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โ๐๐ง๐๐๐จ: ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐, ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ฉ-๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐! ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ (๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ) ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ก, ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐จ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐๐ฆ๐ข. (๐๐ก, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฆ-๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ.) ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฆ-๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐. ๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐ช๐ท๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ.
๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐โ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ; ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒโ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ.
๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฌ, ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก. ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ . ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐โ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ!
๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐ถ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ท๐๐๐, ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐, ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐๐พ๐๐๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐น๐พ๐, ๐ถ๐๐น ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ถ๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐ถ๐๐น๐พ๐ ๐๐
๐! ๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐พ๐๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.
Iโd say Very Bad Company is more of a general fiction book than a mystery and thriller. While it did have a mystery at its core there werenโt a lot of thriller elements around this mystery. It was more focused on character stories around the employees in the company, the (often deemed by said employees) gross CEO, Caitlin, the bored in her life new hire, and what the company was really up to, both in its conception and with its hiring of Caitlin. This was very much a company behaving badly and a well written book about that. The death(s) that occurred were more to further that company mystery and I enjoyed that quite a bit.
If you like some intrigue in the corporate world and diving deeper into questionable characters then Iโd recommend this, but this wonโt have the suspense of a true thriller.

An odd company, quirky coworkers, and a wild bossโฆwhat could go wrong? When the employees of Aurora go on a retreat together, they find out that things are not as they seem. This was a slow, but interesting, read, but I sometimes had trouble keeping the characters straight.

โVery Bad Companyโ by Emma Rosenblum is billed as a mystery/thriller. I think the overarching story was an interesting idea, but I had difficulty keeping the characters apart (other than the CEO, his assistant, and the newest hire). I know that Ms. Rosenblum has spent time in the tech industry, but - wow - what she thinks she knows I found really odd at times (โBill and Paulโ were up in Seattle, not in Silicon Valley with โSteve and Steveโ - and who refers to those gentlemen by their first names? Theyโre Gates, Allen, Jobs, and Woz; and the list of โgood CEOsโ was laughable) but maybe they were attempts at humor or to show how absolutely clueless the CEO of the company was? When I stop reading to ponder stupidity, itโs distracting. Also, how Caitlin was hired I felt was odd - even for Silicon Valley start-ups. And why with all those offers did Caitlin NOT get a signing bonus - wouldnโt that be included in the dream list of money fluttering her way? I know, minor things, but - again, annoyances. In the end, I think Iโd sum up this book by stating โAt a company retreat, an executive dies, and no one really cares.โ I cannot say that this book was a fun ride โฆ I was bored (and confused) and didnโt find this book entertaining. However, on a positive point - the title of this book IS spot on.

Every year, executives at Aurora, a tech start up meet for an exclusive retreat. This is Caitlinโs first year, and her first week on the job. The job seems too good to be true and Caitlin is nervous.
When one of the execs vanishes after the first night, and the future of the company is on the line, Caitlin and her co-workers must continue on in order to keep Aurora afloat amid fatal speculations.
This book was definitely entertaining, though for most of the book I wasnโt exactly sure what I was reading. It was a wild ride, and I had fun with it, I just canโt place it neatly in any genre box. The first half of the book was leading up to what happened, then event happened, then almost the entirety of the book happened and then just. Well. Canโt say, itโs a spoiler. I canโt even really say if Iโm happy or mad because just knowing that would be a spoiler. But the writing was captivating, and despite not knowing what was going on most of the time, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I stayed engaged and needed to know what was going on, I was sucked in and didnโt want to come up for air without answers! As with the authorโs first book, there are few things to like about any of the characters. I did find the characters more relatable in this book than her first, Bad Summer People, so if that is a reason you didnโt like BSP then give this one a try. Yes, they still sucked, but a little less ha.
If youโre looking for an entertaining read, then you need to check this one out.

This was an enjoyable enough novel. I liked the set-up, and the characters were interesting (if occasionally difficult to remember specifics on). The writing was engaging. My issue with this one is that I'm not entirely sure it knew what it wanted to be. There were certainly thriller elements (a body and mystery surrounding the death), but no one seemed to care that much about it and it didn't generate a lot of suspense. And there were also relational and domestic subplots, but because of the multiple points of view, I didn't feel a lot of connection to them. As a bookseller, I'm not sure where to put this one - mystery/thriller or general fiction? Hence, it will be a bit challenging in terms of attracting readers to it.

