Thank you William Morrow for I Hope This Finds You Well. I loved this book, it is funny and snarky in ways that I love and yet also charming and endearing as Jolene discovers she might like some of the people she works with. Sue writes insightfully and with a generous blend of humor and charm, making this book an unexpected win for me (and I LOVED the chapter titles, I love when authors give titles to chapters!!!). I can't wait for more from this author.
This is great for fans of workplace humor and stories fill with tender laughs and great character growth. Highly recommend for a fun summer read!

4.25 — I am so glad I got to read this one before its release! The synopsis hooked me right away—a single 30-something Iranian woman finds herself years later deep in the nine circles of corporate hell? It's so relatable it hurts.

With workplace shenanigans, office backstabbing, meddling mothers, after hours benders, and HR intervention, this novel struck me as a satire on the unspoken laws that govern the corporate jungle, the (mostly) well-intentioned lies we tell, and the slippery plunge into aloneness.

The book made me laugh out loud soooo many times—unavoidable when so many of its scenes mirror actual real life situations I've experienced and observed. There is some truth in absurdity.

But beyond the humor and relatability, I thought the romance was cute and found myself eager to turn the page. I Hope This Finds You Well definitely felt like a satirical Women's Fiction with a love story—and yet I was relieved to get a happy ending. I even got teary-eyed, which I did NOT expect that kind of emotion to come over me. There's a scene toward the end, after several lies catch up with Jolene, between herself and Miley that hit me smack in the feels.

I did want to see a wee bit more romantic development between Jolene and Cliff at the beginning, and at times, I grew frustrated with Jolene's approach to some situations, but I really enjoyed the book overall.

As a protagonist, Jolene is categorically flawed. She is bold and impulsive, complexly witty, and yet very very lonely and vulnerable. I think it could be easy to find things to dislike about her with the terrible choices she makes, and she repeatedly rolls over and accepts the harsh judgments cast upon her, BUT her journey from learning to open up to choosing happiness and connection made her story a worthwhile read to me.

Looking forward to seeing more from Natalie Sue!

I did not expect to like this workplace comedy so much. I Hope This Finds You Well (written in the vain of Eleanor Oliphant or Nina Hill) finds our protagonist (or is it antagonist) Jolene in a bit of a pickle when she gets caught sending condescending emails highlighted in white colored font to fellow work enemies. In turn, HR puts her on a mandatory training and starts monitoring her computer a little more closely. By a glitch or a force of nature, they accidentally grant her the ability to see all of her corowrkers messages and emails. What she finds out, is that after eight years of working at Superstores (I see it as a Canadian Wal-Mart). not only is she incredibly unhappy, her coworkers don't like her, and she has nothing else in her life to fall back on. No money, no friends, a tragic story from her past, and one very overbearing Persian mother to boot.

While this story was very funny with a dose of very familiar coworkers and workplace experiences, it was also touching and sad. Jolene obviously needs therapy facing her past. The attempts to grow at a higher rank with a boss who "touches his penis too much", and a workplace enemy Caitlin watching her every move, are all familiar tropes in the office space.

This is a debut novel from Natalie Sue and can't wait to see what she writes next.

Thanks netgalley for my advanced copy!

4.5 - I had an absolute blast diving into this book! Natalie Sue's writing skillfully breathes life into characters with remarkable depth. She effortlessly blends outrageous and humorous workplace conflicts with poignant explorations of complex themes. From grappling with grief and parental expectations to shedding light on issues like child neglect and domestic abuse, this book exceeded all my expectations. And let's not forget the utterly charming romance subplot that had me swooning!

What really stood out to me was how the book delved into the idea that the cutthroat nature of work and the relentless demands of capitalism often blind us to the humanity of our coworkers. It's a poignant commentary on how this system fosters competition at the expense of genuine connection and community.

I was so engrossed in this story that I even brought it along to a concert! It consumed my thoughts and sparked countless discussions with friends. Relatable and engaging, it's a must-read for anyone navigating the corporate world, especially those who struggle to find meaning in the daily grind imposed by society.

Thank you for the early read, Netgalley.

This was my first workplace “romance” and not sure it’s for me… as someone who does work a 9-5 job.

