The only thing I knew about this book when I requested an advanced copy was that it was about an LGBTQ+ writer. Lily is bisexual and dating Allison, but her fear of commitment has been pushing them apart. Lily's relationships—both with Allison and her college friends—are the high spot in this novel. Anytime we spent time with them the book felt lived in and fresh.

The aspect of the book that didn't quite land for me was the characterization of Lily. I didn't know her well enough to truly care about her or understand her actions. While I wanted the best for her on the level that I want the best for every woman, I felt a level of remove from what was happening inside of her head. When she made a big decision (as she does in the last 1/4 of the novel), I was surprised. It seemingly came out of nowhere. I wish I had more knowledge of Lily's inside thoughts and her emotional state, so that I could feel closer to her. This is something incredibly hard to accomplish given that Lily and Billie communicated solely over text. Perhaps the book could have benefited from more in-person interaction, since as I mentioned those scenes with friends were my favorites.

I mentioned earlier that this book reads like autofiction. I don't actually think this is a bad thing, given that many of my favorite TV shows and literary content are just that. In this case, the similarities are striking. Lawrence is a staff writer for W Magazine and attended a small liberal arts college in New England. She's a New Yorker. In Ellipses, Lily is all of these things, and towards the end of the book she turns to writing a "fictional" novel about her experiences with a toxic mentor. The similarities were too hilarious for me not to bring up.

What makes this autofiction novel so devastating is the fact that Lily—a biracial Asian American—faces countless micro-aggressions that both Billie and Allison don't seem to understand. It was hard to read all of the ways Lily's life was made harder and more uncomfortable simply because of the way others perceived her, and it was even harder to read the ways that the white women in her life didn't show up for her. I wish that Lily had been more deeply characterized so that these moments felt more emotional and less like statements of horrendous things that happened.

In all, I enjoyed reading Ellipses, especially the middle third which concentrated more on Lily's relationship with the outside world than the relationship happening inside of her phone. I look forward to seeing what comes next for Lawrence in the writing world.

I enjoyed "Ellipses" by Vanessa Lawrence, a current day novel about a young, talented career woman, finding her true voice and power. Written in a relatable, modern-day voice, with young relationships, few intimidating characters, and much ambition, I found this book uplifting and interesting. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I'd guess this book has such a low average rating (3.06 as I write this), not because it's bad, but because it's unlikeable. The choices in characters and plot felt designed to make a point, not to make friends. I respect that.

The main character, Lily, is annoying. In a world where women are expected to smile, be accommodating, and look the other way, she is persistently negative, disgruntled, and difficult. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I didn't like her, not because I didn't understand her feelings, but because she embodied things that I've been told not to like in myself. Once I made that connection, I started to really appreciate her story.

I wish Lily's relationship with Billie, the older professional woman, was a bigger part of the book. It's not. This is mostly about Lily's career as a writer. The relationship with Billie and Lily is more of an intermittent distraction to everything else Lily has going on.

That said, the Lily/Billie relationship plays out mostly via text, and is one of the best depictions of texting I've ever read. In most books, texting is incorporated into the story so that it feels cohesive with whatever else is happening. In this book, the texting was a constant source of interruption. In person conversations would stop mid sentence, switch to random unrelated text conversations, then come back to in person. Again, a choice that was annoying to read, but meant to make a point.

Not a five star mostly because it was a little heavy handed in its messaging. There was a lot of Lily's internal dialogue spelling out every point. I would have appreciated a little more room to drawn my own conclusions. But otherwise, I appreciate how much this made me think...

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

Ellipses is a smart novel about someone hitting a crossroads at life and reaching out for advice, only to realize that the advice isn't serving them like they need it. Lily needs to get out of magazine publishing, partially because of the racism and homophobia, but also because its a dying industry that no longer excites her. She connects with an older exec and starts texting. These texts start to affect her work, her love life, etc.
I struggled with Lily in this book, mostly because it was hard to see her text conversations as really toxic. Really they just seemed like vague conversations where Lily couldn't make an effort to really sit up and pay attention to the world around her and how to navigate it. B, the older exec, doesn't seem to have a complete power try going on, but also doesn't seem super interested. I get it. Lily doesn't seem interested either, neither in her work or, at times, her relationship. I'm glad that Lily eventually finds a path (because of course she does) but there was a middle part of this book where I tried to understand what excited Lily about anything and came up short.