Emma Rosenblumโs highly anticipated sophomore novel "Very Bad Company" is coming out just in time for the summer. The novel borrows themes and conflicts from Rosenblumโs debut "Bad Summer People". But this time Rosenblum is following a team of wealthy executives during their venture to Miami Beach one April. The executive retreat seems simple enough at its start: ten like-minded colleagues spending four days away from the bustle of New York City to get to know one another better and to celebrate their tech company Auroraโs success so far. However, when one of the Aurora teammates goes missing and rumors begin to spread about Auroraโs uncertain future, the colleaguesโ weekend escape from corporate reality intensifies.
On its surface, "Very Bad Company" is a classic mystery beach read. But Rosenblum isnโt satisfied with simply inhabiting the parameters of the genre. Instead, the novel is organized according to the main charactersโ perspectives, alternating between the executivesโ experiences throughout the retreat. This formal play successfully augments the narrative tension, formally pits the Aurora powers-that-be against each other, and captures the ways in which power and money, lust and greed might divide even the most cohesive group of individuals. At the same time, Rosenblumโs decision to use the third person limited point of view when depicting her charactersโ individual storylines, enacts each of the charactersโ separations from their true selves. As the characters begin to suspect and doubt one another, theyโre compelled to ask harder and harder questions about who they are, what they want, and how far theyโre willing to go to get it.
A snappy social commentary on corporate wealth and excess, "Very Bad Company" asks tricky questions of the reader too. Should we care about the Aurora execs? And what does it mean if we donโt? Furthermore, if the rich and powerful can get away with intellectual, financial, and moral crimes, why shouldnโt everyone?
"Very Bad Company" at times straddles a thin line between satirizing and romanticizing the erotic and hedonistic exploits of its characters. But perhaps thatโs the real takeaway: If we want to escape the entrapping socioeconomic structures that hold us, weโre taught to play along. And Rosenblumโs characters fully commit to the game throughout.
A steamy summer mystery, "Very Bad Company" is as reminiscent of the HBO hit series White Lotus as Rosenblumโs debut. This sophomore novel is ideal for fans of Rachel Hawkinsโs "Reckless Girls" and Eliza Jane Brazierโs "Good Rich People". Sexy, intense, and fast-paced, "Very Bad Company" keeps you guessing throughout.

This novel takes place over the course of an executive weekend away in Miami. The weekend must go wonderfully so that Aurora, the tech startup company, can be sold and make everyone hugely rich. But when one of the executives goes missing and is then found dead, the situation becomes urgent and the news must stay under wraps before the sail is derailed and the execs lose millions.
Rosenblum has such a gift for writing flawed characters. So many "champagne problems" and you just know that some of these horrible people are not going to get their comeuppance. Love every minute of it!
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this e-arc.*

While reading Bad Summer People by Rosenbaum, I remember thinking โWow, rich people problemsโ But that statement is 100% for this book. The executives at the tech startup, Aurora, gather for a retreat every year and this year they are in Miami. Caitlin Levy, the newest hire who hasnโt even worked a day yet, attends and is immediately throw into the drama with her seven-figure salary and crazy benefits. One of the executives disappears one night and they are all now worried about the sale of Aurora that is about to happen. They all go along with the team building activities while they are there to help save their image but will they find their missing team member.
This book had all the drama from the get go. The characters are absolutely terrible people in the best way for the story. They are cheating on their spouses, care more about money than anything when they are all making millions to begin with, and they all gossip behind each others back. The CEO is the biggest jerk of them all and cares only about himself. Overall, this had plenty of workplace drama but with a vacation setting and made for a quick, read!

3.5 stars rounded up.
While I did not prefer this book to Rosenblum's Bad Summer People, it was still a quick and enjoyable read. I typically do not appreciate stories with unlikable and narcissistic characters, but Rosenblum is the exception to the rule for me. She always has a way of combining a dash of satire with drama and scandal to create a binge-worthy novel about the lives of the elite, this time focusing on the top players in a tech company.
The novel is told from the POV of multiple employees while on a lavish company retreat in Miami that results in one of their colleagues going missing and winding up dead after a night of partying. My one criticism is that the characters were not as well developed, so it was a bit hard to keep track of who was who throughout the book. I would still recommend the book for fans of this author, as well as those who enjoy the work of Elin Hilderbrand and Mary Kay Andrews.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Flatiron Books for this arc in exchange for my review.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I read my first book by Rosenblum last year and couldn't put it down. This book started a bit slower, but I kept trying to figure out how it would end and how some of the characters were intertwined. It was well-written and kept me wanting more.