I had a really hard time with the MC in the beginning of the book. She gets more tolerable throughout it but I feel like there wasn’t enough of actual growth that occurred. It almost felt like she didn't deserve the happy ending because shw didn't really right any wrongs. She got fired and hit rock bottom. I would have enjoyed reading about the process of Jolene rebuilding herself more than anything that happened in the middle section of the book.

As a fellow Canadian, I hope to always support Canadian authors!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC of I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue. This book is a gem -- it was The Office/Office Space, meets Bridget Jones's Diary, meets my crazy Persian mom (yes, I have a crazy Persian mom). As I read, I was doing a combo of cringing/laughing/waiting to see what would happen next. The cast of characters was amazing, and you can't help but root for Jolene and Cliff through it all. They were so flawed, yet so lovable. As I stated earlier, as someone with a Persian mom who grew up in that community, I laughed so hard at all the characterizations of the Iranian culture - the author captured them spot on, and I felt so seen. This is a must-read debut, I highly recommend.

Not really paying attention too the synopsis, I requested this book and started reading. To my surprise it’s a romance and I don’t enjoy romance. This book changed my mind. It wasn’t silly or over the top. It was heartwarming and smart and a little sad at times.
It characters reminded me a f the cast from the office and the main character well developed and funny and I found myself rooting for her. If I could find more rom coms like this I would definitely be up for reading them.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for a honest opinion. 4⭐️

Cover Rating: 10/10

This was SUCH a fun read - I laughed out loud multiple times, compulsively kept reading, did not want to put it down and absolutely loved it.

This felt really fresh and fun, while keeping me fully engaged.

Thanks Net Galley & Book Club Girls for the ARC. I thought this had a super interesting and original premise and love a work place centered book or tv show. I enjoyed it but thought it needed a little more character detail. When Jolene was open and honest with her mom at the end things were completely fine, which like - duh! I enjoyed the snark of the Admin Pod and found them to all be super realistic as you never know what someone is going through. Overall I recommend it but my expectations were really high when one of the reviews said “for fans of the office”. That’s an insane thing to say.

This was a debut novel by author Natalie Sue. Basic premise is a woman, Jolene, does not value her own ability to be a person deserving of a good life based on the tragic death of her best friend in high school. And she is thrown into "The Office". A dysfunctional group of people thrown together in a somewhat toxic work environment. The result is a fun, sweet story of how she finds herself.
Jolene is of Iranian decent and parts of "being Iranian" are introduced to the reader, in terms of how the community works, and what parents expect of their adult children. I found this educational and entertaining. I could not understand why she (and her fake fiancé Armand) could not say "no" to their parents.
Jolene is a loner at work and is basically ostracized for being a weirdo. She is reprimanded at work and has to take HR sensitivity training. Her computer is supposed to be locked down to limit her outside access to the internet, but she is accidentally given access to all internal emails and instant messaging. She plans to use this to her advantage to keep her job when upcoming layoffs are announced, but the real result is that she befriends some of her coworkers when she finds out about their personal lives and secrets and tries to help them with their issues.
Thanks to the publisher, William Morrow, for the ARC of this book for me to read and review. I enjoyed it a lot.

4.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed this one. It was a really fun, really relatable office dramedy. There were so many work-related moments that felt all too real to me. The office dynamics were great and made me thankful that I don't have all that passive-aggressive drama at my job.

I loved all the insider knowledge Jolene got through everyone's messages and how she used it to help not only her own situation but her coworkers as well. It was great to see her growth, but I felt a real sense of dread while I waited for things to fall apart for her.

Her relationship with Cliff was cute and actually added to the story. I liked that there were a lot of shades of gray in all the characters and that the ending was ultimately happy without tying things up in a neat, perfect little bow for everyone.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Fun read with unexpected depth and character exploration. I was expecting a comic read (which I got) but it also delivered romance, immigrant perspective, and mental health study.. Excellent!

4.5 ⭐️

This book had me in cackling! The humor is on point, and her characters feel like old friends. Jolene's journey through workplace drama and personal revelations is a rollercoaster ride you won't want to get off. It's not just laughs though; the story dives deep into adulting struggles, office politics, and family dynamics. I appreciated how it didn't shy away from the messy stuff, showing the realness behind the humor. The little bit of romance added a sweet touch without taking over. Also, bonus points for the Persian and Iranian representation.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader’s hard copy!

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for gifting me and eARC to read and review honestly.