This is a debut novel and I'm still excited to read more from Vanessa Lawrence.

I respect the amount of experience Vanessa Lawrence has within the magazine industry and her experiences with sexism and racism; that shines through in the text. I'm not a fan of the blatant "telling without showing" writing style, unfortunately, and Lily's transition to her final field at the end of the novel feels abrupt.

This novel had the setup of a thriller, with a prologue that draws you in. However the rest of the novel did not deliver. Lily, the main character, reeks of dissatisfaction and revels in platitudes about others. The author tried to make Lily progressive and interesting but instead I was distracted by her whiny inner monologue. The interest the author builds in the first chapters peters out and the end of the novel fell flat.

Super quick read, loved the drama and all of the industry references. The romance felt shallow to me, however. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

This gave me a bit of the Devil Wears Prada vibes. I love stories set in the glossy world of New York City media. This one had a different spin on the toxic mentorship as Lily tries to figure out her individuality and what she wants out of her life and career.
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Thank you #Dutton and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

a woman in her thirties that is hard to take seriously. this book was ridiculous, i had to stop about 20% in

Love litfic about queer women sadly this one fell a little flat. I think more development of the Lily (the main character) and her relationship with Billie would have been really helpful. There is not much interesting about a character who lacks personality becoming consumed by another character who lacks personality and their relationship also lacking personality. A lot of times there were moments of interest that kind of just disappeared (the “accidental” text) and I just wish there were more stakes or even chemistry between Billie and Lily (just realized their names rhyme) because there were so many times I definitely felt some but they fizzled.

2.5!

Thank you so much to Dutton Books for the ARC!!

I enjoyed how this portrays the toxic mentorship’s and also the fashion industry. Insightful, funny and a great coming of age tale.

Ellipses by Vanessa Lawrence has an interesting premise focusing on Lily's professional mentorship by Billie. So much to admire as the novel is topical and timely as it is set in NYC and Lily is a bisexual of Asian descent and Billie is a queer woman who has made it to leadership. I liked currency and representation of the novel. And still, somewhere along the way I just didn't get that drawn into the story or the characters.

It's not a bad book, it's just not a great book for me. Solid 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Ellipses is available now.

This was one of those books where the concept was stronger than the execution for me. The story follows Lily, an Asian American writer who works for a women's magazine as print is dying and digital is on the rise. She's stuck and often overlooked in her work. When she has a chance encounter with Billy, a 40something white woman and powerful beauty executive, they start a text based mentorship of sorts that has Lily doubting her every move. The book explores a lot from sexism, to racism, to the differences between Gen X and Millennials, and the changing workforce for creatives. There was a lot I could relate to as a writer and a POC woman in a white dominated field but I just felt like I've read a lot of the conversations and plot points a lot in recent years. This book didn't do enough to make Lily or Billy feel unique, or like they brought something new to the conversation. It was an interesting choice for their relationship to take place solely through text but I don't think the twist of it all stuck the landing. The book was an easy read with a few standout moments for me, and I do think Lawrence is a good writer on a prose level, I just didn't love all of her choices. I'd be interested to see what her title is about. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the arc!

This book was described as a “sharp and witty debut novel”. There was nothing sharp or witty about it. Lily is a whiny thirty-year-old in a job where she is constantly taken advantage of. However, she does get to attend some amazing parties and write about the attendees. An older, successful woman, Billie, befriends her and they only communicate via text. Billie encourages her to show a backbone and stand up for herself which results in all kinds of consequences, both good and bad, for Lily. In the end Lily finally grows up and becomes comfortable with who she is and where she wants to go. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.