Ate this up as soon I was able to give it my full attention.
So relatable, realistic and funny, I could see myself as Jolene on every page. The cast of characters are a total ragtag bunch just trying to survive a corporate 9-5, climbing the ladder and not have personal issues bleed in. You feel their emotions and for this so be a debut, speechless.

I’ll be thinking of this one for a while.

I was wildly impressed by this book. I really was not expecting much from the synopsis, but was pleasantly surprised within the first few chapters by how much I was enjoying the story right off the bat. And it only got better.

Jolene is a very flawed character. She’s depressed after spending years not properly dealing with trauma that she experienced and, thus, feels not very motivated or ambitious, and has a lot of negative thoughts and reactions.

From an outside perspective, it would be easy to not like Jolene - but at the root of it, that was the theme of the story: things aren’t as they appear and you never know what someone is going through in their life. We go through a lot of ups and downs and questionable turns throughout Jolene’s story as she discovers the theme. Every part of it was enjoyable to me.

As someone who has been in the office world (thankfully, not as badly as at Supershops Inc.) and as a big fan of The Office, the office antics and characters in this novel were highly enjoyable, funny, and oh-so-satisfying to read.

This is Natalie Sue’s debut novel, and I cannot wait to read more of her work. I commend any writer who can make me feel things, and she was able to succeed that during the climax of Jolene’s story.

Jolene is many things, one of which being hilarious. Just the initial premise that she's caught writing her white font hate mail? Hilarious. I absolutely loved learning all about her coworkers via their own emails, it felt like the best gossip session ever and lasted a whole book's worth. It also got deeper than may have been expected, which really made me fall in love with the story and the characters. I really, really loved this book.

Loved the characters all around. Loved the main character and everything she came with. The fake engagement really bothered me but otherwise loved it.

This was a charming, funny, and refreshing read! I found the concept of spying on everyone's emails so interesting and well-executed; I enjoyed reading how Jolene dealt with office drama, impending layoffs, and her relationships with her coworkers by using the emails to her advantage. Her anxiety and hesitance to trust others resonated with me and I loved seeing her come out of her shell and learn who she is, and who her coworkers truly are.

I was relieved that this story only lightly touches on romance, and spends more time exploring Jolene's growth and how she comes to terms with her past traumas. It made me so happy at the end when she is freed from the shackles of working in corporate and starts going to therapy and when she tells Cliff she wants to spend time working on herself first before starting a relationship with him

All the side characters, from Jolene's coworkers Armin, Rhonda, Caitlin, and Cliff, to her neighbor Miley, and Jolene's parents were so well-written and not just the caricatures they appeared to be at first sight. I found myself caring for all of them by the end, and I think the author has done an excellent job fleshing out their individual stories, struggles, and aspirations. I also appreciate how this novel explores Jolene's complicated relationship with her parents, and how they learn to trust and support each other.

I was surprised to learn that this is the author's first novel. It's a strong debut for sure, and I look forward to reading more of their works.

I gave I Hope This Finds You Well four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Net Galley, William Morrow Publishing and Natalie Sue, author, for this ARC to read. These are my honest opinions.

I enjoyed reading this book! It was just a feel good, witty, light story and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. It also held my attention and I had a hard time putting it down.

Jolene is a mess. But, at least she knows it. She doesn’t know what to do about it, but she’s not in denial. She has a crappy job and lives in a crappy apartment and drinks too much. But, she’s fighting like hell to save it all. She doesn’t always make the best choices, but she owns those, too.

Cliff is my favorite current imaginary human. He’s just a good guy trying to do good things.

Mom and the Persian aunties are just icing on the cake.

I loved to watch Jolene’s evolution. How she develops and comes to terms with her past and her life. How witty she is and how innocent she is about so many things. How she develops the relationships with those in her life.

Great job, Natalie Sue!

THE CHAOS. This book transported me to the mundanity of corporate office culture all while tugging at your heart-strings with emotional characters.

In this story, we follow Jolene, a introverted, non-social office worker as she ~accidentally~ gets access to all company emails and is able to foresee company layoffs, office drama and interpersonal dynamics. What ensues is an emotional journey as Jolene tries to avoid company layoffs, complete mandated harassment, and develop relationships with her co-workers. Not this book making me CRY and also make me LAUGH out loud.

T/Y to William Morrow, Harper Collins Publishing and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.